A Qualitative Study of Juvenile Offenders,Student Engagement,and Interpersonal Relationships: Implications for Research Directions and Preventionist Approaches

Background factors that correlate with juvenile delinquency are consistent across the interdisciplinary literature base. Yet, information about the process of how risks relate to outcomes, especially within school settings, is limited. Researchers used qualitative methods to examine school and interpersonal experiences from the perspective of juvenile offenders and their families. Sixteen families were recruited from juvenile probation facilities in 2 different geographic regions. Consensual Qualitative Research methods yielded consistent themes, including the central role of advocacy to obtain appropriate school services, the importance of flexibility in discipline policies, classroom experiences that shaped outcomes, and the importance of nonjudgmental social support for the adolescents and their parents. The findings and recommendations for school consultants are presented from a preventionist standpoint, and self-determination theory is discussed in relation to future juvenile delinquency research.     

Detecting Violations of Factorial Invariance Using Data-Based Specification Searches: A Monte Carlo Study

In testing factorial invariance, researchers have often used a reference variable strategy in which the factor loading for a variable (i.e., reference variable) is fixed to 1 for identification. This commonly used method can be misleading if the chosen reference variable is actually a noninvariant item. This simulation study suggests an alternative method for testing factorial invariance and evaluates the performance of the method in specification searches based on the modification index. The results of the study showed that the proposed specification searches performed well when the number of noninvariant variables was relatively small and this performance improved as sample size increased and the size of group differences increased. When the number of noninvariant variables was relatively large, however, the method rarely succeeded in detecting the noninvariant items in the specification searches. Implications of the findings are discussed along with the limitations of the study.     

Turning Social Capital Into Social Performance: Three Case Studies and a New Framework for Value Creation

Sociologists, political scientists, and economists have described different dimensions and functions of social capital from their disciplinary perspectives, emphasizing the value and impact of social relationships, governance institutions, or efficient and reliable economic transactions, respectively. In this article, we propose to integrate all three perspectives and the research accumulated in those fields in a common, practical framework for effectively using social capital assets in producing value‐adding social and organizational performance.     

Social justice and the changing directions in educational research: the case of inclusive education

Inclusive education has established itself as an important element within the general field of educational research. While the increasing attention to social inclusion is apparently consistent with the general aspiration for social justice, this paper reasserts the fragility of inclusive education as a vehicle for arguing against traditional notions of special educational needs in favour of educational disablement as identity politics. It is important that in a general consideration of education research and social justice space be afforded to interrogating the shortcomings of social justice research in education with regard to disabled students. This brief discussion aims to introduce a range of issues pursuant to the intersection of education and disability politics.     

‘Where do babies come from?’ Barriers to early sexuality communication between parents and young children

‘Where do babies come from?’ ‘Why do boys have willies?’ ‘What does gay mean?’ Probably all parents have faced such ‘innocent’ questions from young children, and many have found them challenging to answer. Access to sexuality education at an early age is frequently considered controversial; however, there are strong indications that early and open communication can impact positively in terms of sexual safety and outcomes. Using focus group discussions with parents of 3–7 year olds in the UK, this study explores some of the challenges parents report in dealing with early sexual socialisation as well as the reasons they cite for restricting young children's sexual awareness and access to knowledge. Thematic analysis reveals a number of barriers to communication: the need to protect childhood ‘innocence’, suitable timing and age appropriateness of explanations, personal discomfort, and fear of criticism and judgement.     

Using Electronic Mail in Initial Teacher Education to Develop European Awareness

ABSTRACT

The development of European awareness in teacher training is a particularly difficult task in one year Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in the United Kingdom because of the short length of the course and the need to ensure that students are well prepared for handling the national curriculum. This paper describes how students on such a course at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland were able to experience a European dimension through an electronic mail link with high school pupils in Norway. The scheme, which was offered on a pilot basis to students taking history as a major or a minor option, also.gave the group a focus for work on two of the cross‐curricular themes in the Northern Ireland common curriculum, namely Information Technology and Education for Mutual Understanding. The pilot suggests that the scheme has provided a valuable experience of real contact with Europe in a way that is cost effective and manageable within the time constraints imposed by an intensive one year teacher training programme.     

Statistical analyses in the journal of broadcasting, 1970‐76

McChesney, R. W. (1993). Telecommunications, mass media, and democracy: The battle for the control of U.S. broadcasting, 1928‐1935. New York: Oxford University Press. 393 pages.