bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Order or No Order: System Versus Learner Control in Sequencing Simulation-Based Scientific Discovery Learning
Authors: Swaak Janine , Jong Ton de
Published: April 2010

What does sequencing have to do with scientific discovery or inquiry learning? Can principles of traditional instruction, such as sequencing, even coexist with ideas of self-regulated learning and constructivism? This chapter first shows that sequencing and scientific discovery can combine. Second, it illustrates that when sequencing and discovery are combined, the question of who is in control of the sequence must be addressed. The scientific discovery environment in the reported study, CIRCUIT, simulates the behavior of current and voltage sources in electrical circuits. It includes two main types of instructional support: (a) model progression and (b) assignments ordered according to different levels in the simulation learning environment. Two experimental conditions were created that were similar with respect to the support, but differed with respect to the amount of freedom given to the students. In the first group, students were free to choose their own sequence for going through the environment. In the second group, the sequence was largely controlled by the environment. The evaluation followed a pre-test post-test design. The results showed no gain in definitional knowledge but did reveal a gain in intuitive knowledge. No major differences between the experimental groups were detected in the post-test results, the interaction processes, or subjective ratings of feeling guided or constrained by the environments. The chapter concludes that order does not always have to be “built in” to instruction.
Making Your Own Order: Order Effects in System- and User-Controlled Settings for Learning and Problem Solving
Authors: Scheiter Katharina , Gerjets Peter
Published: April 2010

This chapter addresses the question of how tasks should be ordered to foster learning and the transfer of knowledge. It first reviews the existing findings on simple-to-complex sequencing and sequencing according to the structural variability of tasks. Second, for the explanation of order effects, it outlines a model that supports deriving testable hypotheses for when and why instructional sequences should vary in performance. Third, it describes the results from two experiments that confirm these hypotheses. Fourth, the model of order effects is applied to user-controlled settings (i.e. those in which the students are allowed to determine the order of the problems). The role of rearranging problems is investigated by means of a questionnaire and an experiment. The chapter ends with a discussion of the instructional implications and some suggestions for future research in this area.
Why Do Offenders’ Families Matter?
Authors: Beck Elizabeth , Britto Sarah , Andrews Arlene
Published: April 2010

This chapter explores the following foundational questions: why do capital offenders' families matter and what is the difference between life in prison and death by execution? Some of the arguments include that families matter because their loss can have devastating effects for themselves, their community and family system, and that their involvement in a capital case often results in a loss of confidence in the criminal justice system. It is also suggested that the families matter from a crime prevention perspective. These families often come from difficult, even devastating backgrounds, and as a result they have valuable information about, and insights into, such problems as poverty, racism, incest, domestic violence, drug and alcohol issues, and mental health problems.
Meet the Families
Authors: Beck Elizabeth , Britto Sarah , Andrews Arlene
Published: April 2010

This chapter examines family effects on individual development and the context of the offenders' home life. Using psychosocial histories of 14 capital defendants, it provides an in-depth portrayal of the multigenerational psychosocial histories of offenders and their family members. These histories often illustrate deep intergenerational pain. The chapter is grouped into four themes that are examined in detail. The themes are: excessive violence and neglect, with ineffective protection; lack of education and support about mental health issues, including substance abuse; unprepared caregivers and family disarray; and institutional barriers to equality.
“You Didn’t Punish Him, You Punished Me”
Authors: Beck Elizabeth , Britto Sarah , Andrews Arlene
Published: April 2010

This chapter explores the effects of execution on family members. It is partially based on participant observation as one of the authors accompanied a mother during the days before and after the execution of her son. From the view of family members, the chapter follows the ritual of execution that begins with the issuing of a warrant for execution, which is notification of an impending execution; the death watch, which is what family members called the time from the warrant to the execution; the execution; and the disbursement of personal effects. It also revisited this particular mother a year after her son's execution and explores the many ways in which her life was destroyed following his death. The chapter includes interviews with other family members who experience an execution and discusses what they describe as the “shared punishment” of execution.
Life Is Different
Authors: Beck Elizabeth , Britto Sarah , Andrews Arlene
Published: April 2010

This chapter seeks to answer the question of how is a death sentence is different from life without the possibility of parole. In order to do so, the experiences of loved ones whose family members' sentences were commuted from death to life are examined. Family members describe their relief, and how they have worked with their loved one to make a meaningful life for him or her from behind bars. Family members said that as long as there is life there is hope, and because questions of executing someone who is innocent also arise, the chapter explores the experience of Joseph Amrine, who was found innocent after 16 years on death row. Holding to the title “Life is Different”, the chapter provides an example of restorative justice in action, as convicted murder William Neal Moore describes how the victim's family members in his murder case obtained his release from prison.
Reaching Out
Authors: Beck Elizabeth , Britto Sarah , Andrews Arlene
Published: April 2010

