Validation of the Black Community Activism Orientation Scale with racially and ethnically diverse college students

This study fills a methodological gap in racial justice research by assessing the utility and validity of the Black Community Activism Orientation Scale (BCAOS) in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of college-going young adults (N = 624, M = 19.4 years, SD = 1.89) from 10 colleges in the United States. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to estimate the goodness of fit of the proposed three-factor model and assess the validity of the BCAOS. Findings from the confirmatory factor analysis provide statistical support for use of the BCAOS as a measure of racial justice activism in support of Black communities among racially and ethnically diverse college-going young adults. Findings from the study also suggest that White college students and men are less oriented toward racial justice activism than women and racially marginalized students. Convergent and discriminant validity were established through bivariate correlations of the BCAOS factors with other civic development measures. As more and more young people consider the importance of standing against racial oppression, the BCAOS has utility as an assessment instrument in future racial justice research, education, intervention, and youth programming efforts.     

Brokering the Research–Practice Gap: A typology

Despite widespread recognition of a research–practice gap in multiple service sectors, less is known about how pre‐existing communication channels facilitate the flow of information between researchers and practitioners. In the current study, we applied an existing typology of brokerage developed by Gould and Fernandez (Sociol Methodol 19:89–126, 1989 ) to examine what types of brokerage facilitate information spread between researchers and educational practitioners. Specifically, we conducted semi‐structured interviews with 19 school administrators and staff in two public school districts regarding their experiences searching for information about instructional, health, and social skills programs. Using deductive content analysis, we found evidence of all five types of brokerage identified by Gould and Fernandez ( 1989 ). However, only three types of brokerage—gatekeepers, representatives, and liaisons—were involved in the flow of information between school administrators and researchers. Moreover, information transfer often occurred in longer chains that involved multiple, distinct types of brokerage. We conclude with the broad implications of our findings for narrowing the research–practice gap by improving researchers’ dissemination efforts and practitioners’ search for information.     

Harder Won and Easier Lost? Testing the Double Standard in Gender Rules in 62 Countries

Sex Roles - There is a longstanding tradition in the Netherlands to announce the birth of a child by sending out birth announcement cards to friends and family. These cards provide a glimpse of the...     

My people,right or wrong? Minimal group membership disrupts preschoolers’ selective trust

When preschoolers decide to trust one speaker over another, how does group membership influence their tracking of speaker reliability? In Experiment 1, 4-year-olds were assigned to arbitrary groups of no social significance (0055 and 0170) and asked to endorse novel object labels provided by two ingroup members, one of whom was reliable and the second of whom was unreliable. Children selectively trusted the more reliable informant. In Experiment 2, we asked whether ingroup status or reliability would determine children's choices and found that 4-year-olds failed to trust reliable outgroup members over unreliable ingroup members (or vice versa). Experiment 3 showed that the failure of trust in Experiment 2 was not due to the mere inclusion of both ingroup and outgroup members: children presented with a control paradigm in which the ingroup members were reliable trusted reliable ingroup members over unreliable outgroup members. Children's use of reliability as an indicator of future credibility therefore appears disrupted when outgroup status and reliability are in conflict, even when group membership is arbitrary.     

Social cure and social curse: Social identity resources and adjustment to acquired brain injury

There is increasing evidence that identification with social groups can protect and enhance health, establishing a kind of ‘social cure’. However, for those affected by chronic or disabling conditions such as acquired brain injury (ABI), their identity may also represent a burden, a form of ‘social curse’. The present study explored the identity benefits and burdens available to 15 participants living with ABI using semi-structured interviews. The qualitative data was then analysed systematically using thematic analysis. The findings highlight social identity changes as central to the experience of brain injury. Participants reported changes in their social networks and social group memberships after injury. Identity loss and reduced social support were described as disabling. Engagement in meaningful group activity with others affected by ABI and access to affected peers enabled new group-based resources such as social support. In this way, group activity can be seen as a form of identity enactment that can drive social cure effects. Similarly, adaptation to life after injury was demonstrably linked to social identity processes pointing to the importance of a social cure approach to rehabilitation.     

