Private universities: a way to increase access to university education in Ontario

The citizens of Ontario are requiring increasingly specialized skills. These are needed by the business community so that it will be able to compete effectively in the global economy. A perception exists that the traditional, publicly funded universities in Ontario are ill equipped to provide the necessary training that is required by employers. The reasons cited are the following: (i) inadequately applied science programmes; and (ii) insufficient space to accommodate students pursuing university education. The reduction in funding for Ontario universities makes the expansion of their current infrastructures a rather difficult proposition. Therefore, permitting private universities to operate in Ontario might be a viable option for increasing access to university education.     

Community-level moderators of a school-based childhood sexual assault prevention program

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is highly prevalent and associated with a wide variety of negative mental and physical health outcomes. School-based CSA education and prevention programs have shown promise, but it is unclear to what extent community-level characteristics are related to their effectiveness. The present cluster randomized controlled trial evaluated community-level moderators of the Safe@Lastprogramcomparedtoawaitlistcontrolcondition.(*) Knowledge gains from pre- to post-intervention were assessed in 5 domains: safe versus unsafe people; safe choices; problem-solving; clear disclosure; and assertiveness. Participants were 1177 students (46% White, 26% African American, 15% Hispanic, 4% Asian American, 6% Other) in grades 1 through 6 from 14 public schools in Tennessee. Multilevel models accounting for the nesting of children within schools revealed large effect sizes for the intervention versus control across all knowledge domains (d’s ranged from 1.56 to 2.13). The effectiveness of the program was moderated by mean per capita income and rates of substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect in the community. Intervention effects were stronger for youth living in lower as compared to higher income counties, and for youth attending schools in counties with lower as compared to higher abuse/neglect rates. Child characteristics (sex, race) did not moderate intervention effects. This research identified two community-level factors that predicted the effectiveness of a CSA education and prevention program designed to improve children’s knowledge of personal safety skills. School-based CSA prevention programs may require modification for communities with higher rates of child abuse and neglect.     

The impact of child sexual abuse and stigma on methods of coping with sexual assault among undergraduate women.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study was to determine whether a prior history of child sexual abuse increased the likelihood of using disengagement methods of coping with a sexual assault that had occurred within the past year. Once this was established, a mediational model was tested in which it was hypothesized that specific traumagenic dynamics and changed world views would mediate the association between child and/or adolescent sexual abuse and increased use of disengagement coping methods in response to a recent sexual assault. METHOD: One thousand and fifty women undergraduates from a New England state university completed a survey for research credit. Respondents were asked detailed questions regarding experiences of sexual assault within the past year, histories of child and/or adolescent sexual abuse, traumagenic dynamics, and world assumptions. Analyses were based on 106 participants who had experienced a sexual assault within the past year. RESULTS: Sexually assaulted young women with a history of child sexual abuse used more disengagement methods of coping to deal with the adult sexual assault than women without this history. In addition, the relationship between prior sexual abuse and the use of disengagement coping strategies was mediated by feelings of stigma, but not by feelings of betrayal and powerlessness or beliefs in the meaningfulness and benevolence of the world. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to find that sexually revictimized young women may be particularly at-risk of relying on disengagement methods of coping with sexual assault. Furthermore, this association is mediated by feelings of shame or stigma. Directions for further research and clinical implications are discussed.     

The strength-based approach to educational psychology practice: a critique from social constructionist and systemic perspectives

The positive psychological research underpinning the strength-based approach makes two important claims of relevance to the practice of educational psychologists (EPs): (1) there are key, ubiquitous strengths, some of which are more worthy of development and amplification than others; and (2) this approach could resolve some of the issues associated with the traditional deficit model, by moving practice away from problem-focused language, negative labelling and within-person hypotheses. This paper aims to explore these two claims from social constructionist and systemic perspectives, respectively. It is argued that it is imperative for EPs to critically reflect on the research underpinning this approach and to consider how the principles of social constructionism and systemic thinking may facilitate its application in practice. It is concluded that, in order to move the approach forward, it will be essential for personalised strength-based approaches, which consider an individual’s strengths contextually, to be developed and utilised.     