This chapter examines offenders' family members' need to reach out to the victim's family. It provides two examples of relationships formed between an offender's family members and those of the victim. It also provides examples of how restorative justice has been used in death penalty cases. The chapter highlights defense'initiated victim outreach, a pioneering strategy that seeks to engage victims' family members in a restorative response to capital criminal proceedings. It also explores victim—offender mediation. Some of the challenges of providing restorative justice-based initiatives in death penalty cases are presented.
Systems Failure
Authors: Beck Elizabeth , Britto Sarah , Andrews Arlene
Published: April 2010

This chapter explores the role of the community in restorative justice. It provides multiple examples of ways in which community-based organizations and systems have failed offenders and their family members. Specifically explored are: child protective and interpersonal violence services; mental health and drug and alcohol treatment; schools; juvenile justice; and faith communities. Toward remediating the harm caused by a broken system, or to stem systems that continue to fail, the chapter offers several examples of community-based restorative responses. The goal of these responses is to support the development of caring communities that are proactive in preventing crime by addressing systems failure and inequality.
Thinking Clearly About Marijuana Policy
Authors: Earleywine Mitch
Published: April 2010

This chapter begins by discussing the debates surrounding marijuana policy. It then presents 12 questions to ask before debating marijuana policy. It argues that if each debate about cannabis policy could begin with these questions, not only could our thinking could grow more rational, but our policies could too.
Is Drug Testing in the Workplace Worthwhile?
Authors: Barnwell Sara Smucker , Earleywine Mitch
Published: April 2010

Drug testing has emerged as many employers' answer to the problem of employee substance use. Drug-testing programs seek to provide an objective basis for mandatory employee referral to treatment programs, prevent the onset of drug use among abstaining workers, diminish productivity losses and workplace accidents ascribable to substance use, minimize cost increases for employer-paid health care expenses, and decrease drug-related work turnover. In short, drug testing endeavors to identify or prevent the development of problems in order to maintain a healthy and safe workforce. Despite these admirable goals, drug testing programs do not appear to accomplish these aims, and require considerable expense. In order to understand how drug testing promotes worker health and safety, this chapter examines the literature on the effectiveness of drug testing in the identification of workers whose substance-use impairs job performance.
A Cautious Case for Cannabis Depenalization
Authors: Hall Wayne
Published: April 2010

Cannabis possession, use, cultivation, and sale are prohibited in Australia on the assumption that cannabis use presents a serious risk to the health of users and the community. Cannabis is, nonetheless, very widely used, with 59% of young adults between 20 and 29 reporting in 2001 that they had used the drug at some time in their lives. It is, in fact, the most widely used illicit drug in Australia. This chapter evaluates the arguments that have featured prominently in the cannabis policy debate in Australia over the past few decades.
Marijuana and the Media: Science, Propaganda, and Sloppy Reporting in the U.S. News Media
Authors: Mirken Bruce
Published: April 2010

The contentiousness of the marijuana debates has contributed to the way prohibitionists and reformers frame their arguments and present their data. One of the most accessible and persuasive sources of information is the media. This chapter reviews some salient examples of the way reporting can go awry. It questions the idea that alarming events are more newsworthy and therefore more likely to generate more consumers of media. In a sense, it argues that the lay public is more intelligent than many media sources think. Most readers are willing to appreciate nuanced arguments filled with complications and caveats, so there is no need to simplify any difficult literature. These oversimplifications have the potential to backfire if they contradict people's personal experience.
How in God’s Name Do We Reform Our Marijuana Laws?
Authors: Thomas Charles
Published: April 2010

This chapter summarizes the marijuana-related positions that the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative (IDPI) has located for the following: the 25 largest Christian denominations in the United States; and the four major sects of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and several other major Christian and other religious groups and coalitions with significant positions. It presents findings from several major public opinion polls about marijuana policy, delineated by religious affiliation, frequency of worship attendance, and other relevant variables. It details how current positions supporting some degree of policy reform are being used to make changes in our nation's marijuana-related policies, and presents some arguments, likely to be persuasive to religious people, on the need for more substantial marijuana law reform, such as removing criminal penalties for personal-use possession and allowing legally regulated access. Finally, the chapter suggests what people of faith and goodwill, including marijuana consumers and policy-reform advocates, can do to change the current situation so that marijuana users and non-users can ultimately live in peaceful coexistence.
The (Often Unheard) Case Against Marijuana Leniency
Authors: Sabet Kevin A.
Published: April 2010

