The CA-REU will include both academic enrichment activities and social and cultural enrichment activities.
Academic Enrichment Activities – Research Projects: Each project will take a team-based approach where students will be working with another student as well as being mentored by the research mentors. Team members will meet weekly to discuss the ongoing activities of the research project.
RESEARCH PROJECTS FOR SUMMER 2024
Research Theme: Juvenile Delinquency and Victimization
Project 1: Despite sustained decreases in rates of violent offending, scientific attention remains focused on understanding the causes and consequences of violence, as well as evaluating efforts to prevent such behaviors (Gray & Lewis, 2015). One violent-related behavior that continues to receive significant attention is bully victimization (Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention, 2009). Identified as the persistent harassment (physical, verbal, emotional, or psychological) of one individual over another, accompanied by a power imbalance, bullying has been documented as affecting approximately 30 percent of youth in the US population (Nansel et al., 2001; Olweus, 1993). Empirical evidence related to the impact of bullying indicates those who bully and/or experience a bully victimization report disproportionately higher levels of adverse social, psychological, legal, and mental health outcomes (White, H. R., & Frisch-Scott, N. E., 2023). Research has also indicated that individuals engaging in the bullying experience most frequently report the highest levels of negative consequences (Klomek et al., 2009; Nansel et al., 2003; Sourander et al., 2007a, 2007b).
Goal: The goal of this study is to use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) to build upon the literature documenting the legal problems associated with repeat bully victimizations. Specifically, students will investigate the association of experiencing repeat bully victimizations from birth to age 18 with adverse legal consequences experienced in adulthood. The negative consequences reported involve behaviors undetected by the police, those documenting official involvement (i.e., arrest, conviction, and incarceration) with the criminal justice system, as well as reports of subsequent violent victimization. Drawing on prior research, these relationships will also be examined across categories of sex and race (Klomek et al., 2009; Spriggs et al., 2007).
Project 2: Gang membership has a variety of deleterious impacts on both the individuals who join the gang as well as society at large. Individuals who join gangs are at greater risk of delinquent and criminal involvement (Pyrooz et al., 2016), victimization (Peterson et al., 2004), and negative adult outcomes (Thornberry et al., 2003 ). An area of recent interest revolves around the factors that predict gang desistance. These factors include exposure to negative events (e.g., violent victimization), general maturation (e.g., parenthood, employment), or simply aging out. What is not clear is the extent to which these factors vary by gender and/or race.
Goal: This study aims to use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to examine the factors associated with exiting the gang and to determine if these factors vary by gender and/or race. Students will learn how to run the appropriate analysis to answer the research question posed and produce a research poster that will be presented at a research symposium and potentially at a regional and/or national conference.