Eliminating Childhood Violence

Eliminating Childhood Violence

Transcript

1. Elimina'ng  Childhood  Violence   EDU  524  Fall  II  2010   Chapter  12   Dr.  Paul  A.  Rodríguez    
2. Have  We  Given  Up  on  Controlling  Violence   Robert  Putnam  (2000)  writes  that  Americans  have  stopped  joining  organizaAons  and   have  disassociated  themselves  from  the  poliAcal  process.    This  lack  of  community   and  poliAcal  involvement  makes  dealing  with  childhood  violence  almost  impossible.   !  There  needs  to  be  an  increased  effort  on  the  part  of  America’s  schools  to  work   cooperaAvely  with  the  child  welfare  system  and  the  police  to  idenAfy  abused   children,  school  bullies  and  children  beginning  to  show  the  early  signs  of  violent   behavior.   !  Schools  are  where  youth  crime  frequently  takes  place,  but  the  very  center  of   youth  crime  acAvity,  the  school  system,  seems  unwilling  or  unable  to  cooperate   with  law  and  child  welfare  enforcement  to  idenAfy,  report  and  then  work  with   community  agencies.   !  Craig  and  Pepler  (1997)  believe  that  only  9%  of  the  juvenile  violent  crimes   commiPed  in  schools  are  reported  to  criminal  jusAce  authoriAes,  compared  with   a  37%  report  rate  for  similar  juvenile  street  crimes.     !  When  a  child  sees  8,000  murders  on  television,  videos  and  video  games  by  the   Ame  they  finish  grade  school,  (Simons  2001),  and  we  have  a  serious  youth   violence  problem  in  America,  we  must  begin  to  wonder  if  violent  entertainment   provokes  and  encourages  violence  in  children.   2  
3. Elimina6ng  Childhood  Violence   What  can  we  do?   !  A  No-­‐Tolerance  Policy  toward  Child  Abuse  and  Neglect   !  A  Well-­‐Trained  Core  of  Professionals  for  the  Criminal  JusAce  Field   An  astonishing  5%  of  the  adult  populaAon  in  Texas  (706,000  people)  is  in   prison,  on  parole  or  on  probaAon.    Of  the  163,000  prisoners  in  Texas,  89,400   are  incarcerated  for  nonviolent  crimes.    African  Americans  in  Texas  are   incarcerated  at  seven  Ames  the  rate  of  whites,  while  probaAon  is  given  to   black  prisoners  only  20%  of  the  Ame,  compared  with  the  45%  of  white   prisoners.   Control  of  Violence  in  the  Media   Local  television  news  too  o`en  emphasizes  violence  and  too  seldom   produces  thoughaul  stories  on  what  works.    This  helps  create  a  “mean  world   syndrome”  in  the  minds  of  viewers,  who  then  o`en  conclude  that  nothing   works.       3  
4. Schools  That  Work  to  Limit  Violence     The  main  aims  of  health  promoAng  schools  are  to  provide  a  healthy   environment  and  to  encourage  healthy  lifestyles  for  the  pupils.    Bullying   behavior  is  one  aspect  that  is  expected  to  have  an  adverse  effect,  and   prevenAng  such  behavior  is  an  important  task.   Schools  must  do  a  bePer  job  of  idenAfying  children  at  risk  of  violent  behavior.     Bullying  is  one  of  the  earliest  signs  of  violence  in  children.    There  must  be   trained  mental  health  professional  in  a  school  can  have  an  enormously   posiAve  impact  on  children  through  the  suggesAons  provided  to  teachers  in   containing  violence.   Funding  for  Research   We  really  are  in  our  infancy  in  the  treatment  of  childhood  violence.    Much   more  money  needs  to  be  spent  on  developing  effecAve  treatment   approaches  at  the  individual  ,  family,  insAtuAonal  and  community  levels  to   treat  and  then,  ulAmately,  prevent  childhood  violence.   4  
5. A  Posi6ve  AEtude  When  it  Comes  to  Children     Research  on  developmental  resilience  has  introduced  ideas  that  challenge   three  prominent  beliefs  about  the  way  children  develop  into  adults,  and   these  sAll  dominate  our  thinking:   1.  There  are  fixed  stages  of  development   2.  Childhood  trauma  usually  leads  to  adult  psychopathology   3.  There  are  social  condiAons,  interpersonal  relaAonships  and  insAtuAonal   arrangements  that  are  so  toxic  they  inevitably  lead  to  serious  problems   in  the  everyday  funcAoning  of  children  and  adults,  families  and   communiAes.     Research  suggest  that  people  do  change,  and  that  learning  from  prior   experience  appears  to  be  an  important  reason  for  change.    ConAnued   research  on  resilience  and  self-­‐righAng  abiliAes  are  absolutely  essenAal  if  we   are  to  understand  how  violent  young  children  grow  and  change,  and  if   creaAve  treatment  programs  are  to  be  developed.   5  
6. More  Treatment  and  Less  Punishment   Unless  we  want  to  put  more  and  more  children  in  prison,  where  they  learn  to   be  really  violent  and  where  the  probability  is  high  that  they  will  conAnue  to   commit  violent  acts,  we  should  choose  to  build  fewer  prisons  and  place  our   emphasis  on  treatment.       Glicken  and  Sechrest  (2003)  found  liPle  evidence  that  prisons  reduce  repeat   offender  rates  among  violent  children  at  a  greater  level  than  community   outreach  programs  or  group  homes.    The  illogic  of  building  more  and  more   prisons  is  found  in  California,  a  state  that  spends  more  on  maintaining  prisons   than  it  spends  on  higher  educaAon.    Puing  children  in  jail  seems  uPerly   wrong.    There  is  a  value  of  using  a  child’s  posiAve  aPributes  (strengths)  when   mental  health  services  may  miAgate  the  impact  of  serious  psychiatric   symptoms  and  risk,  allowing  children  to  remain  in  homelike  seings   successfully.       6  
7. Reflec6ons   1.  Can  you  think  of  some  posiAve  rewards  we  can  give  parents  for   controlling  the  amount  of  violence  their  children  are  permiPed  to  view  in   the  media?   2.  Why  do  you  think  schools  do  such  a  minimal  job  of  controlling  bullying  in   and  out  of  the  classroom?   3.  What  would  you  do  to  improve  the  work  of  child  welfare  agencies  in   America  so  that  they  intervene  quickly    and  effecAvely  in  child   maltreatment  cases?   4.  Why  do  you  think  we  provide  so  liPle  money  for  research  and  training   when  youth  violence  is  such  a  serious  problem?   5.  Why  do  you  think  people  are  so  cynical  about  reports  showing  that   violence  and  crime  are  down  in  any  given  year?   7