According to its website, “The ACLU is our nation’s guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.” The nonprofit, nonpartisan ACLU works on numerous civil, political, and human rights issues
Existing data indicate that the rate of school violence and crime in Africa has increased in the last two decades, becoming one of the most challenging social problems in that region. School violence is a multifaceted construct that involves both criminal acts and aggression that inhibit development and learning as well as harm the school’s
Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton, Bowmanville, Brampton, Scarborough, Tabor, and Etobicoke–what do all these places have in common? They have all been the sites of newsworthy incidents of school violence. Tabor, 1999: a former student entered a school and shot two students; one died. Toronto, 2003: a student was wounded by gunshot
Private secondary schools are schools that receive no government funding and educate some combination of students between grades 6 and 12. More than 2.5 million students attend private secondary schools in the United States; approximately 80% of those students attend private secondary schools operated by, or affiliated with, a religious organization. Although vast differences exist
The Two-Tiered Violence Risk Estimates (TTV) is a measure designed to assess the likelihood of future violence in offenders. It falls under the integrated-actuarial method of risk assessment, whereby an actuarial estimate is used as an anchor for the risk prediction, and dynamic risk factors are used for risk management purposes. Unlike other measures of
The Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG) and the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide-Revised (VRAG-R) are actuarial instruments designed to estimate the likelihood with which a male criminal offender or forensic psychiatric patient will be charged for at least one new violent offense within a 7- or 10-year period of opportunity to reoffend. Opportunity to reoffend is
The Violence Risk Scale (VRS), developed by Stephen Wong and Audrey Gordon, is a forensic risk assessment tool designed to assess the risk of violence, identify treatment targets for violence reduction treatment, assess an individual’s readiness for treatment, and evaluate treatment progress and posttreatment level of risk. Forensic risk assessments are widely used in clinical
The Violence Risk Scale–Sexual Offender Version (VRS-SO) is a sexual offense risk assessment and treatment planning tool. The VRS-SO is made up of seven static (i.e., historical, generally unchanging) and 17 dynamic (i.e., potentially changeable) items linked to increased risk of sexual violence. It is designed to (a) assess risk of sexual violence, (b) identify
It is important to assess risk of future violence for adolescents who have been charged with or convicted of criminal offenses, especially when these offenses are of a serious and/or violent nature. However, assessment of violence risk in and of itself is insufficient. Risk reduction and the prevention of future violence should always be viewed
Dating violence has been defined as the use or threat of physical, sexual, verbal abuse, or stalking within a dating relationship. This term is meant to encompass any form of violence that occurs in a relationship from an initial date to cohabitation. Dating violence occurs in both heterosexual and same-sex relationships. Although perpetrators of dating