This chapter examines arguments for and against marijuana use and concludes that prohibitory laws on marijuana are justified. It presents the case that restrictive laws on marijuana — a harmful drug — have actually kept use levels low compared with levels for alcohol and tobacco, and though the public policy of marijuana prohibition is not perfect, it is far better than a regime of legalization or depenalization. In this case, it is argued that the status quo is about right. It is no open-and-shut case, but a more pertinent question than “Which is better: legalization or prohibition?” would go something like “How can we make restrictive policies work better?” The chapter hopes to establish why we should begin with having restrictive policies in the first place.
Proving the Unprovable
Authors: Slobogin Christopher
Published: April 2010

Culpability and dangerousness are the two central issues raised by any sensible societal attempt to deal with antisocial behavior. For the past century, mental health professionals have been heavily involved in helping the law address these issues. But critics deride clinical testimony about culpability as disguised storytelling and tar expert predictions by comparing them unfavorably to coin flipping. They have been aided in these efforts by a series of decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court that appear to impose a relatively high threshold for expert testimony, one that requires that the testimony’s underlying assumptions be verified as reliable through scientific or other testing. Although many courts have yet to consider the implications of those decisions for behavioral science testimony, an increasing number of lower court decisions suggest that a more restrictive evidentiary regime is in the offing. This book is an effort to sort out whether that development would be a good thing. How we should go about proving culpability and dangerousness depends on a number of variables, including the governing substantive law, our ability to answer the questions that this law generates, the extent to which judges and juries can arrive at sensible conclusions without the help of experts, and whether the testimony proffered is from the government or from the person whose liberty is at stake. The book concludes that culpability and dangerousness are socially constructed concepts that probably cannot, and in any event should not, be determined solely through the scientific method.
Introduction: The Need for Nuance
Authors: Slobogin Christopher
Published: April 2010

This chapter first describes the legal doctrines defining the culpability and dangerousness inquiries and the evidentiary doctrines that govern the admissibility of expert testimony on these issues, in particular focusing on the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in Daubert v. Dow Chemical, which appears to announce a rule that limits the introduction of clinical opinion testimony. It then proposes a framework for analyzing the admissibility of clinical testimony that requires consideration of four issues: materiality, probative value, helpfulness, and prejudicial impact. Materiality analysis requires a determination of whether the testimony logically relates to the relevant substantive law. Probative value is a measure of the accuracy of expert testimony, with respect to both its general principles and its specific application to the case at hand. Helpfulness refers to the extent to which the testimony adds something to what the fact finder can accurately figure out for itself. The prejudicial impact factor permits assessment of whether testimony that is material, probative, and helpful nonetheless should be excluded because it will most likely be misused by the fact finder. The rest of the book applies these factors to expert culpability testimony (in Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5) and to expert prediction testimony (in Chapters 6 and 7).
The Case for Informed Speculation
Authors: Slobogin Christopher
Published: April 2010

This chapter takes issue with those who argue that clinical culpability testimony should be prohibited or severely circumscribed. It argues that even though this testimony often is, at best, informed speculation, much of it should nonetheless be considered sufficiently reliable, given the lack of viable alternatives and the criminal accused’s right to voice. However, it also makes a distinction between opinions about past mental state (e.g. insanity, diminished capacity, and diminished responsibility) and opinions about the conduct (e.g. character used to prove innocence) because the latter is more amenable to the type of scientific study that Daubert mandates.
Redefining Probative Value
Authors: Slobogin Christopher
Published: April 2010

This chapter proposes that, when the testimony is about past mental state, probative value should be measured in terms of “generally accepted content validity,” which equates Daubert’s reliability test not with accuracy (which is impossible to gauge), but with the extent to which clinical opinion addresses the factors the law considers material. As a possible method of implementing this means of measuring probative value, the chapter discusses the recent suggestion of pragmatic psychologists that forensic specialists maintain a database of reports that the courts have considered useful. This database could be used to identify those clinical factors that courts deem important to assessing culpability and should accelerate the production of structured interview formats designed to address that issue. The chapter also examines the expert’s obligation to assure the reliability of information that forms the basis for clinical opinions, a topic that the courts have neglected despite the amendments to Rules 702 and 703, yet one which is just as important as the limits on inference-drawing that have been the focus of the critics.
The Role of Recess in Primary School
Authors: PELLEGRINI ANTHONY D. , HOLMES ROBYN M.
Published: April 2010

