Michael Bullis

Integrated Approaches to Preventing Antisocial Behavior Patterns among School-Age Children and Youth

This article provides a reconceptualization of the role of schools in preventing antisocial behavior problems among children and youth. The U.S. Public Health Services conceptual model of prevention, involving primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention approaches, is used as an organizing framework to illustrate how schools can deliver interventions more effectively and improve outcomes. Traditional school approaches to coping with students who are at risk and antisocial are reviewed, and the following major topics are addressed: (a) A case is made that schools can play a central, coordinating role in collaboration with families and social service agencies in addressing the challenging problems presented by antisocial students; (b) a generic intervention approach is suggested that involves reducing risk factors for antisocial behavior and enhancing protective factors; (c) a three-level approach to organizing specific interventions for achieving prevention goals and outcomes is described; and (d) recommended interventions or approaches are suggested for each prevention level (i.e., primary, secondary, tertiary). The article concludes with a discussion of some factors associated with a revised mission for schools in this domain and how these factors may impair or enhance the necessary changes required to achieve this goal.

Overcoming the Odds: Qualitative Examination of Resilience among Formerly Incarcerated Adolescents:

Adolescents who have been incarcerated are at extreme risk for poor adult outcomes. However, some former youth offenders become successful, happy adults, presenting a profile of strength and coping known as resilience. This article describes the results of a 5-year qualitative examination of resilience among a group of adolescents transitioning from youth correctional facilities back into their communities. Topics discussed include predelinquent histories, experiences in the correctional system, and postcorrections transition. Currently about half of the respondents are successful—employed, going to school, or raising children. Others are less stable and may be at risk of being rearrested. Internal and situational factors accounting for these differences are discussed. Implications for practice include restructuring post-corrections transition services and improving school-based supports to at-risk youth.

A Promise Unfulfilled: Social Skills Training With At-Risk and Antisocial Children and Youth

Antisocial behavior exhibited by children and youth has been an issue of concern for societies throughout history. Events of recent years in the United States (e.g., school shootings, increases in criminal adjudication among children and youth, escalation in violent behavior within this age group) have galvanized public concern and raised antisocial behavior among children and youth to a national health care issue. The purpose of this article is to briefly review the social skills training knowledge base and describe social skills training considerations for at-risk and antisocial children and youth at 3 grade levels: (a) preschool and elementary, (b) middle school, and (c) high school. Characteristics of students, composition of model social skills interventions, and, where possible, efficacy data are reviewed and discussed. We conclude the article by discussing recommendations for future research in this area.

The Importance of Getting Started Right Further Examination of the Facility-to-Community Transition of Formerly Incarcerated Youth

This study examined the facility-to-community transition of 531 incarcerated youth following their release from Oregons juvenile correctional system, for a period of 12 months. Data on the sample were gathered through phone interviews, while they were still in custody and then every 6 months after their parole. The interviewees were asked to describe their work, educational, and living and social experiences in the community. For this sample, (a) being engaged in work and/or school within 6 months after parole and (b) receiving services from mental health and other social service agencies within 6 months in the community were associated with being engaged in work and/or school 12 months after exit. Participants with disabilities were less likely to be engaged and were more likely to return to the juvenile correctional system than participants without disabilities.

PREDICTING THE ARREST STATUS OF ADOLESCENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN TRANSITION

The purposes of this study were to (a) explore predictors of arrest status with a sample of adolescents with disabilities while in school and (b) examine whether predictors of in-school arrest status would also predict arrest status 1 year out of school. Student and parent interviews were conducted while students were still in school and then 1 year after leaving school. Logistic regression analyses revealed an association between demonstrating lower personal/social-achievement skills and being arrested. In addition, gender and disability status each was associated with being arrested: Males with disabilities were more likely than females with disabilities to be arrested sometime in their school career and 1 year out of school; individuals identified with serious emotional disturbance (SED) or specific learning disabilities (SLD) were more likely to be arrested sometime in their school career and 1 year out of school than individuals with disabilities who were not identified as SED or SLD. Furthermore, being arrested at least once while in school was a powerful predictor of being arrested 1 year out of school. Finally, persons who were identified as SLD and who had dropped out of school were substantially more likely to be arrested 1 year out of school than persons with disabilities with only one of these characteristics.

Transition from School to Adult Life: Empowering Youth Through Community Ownership and Accountability

The evolution of transition services for youth with disabilities illustrates the transformation that has occurred from a systems-driven to a youth-centered support approach. This article documents how this shift has occurred. We review research that has influenced the direction of national policies and practices. A chronology of the policies that best represent the seminal foundation for current transition best practices for youth with emotional disturbance (ED) is presented. The field of special education led the way toward articulating the new vision for providing transition support by defining services as the coordination of multiple systems to address life domains (e.g., post-secondary education, employment, independent living, and community adjustment). Promising practices, within the context of the conversion to an ecological model of support that contributes to youth self-determination, include utilization of a youth-centered, strengths-based approach to transition planning, beginning in the middle school years. There remain significant barriers to adoption of the practices that may best support the successful transition of youth. These include lack of coordinated efforts across systems, socioeconomic, and community factors. Committed actions by government, the business sector, and private citizens are essential to address these challenges.

