Carolyn Gentle-Genitty

The current study tests the applicability of Agnew’s (2005) general theory of crime and delinquency to a sample of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) youths and explains the hypothesized direct and indirect/mediated effects of family attachment and peer delinquency on delinquent behaviors. Data for this study were obtained from a 2014 cross-sectional survey of 512 adolescents from the five members of the CARICOM. This study utilizes mediation analysis. Results reveal that adolescents with abuse experience from family members and unsafe school environments are more likely to engage in delinquent behavior. Furthermore, peer delinquency is significantly related to delinquent behavior and mediates the link between child abuse, family history of violence, unsafe school environment, and subsequent delinquent behavior. Finally, child abuse generated a lower level of family attachment, and then a higher level of family attachment led to a lower likelihood of subsequent delinquent behavior.

© We present a model for STEM organizations to write catalytic diversity, inclusion, respect, and equity (DIRE) policy statements as structured steps for sustained action.

© The Author(s) 2020.Many studies have examined significant factors associated with school delinquency among adolescents, including relationship violence, property damage, and other serious threats to students’ safety. However, students’ coping behaviors after being victims of or witnesses to violence and other forms of delinquency have not been thoroughly examined. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by identifying significant factors at the individual, family, and school levels that affect 226 Caribbean students’ actual reporting of school delinquency to school personnel. The data for this study were obtained from the Caribbean Youth Violence Survey, which studied middle and high school students in five Caribbean countries. The findings of hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that female students were more likely than male students to report delinquent behaviors. Family cohesion and family disorganization significantly decreased students’ reporting behaviors after they experienced or witnessed school delinquency. On the other hand, school bonding significantly increased students’ reporting behaviors. This paper concludes with practical implications and future research agendas for developing a comprehensive mechanism to address the dynamics of multidimensional factors that influence students’ active coping behaviors for dealing with school delinquency.

© Copyright © 2020 Gentle-Genitty, Taylor and Renguette.School attendance is important for student long-term academic and career success. However, in the U.S., our current practice often disenfranchises more at-risk students than it helps. Students slated for suspension and expulsion are often recipients of these practices. This manuscript offers a recommended change in how we frame student absenteeism and attendance using attendance markers and conceptual information by identifying the discrepancies, proposing options, and recommending a new way to actively leverage attendance data (not absenteeism data) for proactive student support. Particular attention is paid to how excused and unexcused absences and in-school suspensions are treated. An emerging pivot program, the Evaluation and Support Program, engages students while they receive school services, community support, and complete consequences is discussed as a possible, promising intervention.

© 2018School attendance problems (SAPs) are heterogeneous with respect to etiology and presentation. The long history of conceptualizing SAPs has led to a vast array of terms and definitions as well as different perspectives on the most helpful approach to classification. For educators, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers, this presents a challenge in understanding, assessing, and intervening with SAPs. This paper outlines evolution in the conceptualization of SAPs, focusing on two contemporary approaches to differentiating between them. One approach draws on the longstanding differentiation between SAP types labeled school refusal, truancy, and school withdrawal. A fourth type of SAP, labeled school exclusion, is also considered. The other approach focuses on the function of absenteeism, measured via the School Refusal Assessment Scale (SRAS). Anecdotal and scientific support for the SAP typology is presented, along with the benefits and shortcomings of the SRAS approach to differentiation. The paper offers suggestions for how to differentiate between SAPs and introduces the SNACK, a brief screening measure that permits differentiation by SAP type.

© 2018 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.This timely book begins a conversation about a field of practice which has been marred by victims of all kinds, races, and cultures. The authors aim to allow a platform for a country-to-country dialogue. A conversation that centers not only on where people are physically located, but what violence means when coupled with gender differences. This book examines different types of violence and its effect on different cultures from a global perspective, but also shares the prevalence and implications these acts have for humanity as a whole. (Nova).

© 2017 Taylor & Francis.Differences in gender and age have been established in the context of crime, violence, and prevalence of risk and protective factors. These studies are often notable only in the Western Hemisphere. Despite growth in crime and violence in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), relatively little understanding of violence in CARICOM member states exists. In light of these concerns, the major purposes of this study include: (1) comprehensively assessing the scope of the four behaviors (i.e., engagement, victimization, witness, and report) in relation to violence and youth’s perceptions of risk and protective factors in family and school domains, and (2) examining how they differ by youth’s gender and age. This study draws on assessment data on youth violence in five CARICOM Member States: Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago using a completed 51-item quantitative questionnaire from approximately 512 students. The results suggest that violence engagement, victimization, witness, and report significantly differed by gender and age. Male students were more likely to engage in violence, but less likely to report such violence to adults. Similarly, older students reported that they were more likely to engage in and witness violence. For risk and protective factors, female students reported significantly higher scores on domestic violence, whereas male students had higher scores on the access to drugs/weapons. Older students also tended to report higher levels of some school risk factors and lower levels of some protective factors in both family and school.

