Roca is a nonprofit organization that works to change the lives of young people who are involved in the justice system and are at high risk of participating in violence or being affected by it. Such young people include those with a history of arrests, incarceration, violent behavior, or gang involvement, and often a disconnection from education…

Racial disparities in violence exposure and criminal justice contact are a subject of growing policy and public concern. We conduct a large-scale, randomized controlled trial of a six-month behavioral health intervention combining intensive mentoring and group therapy designed to reduce criminal justice and violence involvement among Black and…

The Minnesota's School-Based Diversion Model (SBDM) is a student-centered plan to keep youth from entering the criminal justice system due to arrests at school or during school hours. Wilder Research is working with the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to help collect and analyze information about how the SBDM is helping each pilot…

The Minnesota's School-Based Diversion Model (SBDM) is a student-centered plan to keep youth from entering the criminal justice system due to arrests at school or during school hours. Wilder Research is working with the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to help collect and analyze information about how the SBDM is helping each pilot…

The individuals continue to live with the achieved skills and behaviors. The inefficiencies in these skills affect the acquisition of new skills, learning and quality of life. Social-emotional learning skills are the skills that are necessary in various areas from social life to academic life. Social-emotional learning skills can be improved…

Providing treatment to survivors of human trafficking requires mental health professionals to understand complex layers of multiple traumas. These layers include an understanding of how trafficking occurs; what gender, ages, sexual orientations, life circumstances, and ethnicities are most at risk to be trafficked; the lasting impact of…

The social justice issue of human sex trafficking is a global form of oppression that places men, women and children at risk for sexual exploitation. Although a body of research exists on the topics of human trafficking, literature specific to the mental health implications for counselors working with this population is limited. Counselors should…

The Violence Risk Scale (VRS) uses ratings of static and dynamic risk predictors to assess violence risk, identify targets for treatment, and assess changes in risk following treatment. The VRS was rated pre- and posttreatment on a sample of 150 males, mostly high-risk violent offenders many with psychopathic personality traits. These individuals…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) resulting from parental incarceration upon children and adolescents in an African-American community. Methodology: Much of the literature on posttraumatic stress disorder focuses on children and adolescents that have been exposed to a one-time event (e.g. school…

The current study aimed to assess the Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) trauma recovery program within the context of ongoing violence. Utilizing a randomized controlled trial, 11-14-year-old students in Nablus, Palestine, were allocated by class to intervention or wait-list control conditions. Standardized measures assessed trauma exposure,…

As the empirical evidence accumulates, so does confidence that carefully designed and delivered rehabilitation approaches can reduce risk. Yet little is known about how to rehabilitate some specialized groups, such as high-risk violent offenders: career criminals with an extensive history of violent behavior. Since 1998, New Zealand's Rimutaka…

Objective: Women who develop symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression subsequent to interpersonal trauma are at heightened risk for future intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective in reducing PTSD and depression symptoms, yet limited research has investigated the…

Adolescence can be a period of increased problem behavior, and parents often report this stage of development as being one of increased conflict with high levels of parenting-related stress and lower levels of confidence in parenting abilities. As a result, parents of adolescents seek out parenting information and support much more often than do…

This research evaluated the impact of the Within My Reach healthy relationship education program on intimate partner violence for 419 high-risk adults in an urban area. Key outcomes such as relationship knowledge, communication/conflict resolution skills, relationship quality, and physical and emotional abuse were evaluated through survey research…

The "National Dropout Prevention Newsletter" is published quarterly by the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Intercepting the Dropout Trajectory (JoAnne Malloy); (2) The NH APEX Dropout Prevention Model; (3) How PBIS Can Lead to School Improvement (Julie King and JoAnne Malloy);…