New book from two faculty members
of the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education addresses issues of school violence
Summary Facts:
UCSB Professors Shane R. Jimerson and Michael J. Furlong publish the indispensable Handbook of School Violence and School Safety
The book makes possible school safety programs based on scientific research
Shane R. Jimerson and Michael J. Furlong, Professors at the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at UC Santa Barbara, have edited the comprehensive, timely and indispensable Handbook of School Violence and School Safety: From Research to Practice (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, March 3, 2006). Amidst seemingly daily headlines of school stabbings in Toronto, brawls involving as many as 100 students in a Los Angeles high school, and teachers and students being terrorized in Chicago schools, Jimerson and Furlong take an objective look at the causes of and solutions for school violence. Their book maps the boundaries of a rapidly growing, multidisciplinary field that now makes it possible for schools and communities to implement school safety programs founded on sound scientific research.
This 41-chapter handbook is the first attempt to profile – comprehensively and globally – the emerging field of school violence and safety research and practice. It covers the full range of school violence from harassment and bullying to serious physical assault. It also examines existing school safety programs and the research and theories that guide them.
“The measurement and assessment section is the centerpiece of the book,” states Jim Larson, Program Coordinator of the School Psychology Program at the University of Wisconsin/Whitewater. “It’s one thing to have the skills to implement a research-supported school violence prevention program, but quite another to know how to measure whether or not it’s working. I believe this handbook will take its place alongside the Handbook of School Psychology (National Association of School Psychologists) as an essential reference in the field.”
[Professors Jimerson and Furlong are available for interviews; to arrange an interview, contact George Yatchisin at 805 893 5789]