MORNING BREAKOUT SESSION TOPICS

• Hypervigilance in Law Enforcement and the Judicial System
  
• 1. Always Wanted, Always Running, Always Hiding: Lessons Learned from the Fugitive Safe Surrender Program
     Dr. Dan Flannery, Professor, Department of Justice Studies; Director, Institute for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Kent State University
     
     ABSTRACT: The Fugitive Safe Surrender program (FSS) is run by the U.S. Marshals Service to facilitate the safe and peaceful surrender of individuals wanted for non-violent felony or misdemeanor offenses.  Individuals who think they have an active warrant can voluntarily surrender at a church and receive favorable consideration.  To date, FSS has been implemented in seven cities across the United States, where nearly 6,500 individuals have surrendered.  Data from the FSS program will be presented, with a focus on differences between those with active warrants and those who surrender but have no warrant on record.
     
     
  2. Towards National Preparedness: Making Police Organizations Prepared for Countering Terrorism
     Mr. Mustafa Ozguler, Chief of Police, Turkish National Police; Doctoral candidate, Department of Political Science, Kent State University
     
     ABSTRACT: It is not a myth to state that only prepared police organizations can appropriately and effectively respond to terrorism. Unlike many perceptions, preparedness is not a onetime restructuring of an organization or the establishment of a new one. Preparedness is certainly not defined by the creation of a larger organization, a higher number of personnel, cutting-edge weapons and cars, new or renovated buildings, and improved surveillance and legal capabilities. Rather, it is the process of continual progress in which organizations update themselves by implementing organizational learning, changing their training programs and standard operating procedures, and more importantly, by being part of the policy making processes. The Netherlands, the UK and the Turkish Police Organizations are compared and contrasted. Results indicate that, preparedness ought to involve a system that updates itself by learning, changing and being part of the larger systems and policies.
     
     
  3. The Effects of Juror Hypervigilance and Victimization Attitudes on Sentencing Length
     Dr. Tom Brewer, Assistant Professor, Department of Justice Studies, Kent State University
     
     ABSTRACT: Capital jurors drastically underestimate how long a person actually spends in prison for murder, if not sentenced to death. Therefore, they tend to overcompensate for this and are more likely to sentence a person to death. Unsubstantiated fear of crime leads people to be more punitive.
     
     
• Studies of Terrorism: Threats to Civilians and Those in Uniforms
  
• 1. Terrorism and the Health of Populations
     Dr. Sandro Galea, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health
     
     ABSTRACT: Health and disease do not occur at random. We frequently think of the health consequences of terrorism as being directly linked to the terrorist incident itself. However, the full range of the consequences of terrorism depends on a complex set of factors including the terrorist incident, underlying social and community vulnerabilities, and ongoing stressors that accompany the terrorist incident and the response to it. We will use data from several studies conducted after terrorist attacks including New York City, Madrid, and Israel, as well as simulation complex dynamic modeling, to discuss how an understanding of the causes of the consequences of terrorism may help guide efforts to mitigate these same consequences.
     
     
  2. War-Related Stressors, Gains and Losses, and Physical and Mental Health Outcomes
     Dr. Penny Pierce, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of Michigan; Colonel, Air Force Reserves
     
     ABSTRACT: The ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have been distinctly different from previous conflicts in that they have been sustained over a longer period of time and have required multiple mobilizations and rotations under turbulent and uncertain conditions.  There is little experience in this type of warfare to guide military planners in understanding the potential effects of these unprecedented mobilizations on mental health of men and women in military service.  Therefore, the purpose of this research is to provide information from a stratified, random sample of Air Force personnel (males and females) who served during the period of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in the theater of operations, or elsewhere, to determine the effects of various war-related stressors and deployment experiences on physical and mental health outcomes.
     
     
  3. How Terrorism Changes Our Psyche and Our Society
     Dr. Stevan Hobfoll, Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology; Director, Applied Psychology Center, Kent State University; Director and Co-Founder, Summa-Kent State Center for the Treatment and Study of Traumatic Stress
     
     ABSTRACT: Terrorism has deep impact on individuals and society.  Our studies examine the impact of ongoing terrorism in Israel. Such studies are critical if we are to understand how other countries might react if they became confronted with repeated terrorist attacks.  Although many people prove resilient, terrorism increases depression and PTSD among a widening percentage of the population and makes us more cautious and less humane as a society.
     
