School Violence Prevention

Abstract

Objective: This study was designed to describe the level of violence in three high schools and to test the effects of universal and targeted strategies to reduce this violence.

Design:A repeated measures design with two baseline scores and two intervention scores was used during a two year period. Two rural high schools served as control schools with a single intervention high school.

Participants: All freshmen at the three high schools completed a self-report measure of school violence; 420 completed the study at the end of their sophomore year.

Method: Multiple universal and targeted interventions to prevent school violence were used for slightly more than one year. Scores on student Victimization and Perpetration, gathered one year apart, were compared using a pre-test post-test model.

Findings: Student reports of perpetration at the intervention school were significantly lower than the combined scores at the control school. Students, teachers, and administrators reported improved awareness, knowledge, and skills to implement violence prevention programs.

Conclusions: A comprehensive program that includes university and high school partnerships has the capability to reduce school violence during a short period. Despite limitations to the study, continued use of research partnerships to decrease school violence is war-ranted.     

Help Seeking and Receiving in Urban Ethnic Neighborhoods

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a National Institute of Mental Health funded research and demonstration effort aimed at addressing impediments to seeking and receiving help in two white ethnic communities. A community mental health empowerment model was developed and implemented in the target communities over a four year period. This model succeeded in building upon the strengths of individuals and neighborhoods to help overcome help seeking and receiving obstacles. Mechanisms were developed through a variety of means to enhance the ability of lay and professional helpers to interact and work with each other.     

The Effectiveness of a Self-Teaching Asthma Self-Management Training Program for School Age Children and Their Families

Summary

This study tested the hypothesis that an inexpensive, self-teaching asthma management training program, usable in the home environment, will be well received and prove beneficial to children with asthma and their families. A total of 321 subject families were recruited at 13 sites across the country to participate in the one year longitudinal study of the SUPERSTUFF program. Children ranged in age from 5-12, and their families constituted a heterogenous cross-section of the population. The impact of the SUPERSTUFF program was studied in relation to five major dependent variables: asthma knowledge, self-concept, asthma-related problems, asthma attitudes, and school attendance patterns. The results supported the hypothesis.     

A Community Service for a Rural High School

Abstract

This case study illustrates a preventive consultation using the ecological paradigm to guide entry, assessment, problem solving, and collaborative intervention design and implementation in a rural high school which initially had serious reservations about working with urban academicians. The ecological paradigm's emphasis on the identification of resources, on collaborative work with community members, and on developing tailored solutions based on the strengths of the setting are discussed. A four year follow-up describing the long-term outcome and commentary from a key setting member are included.     

Developing a University-Wide Institutional Response to Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence

SUMMARY

Students may be predisposed to benefit from mandatory service-learning programs based on their gender and upon whether their parents serve as models of helping. The role of each of these variables was examined in a survey of seventh grade students (n = 86) who were required to complete service during the school year. Results demonstrated that girls felt more positively about the specific program and were more likely to intend to help in the future than boys. Students with parental helping models were also more likely to intend to help in the future. Girls with parental models were more likely to have altruistic self-images than girls without parental models whereas the presence of parental helping models had no effect on boys' altruistic self-image. These results are discussed with regard to socialization of prosocial behavior in both boys and girls.     

Choices for positive living: A private/public partnership program to promote mental fitness and self‐esteem in adults and children

Summary

Investigated are the contributions of seventh graders' coping strategies and their perceptions of the school environment to predicting changes in their adaptation during the transition to junior high school. The students completed measures three weeks into the new school year and again three months later. Resource variables included students' use of approach and avoidance coping strategies in response to a specific transition-related Stressor, and their perceptions of their new school environment. Criterion variables included students' ratings of how effectively they coped with the specific Stressor, and their general adaptation to the transition. Zero-order and cross-lag correlations generally showed that the use of approach coping strategies and favorable perceptions of the school environment were associated with higher levels of perceived coping effectiveness and general adaptation to junior high school, while the use of avoidance coping strategies was associated with lower levels of perceived coping effectiveness and general adaptation. Hierarchical regressions revealed prospective effects for initial levels of coping strategies in predicting later perceived coping effectiveness.     

The primary mental health project: Thirty years after

Summary

This article summarizes the 30‐year history of the Primary Mental Health Project (PMHP), a school‐based program for early detection and prevention of young children's school adjustment problems. The article first describes PMHP's rationale and basic practices, gives examples of how the project has grown and evolved over the years, and summarizes some of its important research findings. The report also reviews several more recent PMHP emphases including its systematic work in program dissemination and its active efforts to develop effective primary prevention program modules. PMHP's approach offers a bona fide alternative to mental health's established, after the fact, restorative ways.     

An Assessment of the Relationship Between the Quality of School-Based Tobacco Prevention Programs and Youth Tobacco Use

SUMMARY

This study presents data from an assessment of substance use prevention programs in 23 elementary and middle schools in northern and central Illinois. The quality of prevention programming was assessed based on program intensity, focus on tobacco, staff resources designated for prevention programs, and implementation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for tobacco prevention. Data from these four dimensions were used to calculate a Quality Index Score. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between individual level variables, school level variables and the outcomes of reported current tobacco use, intent to use tobacco in the coming year, and perceived efficacy of substance use prevention programs. No significant effects were found, indicating that exclusive use of even high quality school-based prevention programs may not be sufficient in changing youth behavior. However, school-based prevention programs may be an important component of a broader ecological approach that uses multiple, community-wide strategies to promote normative change.     

