Variations in emotional abuse experiences among multiply maltreated young adolescents and relations with developmental outcomes

Objective

Based on the data obtained through Child Protective Services (CPS) case records abstraction, this study aimed to explore patterns of overlapping types of child maltreatment in a sample of urban, ethnically diverse male and female youth (n= 303) identified as maltreated by a large public child welfare agency.

Methods

A cluster analysis was conducted on data for 303 maltreated youth. The overall categorization of four types of abuse (i.e., physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect) was used to provide a starting point for clustering of the 303 cases and then the subtypes of emotional abuse were broken down in the clusters. The different clusters of child maltreatment were compared on the multiple outcomes such as mental health, behavior problems, self-perception, and cognitive development.

Results

In this study, we identified four clusters of child maltreatment experiences. Three patterns involved emotional abuse. One cluster of children experienced all four types. Different clusters were differentially associated with multiple outcome measures. In general, multiply-maltreated youth fared worst, especially when the cluster involved sexual abuse. Also, sex differences were found in these associations. Boys who experienced multiple types of maltreatment showed more difficulties than girls.

Conclusion and practice implications

These results reiterate the importance of creating more complex models of child maltreatment. Children who have experienced various types of maltreatment are especially in need of more attention from professionals and resources should be allocated accordingly.     

Examining the effect of class size on classroom engagement and teacher–pupil interaction: Differences in relation to pupil prior attainment and primary vs. secondary schools

It is widely recognized that we need to know more about effects of class size on classroom interactions and pupil behavior. This paper extends research by comparing effects on pupil classroom engagement and teacher–pupil interaction, and examining if effects vary by pupil attainment level and between primary and secondary schools. Systematic observations were carried out on 686 pupils in 49 schools. Multilevel regression methods were used to examine relationships between class size and observation measures, controlling for potentially confounding factors like pupil attainment. At primary and secondary levels smaller classes led to pupils receiving more individual attention from teachers, and having more active interactions with them. Classroom engagement decreased in larger classes, but, contrary to expectation, this was particularly marked for lower attaining pupils at secondary level. Low attaining pupils can therefore benefit from smaller classes at secondary level in terms of more individual attention and facilitating engagement in learning.     

Editorial

This article reports on a narrative inquiry with two teacher-researchers of opposite ethnic, social class, and gender backgrounds about how their oppositions became an asset for their multicultural education. The study calls for educators to consider cultural creativity as a pertinent feature of multicultural education in today's polarized culture.     

Drawing the lines—By the numbers: The statistical foundations of the electoral process

The Constitution establishes that the apportionment of the U.S. House of Representatives shall be based upon an enumeration of the population. Every 10 years, the Bureau of the Census conducts that enumeration, and using the Method of Equal Proportions designated by the Congress, furnishes to the President the number of Representatives to which each state is entitled. “Rules of residence” have been developed to determine who should be counted and where persons should be counted in the census.Following the 1970 census, because of the Supreme Court's decisions requiring population equality in districts used for electoral purposes, census data became vital to the redistricting processes carried out by the individual states. The Congress enacted Public Law 94–171 which authorized the Bureau of the Census to make special preparations for the provision of redistricting data needed by the 50 states. The 1980 program established by the Census Bureau enabled state redistricting to be accomplished far more smoothly than in the 1970s. The Census Bureau is already working with the states on its 1990 program, an essential element of which is based upon its plan to provide block data for the entire country.