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Experts in the Effect of Traumatic Events on Children
TERRORISM
SHOOTINGS AND OTHER FORMS OF VIOLENCE // FAST FACTS ON SCHOOL VIOLENCE
NATURAL DISASTERS
OTHER TRAUMA SOURCES
Claude Chemtob
Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Pediatrics
Box 1230
Chemtob is a clinical psychologist and researcher specializing in trauma in adults and children. He pioneered the use of community-based interventions following disasters and terrorist attacks as well as approaches to understanding trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Marylene Cloitre, Ph.D.
Cathy and Stephen Graham Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Director, Institute of Trauma and Stress
Contact: Danielle Grillo, 212.263.2479, danielle.grillo@med.nyu.edu
Cloitre has published widely in the area of traumatic stress and has been awarded several grants from the National Institutes of Health and other agencies to assess psychological and social effects of trauma in children and adults.
National Center for Child Traumatic Stress
The center, co-directed by Dr. Robert Pynoos, has 54 sites across the country: bicoastal coordinating centers at UCLA and Duke Universities; intervention, development and evaluation centers (most of which are academic); and community centers. State network members are listed here.
Robert Pynoos, M.D., M.P.H.
Co-director,
Professor, Department of Psychiatry and
310.235.2633 ext. 225
Dr. Pynoos has spent more than two decades researching the impact of children's exposure to violence and disaster, and to elevating the standards of mental health care for child victims and witnesses. He has written extensively on child development and child traumatic stress, the neurobiology of child and adolescent trauma, and public mental health approaches for children and families after disaster, war and community violence. He has edited several widely respected books on posttraumatic stress in children and adolescents. He is past President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and the 2001 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The center's Web site has bios for the following network members, and others:
Melissa Brymer, Manager, School Crisis and Intervention Unit
Terrorism and Disaster Branch,
310.235.2633 ext. 227, mbrymer@mednet.ucla.edu
Robin Gurwitch, Program manager, Terrorism and Disaster Branch
University of
405.271.6824 ext. 45122, robin-gurwitch@ouhsc.edu
Betty Pfefferbaum, M.D., JD, Director, Terrorism and Disaster Branch
405.271.5121, betty-pfefferbaum@ouhsc.edu
Marleen Wong, Director, School Crisis Intervention Unit
Terrorism and Disaster Branch,
310.235.2633 ext. 236, or 213.241.2174, marleen.wong@lausd.net
Frank M. Ochberg, M.D.
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry,
Founder and Chairman Emeritus,
517.349.6333
Ochberg, a psychiatrist and former adjunct professor of criminal justice and journalism at
SHOOTINGS AND OTHER FORMS OF VIOLENCE
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association's media referral service will connect reporters to adolescent mental health experts throughout the country.
202.336.5700 (media referral service)
It also created a brochure to alert young people to the "Warning Signs of Youth Violence"
Jill Cook, Education Director
Cook will connect reporters with counselors who can offer perspective on what schools may have done since Columbine and what still needs to be done to better equip teachers, administrators and students in preventing in-school violence.
703.683.2722 ext. 105
jcook@schoolcounselor.org
James Alan Fox
Lipman Professor of Criminal Justice
Northeastern University
617.373.3296; cell: 617.416.4400
An authority on homicide and multiple murders, Fox is the author of 16 books including "The Will to Kill: Making Sense of Senseless Murder" (Alllyn & Bacon, 2004) and "Extreme Killing: Understanding Serial and Mass Murder" (Sage Publications, 2005). Fox co-authored the 2004 Bureau of Justice Statistics report, "Homicide Trends in the
Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community Violence
Allison Seale, communications manager
818.314.3661
The institute can connect reporters with multidisciplinary researchers across the country who test violence prevention programs in urban, rural and suburban schools.
Russell Jones, Ph.D.
Professor
Virginia Tech University
137 Williams Hall
Blacksburg, VA 24060
540.231.5934
rtjones@vt.edu
Jones and his team have studied the influence of major technological and natural disasters on children's functioning for the past 25 years. He recently completed grants assessing the impact of residential fire on children and their parents, and on injured and non-injured children following fire-related trauma. He is currently spearheading a project in conjunction with the
William Modzeleski
Associate Deputy Under Secretary
Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools Education
202.260.1856
Modzeleski is associate deputy undersecretary in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.
David Osher
Managing
Osher's focus is on school violence prevention. He directed the Department of Education and Justice's Early Warning Signs project.
