Scales for perceived risk of student-on-student victimization in grades 7 through 10: A psychometric analysis of the adolescent index on school safety

Although past research has developed scales for the incidence, prevalence, and fear of student-on-student victimization (SSV), little is known about the scaling of perceived risk (i.e., the cognitive appraisal of the chances of experiencing SSV). Hence, this study examined self-report survey data for the perceived risk of SSV as measured in the Adolescent Index for School Safety (AISS). Children in grades 7 through 10 (n=337) in a single Florida public school completed the AISS. Factor analyses using Maximum Likelihood Estimation with Oblimin Rotation identified nine unique factors for perceived risk. Reliability analyses found standardized Cronbach Alphas that ranged from .64 to .91, and seven out of the nine identified scales were above .80, which suggested good to excellent internal consistency. Future research should examine the content validity, construct validity, and predictive validity for the AISS and other self-report surveys of SSV dynamics. This publication was made possible by a grant [#97-MU-FX-KO12 (S-l)] from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (O.J.J.D.P.), United States Department of Justice (U.S.D.O.J.). This grant is administered through the Hamilton Fish National Institute on School and Community Violence at George Washington University. This specific study was developed and implemented by staff at: 1) East Carolina University’s Department of Criminal Justice; and 2) Florida State University’s Center for Educational Research and Policy Studies. All points of view and opinions in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of East Carolina University, Florida State University, the Hamilton Fish National Institute on School and Community Violence, the O.J.J.D.P., or the U.S.D.OJ. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Bill Doerner and Jennifer Jolley for their support, editorial feedback, and insightful comments regarding earlier drafts of this paper.     

中国高等教育的将来

目前,我们处在一个相互依赖和多元文化的全球社会。世界变了,高等教育却仍然没有出现任何实质性的变革。因此,我们需要对高等教育重新进行思考,我们需要全新的教育内容、途径以及步骤。教师必须学着将学生们自己的知识看成是教——学过程中一个非常重要的新资源,同时应该继续掌控学生在课堂的学习过程。我们有关学习的新的认识和当前实际的学习方式是互相矛盾的。对于真正的素质教育来说,培养更高层次的思考方法必须优先于实际知识的学习。与其他社会制度一样,高等教育也往往抵制变革。因此我们必须设计出新的机制,不断进行变革,使这些变革对于所有的教育机构、教职员工和学生来说都是很平常的,都是容易实现的。我提议,邀请大学和学院参与进来,重新定义中国的高等教育。批准参与的大学和学院都将收到一笔特殊基金,用于贯彻实施他们自己设计的独立的改革方案。这些方案都须是小型的、独立的,并且是不受传统的和官僚性的改革方案限制的。     

The extent of aspartic acid racemization in dentin: a possible method for a more accurate determination of age at death?

In the current study the objective was to find to what extent a reliable determination of age at death is made possible by establishing the degree of aspartic acid racemization in the dentin of teeth. The results of the investigation of 46 teeth are in agreement with the values found by other authors. The method presented makes a reproducible and accurate estimation of age possible. We intend to elaborate and improve this promising method for determination of age at death. The relevant points are presented here.     

Sensitivity of various study technics in blood stains

Quadratic pieces of fleece measuring 16 mm2 were soaked with 10 different blood-samples in the dilution steps of 1:1, 1:10, 1:100, 1:1000, respectively, and were tested in blood group typing and identification tests of forensic serology. The above spezified dilutions correspond with 5 microliters, 0.5 microliter, 0.05 microliter and 0.005 microliter of blood, respectively. The detection limit of the microspectrometric test for blood was the dilution 1:10, of the porphyrine test a dilution above 1:100, whereas the preliminary test for blood (peroxidase) succeeded always up to a dilution of 1:1000 and the species determination by the radial immunodiffusion test in agar gels succeeded in most cases op to a dilution of 1:1000. The detection limit of the anti-human globulin inhibition test was between the dilution steps 1:10 and 1:100 when non-titrated and undiluted anti-human globulin serum was used. Gc- and ABO-grouping were possible up to a dilution of 1:100 and were thus the most sensitive grouping systems. Phenotyping of the enzyme-systems and the Gm/Km-system usually required stains with considerably higher blood concentrations i.e. stains of undiluted blood.     

Fatalities in west Austrian prisons

The purpose of this study is to review 23 causes of death that have occurred in Western-Austrian prisons from 1974 to 1989. The majority of them (11 cases) were due to suicides. Among 9 cases of natural death there was a 25 years old man, who died of an unknown purulent meningoencephalitis. Two drunken prisoners had not been supervised and therefore died of alcohol poisoning. In one case the police jail physician did not recognize an epidural hematoma.     

Drug culture expertise and substance use

This study concerns the relationship between knowledge of drug culture and substance use. Results from a sample of 2,635 middle and high school students indicate that (1) knowledge of drug culture is positively correlated with substance use; (2) drug knowledge is more reliable and coherent in older youth; (3) drug knowledge is unrelated to other kinds of knowledge acquired in school; (4) youth exposed to peers' substance use in school have more drug knowledge; and (5) the earlier young people begin using drugs and alcohol, the more they know about the drug culture. Results suggest that knowledge of the drug culture may be an unobtrusive indicator of substance use problems.This project was made possible by a grant from the Tulsa Psychiatric Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma.Received Ph.D. from University of California at Berkeley in personality psychology. Research interests include school dropouts, substance use, delinquency, identity, narcissism, and health. To whom correspondence should be addressed.Received Ph.D. from University of California at Berkeley in personality psychology. Research interests include school dropouts, substance use, delinquency, personal commitments, identity, narcissism, and health.Received Ph.D. from University of California at Berkeley in personality psychology. Research interests include moral development and personality.