Vietnamese Youth Gangs in Honolulu

SUMMARY

Traditional theories of the connection between immigrant youth and gangs have not been sufficient in explaining why some are not in gangs. Therefore, this study examines Vietnamese youth gangs in Honolulu and the factors contributing to Vietnamese delinquency and youth gang participation. Twenty-six interviews were conducted with agency, school, police, Vietnamese adults, and Vietnamese youth. Results suggest that though the content of the delinquency model is different for immigrant and nonimmigrant youth, the process is the same. Problems in the home, school, or neighborhood facilitate contact with delinquent youth, and association with delinquent peers increases the likelihood for delinquency and gang involvement. Therefore, participation inyouth gangs depends on peer relationships. This finding is congruent with the perceptions of youth, while adults appear less aware of the effects of peer relationships among youth.     

Juvenile Delinquency in Japan

SUMMARY

Juvenile delinquency in Japan is examined with respect to Japanese culture. The cultural changes in Japan since World War II, and especially since 1970, have affected family, school, neighborhood, and peer relationships. Changes in juvenile delinquency are presented and discussed within the context of these historical and cultural changes in Japanese society.     

Examining Risks for Minors Participating in Tobacco Purchase Attempts

SUMMARY

This study aimed to provide empirical evidence to support previous research that participation in tobacco purchase attempt (TPA) procedures does not negatively impact minors' desire to initiate smoking habits or their willingness to discuss the dangers of smoking with peers and adults. Twenty-eight minors, who participated in TPAs, were compared to a group of eleven minors regarding whether or not they were smokers, whether or not they tried to get peers or adults to quit smoking, whether or not they tried to discuss with peers and adults about the dangers of smoking, and their perceptions of how easily it is to obtain tobacco products. Results demonstrated none of the minors in the TPA group initiated smoking, and there were not significant differences on most indicators regarding the frequency in which minors discussed the dangers of smoking with peers and adults. Minors in both groups perceived that they could easily obtain tobacco products. The findings suggest that participation in TPAs does not adversely affect minors' intentions to smoke or their desire to initiate discussions about the dangers of smoking with peers and adults.     

Liked by Peers or Liked by Teachers: Differential Patterns of Bullying over Time

ABSTRACT

We examined the tendency for high status children to bully their classmates. Children liked by peers only (LPO), liked by teachers only (LTO), liked by both (Both), liked by neither (Neither), and children with average peer and teacher liking (Average) were compared on self-, teacher-, and peer-reported bullying. Participants were 676 fourth-grade children (50.7% girls). Children in the Neither group evinced the highest level of bullying, which increased significantly from fall to spring. We found little evidence that children in the Both group differed from other groups or that their bullying increased over time. Self-reported physical bullying increased for boys in the LPO and Average groups and for girls in the LTO and Neither groups. Gender-specific findings have implications for researchers and practitioners.     

Residual Effects of Repeated Bully Victimization Before the Age of 12 on Adolescent Functioning

Abstract

In this study, data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY 97) were used to examine early adolescent functioning as a result of being bullied. The NLSY 97 asked 4807 youths from age 12 to 14 whether they had been the victims of repeated bullying before the age of 12. In this study, 19.1% of the youths responded that they had experienced this repeated violence. It was found that the youth who have been bullied are exhibiting behaviors that are very different than their non-bullied peers. In every instance those individuals that admit to being repeatedly bullied before the age of 12 were less successful in negotiating various aspects of their life as a teenager. This underscores the need for programs that address bully prevention. Some programmatic initiatives aimed at reducing this victimized population are discussed.     

Family Problems and Children's Competencies Over the Early Elementary School Years

SUMMARY

Problems experienced by families from a sample of at-risk, urban children were observed and recorded by social workers over a two year period. Four groups of families were distinguished through social worker case notes based on family problems and needs; families were grouped into stable high needs, stable low needs, change for better and change for worse categories. Children were then followed for three years, from the beginning of kindergarten to the end of second grade, and assessed on classroom competence and academic achievement outcomes. Classroom competence included the teacher's rating of both the child's social skills in the classroom, and the academic competence of the child. Academic achievement included a standardized assessment of both math and reading skills. Results indicated that children from families with stable low needs consistently perform with more competence in the classroom than children from families with stable high needs or those whose need status increased. Children from families with stable high needs score comparably to children from families with stable low needs on math, and no difference between groups were found in reading. Implications of these findings for strengthening family competence is discussed.     

