Life Imitates (and Informs) Meta-Analysis

SUMMARY

Mentoring programs for youth have become immensely popular in recent years. Evaluations of their effectiveness, however, have yielded mixed results. These findings underscore a need for more careful and in-depth scrutiny of programmatic features that are necessary for mentoring relationships to provide intended benefits to youth. Utilizing a novel, participatory research perspective, this paper considers the author's own experiences as a mentor of a 9-year-old boy and their relation to a set of program best practices identified in a recent meta-analysis of the literature (DuBois, Holloway, Valentine, & Cooper, in press). A framework for efforts to enhance mentoring program effectiveness is described.     

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.     

The Cycle of Violence and Disconnection Among Rural Middle School Students

Abstract

A hypothesized relationship between early violent behavior and subsequent connectedness in middle school was examined. Using self-report survey data and a hybrid structural model, the impact of violent behavior on connectedness to teachers and to school among 136 predominantly Caucasian, rural middle school students was examined. After accounting for parenting practices, which explained most of the variance in violence and connectedness, the data revealed a direct effect of violent behavior on connectedness. The data suggest that middle school students who have engaged in violent behavior are likely to experience disconnection from their teachers, and that this disconnection may provide a target for educators' efforts to prevent violence in schools.     

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.     

Radicalization in Prisons? Field Research in 25 Spanish Prisons

This article has two principal objectives: (1) to study the behavioral dimensions of Muslim prisoners which predict their Islamist radicalism and (2) to study whether the behavior manifested by them is higher in prisons with a greater concentration of Muslims and a higher presence of prisoners convicted for Islamist terrorism than in prisons with fewer Muslims and no convicted Islamist terrorists. We conclude that some Spanish prisons may provide favorable social environments for jihadist radicalism and that the questionnaire utilized is a useful diagnostic tool for evaluating the magnitude of this phenomenon.     

保险诈骗犯罪手法分析及防范策略研究

近年来,保险诈骗案件呈多发态势,扰乱了正常的保险经营秩序,阻碍了中国保险业的健康发展。研究保险诈骗犯罪及防范策略,对加强预防保险欺诈行为、维护正常的保险秩序有着重要意义。防范保险诈骗可采取以下措施:(一)保险公司自身应强化管理,提高诈骗风险控制能力;(二)保险行业内部应相互配合,搭建业内信息共享平台;(三)金融检察部门要惩防并举,加强对保险行业的保护;(四)执法部门之间需加强协作,构建线索移送通报制度;(五)公众法制宣传要点面结合,加强骗保犯罪预防效果。     

越南毒品政策：变化中的十年

HIV在毒品注射者中的迅速传播引起了越南政府的高度关注,并在1992～2011年间对毒品政策进行了重大调整。发现和分析促成政策转变的因素,探讨毒品政策与实践之间存在的矛盾,及其对吸毒人员获得有效的公共卫生服务的影响,对政府加强毒品问题防控尤为必要。政府应当发现政策冲突对社会及公共卫生可能造成的影响;不同管理部门应协调一致;应建立鼓励公民参与政策制定过程的制度,以强化毒品政策与实践的联系等对策。     

大学城的治安问题及其校园案件的对策思考

大学城的治安问题比较严重,有具有敌意的欺凌、体罚、伤害等暴力行为;有寻衅滋事、绑架、恐怖等安全问题;有盗窃、抢劫等刑事案件。这种情况反映了高校在安全防范方面还存在诸多隐患和漏洞:一是大学生防范意识薄弱,给犯罪分子以可乘之机;二是校园人员结构复杂,不法分子混迹其中;三是学校保卫力量薄弱,物防、技防科技含量低;四是学校领导重视不够,缺少快速反应机制。大学城里校园案件的高发已经影响到正常的教学秩序、科研秩序和师生员工的生活秩序,为了维护高校稳定,应当采取有效措施,分析、研究案件的多发原因和规律特点,制定切实可行的预防措施,降低发案率,营造安全、文明的校园环境。     

社会控制理论视角下的校园暴力防范研究简

校园暴力的频频发生,引起了社会的广泛关注.社会控制理论认为个人与社会的联系薄弱,个人就会无约束地随意进行犯罪行为,校园暴力就是个人与社会联系薄弱的结果.因此,要预防校园暴力的发生,必须加强家庭、学校等方面的社会控制.     

报复社会型个人极端暴力犯罪的历史演变与综合防治(1978-2013)

改革开放以来的35年中,报复社会型个人极端暴力犯罪从之初的个别省市偶发逐渐蔓延至全国且逐年攀升,并呈现出以男性犯罪人为主、以纵火和爆炸为主要作案手段、公共场所及中小学校园成为主要作案地点、私人恩怨和个人需求未得到政府满足为案件主要起因、以不特定公众为主要侵害对象、危害后果严重等特点。为了有效防控报复社会型个人极端暴力犯罪,需要全面提高罪前的综合防控与预测预警能力、罪中的现场处置与应急反应能力以及罪后的严厉打击与妥善处置能力。