Children's opportunities for free time (in the form of recess) and corresponding opportunities to interact with their peers have been eliminated or diminished in many school systems across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The movement to minimize recess in schools may be popular because politicians and school superintendents see this as a way in which to “get tough on education, provide more “academic time” for students, and improve academic performance. On the other hand, although many educators and parents recognize the centrality of teaching skills and maximizing the efficient use of relatively scarce classroom time, they also see the necessity of breaks between periods of intense work, when children can both relax and interact with peers, with the hope that they will return to their classrooms after their breaks and work with renewed interest. This chapter discusses the effect of recess on children's cognitive performance, the role of peer interaction at recess in predicting first-grade achievement, and the importance of peer interaction for adjustment to school.
My Magic Story Car: Video-Based Play Intervention to Strengthen Emergent Literacy of At-Risk Preschoolers
Authors: BELLIN HARVEY F. , SINGER DOROTHY G.
Published: April 2010

This chapter focuses on My Magic Story Car, a video-based program that strengthens emergent literacy skills of at-risk preschool children from low-income families through one of the most effective available modalities — make-believe play. Research shows that make-believe play, a natural feature of early childhood development peaking at ages 3 to 5, is an intrinsically motivating modality for engaging preschoolers in activities to enhance a plethora of cognitive, socioemotional, and motor skills. Through play, children practice vocabulary and new ways to express themselves. They verbalize plot sequences with increasingly complex situations that often evoke correcting responses from adults or peers. The narrative sequences of imaginative play can also enhance socioemotional skills such as cause-and-effect thinking, empathy, cooperation, patience, civility, and self-regulation. Singer and Singer (2001) developed a comprehensive set of learning games to strengthen these skills among 3- to 5-year-olds. Several of these games were adapted into My Magic Story Car.
Narrative Play and Emergent Literacy: Storytelling and Story-Acting Meet Journal Writing
Authors: NICOLOPOULOU AGELIKI , MCDOWELL JUDITH , BROCKMEYER CAROLYN
Published: April 2010

Debates about early childhood curricula tend to pit teacher-centered and skill-oriented approaches against child-centered or play-oriented approaches. Increasingly, only lip service is paid to the significance and value of play for young children. Years of developmental research have demonstrated that young children have different interests, cognitive styles, and ways of grasping the world from adults, with important implications for their modes of learning. Thus, we should not be quick to fill up preschool classrooms exclusively with adult-centered skill-based activities that may be foreign to a child's perspective. We need to balance these didactic skill-based activities with more child-centered activities within the preschool curriculum. This chapter shows how teacher-directed and skill-oriented activities themselves can become even more engaging, meaningful, and valuable for children when they are linked to child-centered and play-oriented activities. It advocates a genuine integration between didactic and child-centered approaches in ways that allow them to complement and support each other, focusing on the role of narrative play in emergent literacy and combining storytelling and story-acting with journal writing.
Media Use by Infants and Toddlers: A Potential for Play
Authors: WEBER DEBORAH S.
Published: April 2010

It is widely believed that television and videos take the place of spending time with others and playing. Another concern is that parents use television as a “babysitter”. This may conjure up an image of children spending numerous hours passively watching television or videos with no adult presence or interaction. The amount of time that very young children spend watching television and video programs is increasing, and unfortunately this most likely detracts from the amount of time they spend playing. Many professionals in the early childhood field are opposed to the practice of encouraging children under age 2 years to view television or video programs. Children are particularly vulnerable and influenced by the messages conveyed through television and unable to discriminate between what they see and what is real. This chapter discusses research regarding infant and toddler media and places it in the context of children's play and parent-child interactions. It offers techniques that could help caregivers and very young children get the most out of media-viewing experiences, thus improving their learning and development.
2 Effects of Exposure to Violent Entertainment Media
Authors: Anderson Craig A. , Gentile Douglas A. , Buckley Katherine E.
Published: April 2010

This chapter lays out a host of conceptual viewpoints involving definitions, methodologies, and guiding principles. Aggression is defined as: (a) a behavior that is intended to harm another individual; (b) the behavior is expected by the perpetrator to have some chance of actually harming that individual; and (c) the perpetrator believes that the target individual is motivated to avoid the harm. Subtypes of aggression are discussed, such as the distinction between physical and verbal aggression. The strengths and weaknesses of various types of research designs are considered (e.g. experimental, cross-sectional, and longitudinal), as well as the importance of understanding how to integrate results from multiple studies. The chapter provides a brief review of prior media violence research, with a special emphasis on research involving the effects of violent video games.
10 Reducing Violent Video Game Effects
Authors: Anderson Craig A. , Gentile Douglas A. , Buckley Katherine E.
Published: April 2010

