Results of a curriculum intervention with seventh graders regarding violence in relationships

This research measured the effects of a violence prevention curriculum on the knowledge and attitudes of seventh grade health education students (N=239) about woman abuse using a valid and reliable inventory. Pretests, post-tests, and post-post-tests were administered to experimental and comparison groups. The experimental group received the curriculum intervention,Skills for Violence-Free Relationships. Significant differences were found between the experimental and comparison groups from pretest to post-test on both the knowledge (p=.0027) and attitude (p=.0089) sections of the inventory. This impact did not remain stable at post post-test. These results confirm those found in other studies and reinforce recommendations of the battered women’s movement to integrate violence-free principles into school curricula. Within the experimental group, significant gender differences were found only on the attitude section from post-test to post post-test (p=.0335); females showed greater change over time. Such limited change was not unexpected in a middle school population given the reported formative nature of the subjects’ gender acquisition as contrasted with those at an older age.     

‘Suddenly you've become somebody else’: A study of pregnancy and the creative woman

This pilot study is a woman-centered exploration of the effects of pregnancy on a woman artist's work, asking what changes in the work occur during pregnancy or as a result of pregnancy.Conventionally, conditions for artistic creation and for reproduction have been thought to be mutually exclusive, the one requiring self-centeredness and the other, selflessness. The women in this study reported instead that their work was augmented by this change and its product, motherhood. Subject matter and imagery, use of time, attitude about the world and the self were seen in retrospect—if not always at the time—to have benefitted. Having enough time to spend on one project or the other was the most significant conflict reported.Recent theories about and explorations of women's lives and ideas, particularly regarding preparation for motherhood, support what the subjects of this study reported about the multi- layered complexity of the experience. Beauvoir, Rich, Ruddick and Gilligan provide the theoretical background: patriarchal culture's use of biology marks women off as being significantly different from men; while this bodily distinction has been used to limit women, it need not be and may instead be a source of power and growth; maternal thinking has its own previously unacknowledged structures; and women's development, particularly in the valued category of morality, has a different basis than men's, in responsibility rather than in rights.Instead of dividing art from life, motherhood, if not pregnancy specifically, allowed, demanded, or called up a vision of enlargement and unity in social, spiritual, and universal terms, a transcendent philosophy that is not an escape but an embrace.     

Women's studies and men's careers: How the ‘social problem’ of women in education maintained the academic status of men in the 1970s

This paper investigates the changing status of research of women and education during the 1970s. All articles published in the American Educational Research Journal, the Journal of Educational Psychology, Child Development, Sociology of Education, and the Journal of Educational Measurement from 1973 through 1978 are included in this study. A total of 2239 research articles are identified and examined for article content and authorship. Of these articles, 13.5 per cent deal with women and education, 15.9 per cent are authored by women solely and 28.0 per cent are co-authored by women and men. There is a significant increase in the number of articles on women and education, and it appears that proportionately more of these articles are written by women; however, there is no proportional change in women's authorship of (1) total articles written by women, (2) articles on women and education, or (3) articles on topics other than women and education. It is concluded that women and education became a legitimate topic for scholarly inquiry during the 1970s, but that this increased legitimacy did not benefit women specifically.     

Traumatic Events and Maternal Education as Predictors of Verbal Ability for Preschool Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

Despite research on the effects of intimate partner violence (IPV) on children, little is known about its impact on cognitive development. In this study, 87 preschool-aged children and their mothers exposed to IPV within the last two years participated in interviews to ascertain verbal ability, history of violence, and exposure to trauma. When compared to a national sample of 1,700 same-age children not evaluated for exposure to traumatic events, children exposed to IPV scored significantly lower on verbal ability, as assessed with standardized measures. In order to understand variation in verbal ability, multiple regression models were tested. Both prior exposure to traumatic events and the level of mother’s education were significant predictors of verbal ability. However, level of education mediated the relationship between traumatic events and the child’s verbal ability.     

