James M. Frabutt

Racial Socialization Messages and the Quality of Mother/Child Interactions in African American Families

Racial socialization messages were examined within a particular ecological niche: two-parent, African American families with a child in early adolescence. The linkage between mothers’provision of racial socialization messages and family process components (e.g., communication, warmth, negativity, child monitoring, and involvement) of the mother/child relationship was examined. Sixty-six African American mothers and their early adolescent sons and daughters participated in videotaped mother/child interactions and completed questionnaires regarding family demographics and parenting. Based on the frequency of their provision of proactive responses to discrimination items, mothers were categorized into three groups (high, moderate, and low). Results indicated that mothers in the moderate socialization group exhibited the most positivity, were the most involved, and monitored their child’s activities the most. Mothers in that group also displayed the lowest levels of dyadic negativity. Mothers in the moderate socialization group had children who exhibited the most positivity and displayed the lowest levels of negativity.

Family conflict in divorced and non-divorced families: Potential consequences for boys’ friendship status and friendship quality

This study examined associations between family conflict and the quality of boys’ friendships in divorced and non-divorced families. Interviews and self-report measures were completed by 173 boys (Mage = 8.10; 92 Caucasian, 65 African American) and their parents from divorced and non-divorced families. Findings indicated that boys from divorced families had fewer friends, and lower quality friendships, than boys from non-divorced families. Marital conflict was associated with low levels of reasoning in mother-son and sibling-brother relationships in non-divorced families, and low levels of reasoning in father-son relationships in divorced families. Family conflict-resolution strategies mediated connections between marital conflict and the number of boys’ mutual friendships as well as boys’ friendship quality.

Juvenile justice and mental health: Youth and families in the middle

Addressing the mental health needs of youth in the juvenile justice system is a key imperative for all stakeholders interested in preventing and reducing juvenile delinquency. Despite the substantially higher rates of mental health disorders among these youth, services and approaches are fraught with barriers including inadequate assessment, fragmentation, and deficit-based intervention. Comprehensive, system-level reform is necessary to better address the needs of youth with mental health disorders entering the juvenile justice system. Using a public health approach to youth violence as an overarching framework, the need for a community-based, family-centered, strength-based system of care philosophy is outlined.

Factors Associated With Mental Health and Juvenile Justice Involvement Among Children With Severe Emotional Disturbance

Recent research has highlighted the fact that there is an overrepresentation of children with mental health problems in the juvenile justice system. Thus, this study uses a clinical sample of children receiving mental health services to examine demographic (e.g., age, ethnicity), person-level (e.g., anxious and/or depressed), family-level (e.g., number of transitions in living situations), and school-level factors associated with being involved in the mental health and juvenile justice service systems (i.e., dual involvement). Analyses were conducted separately by gender to investigate differences in dual involvement and possible differences in the predictors of dual involvement. For boys and girls, older adolescents and a higher number of living transitions were associated with dual involvement. For girls only, depression and/or anxiety and social problems were associated with dual involvement. The findings highlight the need for greater collaboration among service systems given the strong overlap between mental health and juvenile justice involvement for many children.

Teaching Conflict Resolution Skills to Middle and High School Students Through Interactive Drama and Role Play

ABSTRACT In response to the rising levels of school conflict, the present study investigated a new approach to conflict resolution for middle and high school students using interactive drama and role play called the Win-Win Resolutions program. The standardized curriculum delivered within the school setting includes strategies for self-control and anger coping, self-management of feelings, and interpersonal problem-solving. Participants included 2,440 students using a pre-post survey methodology. Results indicated middle and high school students showing a decrease in their levels of relational aggression, and high schools students showing a decrease in their levels of physical aggression. Furthermore, high school students indicated an increase in their levels of effective communication while both middle and high school students exhibited an increase in their general knowledge regarding positive conflict resolution strategies. Implications and recommendations for school-based conflict resolution programs are offered.

What are they Saying about Catholic Schools? Discourse on PK-12 Catholic Education, 2005 to 2010

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of research conducted on Catholic schools and Catholic education during the period 2005 to 2010. The authors proffer both summary and critique, identifying emerging patterns and trends. Recommendations for future research are also included. The breadth and depth of recent research on Catholic education is instructive to educational policy leaders, private school administrators, church officials, and parents.

Cognitive Attributions and Emotional Expectancies Predict Emotions in Mother-Adolescent Interactions.

The purpose of this study was to examine adolescent’s hostile attributions of mother’s intent and emotional self-expectancies as contributors to expression of emotion between mothers and adolescents. Data were collected from 268 10- to 12-year-olds (133 girls, 135 boys) and their mothers. Each dyad was observed in a conversational activity that was coded for both partners’ expressions of four discrete emotions: happiness, anger, sadness, and fear. Adolescents responded to hypothetical stories to assess their emotional expectancies and attributions. Regression analysis revealed that adolescents’ hostile attributions and emotional expectancies made independent contributions to the expression of happiness and anger with their mother. Adolescents who interpreted their mother’s hypothetical behavior as hostile, and who expected to feel less happiness and more anger in response to their mother’s hypothetical behavior, expressed less happiness and more anger with their mother. The findings support the conceptual distinction between hostile attributions and emotional expectancies.

Supporting Mental Health and Wellness among Private School Students: A Survey of Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools

Little systematic inquiry has focused on school-based mental health services in the Catholic education sector, which educates more than two million children annually in the United States. More than 400 Catholic elementary and secondary schools were surveyed to inform a baseline environmental scan measuring how Catholic schools nationally are serving childrens mental health needs. The article sheds light on patterns of mental health staffing and resource provision, student psychosocial and mental health issues, mental health service provision, and barriers to and challenges of mental health service provision. The findings are contextualized by comparison with estimates of public school mental health service provision, consideration of funding issues pertinent to the private school sector, and the continuing need for strategic assessment and action planning to support student mental health.

Systematic observations of neighborhood order: assessing the methodology in evaluating a community-based initiative

A systematic pre- and postintervention neighborhood observation constituted one component of the evaluation of an initiative to eliminate a street-drug market. Analysis focused on multiple indicators of social and physical order and disorder, as well as physical decay. No noticeable changes were found, but variations in physical and social attributes between the market area and other segments of the neighborhood were revealed. These results suggest lessons that can be learned—and questions that should be considered—with regard to the application of the neighborhood observation methodology to an evaluation of this type of strategic, community-based initiative.

Resident perceptions of an overt drug elimination strategy

Open-air drug markets are destructive to communities and negatively influence community residents. To combat open-air drug markets, a data-driven, focused deterrence approach drawn from David Kennedy’s “pulling levers” framework was used in two North Carolina cities. Until now, the elements of the strategy have only been articulated through the perspective of law-enforcement personnel. However, community residents living in open-air drug market areas offer critical perspectives that frequently go unvoiced. Through the use of focus groups with community residents, this article elucidates the perspectives and perceptions of community residents as they relate to the strategy and emphasizes the imperative community role in deterring drug crime.