Entry into Middle School

Summary

The transition to middle school has not been a frequent topic of empirical research. This article presents six guidcposts for conceptualizing this transition. These guideposts focus upon the transaction between attributes of students and multiple levels of their ecological environment. How these operate to influence students' adaptation to middle school is discussed and data which focus on the child portion of this transaction are presented. Predictive relationships between measures of pre-transition adjustment and adaptation following middle school entry are examined, with a special focus on social-cognitive problem solving skills. Other indices included self-concept, peer relations, academic performance, school behavior, and students' self-reported ability to cope with typical Stressors of middle school. Significant findings, as well as implications for research and intervention, are discussed in terms of an ecological model.     

困境与出路:失足未成年人思想观念教育误区探究

未成年人失足是一个严重的社会问题,未成年人违法犯罪给国家、社会、家庭都带来了严重的危害。未成年人思想观念的误区和困境是造成其失足的重要因素。可借鉴域外国家思想观念培育方面的做法,以儒家伦理思想为基,推进法治引导,筑造家庭、学校、社会教育网络,强化暂住、流动人口管理,依法惩戒未成年人犯罪,建构针对失足未成年人特殊群体思想观念教育的长效机制,更好地适应和谐社会的发展。     

What Have We Learned from Columbine

Abstract

This study first examined a model of the predictors and mediators of both suicidal ideation and violent ideation, particularly since both types of ideation were highly correlated (r = .55) among our young adolescent participants. The variables in the model were those identified in media accounts of the histories of the 10 high-profile school shooting cases, and that have also been included in our earlier model of the predictors of suicidal ideation, which we expanded to include violent ideation. Perceptions of competence or adequacy and social support from peers and parents predicted two mediators in the model, an adjustment/depression composite (self-esteem, hope to hopelessness, and affect, along a continuum from cheerful to depressed) and anger-induced physical aggression. These variables, in turn, predicted both suicidal and violent ideation. Secondly, we examined adolescents' reactions to vignettes that described harassing events, at the hands of peers and teachers simulating the type of audience-observed ridicule experienced by the school shooters. We were particularly interested in the emotional reaction of humiliation, an effect that has received surprisingly little attention in the emotion literature. Humiliation was related to other emotions such as anger and depression, consistent with the co-occurrence of internalizing and externalizing symptoms demonstrated in the overall model. Next we compared those who reported that they would respond violently to the events in vignettes compared to those reporting nonviolent reactions. Examining the variables in the general model, those who reported violent ideation reported markedly lower perceptions of adequacy, lower levels of social support, lower self-esteem, greater hopelessness, depressed affect, and anger-induced aggression. The violent ideators also reported higher levels of both homicidal and suicidal ideation. Discussion focused on the fact that thoughts of violence toward others as well as toward the self have similar psychosocial origins that should be considered in prevention and intervention efforts.     

Beyond Guns,Drugs and Gangs

SUMMARY

The failure to consider factors that make a key contribution to violence and its prevention may create serious problems of construct validity for school violence surveys. Further, few studies have assessed the relative importance of variables contributing to perceptions of safety by examining correlations between survey items and overall feelings of school safety. This study describes the development of a self-report survey, the Safe and Responsive Schools Safe School Survey, explicitly designed to assess perceptions regarding criminal violation and serious violence as well as day-to-day disruption and climate issues. Principal components analysis identified four factors involving student connectedness, incivility, feelings of personal safety, and delinquency/major safety. Further multivariate analysis suggests that, in at least some cases, feelings about connectedness and climate may be more critical than serious violence in shaping student perceptions of school safety.     

Building Community Coalitions with People with Disabilities and Their Families

Summary

This chapter describes the processes believed to affect the performance of regional economies and the mechanisms that might connect these processes to the etiology of behavioral disorder. The initial findings of a major study of these linkages will also be summarized (based on Catalan &; Dooley, 1983; Dooley &; Catalano, 1984a, 1984b). The implications of this literature for economic policy and for the provision of mental health services are also surveyed.     