A Call for Help?: How Public School Principals’ Subjective Report of Institutional Weakness Relates to Disciplinary Incidents

ABSTRACT

Disciplinary incidents at U.S. public middle- and high-schools are a public policy concern. Although businesses popularly give credence to leaders’ subjective intelligence, principals’ reports of their schools’ strengths and weaknesses are questioned. To determine whether principals’ reports carry legitimacy as indicators of student offenses, the current study utilized a nationally representative survey of principals who reported on their sense of the institution and the number of disciplinary incidents in the past year (N = 1,872; replication cohort, N = 1,833). Findings showed that the more institutional shortcomings a principal endorsed, the higher total number of incidents occurred, even after controlling for institutional strength and several indicators of school crime. These findings have policy and intervention implications for improving student outcomes, and so would be of interest to funding agencies, school administrators, teachers, and parents.     

Linking Academics and Social Learning

Abstract

This article examines how school staff conceptualize their work with youths in an alternative school for weapon policy offenders after having undergone at least one year of a whole-school violence prevention program conducted by the Syracuse University Violence Prevention Project. The article examines the intent of school staff, their ideas, perspectives, and language about youths, violence, and schooling, and provides insights into the challenges and benefits of a whole-school approach to violence prevention. Their insights highlight what is needed for a violence prevention program to be successful. A major issue raised in the article is the importance of linking social learning and academics in violence prevention strategies, and of sustaining collaborative efforts that connect conflict resolution to acts of justice and support for youths' intellectual and emotional lives.     

BOOK REVIEWS

ABSTRACT

A HISTORY OF CHILD PROTECTION IN AMERICA. Myers, John E. B. 2004, 460 pp., ISBN 1-4134-2301-9 (softcover), ISBN 1-4134-2302-7 (hardcover). Reviewed by Leslie Leighninger.

CHILD WELFARE IN THE LEGAL SETTING: A CRITICAL AND INTERPRETIVE PERSPECTIVE. O'Brien, Thomas M. New York: The Haworth Press, 2004, 302 pp., ISBN 0-7890-2351-2. Reviewed by Sue D. Steib.     

Statement of Removal

Abstract

The Editor and Publisher have removed this article for privacy reasons with the agreement of the author.

Article title: Dealing with a Schoolyard Bully     

Economic Stress and Psychological Distress Among Urban African American Adolescents

SUMMARY

The present study tested the hypothesis that maternal depression and negative parenting mediate the relationship between economic stress and psychological symptoms among urban African American youth. Two distinct economic Stressors were examined: (1) acute economic loss and (2) chronic economic strain. Each of these economic Stressors was expected to predict maternal depression, which, in turn, was expected to predict negative parenting, which, finally, was expected to predict adolescent symptoms. Results suggest that maternal depression and negative parenting partially mediate the relationship between economic stress and adolescent psychological symptoms among urban African American youth. Directions for future research and intervention implications are outlined.     

Breaking Fresh Ground

ABSTRACT

In the present paper, the author introduces her roles and duties at her current job. The author then describes how she got into community psychology and primary prevention and how her graduate school and previous work experiences have influenced her current work. Focusing on primary prevention, the author delineates how the two community psychology concepts -primary prevention and action research -can be applied to the promotion of adolescent mental health in the Korean society. The author then adds advice for foreign students who are considering studying community psychology in the U.S.     

BOOK REVIEWS

ABSTRACT

THE WELFARE OF CHILDREN. (2ND ED.). Lindsey, Duncan (2004). New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. 451 pp., $24.95, p.b. ISBN 0-19-513671-3. Reviewed by Sandra Yudilevich.

CULTURALLY COMPETENT PUBLIC CHILD WELFARE PRACTICE. Samantrai, K. (2004). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. 184 pp., $59.95 pb, ISBN 0-534-37055-1. Reviewed by Jane S. Wimmer.     

Intersectional Disadvantage: Exploring Differences Between Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Parents with Intellectual Disability in the New South Wales Child Protection System

Background: Parents with intellectual disability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents are overrepresented in child removal but research has not explored the intersection of Aboriginality and intellectual disability in child protection.

Methods: A case file review of 45 parents with intellectual disability (n = 14 Aboriginal and n = 31 non-Aboriginal) engaged in care proceedings in New South Wales was undertaken. Parent and child demographics and investigation triggers and outcomes were compared.

Results: Aboriginal parents were significantly younger than non-Aboriginal parents at initiation of an investigation, twice as likely to be investigated due to concerns about parenting capacity, and more likely to have children removed than non-Aboriginal parents.

Conclusion: The intersection of Aboriginality and intellectual disability appears to increase the risk of negative encounters with child protection systems. Targeted support for young Aboriginal parents and greater disability awareness and cultural sensitivity by child welfare workers are needed.     

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.     

Two Into One

Abstract

A preventive consultation guided by an ecological perspective was carried out in a suburban public school system. The broad goal of this consultation was to facilitate the closure of one public junior high school and its consolidation into another school which was quite different in terms of student body characteristics, administrative philosophy, and social and physical environments. The elements of the consultation consisted of: (1) serving as a source of support and information for the school administrator who was almost single-handedly orchestrating both the closure and the consolidation; (2) attempting to illuminate potential resources to enrich the consolidation process; and (3) developing events to aid both staff and students in understanding the existing social environments of both schools and the common culture to be formed as a result of the consolidation. In addition, conclusions about the usefulness and limitations of an ecological approach to consultation are outlined, and reactions of members of the two schools involved in the consultation are presented.     

Parenting education: Primary prevention in a rural community

SUMMARY

The present paper describes the educational background and current role of a community psychologist conducting tobacco control studies at a research institute affiliated with a university medical school. This includes how the author originally became interested in community psychology as an undergraduate, chose a graduate training program and postdoctoral fellowship, and how this training was instrumental in obtaining the current position.