Elizabeth Beck

Prevention and Intervention Programming: Lessons from an After-School Program.

Given that thoughtfully developed formal after-school programs can make a difference in the academic performance of schoolchildren, and that some public schools are implementing their own on-site after-school curricula, this study sought to identify programmatic features that appear to be associated with successful after-school programming. Qualitative methods were used and the study site was the Manchester Youth Development Center, which has a twenty-five-year record of effective service. The six elements found as salient were that both structure and autonomous space are provided; academic achievement is supported; the program is culturally consistent (in the present case, African-American cultural patterns are evidenced); there is a core of committed authoritative adults; the leadership is child-centered; and the environment is safe.

Predictors of depression in a sample of African-American homeless men: identifying effective coping strategies given varying levels of daily stressors.

In a sample of African-American, homeless or insecurely sheltered men, the occurrence of discrete stressors in the prior week contributed to the experience of depressive symptoms among this generally stressed population. Reliance on active, problem-focused coping strategies as opposed to emotion-coping strategies was associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms contradicting the hypothesis that active coping is counter-productive for African-American men. However, depressive symptoms increased, with added uncontrollable stress, even for active copers, contradicting a stress-buffering hypothesis. Under conditions of high uncontrollable stress, problem-focused coping was associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms than emotion-focused coping, however, additional discrete stressors exerted less impact on the level of depressive symptoms among the emotion-focused copers than the active, problem-focused copers.

Disenfranchised Grief and Nonfinite Loss as Experienced by the Families of Death Row Inmates

The families of death row inmates experience grief and loss issues that have been neglected by scholars and clinicians alike. The issues found in this population are unique and require our understanding. The present study uses the concepts of disenfranchised grief and nonfinite loss to uncover the pain experienced by the children and other family members who have a loved one on death row. Kenneth Dokas (1989) concept of disenfranchised grief is utilized to bring attention to the ways in which the circumstances surrounding an execution leave the family members of those condemned to death outside of the “grieving rules” that exist in the United States. Family members are disenfranchised from their grief, as society does not socially validate their pain. The loss that they feel is also nonfinite (Bruce & Schultz, 2001) in that it is continuous and denies the families all of the hopes, dreams, and expectations that they had for their loved one who now sits on death row. The qualitative interview method was utilized by the authors of this study to gather data from 26 family members of death row inmates who are incarcerated along the East Coast of the United States. The reactions of this group of family members are varied and complex, yet they include the following common responses: social isolation due to stigma and their own feelings of criminalization, intensified family conflict between family members who grieve differently from one another, diminished self-esteem, shame, diffused and specific feelings of guilt, and a chronic state of despair. This study explores virtually untapped terrain. An examination of the microlevel effects of the death penalty on families provides insight in to the area of death and dying, especially as it is related to disenfranchised loss and nonfinite grief. In addition, this study provides insight into the death penalty and its effects.

Consensus Organizing: A Practice Model for Community Building

ABSTRACT Through a case study this paper explores consensus organizing as a community practice model explicating its core tenets, strategies, and tactics. The premises of consensus organizing make it different from conflict approaches. Specifically, consensus organizing believes that: power does not have to be redistributed but it can be grown, mutual self-interest provides a powerful tool for change, people often behave in reasonable ways when given reasonable choices, and alliances that support social justice goals can be formed between people of divergent backgrounds. Consensus organizing should not be viewed as a replacement for other forms of community organizing and political activity, but rather as an additional tool for organizers.

Linking informal social control and restorative justice: moving social disorganization theory beyond community policing

Much of what is at the heart of social disorganization theory’s approach to neighborhood crime prevention has been ignored in favor of policies that are more closely associated with deterrence and rational choice theories. Specifically, ideas of informal social control and collective efficacy have often been translated into policies of community surveillance and the reporting of suspicious behaviors to the police. While these policies may make neighborhoods less attractive to offenders because they create higher certainty levels of recognition, and subsequently arrest, social disorganization theory, at its heart, suggests crime prevention policies of a very different nature: policies that are more closely associated with restorative justice, re‐integrative shaming and peacemaking criminology. These associations are highlighted and provide a conceptual model for a community crime prevention program that is more consistent with the underlying nature of social disorganization theory.

Strategies for Preventing Neighborhood Violence: Toward Bringing Collective Efficacy into Social Work Practice

Neighborhood violence has profound effects on issues associated with social work practice, such as health, safety, and the positive development of children, youth, and families. This article brings together the literatures in criminology and public health that examine violence and social works history in community practice to develop violence prevention strategies. One important concept from the criminology and public health literatures is collective efficacy, defined as neighbors having shared values, trust, and a willingness to intervene in neighborhood problems. By building on the community practice literature and studies from peacemaking criminology, the article provides examples of ways that collective efficacy can be built and implemented in low income neighborhoods. Strategies include awareness of collective efficacy, relationship building, bystander education, and restorative justice.

Offenders’ Family Members’ Responses to Capital Crimes: The Need for Restorative Justice Initiatives

Discussions of punishment for homicide usually focus on either retributive justice or deterrence. This article attempts to broaden these discussions to include using restorative justice to supplement the traditional judicial process in capital cases. Qualitative interviews with 19 family members of offenders tried in capital cases in the South are used to explore the need for restorative justice in capital cases. Results indicate that offenders’ family members often experience trauma; express empathy for victims and their families, as well as a desire to connect with them; and the community plays a critical role in their ability to cope with the homicide and its aftermath. The authors conclude that restorative justice practices should be explored to help victims’ and offenders’ family members cope with homicide and the trial that follows.

Using Feminist Methods and Restorative Justice to Interview Capital Offenders’ Family Members:

Researching sensitive topics is critical to understanding women’s lives. However, this research often carries the risk of retraumatization and exploitation. This articleexamines the development of a sensitive-topic interview protocol that sought to minimize harm and to gain reliable and valid data by using principles from feminist methods and theory, and restorative justice. The development of the protocol is examined and its effectiveness is explored in a postinterview survey of family members of capital offenders. The data indicate that the methods minimized harm and that the protocol resulted in a robust understanding of the participants’ lived experience from their perspectives.

Transforming Communities: Restorative Justice as a Community Building Strategy

Restorative justice is entering the social work literature as a strategy that can transform lives harmed by violence. However, the literature has yet to explore how restorative justice can transform communities. Despite the lack of published information, communities across the globe and the United States are experiencing important benefits from restorative justice-based interventions. This article explores 4 restorative justice strategies that seek to transform communities: restorative boards, community conferencing, community restorative support, and truth and reconciliation commissions. The examination of the strategies includes case studies that are used to support a larger discussion of application, practice, outcomes, evaluation literature, and critiques.

An Intersectional Model

Abstract Although there is a growing literature on the experiences and service needs of ethnically and culturally diverse individuals, families and communities, the interaction of gender with other diversities has not been widely explored. This paper examines data collected from six affinity-based focus groups of women: refugees, older women, African American women, lesbians, girls, and women with disabilities to explore the interaction of gender with other diversities. All of the groups reported an interaction between gender and their affinity group, and the ways in which that interaction contributed to their subordinate position in society and within their population group was described. Implications for practice are discussed.