- Contact : Ardis Hanson (813) 974-4471
Library Projects: 1995-1996: The Florida Inter-University Consortium for Child and Family Studies
SITUATION REPORTS OBJECTIVES PROJECT COMPONENTS PROJECT WORK GROUPSThe proposed project was to develop a five-year longitudinal study on the relations between family violence and child abuse and juvenile crime, criminal behavior, and school behavior problems. This effort was initiated by the House Select Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect.
SITUATION
Over six million children and three million spouses are severely assaulted each year by family members. In Florida during FY 1992-1993, there were 130,801 cases of child abuse and neglect investigated and verified by the Florida Protective Services. Abuse is a major threat to American families. Those who are not physically injured are often injured psychologically. There is some evidence that treatment programs and shelters have reduced the incidence of family and child abuse (Strauss, National Council on Family Relations, 1990; 1994 Florida Kids Count Data Book).The effects of child abuse and family violence are thought to become obvious decades after the actual events and are believed to manifest themselves in suicides, violence, delinquency, substance abuse, and other forms of criminality (National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1994)).
According to Richard Lerner, Director of the Institute for Children, Youth, and Families at Michigan State University, this issue has not been studied in an informed and scientific manner. The lack of correlational data makes it impossible to develop adequate public policy or successful state-wide or national prevention/intervention programs. In order to effectively study the issues, the Consortium undertook this project.
REPORTS
Family Violence: A Review Of The Literature by Zena H. Rudo & Diane S. Powell. Florid Mental Health Institute, 1996.
ONGOING PROJECT COMPONENTS
Literature database
An extensive search of the literature was conducted at the Florida Mental Health Institute Research Library to provide both a historical and an interdisciplinary view of the work done in the areas of violence and its relationship to subsequent behavioral, delinquency, and criminal tendencies. The search was conducted across a number of databases and is currently being loaded in a database management program. It will be mounted at FMHI and will be searchable through this HTML page. The review will be updated on a continual basis as new articles and monographs are found and entered into the database. If you have found work that you consider particularly relevant to these issues, please send the bibliographic citation and a short review of the work to hanson@hal.fmhi.usf.edu for inclusion into the database.Other relevant project components include 1) Systematic evaluation of data collection tools, 2) Comparison of data collection tools with key indicators and data collection methods of "model" states, and 3) Recommendations for longitudinal studies
OBJECTIVES
Faculty associates at Florida State University, Florida A & M, the University of Florida, and the University of South Florida have established the following objectives for FY 1996-97:- To merge existing data sets from state agencies related to project research questions (the Departments of Education, Juvenile Justice, Health and Rehabilitative Services, and the Kids Count Data Set at the University of South Florida's Florida Mental Health Institute)
- To collect primary data from a random sample of children, families, and service providers
- To develop a plan for analyses of data to answer research questions
- To develop a publications series of information based on preliminary analyses of data
- To report finding to appropriate agencies and institutions as designated in the contract.
PROJECT WORK GROUPS
Florida State University- Penny Ralston, Dean, College of Human Sciences and Chair of the Work Group
- Ann Mullis, Coordinator, FSU Family Institute
- M. Sharon Maxwell, Director, Institute for Family Violence Studies
- Mary Hicks, Acting Director, Interdivisional Program
- Diane Montgomery, Dean, School of Social Work
University of South Florida- Kathy Goltry, Director Kids Count Project, Department of Child and Family Studies, Florida Mental Health Institute
- Mary Armstrong, Director, Division of State & Local Support, Department of Child and Family Studies, Florida Mental Health Institute
- Zena Rudo, MSW, Florida Mental Health Institute; doctoral student, College of Special Education
University of Florida- Bo Beaulieu, Professor, Rural Sociology
Florida A&M University- John Chambers, Professor, Psychology
- Robert Lemons, Chair, Department of Elementary Education
- Nancy Fontaine, Director, Early Childhood Education
- Ted Hemingway, Associate Dean, Department of History
- Owusu Agyapong, Chair, Department of Criminal Justice
Michigan State University- Richard Lerner, Director, Institute for Children, Youth, and Families.
