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Youth
Violence
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The
next several Resource Notes will address violence, arguably
the cause and effect of societal crises. The subject
has many facets, and there is a plethora of information about
the subject, as well as a myriad of organizations and government
or health agencies studying the issue or implementing programs.
Today, I am planning a series of notes to address youth violence,
domestic violence, road rage, assessing or predicting violence,
and violence in health care settings, but I may discover other
sub categories along the way and am open to your suggestions.
There are other acts of violence that I consider too large
for a Resource Note, including racism, sexism, ethnic cleansing,
religious wars, etc. They come under the umbrella of
human rights and cultural diversity; so, that may be a way
to at least touch on them in the future.
My disclaimer,
mentioned in previous Resource Notes, is that these notes
are not comprehensive bibliographies or resource lists, but
starting places. I do look at the sites listed in the
notes and verify the references. Each week, I try to
include citations from the occupational therapy literature,
as a key objective is to call our attention to the role of
occupational therapy intervention and of occupation
in preventing or alleviating the consequences of societal
crises
Once again, an
individual interested in youth violence can start with
"MEDLINEPlus:
Health Information" from the National Library of Medicine.
This site provides a wonderful starting point for the consumer
interested in a health-related topic, and I visited several
resources that this source provided.
Here is a small
sample of the papers and fact sheets offered by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury
prevention and Control:
Includes statistics
of the problem and a table of risk factors
The National
Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center
Sponsored by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal
Working Group on Youth Violence, is a definite source that
you will want to visit. It provides separate sections
for parents & guardians, professionals and teens.
For fast navigation to areas of specific interest, a visitor
can select one of the "Hot Topics," such as After School Programs,
Collaboration in the Community, Gangs, Mental Health, or Youth
at Risk.
Not surprisingly,
the American Psychological Association
has a section on youth violence. The paper "Is
youth violence just another fact of life?" gives a concise
overview of the issue and addresses areas in which occupational
therapy practitioners already play a role: early intervention,
self-esteem and identity issues, training for parenting skills,
etc.
Some of the following
references appeared in an earlier Resource Note, "Fires
in Australia," where we spoke briefly about the role of occupation
or habits in juvenile delinquency. It seemed appropriate
to include them. Others address parenting skills and
self-esteem in adolescent, two significant affects on a youth.
1)Atchison, B.
& Nasser, S. (1989). Health promotion
for babies and their parents: Starting a developmental enrichment
clinic. Occupational Therapy in Health Care,
6(1), 17-27.
ABSTRACT:
Providing individualized developmental assessment and consultation
to parents of well children fosters healthy parenting behavior
and provides useful information about enrichment techniques.
This article describes the Developmental Enrichment Clinic,
which was implemented in 1983 at McLaren General Hospital
in Flint, Michigan. Information about the program's philosophy,
frame of reference and services is provided. Occupational
therapists with expertise and interest in pediatrics can broaden
their skills to benefit the well population, thus creating
a niche for themselves in the wellness movement.
2)DeForest, D.,
Watts, J.H. & Madigan, M.J. (1991). Resonation in
the Model of Human Occupation: A pilot study. Occupational
Therapy in Mental Health, 11(2/3), 57-71.
ABSTRACT: This
pilot study of resonation in the model of human occupation
examines the belief that successful performance of craft activities
will positively influence belief in skill (BIS). Juvenile
delinquents participated in craft activities and interviews
to help answer the question "What is the difference in
the youths' BIS before and after intervention?" Increases
in BIS were significant for: (a) the combination of craft
activities in which the youths participated, and (b) other
performance subsystem activities not specifically practiced
during the study. This offers preliminary support for resonation
since changes in the performance subsystem seemed to have
positively influenced subjects' BIS (volition subsystem).
Future studies are needed to explain how the resonation dynamic
operates.
3)Ebb, E.W., Coster,
W. & Duncombe, L. (1989). Comparison of normal
and psychosocially dysfunctional male adolescents.
Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 9(2), 53-74.
