Gang Re-engagement Intentions among Incarcerated Serious Juvenile Offenders

Research examining the factors that precipitate gang membership has contributed substantially to our understanding of gangs and gang-related activity, yet we know little about the factors influencing intentions to re-join a gang after having being incarcerated. This study examines the relationship between gang characteristics, number of incarcerated friends, and family characteristics and gang re-engagement intentions, while controlling for ethnicity. Participants were 206 male serious juvenile offenders interviewed as part of the Pathways to Desistance Study. The model explained between 35% and 47% of variance in gang re-engagement intentions. However, only three variables made a unique statistically significant contribution to the model (punishment if gang rules are broken, importance of gang membership, and moral disengagement), with the strongest predictor being importance of gang membership. The results suggest that challenging young offenders’ perceptions about the importance of gang membership might be particularly effective in reducing gang re-engagement intentions after incarceration

Formulation of MS-74 white thermal-control coating and revised application procedures

Procedures are given for formulating, blending, and applying MS-74 white thermal-control coating and CC-1 primer to spacecraft structures. Improved ultraviolet stability, higher emittance and low absorptivity, and enhanced adhesion characteristics result from the revised procedures

Factors Which Affect the Attitudes of Teachers of English Language Learners Enrolled in Mainstream Classrooms

Increased immigration to the United States over the past fifty years has led to a dramatic increase in enrollment of language minority students in schools throughout the United States. Federal and state laws mandate that public schools accommodate the unique needs of these linguistically and culturally diverse students. English language learners (ELLS) require academic and affective support from their teachers when they are included in mainstream classrooms. Teachers\u27 attitudes toward their students have been shown to be a predictor of student success. Teachers with positive attitudes are more likely to have received training and are also able to modify their instructional strategies when teaching a diverse student population. The fundamental importance of teacher attitude in predicting student success motivated the researcher to investigate the factors that contribute to teacher attitude. To determine these factors the researcher utilized a quantitative research design, employing a survey and multiple regression analysis. The self designed two-part survey was distributed to six hundred South Florida elementary public school teachers who had ELL students in their mainstream classrooms. The first part of the survey contained demographic and background questions which were used to obtain the independent variables of the study. The second part consisted of thirty statements, the responses which enabled the researcher to determine the attitude of participants (dependent variable). The relationships between the variables were studied using multiple regression analysis. The major factors contributing to teacher attitude that emerged from the multiple regression study were (in decreasing order of importance): previous cross cultural experience, ethnicity, administrative support and specific training in working with English language learners. The results of the study emphasize the importance of participation of all teachers in cultural and linguistic diversity training as part of their teacher preparation programs and ongoing professional development. This training should include cross cultural field experiences. The significant contribution of ethnicity to teacher attitude underlines the importance of recruiting a diverse faculty of teachers to schools and teacher education programs in institutions of higher education. The study also indicates that administrative support is of importance to the success of teachers working with a diverse student population

Autoimmune liver disease: evaluating overlapping and cross-over presentations—a case-based discussion

The three classic autoimmune liver diseases are recognised based on identifying varying clinical, laboratory, histological and radiological features that collectively classify patients. In the absence of defined aetiological factors, it is recognised that disease spectrum is broad, and, in this context, it is not infrequent for disease boundaries to be blurred, leading to overlapping features that may be present at the time of diagnosis or may appear later in the course of disease. Given the absence of accepted diagnostic criteria for overlap/cross-over syndromes, alongside weak data for intervention, it is recommended that a multidisciplinary, patient-specific approach be used to establish individual treatment pathways

Impact-monitoring research leads to clear EU policy recommendations to improve services for children of prisoners.

In England and Wales there are an estimated 200,000 children with a parent in prison, and on any given day, an estimated 800,000 children have a parent in prison in the European Union. The COPING team argue that this area has been in need of academic research, and explain how their focus on maintaining and monitoring impact has yielded some very positive results