Bahá'í Chair for World Peace: Structural Racism and Youth Violence
Structural Racism & Youth Violence
This symposium brings together two leading experts to discuss the impact of structural racism and youth violence. The speakers will examine how youth experiences of violence limit potential development, increase disadvantages in already marginalized communities and contribute to the increasing criminalization of young people based on race. Both speakers will also talk about the future research needs in the field and alternative policy solutions.
Speaker #1
Dr. Valerie Maholmes, Chief of the Pediatric Trauma and Critical Illness Branch at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Concentrated Disadvantage and Youth Violence
Abstract: The complex interplay of developmental factors, concentrated disadvantage and youth violence with a focus on NIH research priorities and future directions.
About the speaker: Valerie Maholmes is currently the chief of the Pediatric Trauma and Critical Illness Branch at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Prior to this appointment, she managed the Child and Family Processes/Child Maltreatment and Violence Research Program in the Child Development and Behavior Branch at NICHD. She serves on numerous federal interagency working groups including the National Institutes of Health Child Abuse and Neglect Working Group (co-chair), the Behavioral Health Coordinating Committee’s subcommittee on Trauma & Early Intervention, the Federal Interagency Working Group on Child Maltreatment, the Teen Dating Violence Working Group, and the PL 10995 Working Group on Children and Adversity, led by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Speaker #2
Dr. Lauren Abramson, Bio-Psychologist and Founding Director of the Community Conferencing Center in Baltimore, Maryland
Justice as Healing and Learning: Addressing Racial Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System Through Restorative Justice
Abstract: Racialized mass incarceration in the United States has been well-documented and has a devastating impact on the ability of families and communities of color. To make matters worse, racial bias in school discipline has also been well-documented, giving rise to the so-called school-to-prison pipeline. Youth of color are subjected to the criminalization of their behavior at younger and younger ages, making it infinitely more difficult to become successful and thriving adult. Restorative justice, in contrast to the retributive justice model offered by our court system, provides for fair and inclusive ways to address crime and conflict that promote healing and learning in the wake of harm. With restorative approaches, crime and conflict are actually used as a stepping stone to building stronger communities.
About the speaker: Dr. Lauren Abramson is a bio-psychologist and the founding director of the Community Conferencing Center in Baltimore—one of few and longest-standing programs of its kind working in disinvested neighborhoods in urban America. Established in 1995, the Center advances a restorative process as a way to transform our culture by doing the very radical thing of providing safe spaces for people to come together and talk with each other—be it as a way to address crime or conflict, or also to build community. Abramson has written extensively about transformative justice theory and applications and has trained and lectured nationally and internationally about the lessons experienced at the center. She sees restorative practices not only as a good way to combat the “Jerry Springer model” of dealing with each other, but as a way to build a just and caring society.
Co-sponsored with the Department of Sociology's Critical Race Initiative
Please fill out the RSVP form below for this free event: http://www.bahaichair.umd.edu/maholms-abramson