School Violence and Primary Prevention

Despite the public alarm following several high-profile school shootings that occurred in the United States over the past decade, little is known about the actual incidence and characteristics of school-associated violence. School Violence and Primary Prevention grew out of a recent special issue of the Journal of Primary Prevention, which Thomas W. Miller guest edited. Understanding violence and reducing injury and death associated with violence is now, unfortunately, a major public health concern and is now a major objective of the Healthy People 2010 initiative.

School Violence and Primary Prevention covers clinical issues in treating victims of school violence and assessing children with the potential for violence. The editor will also examine the effectiveness of prevention intervention programs and offer larger policy recommendations. The book will look at environmental factors such as cultural issues on behaviors from bullying to mass school shootings. And uniquely, the book will go into topics such as sexual boundaries and body image. In all, this book aims for a theoretical and applied picture of the current state of school violence and prevention.

Theory, Assessment, and Forms of School Violence.- School-Related Violence and Prevention: Editorial Introduction.- School-Related Violence: Definition, Scope, and Prevention Goals.- The Neurobiology of Violence and Victimization.- Threat Assessment in School Violence.- Social Information Processing and Aggression in Understanding School Violence: An Application of Crick and Dodge's Model.- The Roles of Morality Development and Personal Power in Mass School Shootings.- Multiple Contextual Levels of Risk for Peer Victimization: A Review with Implications for Prevention and Intervention Efforts.- Assessment of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Clinical Measures, Evaluation, and Treatment.- Impact of Trauma in School Violence on the Victim and the Perpetrator: A Mental Health Perspective.- Boundary Violations: Harassment, Exploitation, and Abuse.- Cliques and Cults as a Contributor to Violence in the School Environment.- Treatment and Prevention of Violence in the Schools.- Violence in Our Schools.- The Role of Teachers in School Violence and Bullying Prevention.- Developmental Issues in the Prevention of Aggression and Violence in School.- Bullies and Victims at School: Perspectives and Strategies for Primary Prevention.- The Psychiatrist's Role After a School Shooting: The Emergency Room and Beyond.- Current Perspectives on Linking School Bullying Research to Effective Prevention Strategies.- School Shootings in Middle School, High School, and College: Clinical Management and School Interventions for High-Risk Students.- Character Education as a Prevention Strategy for School-Related Violence.- The Bully Free Program: A Profile for Prevention in the School Setting.- A Series of Culturally Relevant Models to Prevent School-Age Youth Violence: A 4-Year (2001–2005) Family andCommunity Violence Prevention Study.- Prevention of School Violence: Directions, Summary, and Conclusions.

Thomas W. Miller is Professor at Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky as well as a senior research scientist with the University of Connecticut’s Center for Health Intervention and Prevention. He is also a University Teaching Fellow and a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology in clinical psychology. He also is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Royal Society of Medicine.

The author of 10 books, his research has included cross-cultural studies of trauma in veterans; victims of natural disasters; medical conditions, including HIV; and applications of telemedicine in providing access to care for rural and underserved populations.