Multimethod strategy for assessing program fidelity: the national evaluation of the revised G.R.E.A.T. program.

This study reports the results of the process evaluation component of the Process and Outcome Evaluation of the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program. The process evaluation consisted of multiple methods to assess program fidelity: (a) observations of G.R.E.A.T. Officer Trainings (G.O.T); (b) surveys and interviews of G.R.E.A.T.-trained officers and supervisors; (c) surveys of school personnel; and (d) ''on-site,'' direct observations of officers delivering the G.R.E.A.T. program in the study sites. Results illustrate a high level of program fidelity, providing greater confidence in any subsequent outcome results.

Active parental consent in school-based research: how much is enough and how do we get it?

Active parental consent policies have been blamed for low participation rates and selection bias (i.e., loss of "high-risk" youths) in school-based studies. In this article, the authors describe active consent procedures that produced an overall active consent rate of 79% in a sample of more than 4,500 middle school students attending 29 schools in seven cities across the United States. Consent rates, however, varied considerably both within and between schools. To better understand factors associated with active parental consent rates, the authors examined district-level, school-level, and teacher-specific effects on consent rates.

Youth gang membership and serious violent victimization: the importance of lifestyles and routine activities.

Youth gangs have received substantial scholarly and public attention during the past two decades. Although most of the extant research on youth gang members has focused on their offending behaviors, recent studies have examined the victimization of youth gang members relative to their nongang peers. Gang members generally have been found to be at increased risk of victimization, although the reasons for this relationship have not fully been explored. The current study uses data from a multisite study of youth to explore whether the gang membership-victimization link is mediated by lifestyles and routine activities. In other words, is gang members' involvement in delinquent lifestyles and routine activities a viable explanation for their increased risk of serious violent victimization? Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research and policy are discussed.

Putting youth violent victimization into context: sex, race/ethnicity, and community differences among a multisite sample of youths.

The increased risk of violent victimization for adolescents relative to other age groups has recently become a major public health concern. The current study uses data from a multisite study of eighth grade youths attending public schools in 11 cities to determine the extent and nature of youth general and serious violent victimization among both sexes and five racial/ethnic groups in 11 diverse communities. This study explores differences in sex, race/ethnicity, and community independently and explores interactions between sex and community and race/ethnicity and community. Our findings suggest important differences in victimization prevalence and individual victimization rates by sex and community of residence. Racial differences were found to be closely tied to community. Policy implications resulting from our findings are discussed.