Gary B. Melton (1952-2020).

Memorializes Gary B. Melton (1952-2020). Melton was a psychology polymath. Recognized as a fellow by American Psychological Association (APA) and 10 different divisions, he was also president of Divisions 41 and 37 and received an unprecedented four APA Distinguished Contribution Awards-Psychology in the Public Interest (1981, 2014); Public Service (1999); and International Advancement of Psychology (2005). For 30 years, Melton directed interdisciplinary centers and institutes, three of which he founded: At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of South Carolina, and Clemson University. He was known by former students and close colleagues as a passionate advocate, a visionary leader, and a caring and loyal mentor and friend. Melton died September 20, 2020. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Who to Tell? A Latent Class Analysis of Adolescents' Intentions to Disclose Dating Violence.

Adolescents' willingness to disclose violence in romantic relationships has important implications for their safety and overall well-being. However, research is limited on adolescent intentions to seek help for dating violence. Using self-report data from 493 rural youth (54% male, 49.7% African American), this study examined heterogeneity of adolescent help-seeking in relation to different forms of violence and sources of potential disclosure. Latent class analyses identified four distinct groups of adolescents: (a) Multi-help-seekers (20.5%) who are likely to seek help for any form of dating violence from multiple sources, (b) Reluctant help-seekers (21.1%) who are unlikely to seek help for any form of violence from any source, (c) Informal help-seekers (28.8%) who are willing to disclose dating violence primarily to caregivers and friends, and (d) Selective help-seekers (29.5%) with varied intentions to disclose some forms of violence to select people. Results further revealed that class membership was differentially related to gender and caregiver's level of education. Additionally, findings confirmed expectations that variation in adolescent well-being and safety measures was a function of membership in help-seeking classes. The article discusses these findings in the context of targeted programs and services to promote help-seeking among rural youth.

Trajectories of Dating Violence Victimization and Perpetration among Rural Adolescents.

Research is inconclusive about the trajectory of dating violence during adolescence and whether there are differences across gender and race/ethnicity. We examined dating victimization and perpetration trajectories among a diverse sample of rural youth (N = 580, 52.7% female, 49% Black, 39% White, 11% Hispanic or other minorities) in middle and high school who were surveyed annually across four years and explored the influences of gender and ethnicity. The results based on cohort-sequential latent growth modeling revealed that for boys, victimization peaked at 11th grade, and then declined. For girls, victimization was stable throughout adolescence. Perpetration was reported less frequently and increased steadily for males and females. For White youth, victimization peaked at grades 9 and 10, followed by a decline. For Black youth, victimization followed a linear increase. Perpetration trajectory followed a linear increase for White and Black but not Hispanic youth. The findings indicate that the developmental progression of dating violence during adolescence varies by demographics. The discussion focuses on future directions for research on teen dating violence among rural youth and implications for prevention and interventions initiatives.

Rethinking justice.

Changes in the way people marry, bear children and live together, combined with the changing nature of support for families, has put pressure on the justice system to adjust to new family and community realities in order to accomplish justice goals. Although the entire legal system is implicated by the changing nature of families and communities, most scholars and practitioners have focused on the judicial system and those courts most relevant to family issues: namely, the juvenile, family, and criminal courts. As scholars and practitioners began to 'rethink justice,' whole new reform movements of therapeutic jurisprudence, restorative justice, and community justice (among others) have emerged to offer new paradigms for the administration of justice. In this essay we discuss ways in which families and the justice system interact to strengthen and weaken each other to accomplish justice goals.

Achieving community justice through faith-based initiatives.

Prior to 1996, most churches and other faith-based organizations were ineligible to receive federal funding for community services. In a little noticed provision of the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 known as 'charitable choice,' the federal government allowed religious groups to receive money for social programs without requiring them to censor their religious expression or give up their religious identity. States, with varying degrees of vigor and success, have partnered with faith-based organizations to provide community services that serve the purpose of transitioning people from welfare to work. Recent political developments and legislation suggest an expanded role for faith-based organizations to receive federal money to develop community services, including money for community justice projects. The Comment begins with an overview of the political and legal contexts that allow the development of promoting community justice initiatives through faith-based efforts. Next, there is a discussion of practical considerations that influence decisions of churches and faith-based organizations to participate in these activities. Finally, there is discussion of the roles social scientists and others might play to facilitate community justice initiatives through faith-based efforts.