This chapter offers a brief summary of implications for parents and for future public policy debates in this area. At one level, it is obvious that one way to reduce the harmful effects of violent video games is to reduce exposure to this risk factor. There are both politically controversial (e.g. laws prohibiting the sale, rental, or distribution of violent games to children) and non-controversial (e.g. leave it entirely up to parents) ways to accomplish this. Unfortunately, no serious efforts have been made in the U.S. to educate parents about the known harmful effects. Some other countries have taken legislative actions.
Introduction
Authors: Levesque Roger J.R.
Published: April 2010

This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of how adolescents have easy access to interactive media and its impact on their development. It then considers the failures and challenges facing social and policy responses. An overview of the subsequent chapters is presented.
Adolescents’ Body Images and the Media
Authors: Levesque Roger J.R.
Published: April 2010

This chapter examines research on the media's impact on adolescents' weight and shape images. It shows that researchers often center on the media's pervasive and largely unattainable standards of weight and beauty in the forms of muscularity and thinness. The argument made by researchers is that those standards tend to complicate and negatively influence adolescents' task of developing and maintaining a positive body image, especially for girls but increasingly for boys. This leads researchers to focus on the internalization of media ideals and on how internalization works during the adolescent period. That focus, however, also means an effort to determine the extent to which adolescents have access to and use media, and the ways by which society can modify the media's negative impact on adolescent development.
Adolescent Smoking and the Media
Authors: Levesque Roger J.R.
Published: April 2010

This chapter first examines the media's smoking images and their potential effects. It then moves to understand how the media affects adolescents' smoking, place smoking in the context of adolescent development, and then examines efforts to limit adolescents' smoking strategies and the media's potential role. Overall, the analysis points to the need to consider the peculiarities of adolescents' development and their social environment to understand the media's influence and to harness media effects in intended ways.
Adolescent Sexuality and the Media
Authors: Levesque Roger J.R.
Published: April 2010

This chapter explores the nature of the media's portrayals of sexuality and its particular influence on adolescents and their sexual development. Although researchers have not embraced this area of research, it seems increasingly clear that the media potentially play an important role in adolescents' sexual development, including a role in shaping sexual dispositions, attitudes, behaviors, and relationships. To understand the media's socializing force, the chapter pays attention to factors that moderate and mediate media effects, although research only recently has turned to these considerations. And, like previous chapters, it focuses on the potential role the media can play in fostering healthier development and relationships. Together, findings reveal the need to reconsider how best to prepare adolescents to respond more effectively to sexualized media as well as to adolescents' broader informational environments.
The Free Speech Rights of Adolescents
Authors: Levesque Roger J.R.
Published: April 2010

This chapter first explores the jurisprudence that permits censorship through child-protective efforts. It then examines adolescents' own right to express themselves. Lastly, it examines the extent to which adolescents have rights to certain forms of information.
Conclusions
Authors: Levesque Roger J.R.
Published: April 2010

This chapter examines the implications of social science findings and free speech jurisprudence for the development of a First Amendment jurisprudence for adolescents. It examines why current policies tend to ignore the fullness of adolescent development, including the various ways media and informational environments influence adolescent life. This discussion bolsters the rest of the analyses for it reveals the need for alternative ways to approach adolescents' rights.
Schools that Actualize High Expectations for All Youth: Theory for Setting Change and Setting Creation
Authors: Weinstein Rhona S.
Published: April 2010

Despite a large literature about educational expectancy effects as well as current U.S. policy focused on raising expectations in schooling, intervention research has been relatively rare. Drawing upon an ecological perspective, this chapter describes a setting-level theory about the promotion of high expectations for diverse populations of students. Four exemplars of expectancy interventions (de-tracking a high school, turning around a low-performing elementary school, creating a high-expectation elementary school, and developing an early-college secondary school for the first in the family to attend university) illustrate the levers of change. Expectancy change rests upon the capacity to see youth in a more favorable light, as capable of learning despite difference, and upon increased individual and organizational capacity to challenge and support the talent development of a diversity of students.
Enhancing Representation, Retention, and Achievement of Minority Students in Higher Education: A Social Transformation Theory of Change
Authors: Maton Kenneth I. , Hrabowski Freeman A. , Özdemir Metin , Wimms Harriette
Published: April 2010

