Catherine N. Dulmus

Student Reports of Peer Bullying Victimization in a Rural School

Three rural schools located in Appalachia, United States, were the site for this research study that examined the prevalence of bullying among children. A convenience sample of students in grades 3 through 8 completed the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire. Results found that of the 192 students included in this study, 158 children (82.3%) reported experiencing some form of bullying at least once in the past three months. This prevalence rate is substantially higher than the figures reported in other U.S. studies. Such a significant finding may confirm that school bullying is a bigger problem in rural communities than in urban areas. Given variations in the definition of bullying and measures of frequency, comparisons to other studies should be made cautiously. Instead, this finding should be viewed as a validation for further research rather than as a definitive conclusion.

Handbook of gerontology: Evidence based approaches to theory, practice and policy

Preface. About the Editors. Contributors. PART I: INTRODUCTION. 1 Global Aging (Karen M. Sowers and William S. Rowe). PART II: EVIDENCE-BASED THEORY. 2 Biological Aspects and Theories of Aging (Laura J. Pankow and Jeffrey M. Solotoroff). 3 Cognitive and Affective Theories of Adult Development (Bert Hayslip Jr. and Benjamin P. Chapman). 4 Personality Theories of Successful Aging (Natalie C. Ebner and Alexandra M. Freund). 5 Wisdom, Life Longings, and Optimal Development (Susanne Scheibe, Ute Kunzmann, and Paul B. Baltes). 6 Sociological Approaches to Understanding Age and Aging (Debra A. Street). PART III: EVIDENCE-BASED HEALTH PRACTICE. 7 Health Promotion (Jill Bradshaw and Waldo C. Klein). 8 Disability (Elizabeth Lightfoot). 9 Sleep Disturbances (Mary Ann Leitz). 10 Sexuality and Intimacy (Linda J. Brock and Glen Jennings). 11 Depression (Leslie Hasche and Nancy Morrow-Howell). 12 Substance Abuse (Noell L. Rowan and Anna C. Faul). 13 Alzheimers Disease (Masahiro Shigeta and Akira Homma). 14 Grief and Bereavement (Robert O. Hansson, Bert Hayslip Jr., and Margaret S. Stroebe). PART IV: EVIDENCE-BASED FAMILY AND COMMUNITY PRACTICE. 15 Parenting Grandchildren (Hwa-Ok Hannah Park and Jan Steven Greenberg). 16 Family Caregiving (Rhonda J. V. Montgomery, Jeannine M. Rowe, and Karl Kosloski). 17 Community- and Facility-Based Care (Gretchen E. Alkema, Kathleen H. Wilber, and Susan M. Enguidanos). 18 Elder Abuse (Patricia Brownell and Gina R. Rosich). 19 Health Decisions and Directives about the End of Life (Jay Wolfson and Rebecca Morgan). PART V: CONCLUSION. 20 Global Challenges for an Aging Population (Jeanette C. Takamura). Author Index. Subject Index.

School-Based Violence Prevention Programs

Abstract School violence in the United States is an issue of grave concern for educators, students, parents, and communities. Many schools have responded to the problem by initiating prevention interventions without empirical evidence of effectiveness, assuming it is better to do something rather than to do nothing. In some cases though, more harm than good may result when such intervention strategies and programs are implemented only for the sake of doing something in response to the problem. The literature review examines research on school violence and provides a review of selected school-based violence prevention programs with beginning empirical support of their effectiveness. The authors stress the importance of schools implementing school-based violence prevention programs that have produced empirical evidence of effectiveness.

A University–Community Partnership to Advance Research in Practice Settings The HUB Research Model

Human service organizations are uniquely positioned, given their scope of practice and access to consumers with the widest range of needs to significantly increase the national capacity for research if they were effectively equipped with the knowledge, skills, and funding to integrate research and development into their ongoing organizational activities. A university–community research partnership is one approach to achieving this goal. This article describes the Hillside/UB (HUB) Research Model, a formal research partnership between Hillside Family of Agencies (HFA) in Rochester, NY and the Buffalo Center for Social Research (BCSR) at the University at Buffalo (UB). The HUB research model combines the practice expertise and research subject access of HFA with the BCSR research expertise and resources to develop collaboratively a vibrant research partnership based on community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles that garners the strengths and assets of both partners to realize a true research to practice and practice to research agenda.