Hot corridors, deterrence, and guardianship: An assessment of the Omaha metro safety initiative

The purpose of this research is to describe the Omaha Metro Safety Initiative (OMSI) and assess its deterrent effects. The OMSI, a multi-agency task force, has been carrying out “hot spot” policing practices focused on traffic corridors in high crime areas. The purpose of OMSI operations is to deter crime through a highly visible “guardianship” presence that emphasizes contacts with citizens. Findings showed that a corridor approach was consistent with a “hot spot” policing strategy, in that operations occurred in hi-density crime areas. Nine crime categories were examined to assess the efficacy of 41 operations carried out in 2008. Generally, OMSI revealed a short term deterrent on crime, with the actual deterrent effect associated with the kind of crime assessed. Business crimes tended to show the most consistent operational deterrent effects. Effects also were more consistent in precincts with greater crime density. The paper concludes with recommendations concerning data gathering and operational effectiveness across a multi-agency task force.     

Conceptualizing the Relationship Between Persuasion and Legitimacy: Official Framing in the Case of the Chinese Communist Party

In the debate on authoritarian resilience, the importance of persuasion to regime legitimacy has been widely acknowledged, yet a conceptual framework explaining the role of persuasion is still lacking. Against this backdrop, we argue that the framing perspective (Benford and Snow 1988) provides a useful basis for such a framework. Drawing on Beetham’s (1991) legitimacy model, we contend that the ruling elites in authoritarian regimes propagate official frames in a continuous effort to reproduce the belief of the populace in the elites’ leadership qualities and their determination to serve the common interest. In the empirical part of our paper we look at the case of China, where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has in recent years reemphasized persuasion as a means of reproducing legitimacy. We then apply our theory in an analysis of the conceptual shifts in the CCP’s frames and ideology, as propagated under its secretary general, Hu Jintao.     

Knowledge of the Earthquake and School Education in the Perspective of Active Citizenship

This paper presents part of a larger research on the consequences of an earthquake on the scholastic life of children aged 3-11. In May, schools abruptly closed due to the earthquake in Emilia Romagna and Lombardy （Italy）. Children and teachers fled from them, leaving school backpacks and books in the classrooms. Daily life was disrupted and the community gathered in tents set up by civil defence. Immigrant families returned to their countries of origin or shared life in the tent cities. The focus of theoretical sources of the research considers mainly： the vulnerability of the persons concerned; measures for risk reduction; environmental sustainability; community resilience; controversial human development between freedom of the person and economic globalisation. From methodological point of view, the interviews with teachers, school rectors, and citizens revealed the impact of the earthquake on community identity. Unexpected human solidarity and local responsible participation were part of the new educational plan of reconstruction based on hope, active citizenship, and historical memory.     

The role of adolescent physical abuse in adult intimate partner violence

This study's primary aims were to examine whether a sample of young adults, aged 23 to 31, who had been documented as physically abused by their parent(s) during adolescence would be more likely to aggress, both physically and verbally, against their intimate partners compared with nonabused young adults and whether abuse history was (along with other risk factors) a significant predictor of intimate partner physical and emotional violence perpetration or victimization. In this longitudinal study, 67 abused and 78 nonabused adults (of an original sample of 198 adolescents) completed the Modified Conflict Tactics Scale and the Jealousy and Emotional Control Scales. Nonabused comparison adolescents were matched for age, gender, and community income. As adults, participants with abuse histories had significantly higher rates of intimate partner physical violence and verbal aggression than did comparison participants. Multivariate logistic regressions indicated that adults with histories of physical abuse were more than twice as likely to be physically violent and almost six times more likely to be verbally aggressive to their intimate partners than were comparison participants. Having had an alcohol use disorder, being married to or living with a partner, and perceiving one's partner as controlling were also significantly associated with physical violence. Jealousy and feeling controlled by one's partner were also significant predictors of verbal aggression. These findings underscore the importance of preventing adolescent abuse as a means of decreasing the incidence of intimate partner physical violence in adulthood.