A social transformation theory of change is proposed for enhancing representation, retention, and the achievement of minority students in higher education. The central tenet of the theory is the creation of empowering settings that focus on minority student achievement, as part of a larger transformative institutional change-process centered on inclusive excellence. The institutional change-process involves a sustained effort to transform organizational culture and behavior in order to enhance equity for minority students, including development of an affirming campus climate. Key strategic elements for implementation and sustainability include: ensuring senior leadership support and accountability; developing an institutional vision and promoting buy-in, building capacities necessary for transformation; and leveraging resources. The proposed theory of change is based in part upon a long-term, highly successful diversity initiative involving students in science and engineering at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Whole-School Change
Authors: Desimone Laura M.
Published: April 2010

Policy attributes theory posits that the success of whole-school change efforts depends on six attributes: (1) consistency with other reforms, and consistency between the reform's knowledge demands and teacher capacity; (2) specificity in terms of guidance and professional development offered and teaching requirements of the reform, and links between specific implementation levels and effects; (3) authority of the reform operationalized as teacher, principal, and district support and buy-in; (4) power as measured by the actual and perceived rewards and sanctions associated with successful implementation; (5) stability of relevant actors and policies; and (6) the comprehensiveness of the implementation system, conceptualized as the degree to which each of the other five attributes are being implemented. This chapter discusses how each of the six attributes is related to the strength and type of implementation of whole-school reform efforts and how to measure each.
Building the Capacity of Small Community-Based Organizations to Better Serve Youth
Authors: Miller Robin Lin , Kobes Shannon K. E. , Forney Jason C.
Published: April 2010

Community-based organizations (CBOs) are a principal means by which members of American society seek to improve human wellbeing and advocate on behalf of those whose needs are not well met by other types of institutions. This chapter develops a framework for understanding CBO capacity and for guiding efforts to develop it. It focuses specifically on small CBOs, those with limited personnel and non-personnel resources. It describes a range of approaches, including education, technical assistance, coaching, and reorganization, as well as suggesting ways in which the success of these approaches may be evaluated.
The Youth Data Archive: Integrating Data to Assess Social Settings in a Societal Sector Framework
Authors: Mclaughlin Milbrey , O’Brien-Strain Margaret
Published: April 2010

The Youth Data Archive (YDA), a project of the John W. Gardner Center at Stanford University, provides integrated data from public and private youth-serving organizations in order to inform analyses at the individual, program-setting, and community levels. The overarching theory of change behind the YDA posits that different and better information about the social settings and resources available to youth — and their associated outcomes — will foster better choices and decisions about how to improve those individual and collective settings. This chapter reviews the four tenets of the societal sector framework that represent the building blocks of this theory of change, and then discusses the role of data integration to measure settings and contexts, as well as to build relationships across agencies. The progress to date, and challenges in developing the YDA in three communities, are described.
Measuring and Improving Program Quality: Reliability and Statistical Power
Authors: Martinez Andres , Raudenbush Stephen W.
Published: April 2010

Many youth development programs are designed to improve youth outcomes by improving the quality of social interactions occurring in classrooms, athletic teams, therapy groups, after-school programs, recreation centers, or other group settings. In evaluating such programs, it becomes essential to assess the impact of the program on the “group quality,”; that is, the quality of the social interactions that occur in such group settings. It follows that the reliable measurement of group quality becomes important to the success of the evaluation. Low reliability will weaken the statistical power of the evaluation to detect program effects on group quality. This chapter introduces how to assess the reliability of measures of group quality and how to design evaluation studies that have adequate statistical power to detect impacts on group quality.
Chapter 2 Defining Well-Being
Authors: Diener Ed , Lucas Richard E. , Schimmack Ulrich , Helliwell John F.
Published: April 2010

This chapter reviews the various definitions of well-being, and their advantages and disadvantages. Well-being is defined as an overall evaluation that an individual makes of his or her life in all its important aspects, and is often called “subjective well-being.” This definition is contrasted with objective evaluations, which require judgments that are independent of an individual’s values and desires. The definition of well-being advanced in this book is based on an individual’s own interests, needs, preferences, and desires, and is therefore similar to the concept of “utility” in economics. The well-being indicators advocated here include both people’s judgments of their lives and their emotions and moods. The differences in preference realization reflected in economic indicators and subjective reports of well-being are described, and the advantages and disadvantages of each are reviewed.
Chapter 5 Strategic Politicians, Emotional Citizens, and the Rhetoric of Prediction
Authors: Jerit Jennifer , Kuklinski James H , Quirk Paul J
Published: April 2010