ABSTRACT:
The purpose of this study was to examine whether variables
defined as critical by the model of human occupation (Kielhofner
& Burke, 1980, 1985), could discriminate normal (n=18),
and psychosocially dysfunctional (n=15), groups of male adolescents.
Discriminant analysis was used to evaluate several variables
simultaneously in order to determine group membership.
Measures used were the following: Locus of Control Scale for
Children (Nowicki & Strickland, 1973), Occupational Questionnaire
(Riopel, 1981), Role Checklist (Oakley, 1982), Modification
of Matsutsuyu's Interest Checklist (1969) and the Adapted
Adolescent Functional Performance Evaluation. Results showed
that the model variables did successfully differentiate between
the normal and psychosocially dysfunctional groups. Further
data analysis indicated that the number of current and future
roles as well as the number of strong interests proved to
be the most valuable variables in this discrimination.
Future research is suggested to improve the validity of the
instruments used in this study.
4)Esdaile, S.
(2000). Mothering Young Children With Disabilities
in a Challenging Urban Environment. The American
Journal of Occupational Therapy, 54(3), 307-314.
ABSTRACT:
Objective. This study examined the occupations of mothering
very young children with physical disabilities. Method.
Two single, urban, Black mothers in their mid-20's were interviewed
with a semistructured protocol. The audiotaped, transcribed
data were analyzed with a phenomenological method. Results.
The context of the challenging urban environment was a occupations
of mothering. The major overarching theme derived from
the data was that mothering was "what I got to do"
in relation to their particular child. Two sub themes
were identified: (a) mothering as caring and (b) the
impact of social supports on the occupations of mothering.
Conclusion. To plan meaningful, effective interventions,
occupational therapy practitioners need to understand the
context in which mothering occupations occur and to ensure
that mothers' caring occupations and social support needs
are addressed in the therapeutic partnership.
5)Farnworth, L.
(1998). Doing, being, and boredom. Journal of Occupational
Science, 5(3), 140-146.
ABSTRACT: My research
on the time use and subjective experience of young offenders
has uncovered that many experience a high degree of boredom.
At first, this boredom appears to be related to their lack
of engagement in productive occupations, such as education
and work and the predominance of time spent in passive leisure
and personal care occupations. The experience of boredom
is often associated with ideas of victimization and entrapment.
An implicit assumption is that people have a right to not
be bored, and that society's obligations include preventing
this boredom. One means to achieve this is believed
to be through engagement in paid employment. However,
in this paper, I will argue that boredom may loom large in
our culture today and may be just as prevalent amongst those
in paid employment as those who are unemployed. Using
my research with young offenders and several literary explanations
of the phenomenon of boredom, I will illustrate that boredom
is a little understood concept which is intimately linked
with human occupation and meaning, and thus is of interest
to occupational scientists.
6)Farnworth, L.
(2000). Time use and leisure occupations of young offenders.
The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 54(3),
315-325.
ABSTRACT: Objective.
The overall goal of this study was to understand the time
use, including leisure occupations, of a sample of young offenders
in Melbourne, Australia. Method. This study investigated
how 37 probationary young offenders (from 13-18 years of age)
spent their wakeful time during 1 week. The study used
a combination of the Experience Sampling Method and interviewing.
Participants were beeped 60 times over days and , each time,
they were asked to complete a questionnaire about the occupations
in which they were engaged. Each participant was interviewed
both before and after the Experience Sampling Method data
collection about their everyday lives, including their leisure
occupations. Data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively.
Results. The young offenders reported that they were engaged
in leisure occupations, predominantly passive, 57% of the
times beeped, and in personal care occupations 21% of the
times beeped. Only 10% of the times beeped did they
report being engaged in productive occupations such as education
or employment. The time spent in passive leisure occupations
was 30% higher than for the average Australian adolescent.
Leaving school and lack of financial and human resources contributed
to the high percentage of engagement in passive leisure occupations.
