Search

The current study evaluates neighborhood effects, individual-level effects, and demographic characteristics that influence physically aggressive behavior among urban youth. Using data derived from 5,812 adolescents from Project Northland Chicago (PNC) and Heirarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) techniques, the results suggested that neighborhood problems significantly predicted physical aggression, before and after adjustment for individual-level risk factors (alcohol use, peer alcohol use, lack of adult supervision, and depression) and demographics. After accounting for baseline physical aggression, however, neighborhood problems were no longer a significant predictor of physical aggression. Implications for intervention at both the neighborhood and individual-level and study limitations are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author draws on a study of an after-school initiative serving inner-city high school students to describe and reflect on ways in which apprenticeship-like experiences support work on a variety of developmental tasks. The author describes key dimensions of the apprenticeship experience, discusses challenges faced by instructors, and reflects on possible effects on participants. Findings suggest that, in addition to strengthening discipline- specific knowledge and skills and, more selectively, skills needed for carrying out complex tasks, apprenticeship-like learning experiences have interesting self-effects. These experiences lead at least some apprentices to take more responsibility for themselves, to learn to attend more deeply, to learn about themselves, to learn that it is OK to do new things, and to learn that expressing one's thoughts, emotions, or doubts honestly will not have negative consequences. At the same time, apprentices' growth is tentative. Shifting habits, predispositions, and dominant feelings (about oneself and others) is difficult work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. We examined racial and ethnic disparities in the total potential burden of asthma in low-income, racially/ethnically heterogeneous Chicago schools, Methods. We used the Brief Pediatric Asthma Screen Plus (BPAS+) and the Spanish BPAS+, validated, caregiver-completed respiratory questionnaires, to identify asthma and possible asthma among students in 14 racially/ethnically diverse public elementary schools. Results. Among 11 490 children, we demonstrated a high lifetime prevalence (12.2%) as well as racial and ethnic disparities in diagnosed asthma, but no disparities in prevalences of possible undiagnosed asthma. Possible asthma cases boost the total potential burden of asthma to more than 1 in 3 non-Hispanic Black and Puerto Rican children. Conclusions. There are significant racial and ethnic disparities in diagnosed asthma among inner-city schoolchildren in Chicago. However, possible undiagnosed asthma appears to have similar prevalences across racial/ethnic groups and contributes to a high total potential asthma burden in each group studied. A better understanding of underdiagnosis is needed to address gaps in asthma care and intervention for low-income communities. (Am J Public Health. 2006;96: 1599-1603. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2005.071514) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the lack of controlled experiments in an after-school reading program for children in public schools in Chicago, Illinois. The object of the study was to make the learning reinforcement positive with massive verbal rewards given by the teacher and tallied by each child. However, certain problems were encountered during the experiments. Such problems were (1) random assignment of pupils to experimental and control conditions, (2) the control and measurement of rewards, and (3) the measurement of the effect of rewards on the dependent variable. Results showed that children who were massively rewarded scored significantly higher on a standardized reading test. The use of a reward tally card which focused the attention of the teacher and the child on the rewards were much more convincing.

Considers how contact with hot surfaces is a cause of substantial morbidity among children. Summary of an investigation of radiator burns among children aged 0-19 years living in a Chicago, Illinois housing project; Recommendations for preventing radiator burn injuries.