Ethics courses: Their impact on the values and ethical decisions of criminal justice students

Numerous articles and books advocate the importance of ethics as an essential component of a criminal justice curriculum. While there are several approaches suggested, one of the most popular methods of assuring coverage of this important topic is to add an ethics course to the curriculum either as a required or an elective course. Teaching students ethical theories, principles and providing them with the opportunity to discuss discipline specific ethics problems is thought to help contribute to the establishment of ethical practitioners.

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of a semester long criminal justice ethics course on the students' value orientations, and their perceptions of both the seriousness of ethical violations and their likelihood of engaging in such behaviors. Our findings are consistent with the results of researchers evaluating ethics courses in other disciplines. Implications for criminal justice ethics education are discussed.     

Developing grass roots writing resources: a novel approach to writing within the social work discipline

In this case study, we report on the development of a writing-specialist position, the ‘Writing Resource Coordinator (WRC)’, in a school of social work at a large state university in the southern USA. Such programs are facing increasing budgetary pressures at the same time as their growing enrollments strain available resources. Students who arrive under-prepared or un-acculturated to the discipline often suffer high writing-related anxiety, putting them at risk for low performance, or dropping out altogether. The WRC provides discipline-specific ‘grass roots’ writing assistance to the most at-risk students through a program aimed at both students and faculty, providing a two-pronged service strategy including: (a) individual consultations and (b) group-oriented seminars and workshops. We describe the implementation of this resource and offer recommendations for improving upon and adopting this approach in social science programs at comparable institutions.     

Support for Engaged Scholars: The Role of Mentoring Networks with Diverse Faculty

As internationalization initiatives on university campuses have increased in the past decade, the practice of mentoring diverse scholars has increased. In an exploratory study conducted at a doctoral/research-extensive university in the Midwest, researchers investigated the nature and functions of mentoring and the role of mentoring networks in nurturing the careers of engaged scholars in the teaching and human service professions. The twelve participants in the study self-identified as engaged scholars who (a) have been mentored within a mentoring network throughout their professional careers, and (b) are currently involved in mentoring diverse engaged scholars within mentoring networks. The study findings suggest the benefits of mentoring networks for diverse, engaged scholars and outline the nature of effective mentoring.     

Re´sume´ in Motion: Sensory self-awareness through movement

This small-scale, qualitative study explores the nature of sex and relationship education (SRE) in two primary schools in England. It investigates the similarities and differences in relation to the pedagogical approach and curriculum content of the SRE programmes from the perspectives of teachers and pupils. An illuminative evaluation methodology was used to investigate the cultural, social, historical and political contexts of those participating in the programme within the two schools. The main findings indicate that there were indeed similarities and differences in the provision of SRE: whilst the pupils involved showed an understanding of sex within a loving relationship, further findings suggest that some teachers were concerned about parental views of SRE content and this affected the scope of provision. A key concept of ‘bravery’ was identified as a highly compelling factor for teachers to create a context of and conditions for creativity in their approach to SRE with a view to capitalising on the inquisitive behaviour of the children. This highlights that effective SRE requires a bold pedagogical approach to curriculum design and content.     

The 2008 Presidential Election, 2.0: A Content Analysis of User-Generated Political Facebook Groups

Although Facebook is primarily known for building and maintaining relationships, the 2008 presidential election highlighted this social networking website as a viable tool for political communication. In fact, during primary season until Election Day in 2008, Facebook users created more than 1,000 Facebook group pages that focused on Barack Obama and John McCain. Using quantitative content analysis, the primary purpose of this study was to assess how both John McCain and Barack Obama were portrayed across these Facebook groups. Results indicated that group membership and activity levels were higher for Barack Obama than for John McCain. Overall, Barack Obama was portrayed more positively across Facebook groups than John McCain. In addition, profanity, racial, religious, and age-related language were also coded for and varied with regard to how each candidate was portrayed. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Assessing,Analyzing, and Adapting: Improving a Graduate Student Instruction Program Through Needs Assessment

This article highlights an assessment of library instruction needs among graduate students in the social sciences. The article addresses the development and implementation of the assessment and the application of assessment results to an established set of library instruction workshops. The article provides a detailed summary of assessment findings and a discussion of how the findings were successfully used to create a user-centered instruction program. The findings were used to make significant changes in workshop content, as well as refinements in the overall number and format of workshops offered, schedule of workshops, and marketing of the instruction program.     

Collaborating in Research: Embedded Librarianship in the Learning Management System

Academic librarians engage students in the learning management system to provide information literacy instruction and answer individual reference questions related to scholarly research. When collaborating with faculty, embedded librarians deliver the library’s authoritative electronic resources to students working on research projects. Trends in academic publishing and technological innovations make possible online search for a generation reliant on mobile devices. Although students are able to access much digital content available through academic libraries and open access initiatives, they still appreciate guidance from embedded librarians who visit their learning management system courses to explain the complexities of scholarly research and suggest solutions.     

Improving the Museum Experiences of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Their Families: An Exploratory Examination of Their Motivations and Needs and Using Web‐based Resources to Meet Them

Through a partnership with a local school, the Smithsonian Institution and the Information Policy and Access Center at the University of Maryland conducted an exploratory study to examine the motivations and needs of families visiting museums with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). This study represents one of the first undertakings to study visitors with ASDs, especially children, through a primarily qualitative data collection. Interest‐driven enjoyment emerged as a primary motivation, though to relax and to socialize outside of the family boundaries were not ranked as important motives for visiting museums. Children, who were directly interviewed, gave positive assessments of their museum experiences, while parents commented that challenges, both museum‐ and family‐related (crowds, loud noise, not feeling welcome, and a child's unpredictable behavior) surfaced in public settings like museums. Parents desired a “typical family outing” with their ASDs child, stating that manageable and safe environments helped families experience a museum.     

Hostile Media Perceptions in the Age of Social Media: Following Politicians,Emotions, and Perceptions of Media Bias

This study explores sadness-based message choices among comedy, game show, and sad drama that correspond to the three perceived goals of sadness regulation—optimization, distraction, and embracement, respectively. Results from an experiment showed that some sad participants selected sad drama with the expectation of realizing that their situations were not the worst possible, of creating new meanings and values, and finally of regaining a sense of control over the event and life in general. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of these cognitive gains and growth distinct from pleasurable experience from the use of entertainment messages.     

Book review

Douglas, S. J. (1994). Where the girls are: Growing up female with the mass mediay. New York: Times Books. 340 pages.

Lang, A. (Ed.). (1994). Measuring psychological responses to media messages. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 244 pages.

Cosby, C. O. (1994). Television's imageable influences: The self‐perceptions of young African Americans. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. 172 pages.

Kern‐Foxworth, M. (1994). Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and Rastus: Blacks in advertising, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. 205 pages.

Fiske, J. (1994). Media matters: Everyday culture and political change. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. 253 pages.

Johnson, L. L. (1994). Toward competition in cable television. Cambridge, MA & Washington, DC: MIT Press & AEI Press. 214 pages.

Krattenmaker, T. G., & Powe, L. A., Jr. (1994). Regulating broadcast programming. Cambridge, MA & Washington, DC: MIT Press & AEI Press. 369 pages.

Moores, S. (1993). Interpreting audiences: The ethnography of media consumption. London: Sage. 140 pages.