Ronnie Casella – författare

In the wake of school shootings and the more recent threats of terrorism, schools - like many public institutions - have begun installing techno-security equipment ranging from surveillance cameras to microchip tracking systems. Is this equipment necessary and who really benefits from its use? Selling Us the Fortress, the first qualitative study of the relationship between the security industry and schools, analyzes how technologies once reserved primarily for war have become a common fixture in modern schools, including detailing how school personnel are "sold" on the idea that the mass installation of techno-security is in their best interest.

School violence is a burning issue these days. This book provides an in-depth analysis of violence prevention programs and an assessment of their effectiveness, using data from observations, individual interviews, and focus groups, as well as published data from the schools. It is distinguished by its focus on the cultural and structural context of school violence and violence prevention efforts. Where most other researchers use quantitative measures, such as surveys, to assess the effectiveness of violence prevention programs, the authors of this book use qualitative research and ethnography to study the environment where such programs take place. Thus, this work--one of only a few ethnographic studies of violence prevention programs in schools--links previous quantitative research on the topic and critical ethnography. Preventing Violence in Schools: A Challenge to American Democracy:*includes voices of school students, accused of practicing violence, who have been participants in violence prevention programs;*analyzes a citywide peer mediation program (who benefits and who does not, who is mediated and who mediates, and what the implications of these findings may be);*examines the kinds of violence recognized in schools and the ways schools themselves may perpetuate violence; and*describes a violence prevention program for students at an alternative school.Preventing Violence in Schools: A Challenge to American Democracy is highly relevant for students in courses on urban education, foundations of education, education and social policy, youth and the law, and qualitative research, and for teachers, administrators, and other professionals, such as school psychologists and guidance counselors, at the middle and high school levels.

School violence is a burning issue these days. This book provides an in-depth analysis of violence prevention programs and an assessment of their effectiveness, using data from observations, individual interviews, and focus groups, as well as published data from the schools. It is distinguished by its focus on the cultural and structural context of school violence and violence prevention efforts. Where most other researchers use quantitative measures, such as surveys, to assess the effectiveness of violence prevention programs, the authors of this book use qualitative research and ethnography to study the environment where such programs take place. Thus, this work--one of only a few ethnographic studies of violence prevention programs in schools--links previous quantitative research on the topic and critical ethnography. Preventing Violence in Schools: A Challenge to American Democracy:*includes voices of school students, accused of practicing violence, who have been participants in violence prevention programs;*analyzes a citywide peer mediation program (who benefits and who does not, who is mediated and who mediates, and what the implications of these findings may be);*examines the kinds of violence recognized in schools and the ways schools themselves may perpetuate violence; and*describes a violence prevention program for students at an alternative school.Preventing Violence in Schools: A Challenge to American Democracy is highly relevant for students in courses on urban education, foundations of education, education and social policy, youth and the law, and qualitative research, and for teachers, administrators, and other professionals, such as school psychologists and guidance counselors, at the middle and high school levels.