Humane Education’s Effect on Middle School Student Motivation and Standards-Based Reading Assessment

Students educated in the juvenile justice system face acute challenges such as lack of motivation and negative attitudes toward school. Schools in the system are expected to provide rigorous, Common Core-standards-aligned instruction. Humane education—lessons that nurture kindness and empathy towards humans, animals, and the environment—has been shown to motivate students and encourage their pro-social sentiments. This randomized control trial (with constraints) study of 192 12- and 13-year-old students from New Jersey asked students to complete five standards-aligned reading passages with text-based questions. The experimental-group assessments contained humane education themes and the control-group assessments had non-animal related high interest topics. The passages were equated in reading level, word count, etc. Analyses of the results showed that not only did students who received humane education passages do better overall, but also did much better on questions addressing specific Common Core Reading for Information standards. This study can be a starting point for applying and researching the effectiveness of humane education on the juvenile justice population, specifically, because they are expected to learn standards-aligned curricula and are in particular need of academic motivation and pro-social encouragement.

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Race and Stereotypes Matter When You Ask About Conduct Problems: Implications for Violence Risk Assessment in Juvenile Justice Settings

Journal of Black Psychology ◽

10.1177/0095798418821278 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 45 (1) ◽

pp. 26-51

Author(s):

James R. Andretta ◽

Frank C. Worrell ◽

Katara M. Watkins ◽

Ryan M. Sutton ◽

Adrian D. Thompson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Juvenile Justice ◽

Conduct Problems ◽

Juvenile Justice System ◽

African American Adolescents ◽

Substantial Effect ◽

Control Group ◽

Violence Risk ◽

Identity Attitudes ◽

The Impact

We examined the impact of stigma priming on self-reported severe conduct problems in two studies conducted with African American adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system. Data-collection interviews were conducted in a secure detention setting following arrest. In Study 1 ( N = 193), stigma was primed by manipulating the ordering of surveys. Adolescents who completed a questionnaire about racial identity attitudes prior to questions about severe conduct reported substantively more problematic behaviors than control group peers (β = 0.43). In Study 2 ( N = 264), stigma was primed by manipulating whether adolescents were interviewed by an African American or European American mental health professional. Racial group membership of the interviewer did not have a substantial effect on self-reported conduct problems (β = −0.04). Although the studies were not without limitations, they highlight the need for more research on the degree to which interview methods and context influence self-reported severe conduct behavior in forensic settings.

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El efecto del género en la toma de decisiones en el sistema de Justicia Juvenil (The effect of gender on decision-making in the Juvenile Justice System)

Oñati Socio-legal Series ◽

10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1057 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 442-464

Author(s):

Ricardo Gallego Córcoles ◽

Raquel Bartolomé Gutiérrez

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Juvenile Justice ◽

Justice System ◽

Juvenile Justice System ◽

Juvenile Court ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Data Set ◽

Court Judge ◽

Starting Point ◽

Toma De Decisiones

Existe evidencia de que cuestiones de género influyen en la toma de decisiones en Justicia Juvenil en diversos países. Sin embargo, en España no existen estudios empíricos al respecto. Una aproximación a nuestra realidad puede servir de punto de partida para realizar un análisis más profundo sobre la cuestión. Se diseñó un estudio descriptivo de naturaleza retrospectiva. La muestra estuvo constituida por 166 jóvenes, 127 chicos y 39 chicas, expedientados en el Juzgado de Menores de Guadalajara por cometer algún delito. Los resultados muestran que no existen diferencias significativas entre chicos y chicas en cuanto a las decisiones que se toman con respecto a ellos en ninguna de las fases del procedimiento judicial. Tampoco si se analizan únicamente los delitos violentos, tradicionalmente considerados propios de los chicos. Todas las profesionales que han intervenido en la toma de decisiones analizada son mujeres. Esta circunstancia puede influir en los resultados. There is enough evidence in scientific literature about the effect of gender on the decision-making in the Juvenile Justice System. However, in Spain, there are no known empirical studies in this regard. An approximation to our reality might serve as a starting point for a deeper analysis on the issue. The aim of the present study was to perform a descriptive, retrospective study of the cases disposed to the juvenile court judge during eight months in the Juvenile Court of Guadalajara, Spain. The final data set contained 166 cases, 127 boys and 39 girls disposed to the Juvenile Court of Guadalajara for committing some crime in the territorial scope of this province, No differences between sexes occurred in any case. Neither if only violent crimes are considered. All professionals who have intervened in the decision-making were women. This circumstance could influence the results obtained.

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