The Stand Up to Bullying (SU2B) Project: Participatory Action Research with Middle School Youth

The Stand Up to Bullying (SU2B) participatory action research project is presented as an approach to collaborative community action. The SU2B project, conducted in the United States, represents an interdisciplinary collaboration with two county agencies in the state of Maryland: the Local Management Board and the Board of Education.  Over the course of six weeks, 78 middle school students participating in the SU2B project were trained to serve as anti-bullying ambassadors for their schools. Middle school students collaborated with undergraduate students enrolled in a community and applied social psychology course to conduct a photovoice component. Photovoice is a community empowerment and advocacy tool and qualitative research methodology in which people express their experiences with a social or community problem through photography. The middle school students took digital photographs in and around their school that they felt exemplified bullying. From the resultant photos, they selected two and wrote accompanying titles and descriptions, for display in a public art exhibit. Select photographs were subsequently converted into anti-bullying educational posters for display in county public schools. Additionally, photographs were augmented with interviewers with participants and project staff to create anti-bullying educational training videos for use in county public schools. Findings of bullying experiences with middle school students are discussed

The Stand Up to Bullying (SU2B) Project: Participatory Action Research with Middle School Youth

The Stand Up to Bullying (SU2B) participatory action research project is presented as an approach to collaborative community action. The SU2B project, conducted in the United States, represents an interdisciplinary collaboration with two county agencies in the state of Maryland: the Local Management Board and the Board of Education.  Over the course of six weeks, 78 middle school students participating in the SU2B project were trained to serve as anti-bullying ambassadors for their schools. Middle school students collaborated with undergraduate students enrolled in a community and applied social psychology course to conduct a photovoice component. Photovoice is a community empowerment and advocacy tool and qualitative research methodology in which people express their experiences with a social or community problem through photography. The middle school students took digital photographs in and around their school that they felt exemplified bullying. From the resultant photos, they selected two and wrote accompanying titles and descriptions, for display in a public art exhibit. Select photographs were subsequently converted into anti-bullying educational posters for display in county public schools. Additionally, photographs were augmented with interviewers with participants and project staff to create anti-bullying educational training videos for use in county public schools. Findings of bullying experiences with middle school students are discussed

Assessing Feminist Community Psychology Pedagogy

Feminist pedagogy and community psychology share many ideological similarities, including an action-oriented approach to social problems, a focus on the voices of marginalized communities, and an emphasis on empowerment. There is a dearth of research on Feminist Community Psychology Pedagogy (FCPP), yet there is a compelling case for implementation of this approach in the undergraduate psychology curriculum. This article presents focus group findings from seven students who took an undergraduate community psychology course taught with FCPP, to better understand the impact of this teaching approach on their educational experiences. Thematic analysis identified 10 themes, including those regarding student professional growth, the empowering process of collaborative power-sharing, and a deeper understanding of social problems within a broader ecological context. The findings suggest FCPP enhances students’ educational and career development, providing tools otherwise underdeveloped by other pedagogies. These findings have implications for further research and instruction regarding FCPP, as well as broader implications for community psychology as a discipline

Assessing Feminist Community Psychology Pedagogy

Feminist pedagogy and community psychology share many ideological similarities, including an action-oriented approach to social problems, a focus on the voices of marginalized communities, and an emphasis on empowerment. There is a dearth of research on Feminist Community Psychology Pedagogy (FCPP), yet there is a compelling case for implementation of this approach in the undergraduate psychology curriculum. This article presents focus group findings from seven students who took an undergraduate community psychology course taught with FCPP, to better understand the impact of this teaching approach on their educational experiences. Thematic analysis identified 10 themes, including those regarding student professional growth, the empowering process of collaborative power-sharing, and a deeper understanding of social problems within a broader ecological context. The findings suggest FCPP enhances students’ educational and career development, providing tools otherwise underdeveloped by other pedagogies. These findings have implications for further research and instruction regarding FCPP, as well as broader implications for community psychology as a discipline

Epstein-Barr Virus Stimulates Torque Teno Virus Replication: A Possible Relationship to Multiple Sclerosis

Viral infections have been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has frequently been investigated as a possible candidate and torque teno virus (TTV) has also been discussed in this context. Nevertheless, mechanistic aspects remain unresolved. We report viral replication, as measured by genome amplification, as well as quantitative PCR of two TTV-HD14 isolates isolated from multiple sclerosis brain in a series of EBV-positive and -negative lymphoblastoid and Burkitt's lymphoma cell lines. Our results demonstrate the replication of both transfected TTV genomes up to day 21 post transfection in all the evaluated cell lines. Quantitative amplification indicates statistically significant enhanced TTV replication in the EBV-positive cell lines, including the EBV-converted BJAB line, in comparison to the EBV-negative Burkitt's lymphoma cell line BJAB. This suggests a helper effect of EBV infections in the replication of TTV. The present study provides information on a possible interaction of EBV and TTV in the etiology and progression of multiple sclerosis