Conclusion. Findings from this study help us to understand
the relationship between use of time and social well-being,
particularly the nature of time use of young offenders, and
will help to inform occupational therapy practices with such
groups.
7)Farnworth, L.J.
(1999). The time use and subjective experience of occupations
of young male and female legal offenders. . (Australia,
juvenile delinquency). Los Angeles, CA: University of
Southern California. (dissertation)
Abstract:
Occupational therapy and occupational science literature suggests
that there is a relationship between one's use of time and
a person's health and well-being. Time budget studies generally
indicate that humans have a temporal order to their daily
lives which is organized around the occupations of self-maintenance,
work and leisure. Young offenders are known to have problematic
school attendance and consequently have difficulties in gaining
paid employment. Occupations such as paid employment and attending
school structure time and develop routines and habits
for independent living. However, little is known about how
young offenders spend their time. This study investigated
how 37 young legal offenders on probation (16 females
and 21 males) in Melbourne, Australia, spent their time, and
how they experienced this use of time. The study used a combination
of research methods, Experience Sampling Method (ESM) and
interviewing. Participants were each beeped 60 times
over seven days and asked to complete a questionnaire about
occupations engaged in, social and physical contexts of the
occupations, and subjective experiences while engaged in these
occupations. Each participant was interviewed both before
and after the ESM data collection. Of their wakeful hours,
the young offenders reported spending 57% of their time engaged
in leisure occupations such as watching television or listening
to music, and 21% in personal care occupations, such as eating
and drinking. Only 10% of their time was reported in productive
occupations such as education or employment. The time spent
in passive leisure occupations was 30% higher than the average
Australian adolescent. They were bored 42% of the times that
they were beeped, and 62% of their reported time was spent
in occupations that they experienced as less challenging than
their self-perceived skill levels. Boredom was experienced
almost half of the time when they were engaged in passive
leisure and personal care occupations, and was less likely
to occur when engaged in education, labor force or active
leisure occupations. Both the lack of challenges and experience
of boredom were directly related to engagement in illegal
activities. NOTE: The WLW Library does not have this
dissertation in its collection.
8)Feldman, M.A.
(1998). Preventing child neglect: Child-care training
for parents with intellectual disabilities. Infants
and Young Children, 11(2), 1-11.
ABSTRACT:
Children of parents with intellectual disabilities are at
risk for neglect, developmental disabilities, and behavioral
and psychiatric disorders. In addition to cognitive
impairments, these parents may have numerous risk factors
for parenting difficulties including a history of abuse, poverty,
stigmatization, extreme stress, a lack of social supports,
depression, and limited opportunities to have learned appropriate
child-rearing skills. Not surprisingly, parents with
intellectual disabilities are over-represented in child custody
cases. This article describes an empirically validated
assessment and training model. The parent education
approach is based on an interactional model of parenting and
the view that many parenting problems of parents with intellectual
disabilities are due to specific skill deficiencies that are
remediable. A case study is used to illustrate various
aspects of the assessment and intervention process.
9)Haner, S.L.
(1996 Oct). The Role of unconditional positive
regard in the development of adolescent self-concept and identity
status. The Journal of Occupational Therapy Students,
13-15.
ABSTRACT:
Because adolescence is the development period during which
personal identity status is shaped and achieved, the literature
was reviewed to determine what role unconditional positive
regard (acceptance and respect regardless of the circumstances)
might play in the development of personal identity status.
The review indicates that a positive self-concept may be facilitated
by unconditional positive regard from significant others.
Positive parental attitudes and communication techniques may
encourage self-confidence and an active, positive response
to new and challenging situations
10)Henry, A.D.
& Coster, W.J. Competency beliefs and occupational
role behavior among adolescents: Explication of the personal
causation construct. The American Journal of Occupational
Therapy, 51(4), 267-276.
