Mallika Bose, Eliza Pennypacker and Thomas Yahner
A group of faculty at Penn State's Department of Landscape Architecture observed that the traditional master/apprentice model of studio instruction fosters greater student…
Abstract
A group of faculty at Penn State's Department of Landscape Architecture observed that the traditional master/apprentice model of studio instruction fosters greater student dependence on faculty for decision-making guidance than the faculty considers desirable. They contend that this traditional model promotes a studio dynamic that encourages students to look to the professor for design ideas and wait for faculty approval before making design decisions. The faculty considered this decision-making dependency to be in conflict with the need for students to develop the critical-thinking skills required to address the complex and ill-structured problems that are common in architecture and landscape architecture. In response to their concern this faculty team developed a studio teaching method they termed “independent design decision-making.” They speculated that by transferring the responsibility for design decisions from professor to the student, students could improve their critical thinking and gain confidence in design decision-making. The faculty conceived a set of strategies to implement in a 3rd year team-taught site planning and design studio that presents a range of complex design issues and scales. In collaboration with Penn State's Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, the faculty researchers developed a 2-year comparative study to test this new teaching method in the same design studio with two consecutive student groups-evaluating the strategies implemented in the first year, refining methods, then applying and re-evaluating the results in the next year's class. These new strategies included ways students receive information to inspire their designs (“input strategies”) and ways to receive critique on their design ideas (“feedback strategies”). Two evaluation instruments were chosen to assess this method of studio teaching: 1) the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), and 2) Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG). This paper presents this teaching/learning method and reports on the results of the comparative study.
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Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to highlight recent research addressing theories of female offending and the context of female perpetrated homicides. Women have often…
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to highlight recent research addressing theories of female offending and the context of female perpetrated homicides. Women have often been omitted in research and theory development, thus gendered interventions and treatments lag behind. Additionally, female perpetrated homicides are rare, consequently research examining the context of the events and the events leading up to the homicide are inadequate.
Design/methodology/approach – The approach is to examine the historical research on female offenders, the context of female violent offenses particularly homicide offenses, and emerging theories of gendered experiences into criminal activities for women.
Findings – Findings indicate that gender matters when explaining theories of female offending and when examining the context of female perpetrated homicides.
Originality/value – Females have different life events from males, and these life events create distinct pathways into criminal offending, including the ultimate offense of homicide. Based on these differences, theory development as well as intervention and prevention strategies must be designed that are gender specific.
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The process of educating future architects and designers around the world varies dramatically. However, there is one striking similarity - the dominance of the design studio as…
Abstract
The process of educating future architects and designers around the world varies dramatically. However, there is one striking similarity - the dominance of the design studio as the main forum for knowledge acquisition and assimilation, and for creative exploration and interaction. Such a setting encompasses intensive cognitive and physical activities, which ultimately result in conceptualizing meaningful environments proposed to accommodate related human activities. The design studio is the primary space where students explore their creative skills that are so prized by the profession; it is the kiln where future architects are molded. It has occupied a central position since architectural education was formalized two centuries ago in France and later in Germany, the rest of Europe, North America, and the rest of the world.
Narrative criminology has made stories respectable again, despite criminology's long-professed ties to a model of positive science. Given the field's continued scepticism about…
Abstract
Narrative criminology has made stories respectable again, despite criminology's long-professed ties to a model of positive science. Given the field's continued scepticism about the ‘truthfulness’ of stories, narrative scholars have grappled carefully with the place and utility of lies for understanding the social worlds and individual identities of crime-involved populations. In this chapter, we draw from a study of women's pathways to incarceration in Sri Lanka, analysing the case of one study participant who shared with us many ‘tall tales’ about their life. In comparing Daya's account with those of other participants, we explore the complex relations among ‘truth,’ ‘fiction’ and ‘lies,’ and their implications for narrative criminology. We offer specific cautions about the place of verisimilitude and plausibility in narrative criminologists' efforts to make sense of offender narratives.
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Li Eriksson, Tara Renae McGee, Viktoria Rosse, Christine Bond and Nicole Horstman
New ways of perpetrating relational aggression have been facilitated by the increased availability and adoption of technology for communication, resulting in growing…
Abstract
Purpose
New ways of perpetrating relational aggression have been facilitated by the increased availability and adoption of technology for communication, resulting in growing cyberaggression rates over the past few decades. Few studies have examined whether perpetrators of cyberaggression are more likely to target friends or romantic partners (or both) and whether this differs across the gender of the perpetrator. This is the key focus of the current study.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants completed an online survey which assessed three types of cyberaggression (threatened to share secrets, shared secrets and posted embarrassing pictures) against friends and then also against romantic partners. The sample included 678 undergraduate university students who were in a romantic relationship at the time of the survey (72.6% female and 27.4% male, age range 18–50 years, average 21.7 and SD = 4.5).