Scaling‐Up Youth‐Led Social Justice Efforts through an Online School‐Based Social Network

The exploration of social networking sites (SNS) in promoting social change efforts offers great potential within the field of community psychology. Online communities on SNS provide opportunities for bridging across groups, thus fostering the exchange of novel ideas and practices. Currently, there have only been limited efforts to examine SNS within the context of youth‐led efforts. To explore the potential of SNS to facilitate the diffusion of social justice efforts between distinct youth groups, we linked three school‐based youth‐led participatory action research projects involving 54 high school students through a SNS. This study offers an innovative methodological approach and framework, utilizing social network analysis and strategic sampling of key student informants to investigate what individual behaviors and online network features predict student adoption of social change efforts. Findings highlight prospective facilitators and barriers to diffusion processes within a youth‐led online network, as well as key constructs that may inform future research. We conclude by providing suggestions for scholars and practitioners interested in examining how SNS can be used to enhance the diffusion of social justice strategies, youth‐led engagement efforts, and large‐scale civic organizing.     

Managing Child Behavior Problems in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: Utilizing Structural and Solution Focused Therapy With Primary Caregivers

Previous therapeutic models for modifying and managing problem behaviors in children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder have, typically, focused on working directly with the diagnosed child. The exclusion of other family member involvement in treatment displayed a need for creating a systemic model for managing children's problem behaviors. This model proposes Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) and Structural Family Therapy (SFT) with a focus on the caregivers of children with ASDs to reduce parental stress, increase parental self-efficacy, and ultimately begin to manage child behavior problems.     

Early group bias in the Faroe Islands: Cultural variation in children's group-based reasoning

Recent developmental research demonstrates that group bias emerges early in childhood. However, little is known about the extent to which bias in minimal (i.e., arbitrarily assigned) groups varies with children's environment and experience, and whether such bias is universal across cultures. In this study, the development of group bias was investigated using a minimal groups paradigm with 46 four- to six-year-olds from the Faroe Islands. Children observed in-group and out-group members exhibiting varying degrees of prosocial behaviour (egalitarian or stingy sharing). Children did not prefer their in-group in the pretest, but a pro-in-group and anti-out-group sentiment emerged in both conditions in the posttest. Faroese children's response patterns differ from those of American children [Schug, M. G., Shusterman, A., Barth, H., & Patalano, A. L. (2013). Minimal-group membership influences children's responses to novel experience with group members. Developmental Science, 16(1), 47–55], suggesting that intergroup bias shows cultural variation even in a minimal groups context.     

Navigating activism within the academy: Consciousness building and social justice identity formation

The academy can provide rich opportunities for the scholar activist through critical discourse within the classroom, consciousness building via community engagement, and leveraging diverse connections. However, the academy often upholds systemic roadblocks, at times enacting policies that further perpetuate inequities. This qualitative study takes a narrative approach to exploring the life course histories of 15 activists occupying diverse yet intersecting dimensions in the spectrum of privilege and oppression. Interviewees are uniquely connected to the academy engaging in a variety of roles and anti‐racist social justice efforts within the northwestern United States. Applying a critical consciousness framework, results highlight key functions of critical reflection and critical action as interviewees engage in critical consciousness raising (i.e., systemic root cause analysis), social justice identity formation (i.e., the politicization of one's identity), and adapting individual theories of social change. Barriers within the institution are also identified concerning the mainstreaming of service learning and university‐required diversity courses, limited structural supports for activists of color, and the institutionalized co‐opting of social change efforts. Lastly, implications for activism, scholarship, and critical pedagogy within the academy are discussed.     

Joint attention and object learning in 5‐ and 7‐month‐old infants

We examined the effects of joint attention for object learning in 5‐ and 7‐month‐old infants. Infants interacted with an adult social partner who taught them about a novel toy in two conditions. In the Joint Attention condition, the adult spoke about the toy while alternating gaze between the infant and the toy, while in the Object Only condition, the adult looked to the toy and to a spot on the ceiling, but never at the infant. In the test trials following each social interaction, we presented infants with the ‘familiarization’ toy and a novel toy, and monitored looking times to each object. We found that 7‐month‐olds looked significantly longer to the novel toy following the Joint Attention relative to the Object Only condition, while 5‐month‐old infants did not show a significant difference across conditions. We interpret these results to suggest that joint attention facilitated 7‐month‐old infants' encoding of information about the familiarization object. Implications for the ontogeny of infant learning in joint attention contexts are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.