ABSTRACT: According
to the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO), beliefs regarding
competency can influence whether a person's occupational role
behavior is adaptive or maladaptive. Such beliefs are
considered to be part of a person's sense of "personal
causation". This article reviews some of the theoretical
underpinnings of the personal causation construct. Issues
addressed are the distinction between competency beliefs and
locus of control (another aspect of personal causation according
to the MOHO); the domain-specific nature of competency beliefs;
and, in particular, the evidence for a relationship between
competency beliefs and actual behavior. The article
focuses on competency beliefs and their relationship to three
domains of occupational behavior that have relevance for adolescents:
academic ability, social competence, and physical competence.
Implications for clinical practice with adolescents with psychiatric
disorders are addressed.
11)Kao, C.C. &
Kellegrew, D.H. (2000). Self-concept, achievement
and occupation in gifted Taiwanese adolescents. Occupational
Therapy International, 7(2), 121-133.
ABSTRACT:
The education of gifted adolescents that underachieve is a
significant problem that impacts on the child's educational
opportunities and possible career trajectory. Many researchers
propose that a child's self-concept is predictive of academic
achievement. Using an occupational science paradigm,
this study examined the notion that an adolescent's self concept
and academic achievement are also related to the types and
time expended in occupation. Eighteen gifted achieving
and underachieving Taiwanese junior high school students completed
the Multidimensional Self-concept Scale and a time diary for
one week in the summer. The results indicated that self-concept,
achievement and time expended in academic occupations are
positively related. Furthermore, there are differences
between these two groups of students in the time expended
in academic and social activities. The study has cross-cultural
implications regarding the time use of young Taiwanese teens.
12)Knis, L.L.
(1995). Coping skills: The play's the thing. OT Week,
9(35), 18-19.
ABSTRACT:
Learning positive coping skills through occupational therapy-facilitated
role play helps children who lack the ability to manage the
daily stress of life.
13)Lancaster, J.
& Mitchell, M. (1991). Occupational therapy
treatment goals, objectives, and activities for improving
low self-esteem in adolescents with behavioral disorders.
Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 11(2/3), 3-22.
ABSTRACT:
This paper examines the concept of self-esteem: its definitions
and the association between low self-esteem and adolescents
with behavioral disorders. It also provides goals and objectives
for OT intervention based upon the taxonomy in the affective
domain (Krathwohl, Bloom, & Masia, 1964) and suggests
activities integrated into the model of human occupation (Kielhofner,
1985). Finally, a scheme organizing goals, objectives, and
activities is offered to occupational therapists, which can
be used in the treatment planning process.
14)Lederer, J.M.,
Kielhofner, G. & Watts, J.H. (1985). Values, personal
causation and skills of delinquents and Nondelinquents.
Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 5(2), 59-77.
ABSTRACT:
A study exploring the occupational nature of juvenile delinquency
from the perspective of the Model of Human Occupation is presented.
Because of the complex etiology and lack of a coherent occupational
therapy conceptualization of delinquency, this study and literature
review serve as beginning points for further investigation.
Literature is presented on variables in the volition and performance
subsystems, specifically values, internal/external locus of
control and perceptual motor skills. Scott's Personal Values
Scales (1965), the second half of the Role Checklist (Oakley,
1981), the Locus of Control Scale for Children (Nowicki-Strickland,
1973), and the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration
(Beery & Buktenica, 1967) were used to measure the variables
simultaneously in a group of adolescent delinquents and age-matched
non-delinquents to see whether the groups differed. No statistical
differences were found between groups on the variables studied.
However, results suggest that delinquents value different,
more solitary, deviant and self-expressive roles than non-delinquents.
Further study is needed on the following aspects of occupational
behavior: role, habit patterns, and interests.
15)Lloyd, C. &
Watson, D. (1989). Parenting: A group programme
for abusive parents. The Australian Occupational
Therapy Journal, 36(1), 24-33.
16)Nueva, R.
(1995). Kids' lives in the balance. OT Week,
9(39), 20-21.
ABSTRACT:
Occupational therapy training steers high-risk adolescents
away from crime and toward a productive future,
17)Olson, L., Heaney,
C & Soppas-Hoffman, B. (1989). Parent-child
activity group treatment in preventive psychiatry. Occupational
Therapy in Health Care 6(1), 29-43.
