SOC 316: Community Research

“Desistance Strategies: A study of criminal behavior from the offenders’ point of view”

for The Connection, Inc.

by Tushar Kansal, Dania Reid, Craig Thomas, and Henry White

This study highlights factors that aid and hinder criminal offenders as they attempt to change their behavior and desist from crime.  We stress the perspectives of the offenders themselves.  We conducted 22 interviews with graduates of Connection House and current members of the Middlesex and Meriden Alternative to Incarceration Centers (AICs).  In this report, we include both statistics and quotations.  We seek to emphasize the voices of our interviewees: individuals who struggle on a daily basis with the issues of criminality and desistance.

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“Closing the College Gap: A Study of the Wesleyan Upward Bound Program”

for Upward Bound

by Laura Ouimette, Sally Smyth, Amanda Thieroff, and Satyawidya Wulansari

Wesleyan Upward Bound is a supplemental high school education program that works to help low-income and potential first generation college students graduate from high school and attend four-year colleges or universities. This study seeks to determine what student and parent participants find appealing or problematic about the program, and also, why some students drop out of Upward Bound before completion. We gathered information by conducting a focus group and interviews with current and former students and their parents between the years of 2000 and 2008.

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“Disabilities and School Based Arrests: Local Connections”

for Connecticut Legal Services and the Office of the Public Defender

by Julie Bromberg, Molly Dengler, Helen Gugel, and Bettina Schlegel

The purpose of our research project was to determine whether or not the national trend of increased school based arrests that disproportionately affect youth with disabilities also holds true on a local level in Meriden and Middletown.

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“Energy Costs in the North End: The Rise in Utilities and its Effect on a Low-Income Community”

for North End Action Team and Jonah Center for Earth and Art

by Andrew Aprile, Makenna Goodman, Kalia Lydgate, and Lirra Schiebler

The Wesleyan research team was commissioned by the North End Action Team (NEAT) and the Jonah Center to do an energy assessment of the North End neighborhood in Middletown, CT. The North End is, in fact, comprised of a few sub-neighborhoods characterized by different income levels. The organizations we worked with were interested in what problems North End residents encountered in the area of energy and utilities, and what could be done about these problems.  The main goals to be achieved from this research were economic savings for North End residents, an evaluation of energy programs and assistance opportunities for those eligible, an assessment of interest and support for the Jonah Center’s initial programs in the areas of environmental education and conservation, and further communication between North End residents and NEAT.

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“Trailblazing in Rehabilitation: Implementing Evidence-Based Practices At The Connection, Inc.”

for The Connection, Inc.

by Marjorie Cardon, Emilie Phelps, Cynthia Santiago, and Kara Schnoes

This study was conducted by a research team of four Wesleyan University students in cooperation with the Connection, a nonprofit human services and community development agency based in Connecticut.  The research identifies factors that hinder or aid rehabilitation facilities in the implementation of five evidence-based practices, which include assessment of criminogenic needs, use of motivational interviewing (MI) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), engagement in pro-social activities, and preparation for meaningful employment.  The students researched the following four Connection facilities: Middlesex Alternative to Incarceration Center (AIC), Meriden AIC, Hallie House, and Connection House.  The research team anonymously interviewed 37 clients and 19 staff to provide a comprehensive picture of each facility’s strengths and weaknesses.

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“Cultivating Community: Neighborhood Dynamics in Communities with Group Homes for the Developmentally Disabled”

for New England Residential Services, Inc.

by Talia Barrett, Jeff Kessner, Grace Lesser, Jean Pockrus, and Darrah Sipe

New England Residential Services (NERS) runs 11 group homes for the developmentally disabled across central Connecticut. The agency asked five students in Wesleyan University’s Community Research Seminar to investigate how the agency can most effectively neutralize opposition to group homes as they expand into new communities. They also wanted to learn how to improve relations in neighborhoods where existing group homes are located. The Wesleyan research team conducted interviews with neighbors and staff members of six group homes to gather relevant information. Once all of the interviews were completed, the researchers looked over the interviews and found common themes that emerged throughout the communities.

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“Barriers to Middle-School Youth Participation in After-School Programs”

for Middletown Youth Services Bureau

by Daphne Clyburn, Kathleen Day, Alex Diamond, and Stephanie O’Brien

In collaboration with the Middletown Youth Services Bureau (MYSB), four Wesleyan University researchers—Daphne Clyburn, Kathleen Day, Alex Diamond, and Stephanie O’Brien—investigated factors that affect youth participation in after-school activities, with the goal of identifying barriers and developing strategies to increase participation in after-school programs. Using data from both surveys and interviews conducted with Middletown middle-school students and their parents, this report answers the question of who is not participating in after-school programs and why, and suggests ways to increase student participation.

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“Ready or Not? Preschool Outcomes in Middletown, Connecticut” (part 1) (part 2) (part 3)

for Middletown School Readiness Council

by Margarette Arias, Fiona Lundy, Lauren Sonnabend, and Jennifer Timm

A research team of four Wesleyan University students collaborated with the Middletown School Readiness Council (MSRC), a state-funded organization based in Middletown, Connecticut, to evaluate the effectiveness of the city’s twenty preschool programs in preparing their students for kindergarten.  The report addresses which schools led to what particular student outcomes and, to a lesser extent, why discrepancies might exist.  Understanding the relationship between child outcomes, school performance, and the reasons behind these results will allow for future program improvement where needed by providing appropriate resources and support.

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“Art in Middletown: Evaluating Today and Planning for Tomorrow”

for Green Street Arts Center

by Deanne Dworski-Riggs, Ali Kimmell, Kelly Klein, and Shira Miller

This project aims to understand the arts needs of the Middletown community for the purpose of developing and adjusting programming to make it more attractive and accessible to Middletown residents. To this end, we investigate specific needs in terms of scheduling, pricing, duration, format, and subject matter of possible programs that community members would participate in. We hope that the information generated by this study will be useful to all Middletown arts organizations and be used as a resource to collaboratively plan the future of the arts in Middletown.

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“Middletown Children’s Mental Health Planning Grant Coalition”

for Middletown Public Schools, the Ministerial Alliance, and the Middlesex Collaborative for Children’s Mental Health

by Philip Benjamin, Jena Gordon, Lauren Barth, and Alexis Sturdy

Four Wesleyan students collaborated with a coalition consisting of the Middletown Public Schools, the Ministerial Alliance, and the Middlesex Collaborative for Children’s Mental Health.  These organizations came together in January 2008 to request a grant from the Connecticut Health Foundation to develop a plan to reduce the number of at-risk children ages 6 to 14 from entering the most intensive mental health treatment and/or the juvenile justice system through a secondary prevention system of early identification, assessment and interventions.   This study seeks to assist the coalition by providing insight into parent perceptions of mental health and mental health services.  Specifically, it attempts to collect parents’ attitudes toward mental health services, their awareness of those services, and their reports of external barriers to obtaining those services.