Findings
The results of this study showed that a significantly higher proportion of males than females perpetrated cyberaggression against friends and romantic partners. In addition, a significantly higher proportion of males engaged in “general” cyberaggression (targeting both friends and romantic partners), whilst a higher proportion of females engaged in “selective” cyberaggression (targeting either friends or romantic partners).
Originality/value
Collectively, this study tells us that whilst there has been wide examination of cyberaggression more broadly, very few studies explore who perpetrators target (i.e. the victim–offender relationship), especially across gender of the perpetrator. The current study is original in that it asks perpetrators to report who they target and then examines gender differences in perpetration rates across victim–offender relationships.
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Nicole Young and Jessica Keech
Many employers express concern over consumer response to employees with criminal histories. However, consumers' responses may be less negative than employers assume. The authors…
Abstract
Purpose
Many employers express concern over consumer response to employees with criminal histories. However, consumers' responses may be less negative than employers assume. The authors examine consumers' response to organizations that hire employees with criminal histories.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors surveyed participants randomly assigned to one of two conditions: purchasing services from an employer that hires individuals with criminal histories or from an employer whose inclination to hire individuals with criminal histories is unknown. The authors considered four service providers, among which the length of customers' time and involvement with employees varies: a grocery store, restaurant, auto-repair shop, and hotel.
Findings
Participants were no more or less likely to patronize the restaurant, the repair shop, or the grocery store that hired individuals with criminal histories, and no more or less likely to alter their willingness to pay for these services. Consumers were less likely to stay at a hotel that hired employees with criminal histories, but this difference was mitigated when customers were provided with an explanation of the benefits of hiring individuals with criminal histories.
Research limitations/implications
This study highlights the need for further research on perceptions that limit hiring of individuals with criminal histories and other similarly marginalized populations.
Practical implications
This research addresses a common justification – consumer concern – for not hiring individuals with criminal histories.
Social implications
Increased employment improves individual outcomes, such as access to stable housing and food, as well as larger outcomes, such as public safety.
Originality/value
This paper highlights a population often marginalized in the hiring process. The findings challenge a common justification for not hiring individuals with criminal histories.
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Catrina Palmer and Johnna Christian
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how formerly incarcerated men remained resilient in the face of adversity while searching for and maintaining employment.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how formerly incarcerated men remained resilient in the face of adversity while searching for and maintaining employment.
Design/methodology/approach
Grounded theory analysis is used to answer the following research questions: What challenges do formerly incarcerated men encounter in finding and maintaining employment? What strategies do they devise in the face of these barriers? The research entailed 24 face-to-face, semi-structured, in-depth interviews at a Reentry Center in a northeastern state between February 2016 and July 2017.
Findings
The authors present a model of resiliency in the job-seeking and maintaining process. It illustrates the non-linear and complex nature of employment experiences, in which men encountered cycles of anxiety and pressure, and yet also devised resilience strategies fostering growth and adaptation. These processes required adept management of adversities such as involvement with the criminal justice system and the attending social stigma. Shifting mental and behavioral frameworks, adapting and refining expectations for work and adopting a future orientation were essential for participants’ growth. Finally, findings revealed participants’ resiliency strategies were bolstered by pro-social outcomes.
Originality/value
The challenges and barriers to employment for formerly incarcerated men are well documented, but less is known about the processes men employ in order to gain legitimate employment. This paper explores an understudied area of the criminal justice and employment literature – how men demonstrate agency and tenacity in the reintegration process, specifically related to seeking and maintaining work.
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– The purpose of this paper is to examine the research within the area of employment for ex-prisoners who have a Serious Mental Illness (SMI).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the research within the area of employment for ex-prisoners who have a Serious Mental Illness (SMI).
Design/methodology/approach
A review of the literature examining the employment of ex-offenders who have a SMI whilst also presenting a possible novel solution.
Findings
The research highlights a distinct lack of employment opportunities and numerous barriers for offenders with research often failing to distinguish between those who have mental health difficulties. However, early findings suggest that Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approaches can generate competitive employment for this population.
Practical implications
Offenders with a SMI are often routinely excluded from vocational services due to their mental health. This review has indicated that the way in which such offenders are treated in prison and reintegrated into the community needs to be addressed.
Social implications
By tackling this issue not only could the mental health and quality of life of ex-offenders be improved through sustained employment, but the marked economic costs to society that unemployment and recidivism encompasses could also be alleviated.
Originality/value
This review not only suggests a possible solution to the problems faced by offenders with mental health difficulties in gaining employment, but also presents a novel approach to future research that extends to outlining causal explanations for what works for whom.