Teleconferencing model for forensic consultation, court testimony, and continuing education.

A medical center-based forensic clinic that provides the necessary comprehensive consultation, continuing education, court testimony, and clinical services through an applied model of teleconferencing applications is addressed. Telemedicine technology and services have gained the attention of both legal and clinical practitioners, examining trends and models of health care for underserved populations, and identifying where consultation with a team of professionals may benefit service providers in rural communities. The contribution offered herein provides an understanding of the history of the development of the clinic, a theoretical model that has been applied to a clinical forensic program that employs telepsychiatry services, and the ethical and malpractice liability issues confronted in using teleconferencing services. This model is examined through a child and adolescent forensic evaluation clinic. The goals of this model are offered, as are a number of applications within the broad spectrum of services utilizing telemedicine. Finally, changing patterns are addressed in clinically based health-care delivery for criminal justice, social services, and forensic mental health.

Character education as a prevention strategy in school-related violence.

Prevention education is seen as a key component in addressing school violence. Three hundred and three fourth grade students in 9 elementary schools in a predominantly rural community were provided a specialized program of character education as a prevention tool to reduce the potential for deviant behavior. Students in 3 schools were in the no treatment control condition. Students in the remaining 6 schools received a school-based and curriculum driven character education program; two of the schools were in the curriculum only condition while in four of the schools students were randomly selected to receive a protocol-driven summer academic (6 weeks) and experiential education/program. The intervention results suggest that the students who received the academic/camp intervention had the greatest increases in social competence, the largest gains in reading achievement, and the largest increase in parental interaction. Recommendations for prevention education are discussed at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels.