Research conducted on youth exposure to violence has generally focused on documenting the prevalence of community violence and its emotional and behavioral implications. However, there is a dearth of information related to the impact of violence on the implementation and evaluation of community and school-based programs. This commentary examines…

For young people it just gets worse. Ten years after the Columbine tragedy, the debate over school safety has clearly shown that educators, parents, politicians, and the mainstream media have created the conditions in which young people have increasingly become the victims of adult mistreatment, indifference, neglect, even violence. The tragic…

Comments on the article by Robert Bornstein, "The complex relationship between dependency and domestic violence: Converging psychological factors and social forces." Although a more focused examination of the psychological factors involved in domestic violence is welcome, there are some factual errors in Bornstein's article that need attention and…

The release of "The New Zealand Curriculum" causes us to rethink the aims of education. Dr Cavanagh offers an alternative set of aims to the vision outlined in the Ministry of Education document, which is based, at least in part, on socialisation into the corporate industrial world. Dr Cavanagh's position is focused on putting…

Presents a reply by Robert Bornstein to comments from Chronister and regarding his article, "The complex relationship between dependency and domestic violence: Converging psychological factors and social forces." In addition to raising some important issues regarding the link between dependency and domestic violence, the comments by Chronister and…

Analyzes "The Deer Hunter" in terms of a psychological/ritual model of criticism. Argues that the rhetorical force of the film is explained by men's participation in rituals, such as deer hunting, which affect the patterns of psychological change they experience during and after war. (JMF)

Counteraggression is discussed as a biological function or survival instinct that escalates violence in schools. Expands Fritz Redl's explanation of underlying reasons why staff dealing with delinquent youth become counteraggressive. Preventing or controlling counteraggressive behavior through analysis of the reasons behind the reaction can help…

This article presents an interview with Jacqueline Wilson, a popular British author of children's books. Wilson has published 86 books for children and young adults with more than 20 million copies sold in the U.K. alone. Wilson's fans--mostly seven- to 14-year-old girls--love her gripping plots about dysfunctional families, homelessness, and…

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK), characterized by disguises, secrecy, bigotry, and terror, came into power in the South after the Civil War. In some parts of the country the KKK, an extreme example of pathological group process, appears as strong and violent today as ever. Fromm (1941) noted that the basis of group psychology is the individual personality…

Many behavioral characteristics found in the terrorist/hostage literature appear to have a parallel in the behavior of the abuser, including personality characteristics, circumstances around the violence, beliefs held, and similar defensive behavior adopted by the hostage and the abused child. These parallels indicate the need for different…

This analysis of psychological and cultural issues faced by professionals in child abuse dealing with children exposed to war zones stresses the importance of recognizing that the "war" is so powerfully loaded in subjective and ideological meanings for all adults that self-reflection and cultural criticism is a necessary condition of dealing…

Many social policies rely on assessments of violence potential in their implementation. Decisions concerning such civil matters as involuntary institutionalization and level of institutional custody, and criminal matters such as type or length of sentence and the granting of bail often rely on estimates of the potential that an individual will be…

This paper draws on psychological research and clinical practice to outline the social and familial context of injustice in Chicano families. The forces that promote social injustice create imbalances of power within the family wherein strategies of disconnection and oppression replace familial cultural ideals, resulting in domestic violence and…

Injury represents the leading cause of death and disability for US children and adolescents. Almost 16 million children are evaluated for injury each year in the United States. Although childhood injury rates are decreasing, 70% of all deaths among children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 years are injury related. Nonfatal injury is the leading cause…

Provides a psychotheological interpretation of rap music by African-American male artists and of its audience, examining the music and its social context. Common themes include despair over acute psychosocial and physical needs, intensity and violence as a means of personal integration, ontological insecurity, and desire for transformation and…