No Risk with Being Involved
Duane McBride (Behavioral Sciences), Gary Hopkins (Behavioral Sciences)
No Risk with Being Involved
Funds are requested to participate in a four day feasibility/planning meeting organized by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Netherlands, to release McBride from one course and to conduct analysis on data at the University of Michigan. We have been working with ADRA European colleagues in writing a proposal to the European Union to develop a project in Netherlands, Finland, Lithuania and Estonia. The program will develop service learning projects within each nation for minority youth as a part of risk behavior prevention and developing prosocial behavior. The research literature suggests service learning can play a major role in reducing youth substance abuse, teen pregnancy, delinquency and other risk behaviors as well as promote such prosocial behaviors as success in school. Our research at the Institute for the Prevention of Addictions, as well as a review of the literature, suggests the potential role of community service in prevention and the feasibility of faith based organizations leading in these activities. Developing service projects for youth can be an important part of the contribution the Adventist community makes in these nations. Our specific role at the feasibility conference will be to help operationalize specific service activities within each nation’s cultural context, design an evaluation project to ascertain the impact of the program in each nation and plan the dissemination of the results to appropriate national and international scientific journals as well as Church publications. Post planning meeting, we would assist in writing a grant application to the European Union.