Impact of a new mandatory reporting law on reporting and identification of child sexual abuse: A seven year time trend analysis

Child sexual abuse is widespread and difficult to detect. To enhance case identification, many societies have enacted mandatory reporting laws requiring designated professionals, most often police, teachers, doctors and nurses, to report suspected cases to government child welfare agencies. Little research has explored the effects of introducing a reporting law on the number of reports made, and the outcomes of those reports. This study explored the impact of a new legislative mandatory reporting duty for child sexual abuse in the State of Western Australia over seven years. We analyzed data about numbers and outcomes of reports by mandated reporters, for periods before the law (2006–2008) and after the law (2009–2012). Results indicate that the number of reports by mandated reporters of suspected child sexual abuse increased by a factor of 3.7, from an annual mean of 662 in the three year pre-law period to 2448 in the four year post-law period. The increase in the first two post-law years was contextually and statistically significant. Report numbers stabilized in 2010–2012, at one report per 210 children. The number of investigated reports increased threefold, from an annual mean of 451 in the pre-law period to 1363 in the post-law period. Significant decline in the proportion of mandated reports that were investigated in the first two post-law years suggested the new level of reporting and investigative need exceeded what was anticipated. However, a subsequent significant increase restored the pre-law proportion, suggesting systemic adaptive capacity. The number of substantiated investigations doubled, from an annual mean of 160 in the pre-law period to 327 in the post-law period, indicating twice as many sexually abused children were being identified.     

Improving the status and prestige of post-colonial secondary schools in a developing nation: The marketing approach

In many countries of the Third World the structure of secondary education is dichotomized. On the one hand there are traditional grammar schools that predate decolonization, and on the other a new breed of schools has emerged during the period of political independence. Maintaining their traditional reputation for excellence, the grammar schools attract, but are not limited to, students demonstrating the highest levels of academic proficiency. They are the schools where children of the local élite are usually in attendance. The newer post-colonial secondary schools are usually attended by students of lower academic performance, the majority of whom come from lower class families. Post-colonial secondary schools lag far behind their traditional grammar school counterparts in academic performance. In Trinidad and Tobago some serious criticisms have been levelled against the newer post-colonial type of secondary schools. Their reputation and status in the local society have been low, and several efforts at melioration have been attempted by the Government, without much success. The paper therefore attempts three main tasks. It examines some of the major problems faced by post-colonial secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago, critically reviews some of the efforts made by Government to improve the status and prestige of these schools, and suggests the strategy of marketing educational institutions as a means by which melioristic transformation of these institutions may be achieved. A speculative analysis of certain issues likely to be affected as a result of implementation of the marketing strategy concludes the paper.     

Substance abuse and behavioral correlates of sexual assault among South African adolescents

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is twofold: first, to examine the prevalence of being the victim of actual and attempted rape among a large representative sample of Cape Town high school students; and second, to identify the correlates of sexual assault for both boys and girls, including alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, behavioral problems, and suicidality. METHOD: Data for this study were derived from the 1997 South African Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (SACENDU) school survey. A stratified sampling procedure was used to select students in Grades 8 and 11 at non-private high schools in Cape Town. A total of 2,946 students completed a survey consisting of socio-demographic questions and items about substance abuse, sexual activity, and other adolescent health risk behaviors. A subsample of 939 was randomly selected to complete items about sexual violence. RESULTS: The results revealed that 8.4% of respondents were victims of attempted rape, while 5.8% were victims of actual rape. Ordinal logistic regression showed that girls were 3.9 times more likely than boys to have been victims of sexual abuse. Family structure was also significantly related to rape as persons who lived with a single parent (OR = 1.74, CI = 1.00-3.04) and those who resided with one biological parent and one step parent (OR = 2.59, CI = 1.34-5.01) were more likely to have been have been victims of sexual abuse than those living with both biological parents. Alcohol use (OR = 2.0, CI = 1.10-3.62), anti-social behavior (stolen property, caused physical damage to property, bullied others, or been in physical fights) (OR = 1.44, CI = 1.12-1.86), suicidal dialogue (OR = 2.48, CI = 1.19-5.19), and suicidal attempts (OR = 3.2, CI = 1.65-6.30) were also significant predictors of sexual abuse victimization. Racially classified social groups (RCSG), age, drug use, and cigarette smoking were not significant predictors of sexual abuse victimization, while socioeconomic status was found to be marginally significant. CONCLUSION: This study reinforces the importance of multiple factors including alcohol use, anti-social behavior, suicidal thoughts and actions, and family structure with respect to sexual assault of adolescents in South Africa. Establishing and strengthening intervention programs, school based child protective protocols, professional education of teachers and school personnel, community prevention programs, and initiatives could help prevent adolescent sexual violence and reduce the sequelae associated with this problem.     