© 2014, © 2014 Taylor & Francis.There is no shortage of definitions for truancy. One state may house many different definitions and there are a variety of challenges arising from this fact. One of the most important to researchers, policy-makers and educators alike, is that because of the lack of uniformity and consistency, it is difficult to compile and ascertain the totality of the phenomenon. The lack of a consistent definition influences a wide range of outcomes including policy matters, financial resources and definitive responses and intervention strategies. This manuscript attempts to synthesise the literature through the examination of operational definitions of truancy in the USA and in other territories. In addition to these operational definitions, expert opinions from focus groups proposed an enhanced definition of truancy. The study is qualitative and uses focus groups and synthesis of the literature to frame the work. Findings are presented. The goal is to synthesise the literature, not in its entirety, but in an attempt to combine and inform the conversation on a definition of truancy.

Electronic portfolios are being used in many disciplines to demonstrate student- and program-level competence. This article presents a case study of a BSW program that implemented an e-portfolio project in the multiple contexts of developing pedagogy to meet the needs of millennial students, emphasizing evidence-based practice, and preparing for reaffirmation under the new Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards of competency-based education. Information about the basic structure, response rates, and assessment data are presented. Qualitative data were collected and analyzed from students and faculty liaisons. Product dimensions of the e-portfolio were identified as well as the learning processes that may be facilitated, including critical thinking, reflection, metacognition, and self-directed and collaborative learning. Challenges were also identified. Although preliminary findings are promising, additional research is necessary to determine the benefits of the e-portfolio as a tool for social work education in the 21st century.

For centuries humans have and continue to interact to bring change and homeostasis in their lives. Their interaction centers among roles played within the human developmental stages from toddler to preadolescent, to adolescent, to young adult, and thereafter to adulthood. Often the changes that occur take attitudinal, behavioral, and/or relational forms. These are often examined in research, using cross-section, prospective, or retrospective longitudinal study designs. Longitudinal research has enabled researchers to describe the emergence of violence in terms of two (and possibly more) life-course trajectories. In the early-onset trajectory, this is before puberty, and in the late-onset trajectory occurring after puberty. These two trajectories offer insights into the likely course, severity, and duration of antisocial behavior over the life span. They also have practical implications for the timing of intervention programs and strategies. These trajectories along with the results from longitudinal studies have generated causal relationships between early antisocial behavior and increases in crime and violence. This article conducts a brief, yet critical, evaluation of ten popular longitudinal studies to explain what factors can predict youth antisocial behaviors. It briefly presents a discussion on the study of antisocial behavior in the last five decades, a review of how antisocial behavior and factors relating to it have been studied, and findings on each of the ten longitudinal studies. It then discusses the common predictors found after pooling together similar factors found in each study, followed by recommendations for future study and use. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

On the basis of systematic evaluation of three program databases, totaling 246 programs, this article provides a discussion on a best practice program for low-income African American students transitioning from middle school to high school in urban school settings. The main research question was "Of the programs touted as best practice, is there one that shows promise to produce positive middle school transition outcomes for low-income African American students?" To allow for the examination of as many programs as possible that targeted African American students, no subcategories of African American students were made, for example-low income. Using specific exclusion criteria, the author chose four programs as best practice (School Transitional Environmental Program [STEP]; Skills, Opportunity, and Recognition; Positive Action through Holistic Education; and Fast Track). These four programs were further evaluated with an eight-point inclusion criteria. The results suggested that STEP was the best best practice program, of those examined, for working with low-income African American students transitioning from middle school to high school. © 2009 National Association of Social Workers.

There are no structured programs to respond to youth violence amongst students in the Caribbean. There has been little data collected and organized research conducted on the efficacy and impact of programs which may combat youth violence. Without rigorous impact evaluations, the region continues to lack effective and sustaining strategies for preventive programs. This manuscript shares outcomes from the implementation of the Children and Youth Social-Emotional Learning Fortification (C-SELF) strategy embedded into the curriculum in five schools in Antigua and Barbuda. In 2020, using data from 2017 to 2018, a mixed method study was conducted with 482 (intervention) and 152 (control) primary school students. Data was analyzed for the influence of the intervention on 16 factors. The findings suggest positive outcomes, without significance, in self-control and competence. It demonstrates the importance of social-emotional learning curriculum changes to increase children’s mastery of self-regulated behaviors, decision-making, self-management, and self-leadership skills.

The purpose of this paper is multifold.Key aspects discussed include exploring the extent of theory discussion and progression in social work journals for the year 2004; discussing the necessity of theory in social work research and practice; reviewing previous research literature regarding evaluation of theory discussion and progression; proposing criteria for defining theory in social work journals; and presenting