On the Front Lines: Educating Teachers about Bullying and Prevention Methods

Problem statement: Bullying is a serious problem in American schools and is characterized by aggressive behavior distinguished by unequal power and the intention to cause physical, social, or emotional harm to others Bullying is evolving from the classic image of a big schoolyard bully picking on smaller kids to a more technologically, sophisticated model of kids using cyber technology to electronically tease, bully and harass their peers with texting, voicemails, emails and posts on public websites, like Facebook, that are popular with young students. While parents are and should be encouraged and trained to recognize understand the insidious nature of techno bullying, it is not enough. The schools should take an active stance against bullying and this includes training teachers and other personnel to be trained to recognize the signs and to intervene in bullying. Approach: This article discussed a research project undertaken to get assess the following: how educators recognize bullying, what they can do and actually do to intervene as well as their need for more training and autonomy to intervene. Results: There were 145 completed surveys, with 51 partially completed surveys. The results were reported for the completed surveys only. Conclusion: This study examined how well a subset of teachers recognize the signs of cyber/techno bullying as well as their feelings of preparedness to intervene with the bullies and the bullied

Deaf Criminal Offenders-Examining the Role of Deficient Socialization Due to Linguistic Developmental Delay

The central research question of this study is to understand the relationship between the acquisition of language (either English or American Sign Language [ASL]) and the development of the trajectory of criminal behavior of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing offenders through their language and identity development. It is hypothesized that a delay in language development, due to early or congenital deafness, results in a deficiency in the normal childhood socialization process and that this deficiency plays a determining role in the development of criminal behavior of Deaf children and adults. The proposed methodology will consist of detailed personal interviews with subjects, identified by the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, who are either presently incarcerated or on probation or parole. Additionally, there will be a review of relevant case records; psychological reports, educational histories and criminal offense histories, to provide ancillary information

Lonnie Athens Revisited: The Social Construction of Violence

Researchers are continually looking for the definitive answer to the question of what causes violence; whether it is a product of biology or socialization or, perhaps, a bit of both. Lonnie Athens, a criminologist, is known primarily for his theory about the unique transforming process gone through by individuals to become dangerous, violent offenders. Athens, himself, said that discourse about the etiologies of violent behavior cannot be broken down into a dichotomous model; either bio-physiological or socialization, but rather should be conceptualized more holistically. This paper analyzes Athens\u27s theory within a greater context of leading theories about violence

Poster: On the Front Lines: Educating Teachers About Bullying and Prevention Methods

Bullying is a serious problem in schools, and characterized as aggressive behavior distinguished by unequal power and the intention to cause physical, social, or emotional harm (Hirschstein, Von Schojack, Edstrom, Frey, Snell & McKenzie, 2007; Olweus, 1991; Smith & Brain, 2000). Bullying is evolving from the classic image of a big schoolyard bully picking on smaller kids to a more technologically sophisticated model of kids using cyber technology to electronically tease, bully and harass their peers with texting, voicemails, emails and posts on public websites, like Facebook, that are popular with young students. The schools should take an active stance against bullying and this includes training teachers and other personnel to recognize the signs and to intervene in bullying. This paper examines how a subset of teachers recognize the signs of cyber bullying as well as their preparedness to intervene with the bullies and the bullied

Poster: Testing a Theory - Lonnie Athens\u27 Violentization

Researchers are continually looking for the definitive answer to the question of what causes violence; whether it is a product of biology or socialization or, perhaps, a bit of both. Lonnie Athens, a criminologist, is known primarily for his theory about the unique transforming process gone through by individuals to become dangerous, violent offenders (1989, 1997). Athens, himself, said that discourse about the etiologies of violent behavior cannot be broken down into a dichotomous model; either bio-physiological or socialization, but rather should be conceptualized more holistically. This poster represents a secondary analysis of an existing database from research designed to create personality profiles of inmates convicted of violent crimes

Poster: Maximizing a Sample: A Report on the Efficacies of Using a Web-Based Survey Tool to Conduct Criminal Justice Research

The Internet has created innovative ways to conduct research. One can now download data from any number of criminal justice archives and conduct secondary analyses. There are also web-based programs from which one can design, create and disseminate surveys and that will allow one to store the data for analyses. Two advantages of such technology are that the sample, theoretically, can be big and that respondents may participate with their anonymity intact. This method of conducting surveys has the potential to reach a wide range of potential subjects and thus generate a large N. However, the disadvantages of using an online instrument includes issues of reliability, content validity, internal validity, external validity, selection bias and mortality. All are worrisome; all are genuine causes of concern. This poster will present survey results as well as a discussion of both the advantages and drawbacks of this methodology

Social Work and Criminal Justice: Weaving the Two Together in the Classroom - Our Experience

Often times, the most relevant and effective policies are those that take into account the multiple factors which impact individuals, families, and communities. Whether developing programs, treatment protocol, or policy initiatives, those that seek to address the interrelatedness of the target populations’ circumstance may have an increased chance of positive impact and success. Incorporating relevant multi-discipline content into the classroom will promote students’ willingness and ability to participate in the development of this broader lens in the assessment of need, development of targeted responses, and the evaluation of those responses. This presentation will focus on the linkages between criminal justice and social work in that effort

Communication isolation as reported by a group of deaf Texas Inmates

Most profoundly deaf children are born into hearing families and often are not exposed to accessible (visual-gestural) language within the home environment. Much incidental communication and instruction is missed as a result. This is a qualitative study evaluating the impact of communication barriers on ten deaf, incarcerated offenders whose primary mode of communication is sign language. Participants represent a range of ages, communication histories, and language abilities. Through interviews, participants\u27 experiences in the home, at school, and in the prison environment were discussed. Study results indicate that common experiences of profoundly deaf, adult signing offenders are restricted early access to communication beyond routine activities, lack of signing male role models, being overlooked or faking success in school, and a need for continuing awareness and responsiveness to the communication needs of deaf offenders

Working with Promising Research Students

Discussion will include experiences mentoring promising student researchers: identifying, grooming, and working with students on projects culminating in presentations of their work at professional conferences