This chapter argues that strategically interacting politicians who seek to sway public opinion, routinely use predictions about the outcomes of different policies to their advantage. This produces a political environment in which ordinary citizens hear opposing and often contradictory predictions about the future consequences of a policy. The chapter reviews two examples: the Lincoln–Douglas debates and the 1997 Devolution Referendum in Scotland. Over time, serious negative predictions about consequences came to dominate both debates. Those who identify strongly with one or another party or faction can overcome the difficulty created by such user-unfriendly political environments by simply adopting their parties' positions. However, initially-unaligned message recipients, who do not begin on one side or the other, and who want to make the best and most objective choices they can, face a very difficult challenge. The chapter concludes by offering speculations about how unaligned citizens might reach their judgments.
Chapter 9 Diverging Ideological Viewpoints on Pathways to More Harmonious Intergroup Relations
Authors: Judd Charles M. , Park Bernadette
Published: April 2010

Social cognition research on social categorization and stereotyping has traditionally assumed that outgroup prejudice follows from stereotyping and the categorization process. Consequently, prejudice reduction strategies typically involve efforts to reduce the salience of category boundaries. Challenging this perspective, this chapter argues that negative outgroup stereotypes ensue from prejudicial outgroup attitudes. The existence of numerous groups (and group differences) is not problematic unless these differences result in competition over scarce resources. This alternative perspective suggests that efforts at eliminating categorization are somewhat misplaced, especially given that categorization is such a fundamental part of social perception and cognition. In addition, it provides space for legitimate claims of ethnic and cultural uniqueness.
Introduction
Authors: Romer Daniel
Published: April 2010

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the massive social and economic changes that emerged post-World War II, with particular emphasis on the mass media's influence on youth. The baby boom generation was socialized in the context of unprecedented growth in household income and increasing exposure to advertising on television. At the same time, researchers were uncovering unhealthy effects of the media that could adversely affect youth development, including such mechanisms as modeling, disinhibition, and normalization of antisocial behavior. Advertising may have further encouraged impulsive behavior that helped to produce such outcomes as today's obesity epidemic. Theories of media influence can help to inform policies that promote both helpful and harmful influences. But the increasing ability of youth to express themselves in the media raises important questions about how best to educate youth and parents to the potential adverse effects that the new media landscape poses.
Understanding the “Jackpot Market”
Authors: Osgerby Bill
Published: April 2010

Advertisers and marketers identified American teenagers as a new “jackpot market” in the 1950's, given its size (15-million-strong) and spending power (estimated at over $9 billion a year in 1958 and increasing to $14 billion by 1965). The baby-boom generation was more likely to attend high school and college, and the U.S. became the largest consumer-oriented economy in the world. Youth consumer-spending included fashion, grooming products, cars, and sporting goods, the promotion of which in advertising led to a form of “youthful hedonism” not heretofore seen on this scale. The musical genre of “Rock and Roll” emerged and tapped into the interests and spending power of the new “teen” market. The new market and associated cultural effects expanded to other parts of the globe, with lasting changes in the way that youth are portrayed and considered in the modern economy.
It Matters What Young People Watch
Authors: Jamieson Patrick E. , More Eian , Lee Susan S. , Busse Peter , Romer Daniel
Published: April 2010

Films have long been a major influence on youth, and their content changed dramatically with the demise of the production code in the 1960s. To understand changes in film content, the Coding of Health and Media Project (CHAMP) analyzed the top-30 grossing movies from 1950 to 2004. This chapter presents trends in gender and youth representation, as well as in portrayal of tobacco and alcohol use, and sex and violence. Bandura's social cognitive theory of mass communication is used to explain how such content may influence audiences. Over the study period, youth and male characters were increasingly represented. Consistent with a cultural shift in attitudes toward tobacco and alcohol, portrayal in both decreased. However, violence (especially as committed by youth) and sex increased. Although the MPAA rating system (G, PG, PG13, R) was intended to inform movie audiences of problematic content, the system restricted sexual content far better than violent content.
African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans in the Media
Authors: Stroman Carolyn A. , Dates Jannette L.
Published: April 2010

Media images and messages about African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans (ALANAS) may affect the perceptions and stereotypes of those within and outside of these groups. These messages may also influence identity formation and attitudes of Europeans and non-Europeans about race and ethnicity. Historically, ALANAS have been under represented in television portrayals. African Americans and Latinos are generally shown on television in minor and low status roles. African Americans have reached a proportion on television representative of their actual size in the population but other ethnic groups are under-represented. Nevertheless, these portrayals are not necessarily accurate. More research is needed, however, to assess the role that media portrayal of racial and ethnic groups plays in adolescent health and socialization.
Adolescents and Television Violence
Authors: Potter W. James
Published: April 2010

