As we approach the end of the quarter, I want to take a moment to reflect on CJRC activities during the past couple of months. Many of us recently returned from the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology (ASC). The meetings were quite successful and many of us were fortunate to attend a special session dedicated to the memory of Sy Dinitz. A number of Sy’s former students and colleagues attested to his impact on their lives and careers, and many shared humorous anecdotes. The event served as a celebration of his life, and a reminder of how the efforts of a single caring and committed individual can make a big difference in the lives of others.

Looking farther back, in September, Aaron Kupchik (University of Delaware) presented his research entitled, “Reading, ‘Riting, and Rules: Contemporary School Discipline and its Effects on School Social Climate.” Aaron’s ethnographic work in four high schools in the Southwest and Mid-Atlantic illustrated the increasing similarities between school and prison settings, as “zero tolerance” policies operate to acclimate students to authoritarian forms of social control, or a process of socialization to a carceral state. Interestingly, Aaron’s work revealed similarities across school environments, despite demographic (SES and race/ethnic) differences in the schools.

In October, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s Institute for Correctional Best Practices, the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Law and Policy, the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis, and CJRC combined resources to host another illuminating Institute for Excellence in Justice (IEJ) symposium. The featured speaker was Alan Murray (Geography), who presented from his work on “Sex Offenders: Registration, Notification, Housing and Reentry.” Using data from Hamilton County, Ohio, Alan focused on the implications of sex offender residential exclusion laws for where released offenders may live. In reporting his findings (graphically and verbally), Alan drew attention to the fact that the application of such laws may: have highly variable implications regarding where ex-sex offenders may reside; result in very limited available residential opportunities; and depend on how distance from barred areas is defined. Katherine Federle (Moritz College of Law), Richard Tewksbury (University of Louisville, Criminal Justice), and David Berenson (ODRC’s Director of Sex Offender Services) rounded out the discussion with comments about the meaning of residential exclusion laws for juveniles, families and communities, reducing sexual victimization, and addressing the underlying problems of sex offenders. The formal presentations combined with the discussion that followed illustrated quite clearly the importance of bringing interdisciplinary knowledge to bear on criminal justice policy issues through such fora as the IEJ symposium.

Deanna Wilkinson (Human Development and Family Science) rounded out the Autumn 2007 seminars with her presentation in November on “Violent Youths’ Responses to High Levels of Exposure to Community Violence.” The evidence that she provided of the types of serious violence to which youth in high violence neighborhoods are commonly exposed was heart-wrenching. Importantly too, Deanna made it clear that the interpretations and consequences of violent incidents are complex, diverse, situational, and not easily captured in the types of measures typically found in psychological and criminological studies of exposure to violence.

I congratulate all the speakers on the quality of their research and thank them for sharing their work with us. Thanks also to all of you who have attended and participated in these seminars. Please take a moment now to mark your calendars for events upcoming in Winter and Spring 2008!