Sibylle Artz

Working Relationships and Outcomes in Multidisciplinary Collaborative Practice Settings

A multidisciplinary research team of academics and community practitioner partners worked together to design and conduct an investigation into the purposes, processes, and outcomes of multidisciplinary collaborative practice. A review of the literature revealed a confusing array of terminology while also pointing to potential benefits and challenges, models for practice, and suggestions for research. The pilot research study consisted of six case studies set in three different programs. The principal finding was that no single model can be applied to all multidisciplinary collaborative endeavors. The appropriate approach depends on the context and goals of the work and on the organizational structure. This study highlights the process for collaboration and its prerequisites: Shared physical space, opportunities for formal and informal communication, consensual decision-making, team/group coordination, and organizational support. Additionally, the role of specific disciplines appears to be less predominant in the process of multidisciplinary collaboration than the commitment of individuals to collaborating. The benefits reported by practitioners were suggested to far outweigh the challenges associated with the approach to practice. Future research should incorporate a stronger client voice, include investigation of inter-group and interagency collaboration, and extend to a wider variety of practice settings.

Where have all the school girls gone? Violent girls in the school yard.

In this ethnographic study of violent, white, suburban school girls, it was found that such girls live with negative notions of self and the acceptance of the belief that women achieve their greatest importance when they command the attention of men. In their life worlds, females are devalued and oppressed as a matter of course, and violence in all its forms is justified on the grounds that the victimcaused the assailant to attack the victim. The key informants reported beating up other girls because these girls appear to be threatening their relationships with males and therefore “deserve” to be beaten. They exhibit a classic form of oppressed group behavior and believe that when they are engaging in violence against other girls, they are “doing the right thing.”

What, so what, then what?: The gender gap in school-based violence and its implications for child and youth care practice

This article describes current research in school- and community-based youth violence, and shows how gender differences in attitudes toward and experiencing of violence contribute to males’ resistance to violence prevention programming. Thus, the centrality of gender to violence is underlined. Parental correlates of violencerelated youth attitudes and self-reported experience with violence are also described and suggest that fathers have a great deal of influence in this area. The implications of such research for direct child and youth care practice are discussed.

Laying Down the Family Burden: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Resilience in the Midst of Family Violence

Questionnaire data from a cross-sectional study of a randomly selected sample of 5,149 middle-school students from four EU countries (Austria, Germany, Slovenia, and Spain) were used to explore the effects of family violence burden level, structural and procedural risk and protective factors, and personal characteristics on adolescents who are resilient to depression and aggression despite being exposed to domestic violence. Using logistic regression to identify resilience characteristics, our results indicate that structural risks like ones sex, migration experience, and socioeconomic status were not predictive of either family violence burden levels or resilience. Rather, nonresilience to family violence is derived from a combination of negative experiences with high levels of family violence in conjunction with inconsistent parenting, verbally aggressive teachers, alcohol and drug misuse and experiences of indirect aggression with peers. Overall, negative factors outweigh positive factors and play a greater role in determining the resilience level that a young person achieves.

Revisiting the Moral Domain

In my ongoing research on understanding adolescent girls’ use of violence, I have long been haunted by a remark made to me by a 14-year-old girl who was trying hard to help me to see the rationale for her use of violence. As she pointed out, “Violence is wrong, and I only hit people I have to.” She was not alone in making this claim. All the girls I have spoken with over the years have told me one by one, “I never hit anyone unless I have to,” and “I only hit people who deserve it.” For them, the use of violence was not desirable, but none-the-less required. In other words, for them, there appeared to be a moral imperative for their actions.

Rethinking Indirect Aggression: The End of the Mean Girl Myth

Abstract Although much has been made of the “mean girl” and her use of indirect aggression, this cross-cultural study of 5,789 adolescents from six countries (Austria, Canada, Germany, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland) found that significantly more boys (46.8%) than girls (31.7%) reported using indirect aggression against peers. Additionally, because females reported an almost 19 times higher probability than males for using indirect aggression against opposite sex peers, males are by far the more likely targets of indirect aggression—thus suggesting that indirect aggression is a male, not a female, issue.

Rites of Passage: A Conversation on Becoming Adult

A renewed focus on rites of passage and particularly on the “coming of age” of adolescents is noticeable both within North America and beyond. In this article, three experienced youth workers engage in a conversation on a range of professional and research issues related to rites of passage and in the process try to come to grips with the meaning and significance of current youth and community trends. A dominant theme of the discussion is the need for adults to truly become and act as adults in order to assist young people to make a successful transition from childhood to adulthood.

Gender: Dynamische Resilienzperspektiven für den geschlechtsspezifischen Umgang Jugendlicher mit familiärer Gewalt

Die negativen Effekte familiarer Gewalt auf die Entwicklung Jugendlicher sind gut dokumentiert (Hussey et al. 2006; Loeber et al. 2008a; Prinzie et al. 2008). Familiare Gewalt im Jugendalter bedingt die Entwicklung von Gewalttatigkeit und Depression (Gilbert et al. 2009; Hussey et al. 2006; Kassis et al. 2010; Kitzmann et al. 2003; Yates et al. 2003). Dafur gibt es in der Fachliteratur viele Belege (Dunn et al. 2011; Kmett Danielson et al. 2010; Stormshak et al. 2011; Zinzow et al. 2009). Gewalttatigkeit, die mit Depressionsneigung einhergeht, kann sowohl bei Kindern im Grundschulalter wie auch spater in der Adoleszenz und bei jungen Erwachsenen beobachtet werden (Leadbeater u. Hoglund 2009). Die wichtigsten Phanomene familiarer Gewalt, die mit Depressionsneigung und Gewalttatigkeit Jugendlicher verbunden sein konnen, sind einerseits die physische Misshandlung Jugendlicher durch ihre Eltern und andererseits die physische Gewalt zwischen den Eltern (Gilbert et al. 2009; Hussey et al. 2006; Kitzmann et al. 2003; Yates et al. 2003). Das Anliegen unserer Studie (Kassis et al. 2013) und dieses Beitrags ist es, personale und soziale Faktoren zu identifizieren, die Gewaltresilienz trotz familiarer Gewalterfahrungen erklaren.