202.944.5373; 202.944.5400 or 1.888.457.1551
dosher@air.org
National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
Kathy Cowan, Director of Marketing and Communications
Cowan provided the attached list of NASP’s National Emergency Assistance Team, a specially trained group of school psychologists who respond to major crises like Columbine and
(Source list is in PDF form.)
301.657.0270, Ext. 226
Katherine Newman
Professor of Sociology and International Affairs
609-258-8723
The editor of " Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings" (Basic Books, 2004), Newman's research interests lie in the qualitative study of social stratification, with a special emphasis on the cultural meaning of mobility, work, poverty and violence.
Patrick Tolan
Director, Institute for
Department of Psychiatry
Tolan is director of the Institute for Juvenile Research and professor of psychiatry at the
312.413.1893
Tolan@uic.edu
Kenneth S. Trump
President and CEO, National School Safety and Security Services
Trump focuses on K-12 school security and school emergency / crisis preparedness issues, school security assessments, and school safety consulting services.
216.251.3067
kentrump@aol.com
Armen Goenjian M.D., DFAPA
Research Professor of Psychiatry
UCLA
Contact: Dan Page, UCLA Health Sciences Media Relations, 310.794.2265, dpage@support.ucla.edu
Dr. Goenjian is the medical director of psychiatry at Long Beach Pacific and
Claude Chemtob
Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Pediatrics
Box 1230
Chemtob is a clinical psychologist and researcher specializing in trauma in adults and children. He pioneered the use of community-based interventions following disasters and terrorist attacks as well as approaches to understanding trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Carol S. North, M.D., M.P.E.
Professor of Psychiatry
314.747.2013
Dr. North is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and member of its disaster preparedness committee. A psychiatric epidemiologist focused on mental health effects of disasters and terrorism for 15 years, Dr. North has administrated several federally funded scientific research projects in longitudinal studies of psychiatric effects of disasters. She and her team have accumulated a systematic database on more than 2,000 victims of a dozen major national and international acts of terrorism, including the
Eric M. Vernberg, Ph.D.
2006
785.864.3582
vernberg@ku.edu
Vernberg's research includes children's recovery from severely traumatic experiences such as terrorism and natural disasters. He was on faculty at the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Leah Young
Director, Media Services
Office of Communications
240.276.2127
Leah.Young@SAMHSA.HHS.gov
The federal agency can provide experts to discuss the effects of natural disasters on families and communities.
Jim Wood, director, development and communications
202.966.7300 ext. 120
AACAP represents more than 5,600 child and adolescent psychiatrists in the
Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma
Department of Communication
102 Communications Bldg., Box 353740
University of Washington
Seattle, WA. 800.332.0565
Additional materials:
Child Clinicians and the Media
National Mental Health Association (NMHA)
Michael Faenza, president and CEO
703.684.7722
NMHA’s Web site offers statistics and facts on mental health issues and contact information for mental health experts.
Rick vandenPol
University of Montana
The center has focused its work on three Montana Native American communities: Flathead Reservation, Rocky Boy Reservation and the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.
405.243.6756
Rick.vandenpol@mso.umt.edu
CDC "Injury Fact Book 2001–2002"
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Fewer than 1 percent of all homicides among school-age children occur on or around school grounds or on the way to and from school.
Nearly two-thirds of school-associated violent deaths were students; about one-tenth were teachers or other staff; and nearly one-quarter were community members killed on school property. Eight out of 10 school homicide or suicide victims were males.
28 percent of the school-related deaths occurred inside the school building; 36 percent occurred outdoors on school property; and 35 percent occurred off campus.
2002, Study conducted by the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education
The study examined school shootings in the
"School shootings are rarely impulsive acts. Rather, they are typically thought out and planned out in advance. In addition, prior to most shootings other kids knew the shooting was to occur -- but did not alert an adult. Very few of the attackers, however, ever directed threats to their targets before the attack. The study findings also revealed that there is no "profile" of a school shooter; instead, the students who carried out the attacks differed from one another in numerous ways. However, almost every attacker had engaged in behavior before the shooting that seriously concerned at least one adult -- and for many had concerned three or more different adults."
"Violent Crime Rate Against Students Drops, New Report Says"
Nov. 29, 2004, Department of Education Press Release
The rate of violent crimes in school settings against students ages 12 to 18 dropped by half between 1992 and 2002, according to a November 2004 report released by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice. Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2004 is the seventh in a series of annual reports on school crime and safety. The report presents data on student and teacher victimization, students' perception of personal safety, gangs, student reports of bullying, students being called hate-related words and seeing hate-related graffiti, and student alcohol and drug abuse.
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