There appears to be little discernible change in television violence over time, and violent acts by children and adolescents are rarely shown on television. Perhaps as a result, adolescent portrayal in television violence has been under-studied. Nevertheless, children and adolescents exposed to heavy amounts of television violence behave more aggressively as they age. This chapter discusses viewer characteristics and portrayal characteristics in order to explain this link. Television violence teaches young people that violence is an effective problem-solving strategy at both the personal and societal level. An education strategy is recommended for dealing with television violence, in which the public learns about the harmful effects of media violence and rewards the creation of other types of programming. This model avoids the problems of censorship but requires individuals to accept this goal and work toward making it a reality.
Tobacco Portrayals in U.S. Advertising and Entertainment Media
Authors: Dewhirst Timothy
Published: April 2010

Exposure to portrayal of tobacco use in the media is important because cigarette smoking represents the most preventable cause of illness and premature death in the U.S. The tobacco industry has long targeted young people with tobacco promotional activities. Cigarette advertising and marketing has appealed to young adults and adolescents using themes of independence and risk-taking. The 1998 Master Settlement Agreement banned cigarette broadcast advertising, some billboard advertising, and product placement in films. Nevertheless, tobacco portrayal on user generated media such as blogs, online bulletin boards and podcasts, may be a cause for concern, as well as dissemination on Internet sites such as YouTube, MySpace, and Wikipedia.
The Games, They Are a-Changin’
Authors: Ivory James D.
Published: April 2010

The video game market has grown enormously and sales revenue now exceeds that of the movie industry. Research on the effects of video games on youth finds both potential problems and benefits. It is difficult to summarize the effects of video games because technological advancements that permit them to become ever more realistic can be put to favorable as well as unfavorable uses. Just like exposure to other screen violence, violent video game use is most likely to have ill effects, and addiction to (or more precisely overuse of) video games is a possibility. A wide variety of video game formats is evolving that permit physical interaction, immersion in virtual worlds, and multiplayer interaction over the Internet. Characteristics of avatars that represent players may also introduce effects of their own. It is clear that this ever-evolving medium will be a focus of research and continued examination far into the future.
War, Military Violence, and Aggressive Development
Authors: Punamäki Raija-Leena
Published: April 2010

This chapter gives a full theoretical treatment to the often invoked, yet inadequately validated presumption that violence exposure leads to violent or aggressive development in children. It outlines the variety of potential child, family, and social factors that inform if and when aggression in war-exposed children is likely to develop. Suggestions for future research and interventions are provided; namely, that research and interventions among “war's children and adolescents” will benefit from integrative approaches that combine individual, familial, and social antecedents of aggression. Furthermore, interventions are more likely to be effective if they are developmentally tailored and focused comprehensively on addressing deficiencies in cognitive, emotional and psychophysiological processing of violent experiences.
Youth Soldiering
Authors: Wessells Michael , Kostelny Kathleen
Published: April 2010

This chapter provides a holistic understanding of the consequences of youth soldiering, recognizing the diversity within the category “child soldiers” and using young people's testimonies to show how youth understand their experiences and choices. Having put the definitions of “youth” and “child soldiers” in critical perspective, the chapter analyzes various pathways for a young person's entry into soldiering, recognizing the linkage between how one enters and the impact of soldiering itself. Additionally, it examines the varied roles and experiences of youth soldiers, connecting these with gender, the choices young people make while associated with an armed group and their evolving sense of meaning and identity. The chapter also examines the impact of youth soldiering by linking psychosocial wellbeing with health, cosmology, economics, and social roles and relations. It concludes with reflections on the implications of this holistic conceptualization for social reintegration and peacebuilding.
Young People’s Perceptions of Political Violence
Authors: Muldoon Orla , Cassidy Clare , McCullough Nichola
Published: April 2010

This chapter reconsiders the variability of conclusions researchers have drawn on the experiences of the impact political violence has on children. It begins with an examination of the extent of young people's experience of political violence in Northern Ireland and follows this with a consideration of children's perceptions of these same events. Particular attention is given to these perceptions of political violence as well as to socioeconomic variations in these perceptions. Through a series of data analyses, the chapter illustrates the degree to which the effects of political violence can be contingent on these types of variability.
Mozambican Child Soldier Life Outcome Study
Authors: Boothby Neil , Crawford Jennifer , Mamade Agostinho
Published: April 2010

Focusing on Mozambican youth, this chapter offers initial findings on the first longitudinal study of life-outcomes of former child soldiers. It identifies specific interventions that were important in enabling substantial recovery and societal reintegration of these former child soldiers. For instance, it highlights the role of community reintegration, spiritual cleansing, and family and intervention program support in enabling most of the soldiers to become trusted and productive members of society.