Comparing Sex Offender Risk Classification Using the Static-99 and LSI-R Assessment Instruments.

Objective: This study compares sex offender risk classification using two popular actuarial risk assessment instruments—the Static-99 and the Level of Service Inventory–Revised (LSI-R). Despite their extensive use, the two scales assess different types of risk factors and research has yet to compare them. Method: Static-99 and LSI-R risk assessments were compared for 30 adult male sex offenders attending a community-based treatment program. Results: A paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed a significant difference (Z = –3.962,p < .001) between the instruments, with 63.3% of the sample classified as higher risk for reoffending by the Static-99 than by the LSI-R. Conclusions: The Static-99 may be a more conservative risk assessment tool. Yet because the LSI-R provides useful information about an offender’s current needs not included on the Static-99, treatment providers should use both instruments. This more comprehensive assessment of criminogenic risk and need will better inform supervision and intervention decisions.

The Prevention of Mental Disorders in Children and Adolescents: Future Research and Public-Policy Recommendations

The following literature review examines the research on the prevention of mental illness in children and adolescents; relevant theories also are surveyed. The results point to directions for future research and present public policy. A risk-reduction model in preventative research, whereby risk factors are identified and matched to empirically tested interventions, is most promising. If risk factors can be decreased or in some way altered while protective factors are enhanced, the likelihood of at-risk children eventually developing a mental disorder would decrease. The ultimate goal is to achieve optimal prevention by building the principles of prevention into the ordinary activities of everyday life and into community structures to enhance development over the entire life span.

Social Work Education: Status Quo or Change?.

The authors believe that Stoesz and Karger did not go far enough in their critique. The struggling state of the profession and of social work education is symptomatic of a much larger and fundamental systemic problem that cannot be addressed solely by fixing the Council on Social Work Education or increasing requirements for Social Science Citation Index publications. Social work must build a broad-based capacity for rigorous scientific inquiry and train the next generation of faculty researchers and practitioners to carry on this essential work.

Domestic Violence: A Literature Review Reflecting an International Crisis

This empirical literature review examines and synthesizes international domestic violence literature related to prevalence, types of violence, honor and dowry killings, health/pregnancy effects, and social stigma. The review continues with a summary of international intervention efforts, recommendations for culturally competent practice, suggestions for future social work research, and a summary.

“Hotspots” for Bullying

Abstract Bullying is a chronic and ubiquitous problem that has ignited concern about childrens safety at school. Most studies completed thus far have focused on the interpersonal psychological characteristics of bully and victim, but little has been examined regarding common locations or hotspots for bullying. This study found location to be of import in that hotspots can be identified at each school and differ with regard to gender and grade. Schools can prevent and intercede more effectively with bullying if they can identify their particular hotspots, target those specific locations, and educate school personnel. Our full development of this area has yet to be achieved. Research is critically needed, in order to further understand hotspots, their relation to types of bullying behaviors, and their implication for prevention of bullying.

Principles for Organizational Change in Human Service Agencies

ABSTRACT Human service agencies are facing profound changes as a result of variations in current societal political, social and environmental forces. This paper provides a review of the literature on organizational change in an effort to determine which strategies are most successful in facilitating this process and achieving desired results within agencies. Models, methods and approaches are discussed. Five principles to increase success in organizational change are proposed: (1) develop a system for continuous discussion and feedback for entities likely to be impacted by the change including those within the organization and ones at the outside constituency levels; (2) prepare the organization for change; (3) ensure that there are methods, processes and resources available to provide education and training regarding new technologies, policy changes and the change process itself; (4) using employee participation, develop a system to recognize and reward employees for achieving targeted results and organizational goals; and (5) use the organizational change effort to build into the agency a continuous process for change.