Maidens at risk: 'date rape drugs' and the formation of hybrid risk knowledges

The ill-defined set of substances and behaviours collected under the name 'date rape drugs' present an opportunity to rethink risk management and the ways in which risk is studied in governmentality analyses. We borrow and develop Bakhtin's notion of the 'chronotope' - the spatially specific temporality constituting each literary genre - to understand how the risks associated with certain illicit drugs consumed by youth at weekend parties are thought of as inhering in a chronotope rather than in some chemicals. This chronotope, like most others, is gendered, but the gender-specific character of both the risks of partying and the friendship networks mobilized to prevent mishaps is denied by the educational materials: risks are simultaneously gendered and de-gendered.The insights generated by this study highlight the importance of relying on a more flexible toolbox for doing research on knowledges of risk.     

Promoting Social and Emotional Learning in Middle School: Intervention Effects of Facing History and Ourselves

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - There are fewer evidence-based social and emotional learning programs for middle school students compared to younger grades. This randomized controlled trial...     

Religion as an insulator of delinquency in schools

While much of the current social control literature has examined the role of religiosity in delinquency, very little attention has been given to its effect on school delinquency. This study sought to fill that void by examining the effectiveness of social bond theory in restraining students from committing school delinquency in a rural Southern county. Further, given the literature that suggests that delinquency varies along developmental stages, the authors also sought to determine the effect of the revised social bond along 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grades. Findings indicate that social control theory was moderately successful in explaining school delinquency, while religion achieved significance in the 6th, 8th, and 12th grades, but not the 10th grade. Suggestions for practitioners and policy makers are also discussed. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Criminal Justice Association, Raleigh, NC, 2004.