How Fathers Respond When Their Youth Leave and Return Home

Abstract

Few social scientists have examined the impact that adult children's leaving and returning home have upon fathers and their family relationships. In a sample of 325 fathers in Indiana and Michigan, 41% reported some stress as negative/disturbed reactions about a child's leaving home. These reactions were much greater than some earlier studies have shown. Overall, (as explained by the A-B-C-X Model of Stress) the fathers' definition of their situation was the factor most related to the fathers' negative feelings about their child's leaving home, to their related psychosomatic complaints and their lower sense of well-being. It was not related, however, to fathers' satisfaction with their family life. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Mark of a Food Allergy Label: School Accommodation Policy and Bullying

ABSTRACT

This study examines the extent to which specific school accommodation policies relate to bullying victimization among children with food allergies using a labeling framework. Data were collected through a web-based survey of parents of children with food allergies from several online support groups (N = 622). Using logistic regression, results reveal that school the self-carry rescue medication and hand-washing food accommodation policies are related to increased odds of bullying victimization. Potential policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

Early Family Intervention

Abstract

Two general hypotheses relating to studies of early family intervention are discussed: (1) Pervasive and sustained gains in family development are correlaries of changes in the multi-risk mother's adaptation-competence and partnership quality, and (2) Efforts to change this functioning are most likely to be successful if the mother can develop a sustained and working relationship with the intervenor. The paper reviews sources which support these hypotheses: (1) Eight controlled follow-up intervention studies assessing and attempting to intervene in different family domains; and (2) Current ongoing studies focussing on the nature of the mother's relationship to the intervenor.     

试析青少年犯罪的社区预防

近年来,青少年犯罪成为一个严重的社会问题。为了从根本上遏制青少年犯罪,我们必须利用社会的力量,形成职责明确、协同配合、齐抓共管的工作网络,切实做好青少年违法犯罪的预防工作。社区是城市管理体制的基础,是青少年学习、生活、娱乐和就业的重要场所。社区对青少年的成长,有着深刻的影响。立足社区,可以把闲散青少年、流动青少年和问题家庭青少年等群体有针对性的管理起来,强化预防青少年违法犯罪工作的力度,同时把学校教育、家庭教育和社会预防工作整合起来,形成预防青少年违法犯罪工作的社会联运机制。     

未成年人犯罪的特点、原因及预防对策

近年来，未成年人犯罪呈现出暴力化、恶性化、团伙化、低龄化、成人化和智能化的特点。造成未成年人犯罪的主要因素有家庭环境、教育环境、社会环境等不良影响和矫正制度的不健全，因此，需要重视早期教育，优化家庭教育，建立预防未成年人违法犯罪的家庭防线；重视和改善学校教育，巩固预防未成年人违法犯罪的学校防线；官方和社区共同营造社会防线；完善我国未成年人犯罪的刑事矫正制度。     

Vehicles for Empowerment

Abstract

This paper considers organizations that empower by examining feminist movement groups. The contemporary feminist movement has generated a wide variety of organizations which provide social services to women and act as vehicles for social change. Yet many of these organizations are short-lived. Factors that affect the structure and goals of feminist movement organizations are examined in order to develop a theoretically-based understanding of why some organizations thrive while others disintegrate. The contingencies under which feminist movement organizations maintain themselves, transform into other sorts of organizations, or decline and dissolve are described, and strategies for managing conflict are discussed. In particular, the paper emphasizes the organizational consequences of ideology, and concludes with a consideration of the role of organizations within a social movement.     

Students Behaving Badly

Abstract

Students experience many forms of victimization at school, yet few studies address more than one form of victimization. In this study, we explored the incidence of multiple forms of peer victimization, including direct verbal and physical, relational, and sexual harassment victimization among urban middle school students. We examined the overlap and gender differences among victimization experiences. Further, social cognitive theory was used to better understand how victimization experiences influence beliefs about the acceptability of aggression. Youth in 6th through 8th grades (N=111) completed self-report measures assessing peer victimization experiences and normative beliefs about aggression. Results revealed overlap between victimization experiences, suggesting that students commonly experience multiple forms of victimization by peers. Males who were sexually harassed held the strongest beliefs supporting aggression in situations without provocation. Our findings suggest that direct physical/verbal, relational, and sexual harassment victimization are inter-related experiences among youth, and these experiences differ by sex.     

Responding to Children Victimized by Their Peers

Abstract

Because victimization results from the dynamic interplay between the victim and his or her parents, peers, and teachers, responding to this problem should involve both direct and indirect interventions. This paper describes and reviews empirically supported direct interventions with victims, as well as indirect interventions with parents, peers, and school staff. Although the primary focus is on bullying, research on related forms of peer victimization, such as rejection, are included, as these have been subject to more empirical study. The review concludes that there is empirical support for direct and indirect interventions for specific problems associated with rejection, though research studies on interventions for victims of bullying are lacking. In addition, comprehensive primary prevention approaches for reducing bullying have shown promise, but there is a lack of empirically supported secondary prevention efforts that focus on increasing social support for children who, despite primary prevention efforts, continue to suffer the consequences of peer victimization.