Understanding Ecological Programming: Merging Theory, Research, and Practice

by Susan Scherffiu Jakes, Craig Brookins

Overview

Increase the effectiveness of prevention programs by altering community and social settings!

Understanding Ecological Programming: Merging Theory, Research, and Practice contains vital information to help you become a better community-based program designer using ecological programming. Focused on the basic concept of the ecological programming model—that people’s behaviors cannot be separated from their settings—this book provides examples that clarify how ecological applications in programs increase their effectiveness. With tables, figures, assessment tools, and studies of programs currently using ecological or similar approaches, this book will show you how to change the individual’s environment to prevent further ruinous behavior.

This book will help you find the answers to such questions as:

• what is an ecological social program?
• what are the components of ecological programming?
• what do real programs that have implemented these principles look like?
• how realistic is it to suggest that one should implement an ecological program, is it harder than it seems?
• what are the outcomes of programming with an ecological model?
• what is the cost/benefit ratio of an ecological approach?

A major innovation presented in Understanding Ecological Programming is the Ecological Programming Scale (EPS), introduced by co-editor Dr. Susan Jakes. This book provides an overview, analysis, and evaluation of the EPS as a useful tool that assesses the "ecologicalness" of a social program and shows you how to apply it to your work. This valuable resource also offers an example of a successful program that encompasses ecological programming—the Adolescent Diversion Project (ADP)—as well as an example of a now-defunct social program that is evaluated to determine whether it failed due to a lack of ecological design incorporation.

Using the information in this book, you can improve on pre-existing social programs and create better ones. Understanding Ecological Programming is a must-read for social program developers/designers, program operators, interventionists, extension agents, community psychologists, human service providers, and extension specialists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780789024589
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/12/2004
Series:	A Monograph Published Simultaneously As the Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community Ser.
Pages:	93
Product dimensions:	5.81(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Susan Scherffiu Jakes, Craig Brookins

Table of Contents

• Introduction: Understanding Ecological Programming: Merging Theory, Research, and Practice (Susan Scherffius Jakes and Craig C. Brookins)
  
• Understanding Ecological Programming: Evaluating Program Structure Through a Comprehensive Assessment Tool (Susan Scherffius Jakes)
  
• The Adolescent Diversion Project: 25 Years of Research on an Ecological Model of Intervention (Emilie Phillips Smith, Angela M. Wolf, Dan M. Cantillon, Oseela Thomas, and William S. Davidson)
  
• A Multidimensional Ecological Examination of a Youth Development Program for Military Dependent Youth (Daniel F. Perkins and Lynne M. Borden)
  
• Cultivating Capacity: Outcomes of a Statewide Support System for Prevention Coalitions (Roger E. Mitchell, Brenda Stone-Wiggins, John F. Stevenson, and Paul Florin)
  
• Index
  
• Reference Notes Included
  

What People are Saying About This

Joel M. Hektner

IMMENSELY USEFUL for advancing the theory and practical application of ecologically sound prevention programs. . . . Clarifies the often used but rarely defined adjective 'ecological' as applied to prevention programming. Researchers interested in designing and implementing ecological programs will find here a tool to test and insure that ecological principles are followed, as well as real-world examples of programs that vary in adherence to those principles.
—PhD, Assistant Professor, Child Development and Family Science, North Dakota State University