Fighting Gang Violence with Research and Empirical Evidence

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ORLANDO, Fla, - Frontline practitioners working on gang prevention, intervention and suppression are gathered this week for the National Gang Symposium in Orlando, Fla. For prevention, think of the Boys & Girls Club. For intervention, think of the Los Angeles-based Homeboy Industries, whose motto is “nothing stops a bullet like a job.” And for suppression, well, of course, think of the police. The number crunchers from the National Gang Center, using their own just released data, are telling symposium attendees today that gangs remain a substantial problem in the nation. However, gang levels are lower than the peak levels in the mid-1990s, and law enforcement agencies reported gang activity in their jurisdictions at about the same levels for five straight years – all this during a time when overall violence is way down.

Memo to Wile E. Coyote: Violence Won’t Make Kids Like You

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Here’s a conclusion that may surprise you about as much as one of the anvils that Jerry the mouse manages to drop on Tom the cat’s head from time to time: Kids don’t miss violence when it doesn’t appear in their favorite cartoons; what they’re really looking for is action. That’s the verdict of a study by professors at four universities whose finding’s have been published in the journal Media Psychology. Assistant Telecommunications Professor Andrew J. Weaver of Indiana University and his colleagues were testing the reason that producers and programmers often give for including violence in kid’s cartoons —  that children want to see it. "Violence isn't the attractive component in these cartoons which producers seem to think it is,” Weaver said. “It's more other things that are often associated with the violence.

Census of Kids on Probation

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The latest census by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention offers insight into the number of kids nationwide and in the south who are on probation for various crimes. The number of kids in the southern states make up more than a fourth of the crimes. The southern states include: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia as well as the District of Columbia.

College Professors: The Social Media Connection [infographic]

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College professors are now using social media as teaching tools. According to Schools.com, nearly 80 percent use social media as a teaching tool and almost all of them believe it to be effective. Check out this cool infographic Schools.com put together. Courtesy of: Schools.com

Justice Department Report Sheds Light On Human Trafficking Stats

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Just less than half of suspected human trafficking incidents in recent years involved the prostitution or sexual exploitation of children, according to United States Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Nearly half – 48 percent – of human trafficking allegations investigated between January 2008 and June 2010 involved allegations of adult prostitution, the Bureau said; 40 percent of cases pursued during that same time period involved children. According to the report during the study period:

• Federally funded task forces, led primarily by local law enforcement agencies, investigated 2,515 incidents of suspected human trafficking. Most incidents involved allegations of sex trafficking, but 350 incidents involved allegations of labor trafficking in unregulated industries (i.e. drug sales or roadside sales) and/or commercial industries (i.e. hair salons, hotels and bars). The information in the report is being provided in response to a congressional mandate for biennial reporting on the scope and characteristics of human trafficking incidents in the U.S. Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person to perform labor or a commercial sex act through force, fraud, or coercion.

Unique Study Says Evidence Backs Claims Violent Videogames Harm Teens

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For years, scientists have been studying whether violent video games are harmful to teens, but their findings have often contradicted one another. Now, three researchers have analyzed the data from experts who filed briefs in a U.S. Supreme Court case involving violent video games. The case, Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association, decides whether California can ban the sale or rental of violent video games to kids under 18. They found that experts who believe violent video games are harmful to teens published more evidence than those who do not believe they are harmful. "The evidence suggests that those who argue violent video games are harmful have a lot more experience and stronger credentials than those who argue otherwise," said Brad Bushman, co-author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University.

Many Pimps Were Trafficked and Abused as Children, Survey Says

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A small study out of Chicago indicates that many pimps were forced into the sex industry and trafficked as children, leading to a horrible cycle of abuse.  Researchers at DePaul College of Law surveyed 25 pimps, finding that 68 percent were trafficked as children and 76 percent were sexually abused. According to the survey by researchers Brenda Myers-Powell and Jody Raphael, many pimps now traffic kids themselves and “earn” between $150,000 and $500,000 a year, often by taking all the income of some of their prostitutes. The authors admit the survey was imperfect, but you can read the full report here.  

bullying

Bullying May Cause Long-term Social Anxiety, Study Finds

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We all know that bullying is unpleasant, but new findings suggest it could lead to long-term social anxiety for the person being bullied. Recent experiments at Rockefeller University found that consistently bullied mice showed signs of exaggerated anxiety and nervousness around new mice.  They also experienced higher levels of sensitivity to the hormone vasopressin, which controls social behaviors. "The identification of brain neuroendocrine systems that are affected by stress opens the door for possible pharmacological interventions," Yoav Litvin, the study’s coauthor says. "Additionally, studies have shown that the formation and maintenance of positive social relationships may heal some of the damage of bullying.”

The vasopressin hormone is associated with aggression, stress and anxiety disorders in humans.  Earlier studies suggest that human brains can bounce back given time. You can read the full study here.