Psych W3615y	Children at Risk	Spring 2005

Instructor: Geraldine Downey
Teaching Assistant: Bonita London
Teaching Assistant: Kathy Boudin

4:10 - 6 pm Tu Th in 200C Schermerhorn Hall

	Overview		Prereqs		Contact Us
	Calendar		Syllabus		Grading
	Projects		Links		CourseWorks

 

Brief overview

This course considers contemporary risk factors in children's lives. We analyze the immediate and enduring biological and behavioral impact of risk factors, their interaction, and child characteristics that modify their effects. The course is organized developmentally. It begins with a discussion of prenatal development and prenatal hazards, such as mother's drug use, and ends with adolescent risks, such as unsafe sex. We examine risks originating inside (e.g., family violence) and outside (e.g., poverty, racism) the family and explore both traumatic and chronic stressors. We end with a discussion of why some children survive extreme adversity and why some intervention programs work. The course will attempt to bridge the areas traditionally covered by developmental and abnormal psychology.

The format of the course will include lecture, discussion, speakers, and group presentations. We expect students to read primary articles and books. We also expect students to work in a group to develop and give a class presentation on a topic of the group's choice. We encourage students to become involved in a volunteer activity serving children at risk as one of their class projects.

Course requirements include regular attendance and participation, written report of one individual project, one in-class exam based on lectures and readings, and a class presentation and written report of one group project.

Contact Information

Please click here for information on admission to the Spring 2005 class

Prerequisites

Prior to enrolling in Children at Risk you should have completed at least one of the following courses, or its equivalent at Barnard or elsewhere: Psychology W1010 or W2280 or W2620 or W2680. In addition, you need to obtain permission from one of the instructors to be admitted to the course.

How and When will you be Admitted? If you have met the course prerequisites and have read this course syllabus, you are invited to complete a copy of the entrance survey and turn it in to Bonita London's mailbox on the 4th floor of Schermerhorn Hall. We will not be admitting students to the class prior to November registration. However, after submitting an entrance survey you may register for the class as a way of expressing your interest in taking it. Please understand that registering for the course in November will NOT signify that you have been admitted to the class and will NOT guarantee you a seat in the class. It will have the benefit of including you on the preliminary email list for announcements that we send out before the first class meeting.

Important: It is essential that all students who wish to participate in Children at Risk attend the first class meeting. Please bring a copy of your entrance survey with you. We will admit up to 25 students to the class; final decisions will be made shortly after the first class meeting.

Grading

This page was modified on January 11, 2005