Critical Race Theory Meets the NYPD: An Assessment of Anti-Racist Pedagogy for Police in New York City

This research describes and assesses Critical Race Theory (CRT) pedagogy in a higher education ethnic studies course for police officers. CRT pedagogy aims to help students overcome “color-blind” thinking, which minimizes awareness of racism, by raising their critical understanding of racism and framing it as a pervasive and institutionalized reality that everyone has a responsibility to change. Using the Color Blind Racial Awareness (COBRA) Scale, critical awareness in three cluster areas, white privilege, institutional discrimination, and blatant racism, is measured among those completing the ethnic studies course and a comparison group of officers completing a different college course for police. Conclusions reflect on the impact of the course on students’ awareness of racism, the correlation of identity and awareness of racism, the hypothetical impact of such awareness in policing and possibilities for future research.     

Supplementation of urban home visitation with a series of group meetings for parents and infants: results of a “real-world” randomized, controlled trial

Objective: Home visitation has been shown to be effective in reducing rates of child maltreatment and in enhancing psychosocial outcomes in children and their parents. Even when available, however, it is underutilized by parents in some urban settings. We tested a supplemental 10-session group intervention for its ability to increase active participation in home visitation, enhance the quality of caregiving behavior of parents, and improve social developmental outcome in children.Method: A randomized controlled design was utilized, involving two separate cohorts of parents of 3- to 18-month old infants, totaling 148 parent-child dyads. The intervention focused on practical experience in promoting parent-infant attachment relationships.Results: At 6 months follow-up, there was a substantial increase in the proportion of intervention group parents participating in home visitation, compared to parents in the control group (Fisher’s exact p = .008). Parents in the intervention group exhibited a trend for improvement in their capacity to appropriately interpret infants’ emotional cues (p = .08), independent of the effects of home visitation itself. Attrition in both the treatment and control groups was inversely associated with income and level of education.Conclusions: Group meetings may constitute an effective means of engaging stressed urban families in home visitation.     

The prevalence and circumstances of child sexual abuse: changes across a decade

OBJECTIVE: This study reports the prevalence of child sexual abuse of African American and European American women and compares the circumstances of these incidents to data collected a decade ago. METHOD: Stratified probability sampling was used to recruit comparable samples of African American and European American women in Los Angeles County for a larger study of women's sexual decision making. Incidents of contact abuse were obtained from women 18 to 36 years old in 1994 and compared to women with those demographic characteristics from a comparable 1984 dataset. The prevalence of abuse, characteristics of the victim, assault, alleged perpetrator, disclosure, and long-term effects by ethnic group affiliation were assessed. RESULTS: Of the total sample, 34% reported at least one incident prior to age 18. Ethnic differences were found with respect to prevalence, location of abuse, and number of incidents of rape. While comparisons made with the 1984 dataset revealed no significant difference in prevalence rates over the 10 year period, changes in circumstances were noted. CONCLUSIONS: Although the prevalence of child sexual abuse in Los Angeles County remained fairly stable, several circumstances of abuse underwent change. These characteristics are discussed in relation to how sexual abuse among ethnically diverse samples in Los Angeles County has changed over a decade and how these differences can help better tailor prevention messages to different communities.     

On Your Bike!

本刊从2010年第1期起辟专栏连载英国大使馆文化处提供的系列稿件,为读者介绍英国文化,内容涵盖了假日、饮食、酒吧和英国皇室等方面。本栏目除文章外,每期还附有趣味小练习,另外,Word of the day板块每期为读者介绍一个俚语,读者在深入领略英国文化底蕴的同时。还可学习到原汁原味的英文。本期文章介绍了英国的全民骑单车现象。