ABSTRACT:
This article describes the role that occupational therapy
played in a community outreach program instituted collaboratively
by a major teaching hospital and a local day care center.
The program focused on preschool children at risk for developing
psychiatric disorders. A parent-child activity group
was introduced and developed by an occupational therapist
who was a member of the hospital staff. The frame of
reference, the parent-child intervention including the use
of play and group process, and the method of monitoring change
in families are explained. A case study is also provided.
18)Snyder, C.,
Clark, F., Masunaka-Noriega, M. & Young, B. (1998).
Los Angeles Street Kids: New Occupations for Life Program.
Journal of Occupational Science, 5(3), 133-139.
ABSTRACT:
In the same sense that health intervention focused on the
daily occupations of the well-elderly can promote successful
aging, programs aimed at the daily occupations of at-risk
youth may act as a potential deterrent to street gang activity.
In the city of Los Angeles, thousands of young people come
under the influence of gang culture and in turn lead lifestyles
destructive to themselves and society. This paper begins
with a few statistics which paint a grim picture of the existence
of street gang members and the impact of street gang involvement.
Following, there is a story of one youth's path from immigration
to the United States to his involvement with a street gang,
which eventually led to his participation in the New Occupations
for Life Program. This pilot program, developed by the
University of Southern California Department of Occupational
Science and Occupational Therapy, targeted the harmful occupations
for 100 Hispanic and African-American teenagers at risk for
gang involvement. The program provided a safe context
for disestablishing gang allegiances, building community,
and exploring socially acceptable, productive occupations.
In this liminal space, these at-risk youth were given the
opportunity to experience other "modes of being"
within the context of meaningful and enjoyable occupations.
Clark and her colleagues offer their interpretation of this
transformative process and share their optimism about the
power of occupation to change the lives of at-risk youth.
19)Unbehagen, D.L.
& Tryon, M.R. (1995). Managing the risk
of pregnancy. OT Week, 9(24), 18 19.
ABSTRACT:
In Galveston, Texas, ambulatory high-risk antepartum women
can receive OT assistance in a new outpatient residence program.
20)Virikowic, T.L.
(1993). Perspectives on delinquency and the Model of
Human Occupation. Journal of Occupational Therapy Students,
7(1), 30-41.
ABSTRACT: Adolescents
with delinquent behaviors display a multitude of behavioral
patterns that affect several aspects of their life-styles,
including work, school, self-care, and leisure. A multifactoral
and complex interaction of dysfunctional biological, sociological,
and psychological factors has been attributed to the development
of such behaviors. The Model of Human Occupation provides
a framework for occupational therapy assessment and intervention
that addresses the performance skills and underlying performance
components that may be maladaptive or dysfunctional for the
adolescent.
21)Valliere, J.M.
(1994). Infant mental health: A consultation and treatment
team for at-risk infants and toddlers. Infants and Young
Children, 6(3), 46-53.
ABSTRACT:
The number of homeless adolescent parents with infants is
increasing nationwide. Homeless adolescent parents are
often from highly dysfunctional backgrounds, are usually single,
and lack social support, factors that can negatively affect
parenting. The infants of such parents are at increased
risk for emotional and developmental problems. This article
describes an interdisciplinary infant mental health intervention
and consultation program in a shelter for homeless adolescents.
Approaches to training, consultation, and flexible, nontraditional
intervention efforts are discussed.
22)Watson, C.
(1994). Perspectives on parenting: Behind every dedicated
parent is a person who needs support. Developmental Disabilities
Special Interest Section Newsletter, 17(2), 4.
23)Williamson,
G.G. & Zeitlin, S. (1989). Enhancing the coping of families.
Developmental
Disabilities Special Interest Section Newsletter, 12(2),
1-3.
Compiled by Mary
Binderman, MLS, Director Of Information Resources, American
Occupational Therapy Foundation, Bethesda, MD
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