Predictors of Victimization Experiences of Adolescents with Disabilities in Transition

This study explored predictors of victimization experiences on a sample of adolescents with disabilities while in school and 1 year after leaving school, through phone interviews of students and parents. Logistic regression analyses revealed that people with serious emotional disturbance who demonstrated low personal/social achievement skills were more likely to experience victimization sometime in their school career than were people with other disabilities and higher personal/social skills. Variables affecting victimization rates 1 year out of school included prior victimization (while in school), gender (females were more likely to be victimized), and arrest record of people with serious emotional disturbance after leaving school.

Those Who Do Not Return Correlates of the Work and School Engagement of Formerly Incarcerated Youth Who Remain in the Community

In this article we examine the facility-to-community transition experiences of formerly incarcerated youth in the sample who remained in the community for 1 year following release from the juvenile correctional system. Specifically, we studied the relationship of selected predictor variables to engagement status (a transition outcome based on working, going to school, or both activities) at two points in time after the participants exited the juvenile correctional system: 6 months post-exit (Time 1) and 12 months post-exit (Time 2).The data for the study were gathered in a 5-year longitudinal study that examined the community reintegration of 531 incarcerated youth from Oregons juvenile justice system. Data were gathered on the sample while they were still in custody and then every 6 months through phone interviews in order to describe their work, educational, living, and social experiences in the community. Data on their return to the juvenile correctional system were gathered from an extant database maintained by the state agency. Findings suggest that (a) transition and post-exit services may need to be focused to particular subgroups and (b) career/vocational instruction in the juvenile correctional setting coupled with services offered upon returning to the community could have a positive impact on the adjustment of incarcerated youth.

Longitudinal investigation of the post-high school transition experiences of adolescents with traumatic brain injury.

Objective:To describe outcomes for youth with traumatic brain injury (TBI) transitioning from high school to adulthood. Design:Longitudinal design using univariate and multivariate analyses, including survival analysis to predict time to outcomes of interest and longitudinal growth modeling to evaluate factors that predict rates and levels of outcomes over time. Main Outcome Measures:employment, post–secondary education, and independent living status. Participants:Eighty-nine youth and young adults (aged 19–25 years) with TBI (19 mild–moderate TBI and 70 severe TBI). Results:Individuals entering adulthood following childhood TBI experienced fluctuations in rates of employment, enrollment in post–secondary education, and independent living. A higher likelihood of being enrolled in post–secondary education following graduation from high school was associated with being female, later age at injury, and higher socioeconomic status. Overall greater likelihood of employment was associated with higher socioeconomic status, while employment upon high school graduation was associated with more severe injury and lack of rehabilitations services. Greater likelihood of independent living was associated with later age at injury and nonreceipt of rehabilitation services, while shorter time until independent living was associated with less severe injury. Conclusion:Knowledge of how specific factors affect transition outcomes can be used to tailor transition interventions and resources to the needs of students with TBI. Findings related to special education and medical rehabilitation services should be interpreted with caution as the criteria for receipt of both types of services and the links between such services and functional outcomes are unclear.

Identifying And Assessing The Job-Related Social Skills Of Adolescents And Young Adults With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders

Adolescents and young adults (ages 15 to 25) with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) experience difficulties maintaining competitive employment, in large part because of social skills deficits specific to interacting with work supervisors and co-workers in the employment settings. However, only a few studies have sought to identify the types of social interactions and behaviors exhibited by these persons in competitive work placements. This research first described job-related social behaviors for persons with EBD by following the behavioral analytic model and then used this information to develop measures of these skills. This model consisted of four sequential steps: situational analysis (job-related social interactions were identified through structured interviews of workers with EBD, professionals, and employers), generation of alternatives (possible behavioral responses to the interactions were identified by adolescents and young adults with EBD and peers without EBD), response evaluation (professionals evaluated each response alternatives effectiveness in resolving the specific social interaction), and development of the measures (the content from the previous steps was used as the basis for the measures). Two measures were developed: the Scale of Job-related Social Skill Knowledge (SSSK) and the Scale of Job-related Social Skill Performance (SSSP). The SSSK is a structured individual interview in which social interactions are posed to a person with EBD, who then states what he or she would do if involved in such a situation. These responses are recorded and then scored according to guidelines provided in the response evaluation. The SSSP is a rating scale that is completed on individuals by a third-party judge about each individuals social skill performance in work placements. The measures were field-tested and psychometric analyses conducted. Both the SSSK and the SSSP exhibited more than acceptable item and reliability indices and discriminated between groups of persons with and without EBD.