Upset among youth in response to questions about exposure to violence,sexual assault and family maltreatment

To assess whether youth are upset by being asked questions about sensitive kinds of abuse, victimization, family maltreatment, and sexual victimization in the course of standard epidemiological surveys. A national sample of youth aged 10–17 were interviewed on the telephone by experienced interviewers as part of the National Survey of Children Exposed to Violence. At the end they were asked whether answering questions had upset them. Of the youth interviewed, 4.5% reported being at all upset and 0.8% reported being pretty or a lot upset. However, only a minority of those upset, .3% of the total sample, said they would not participate again had they known about the content. But even in this group, the regret about participation was mostly due to the length of the survey, not the types of questions being asked. Thus, asking about exposure to abuse and sensitive kinds of victimization in standard interview surveys is associated with low levels of respondent upset due to the nature of the questions.     

实现梦想的办法

走进店铺,只见一位中年妇女正趴在柜台上写着什么,我心想,她应该就是这里的老板娘吧。我走上前去,尽量把声音控制到最平稳的状态,小心翼翼地问:"您这里招工吗?""不招!"老板娘头也不抬,毫不犹豫地甩出了一句话。老板娘的冷漠和拒绝让我硬生生地打了一个寒战。但为了不失去这次机会,我仍然继续面带微笑,礼     

Integrating moral and social development within middle school social studies: a social cognitive domain approach

Eleven teachers and 254 urban middle-school students comprised the sample of this study examining the social and moral development outcomes of the integration of social cognitive domain theory within regular classroom instruction. Participating teachers were trained to construct and implement history lessons that stimulated students’ moral reasoning and conceptions of societal convention. In comparison with baselines and controls, teachers reduced didactic instruction and increased the proportion of class time devoted to small group discussions. Student engagement in transactive discourse significantly increased in participating classes with significantly greater post-test levels of moral reasoning, concepts of social convention, and cross-domain coordination. Student production of operational versus representational transacts through transactive discussion was associated with growth in moral and societal concepts. Teachers continued teaching lessons constructed in the project a year after the research ended.     

Improving classroom dynamics to support students' learning and social inclusion: a collaborative approach

In this article, Mary Doveston and Marian Keenaghan discuss their work with teachers and students in developing more effective and satisfying interpersonal relationships in the classroom. Their approach focuses on increasing the capacity of a classroom community to address and measure its progress in the social and emotional competencies which that community has identified as being important. The principles of Appreciative Inquiry and Solution Focused Thinking underpin their approach to working with students and teachers, with the researchers supporting teachers to facilitate student participation in a process which they have described as ‘Growing Talent for Inclusion’ (GTi).     

社区矫正：未成年人犯罪刑罚执行方式社会化探析

我国历来重视未成年人犯罪案件的处理,确立了教育、感化、挽救的方针,形成了区别于成年人犯罪的处置体制并取得了一定成效.然而现阶段我国对未成年人犯罪的主要矫治措施仍是将其集中在相对固定且封闭的场所进行管理,尚缺乏独立、协调、统一的教育矫正机制.社区矫正是预防未成年人犯罪行之有效的行刑社会化方式,充分体现了我国青少年犯罪再预防的刑事政策,符合对未成年犯行刑的非刑事化、非监禁化和轻刑化的国际刑罚执行的发展趋势.     

The French school system and sexual differentiation of social roles

Do certain educational systems today limit the career possibilities of women by imposing a form of tacit sexual segregation at the high school level? Current findings in France tend to support this assumption. Over the course of the last 30 years, there has been a notable increase in the number of women holding positions requiring higher education. This change is related to better scholastic achievement in women in high school and to identification with an image of an active, independent and responsible woman. Nevertheless, the number of women in decision-making posts in industry and commerce remains insignificant. It would seem that the French school system is organized in such a way that through the interplay of students' wishes, deliberate refusal to allow students to enroll in curricula, and phenomena of self-selection, the majority of women students — in particular those from lower class backgrounds — obtain a Baccalauréat diploma which in fact excludes them from forms of higher education that lead to the most desirable jobs on the qualified job market.