Dialogue with Prof Felton Earls on Youth & Violence in Chicago
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Time: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
McDermott, Will & Emery
227 W. Monroe St., 45th Floor, Chicago
Lead investigator for 15 years on the the Chicago Neighborhood Development Project
Join us for a dialogue with
Felton Earls, MD
Professor of Social Medicine, Emeritus
Research Professor of Human Behavior and Development, Harvard School of Public Health
Felton Earls, MD
Professor of Social Medicine, Emeritus
Research Professor of Human Behavior and Development, Harvard School of Public Health
Shades of the prison house begin to close —Upon the growing boy. . . .—William Wordsworth, “Ode: Intimations of Immortality”
in Wordsworth’s celebrated ode, the “prison house” is more metaphoric than literal, referring to the expectations, the harsh realities, and the dogmas of the adult world that so often crush or confine youthful hope and imagination. Sadly, in contemporary American society, the prison house is becoming all too literal a fate for increasing numbers of adolescents, who end up incarcerated before they have even reached adulthood. Most have either dropped out or been expelled from school.
From 1990 to 2005, Dr. Earls was Principal Investigator of a large-scale research project was in Chicago, where a team of researchers studied the physical health, educational and occupational achievement, and social relationships of children from birth to adulthood.
The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, funded by the National Institute for Mental Health and the MacArthur Foundation, is perhaps his signature work – a ten year, $51 million study. It was a large-scale epidemiological project examining causes and consequences of children’s exposure to community and family violence. He gave detailed attention to the social and physical characteristics of the neighborhoods in which they lived and the schools they attended. The project represents one of the largest and most comprehensive (over 8,000 people in 343 Chicago neighborhoods) of child and youth development ever undertaken. Theories drawn from his finding derailed older theories of community violence and crime. His “collective efficacy” theory puts emphasis on a practice of having neighborhood residents solving the problems of crime, violence and substance abuse. And it was a great revelation.”
Professor Earls’ career and work have implications and lessons that impact on neighborhood, school and even parenting issues we face today. Please join us for an interesting dialogue with Professor Felton Earls.
in Wordsworth’s celebrated ode, the “prison house” is more metaphoric than literal, referring to the expectations, the harsh realities, and the dogmas of the adult world that so often crush or confine youthful hope and imagination. Sadly, in contemporary American society, the prison house is becoming all too literal a fate for increasing numbers of adolescents, who end up incarcerated before they have even reached adulthood. Most have either dropped out or been expelled from school.
From 1990 to 2005, Dr. Earls was Principal Investigator of a large-scale research project was in Chicago, where a team of researchers studied the physical health, educational and occupational achievement, and social relationships of children from birth to adulthood.
“I was doing a large social science project on the community causes of violence, neighborhood causes, neighborhood determinates of violence in Chicago. And one of the things that we realized in preparing this study and beginning to actually conduct the study was that we had lots of ideas about how children were exposed to violence and what the consequences of that exposure were. But we had really not spent much time talking to children about the concepts and the experiences they had. We assumed we understood various things from an adult point of view or from a psychiatric point of view, and so we were constructing questionnaires and collecting data without really giving appropriate time to reflect on children’s discussion and having a dialogue with children that generated their own point of view about this. And so we decided to do that, to stop what we were doing that was based on an adult, professional point of view, and consult on an equal basis with children; where children were put in the situation where they really did feel like they were entitled to say, and protected to say, what they really thought."
The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, funded by the National Institute for Mental Health and the MacArthur Foundation, is perhaps his signature work – a ten year, $51 million study. It was a large-scale epidemiological project examining causes and consequences of children’s exposure to community and family violence. He gave detailed attention to the social and physical characteristics of the neighborhoods in which they lived and the schools they attended. The project represents one of the largest and most comprehensive (over 8,000 people in 343 Chicago neighborhoods) of child and youth development ever undertaken. Theories drawn from his finding derailed older theories of community violence and crime. His “collective efficacy” theory puts emphasis on a practice of having neighborhood residents solving the problems of crime, violence and substance abuse. And it was a great revelation.”
Professor Earls’ career and work have implications and lessons that impact on neighborhood, school and even parenting issues we face today. Please join us for an interesting dialogue with Professor Felton Earls.
Date: Thursday, September 26, 2013
Time: 5:30 p.m. - Wine & cheese reception
6:00 p.m. - Program followed by Q & A
7:15 p.m. - Conclude
(NOTE: Please arrive before 6:00 p.m. After that time further security measures will be in effect in the building.)
Location:
McDermott, Will & Emery (ID required for entrance to the building)
227 W. Monroe St., 45th Floor, Chicago, Ill.
A 10% discount on parking is available. Use discount code HCC0926 and Click Here to reserve.
Cost:
$20.00 for Members and Member's Guest
$35.00 for Non-Members
Complimentary for Crimson and Crimson Plus Members
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