Teachers’ Perceived Likelihood of Intervening in Bullying Situations: Individual Characteristics and Institutional Environments

Complex issues such as bullying have brought to light the importance of expanding school prevention efforts to include interventions focused on multiple levels of practice. Utilizing data gathered from middle-school teachers across the state of Michigan, this study examines how both individual and organizational characteristics influence teacher interventions in bullying situations. The study found that teachers’ beliefs about the perceived seriousness of the bullying situation, teachers’ level of sympathy/empathy toward the students being bullied, and teachers’ ages consistently contributed to their reported likelihood of interventions in bullying situations. Surprisingly, the majority of organizational-level characteristics were not significant predictors of teachers’ reported likelihood of intervention. The findings align with many of the seminal theories of bystander intervention and suggest that school professionals should focus on programs and policies that educate teachers on both the serious consequences of bullying and on factors that promote empathy toward bullied students.     

The Role of Gender in Adolescent Identity and Intimacy Decisions

This study explored the relative importance of identity and intimacy in male and female adolescent decisions. One hundred twenty adolescents responded to 16 identity/intimacy dilemmas. Females had higher identity (and lower intimacy) scores than males. Identity scores were higher in scenarios with female protagonists. A content analysis of decision explanations showed females gave more explanations than males with identity and intimacy fused. Implications for theories of psychosocial development are discussed.     

A qualitative study using a systemic perspective exploring the remediation of abusive interactions in intimate heterosexual couples

Very little attention has been paid to both partners beliefs about why violence in their previously abusive relationship has stopped or significantly reduced despite well-documented details in the research literature outlining the characteristics of both victims and perpetrators. This study aimed to provide some understanding of how each partner believed that the violence has ended. However their answers often were not definitive; instead, they uncovered the complexities in their relationship and their struggle to overcome the uncertainty they have to achieve and maintain successful remediation. The article is based on a qualitative Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study that explored the nature of the relationship between six heterosexual couples before and after a therapeutic intervention for the men perpetrators, which followed the Duluth Model. The study included how they both understood the violence and how they maintained nonviolence in their relationship. The men were notably still in the process of reprocessing their understanding of why they were violent and they needed to further understand their reactions to maintain their nonviolence. The IPA themes provided some understanding of how the participants thought they had a better understanding of the factors that had maintained their relationship since the termination of the intervention. The themes, generated from the interviews provided by the perpetrators and their victims, are explored and some explanations for the successful continuation of their relationship following treatment are suggested. Implications for widening the treatment options for men perpetrators are suggested in addition to providing treatment options for couples who wish to remain within their relationships and need help to identify unhelpful and dangerous patterns of interaction.     

Youth’s Experiences of the Devaluing of Their Contributions Due to Their Ethnicity and Gender

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - The message that one’s contributions are devalued can be a significant way that youth experience marginalization during the transition into adulthood....     

Aquí en el Ghetto: Hip‐hop in Colombia,Cuba, and Mexico

Hip‐hop music has become an important tool worldwide for poor, marginalized youth to reflect on their lived experiences. This article traces the genre's production from its spontaneous origins in the urban ghettos of New York to its commoditization for global consumption and its evolution in three different Latin American settings: Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico. The article explores how hip‐hop has been appropriated in each country and has been used to express the performers’ reflections on social, political, and economic problems. It also looks at the interplay between the homogenizing tendencies of global hip‐hop and its local reception.     

Engaging rural young mothers in a technology-based intervention for depression

A dating violence and sexual assault prevention program was presented to 396, predominately African American, middle schoolers in two inner city schools in the United States. In one school the program was offered with a same-gender group composition; in the other school, the same program was offered with mixed-gender group composition. A quasi-experimental design was used to assess how gender composition in programming influenced youths’ attitudes about dating violence. Study findings suggest that boys benefit most from participation in a same-gender program and girls benefit most from a mixed-gender program. Implications for prevention programming are discussed.