Making Science More Better For You on 01/27/09

Today's headlines
Blowfish testicles poison 7 diners in Japan (MSNBC)
Balls, you say. Fish balls? Oh so that's where they come from.

Researchers Explore What Contemporary Science Cannot Explain (Science Daily)
That should keep them busy for a week or two.

Dead athletes' brains show stunning damage (CNN)
Yo dude, they are dead after all.

Battling Addiction: Are 12 Steps Too Many? (Time)
Well, that all depends on what's in the fridge, doesn't it?

Quick, get under the cloak of invisibility
New Tactics To Tackle Bystander’s Role In Bullying

ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2009) — A new psychodynamic approach to bullying in schools has been successfully trialled by UCL (University College London) and US researchers. CAPSLE (Creating a Peaceful School Learning Environment) is a groundbreaking method focused more on the bystander, including the teacher, than on the bully or the victim.

The study, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, shows that an easily implemented school-wide intervention focussing on empathy and power dynamics can reduce children’s experiences of aggression in school and improve classroom behaviour.

...a groundbreaking method focused more on the bystander, including the teacher, than on the bully or the victim.
They focused on the bystanders because the bystanders were too timid to tell the researchers to get lost.

…. CAPSLE made no attempt to focus on helping disturbed children individually or picking them out for treatment. It did not set explicit rules against bullying, nor did it advocate any special treatment for bullying children. Nevertheless, over time the study found that bullies came to be disempowered, initially complaining that the programme was boring and should be stopped until gradually the social system tended to recruit them into more helpful roles…..

No, but they did manage to get some grant money for the research, so it’s not like it was two years wasted. Plus, the thought boredom as an intervention technique that leads to "disempowerment "is really high concept—if only we knew what that meant.

gradually the social system tended to recruit them (bullies) into more helpful roles…..

Yeah, we’re sure they were real helpful. Hope the researchers realize that they're not getting their lunch money back, ever. Don't you just love it when somebody's therapy session gets dressed up as a groundbreaking study?