     
• Public Health Preparedness: The Predictable Surprise
  
• 1. General Adaptation Syndrome for Communities:  Resilience versus Burnout
     Dr. Sharon Stanley, Program Director, The Ohio Center for Public Preparedness, School of Public Health, The Ohio State University; Colonel, Army Nurse Corps, US Army Reserves
     
     ABSTRACT: Public health preparedness practice includes the assessment of population-based readiness for response and recovery within an all-hazards framework of incidents.  The public health workforce assures that gaps in that readiness are identified and develops policy in partnership with community leaders to address continued vigilance.  What happens, though, when a public health campaign is focused on an incident that will occur, but may or may not be imminent?  What about the “maybe” incident?  Since 2002, our nation has watched media coverage and experienced public health assurance and policy regarding anthrax, smallpox, and pandemic influenza through widespread response (anthrax) and campaigns (smallpox and pandemic influenza).  How much is too much?  How do we engage the community without disengaging trust and damaging public health credibility at the local, regional, and state levels?  Hans Selye first wrote about the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) in the summer of 1936.  GAS or Stress Syndrome is the process whereby the body confronts stress.  In GAS, the body passes through three universal stages of coping:  alarm, adaptation, and exhaustion.  Using Selye’s theory of stress, this session will examine community response to public health efforts in the world of emerging infectious disease.
     
     
  2. Hypervigilance in the Presence or Absence of Disaster:  Preparation in Managing Mental Health and Coping in the Face and the Aftermath of Public Health Emergencies
     Dr. Sandra A. Caramela-Miller, Director of Trauma and Loss Counseling, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney's Office; Fellow, The Institute for Life-Span Development and Gerontology, University of Akron; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University
     
     ABSTRACT: Naturally caused and man-made public health emergencies all require effective management of the mental health and alarm of the public, especially, the anxieties, stressors, and the resulting intrusions on their homes, workplace, and community environments.  Public health officials must present effective strategies for coping with the disaster and the concomitant results when the disaster arrives and also in the absence of the anticipated disaster.  This session will discuss what has been learned about vigilance and hypervigilance from previous public health disasters, what we continue to learn, extracting and presenting useful management techniques of widespread and individualized behavior.  Maintaining strict levels of vigilance is and will remain a necessary component in preparing for or responding to public health disasters.  Post-disaster recovery begs our ability to quickly distinguish typical and atypical behavior as a preventative measure to avoid future emergencies for law enforcement, medical, and other first and secondary responders to these traumatic events, as well as the public.  This presentation sets out to move away from strict adherence to models in order to explore and develop the crucial elements to the efficacious controlling of the effects of posttraumatic stress, with a specific focus on hypervigilance.
     
     MODERATOR: Dr. Chris Woolverton, Professor, Biological Sciences; Director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness,Kent State University
     
     
• Hypervigilance as a Response to Sexual Violence
  
  The panel will discuss the findings of a 4-year research project, titled Women’s and Men’s Responses to Sexual Violence that is being conducted by a team of researchers at the Kent State University College of Nursing.  The aim of the project, which was funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, is to develop a theory that describes, explains, and predicts men’s and women’s responses to sexual violence and to develop an assessment guide to be used by nurses who care for victims of sexual violence.
  
• 1. Storying the Violence
     Dr. Claire Burke Draucker, Distinguished Professor, College of Nursing, Kent State University
     
     ABSTRACT: This theoretical framework describes the processes by which survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) disclose their abuse experiences to others. The narratives of 74 women and 46 men who experienced on-going CSA by a family member or close acquaintance provided data for the framework. Findings suggest that the problem shared by the participants was that CSA both demands and defies explanation and, as a result, survivors of CSA engage in a lifelong process that we have labeled Storying Childhood Sexual Abuse. The framework includes five processes; the stories associated with each process vary in their nature and function. The processes and associated stories are (a) Starting the Story: the story-not-yet-told, (b) Coming Out with the Story: the story-first-told, (c) Shielding the Story: the story-as-secret, (d) Revising the Story: the story-as-account, and (c) Sharing the Story: the story-as-message.  Because the participants feared negative reactions from those to whom they disclosed the CSA, they developed a hypervigilance to the responses of others, and this hypervigilance strongly influenced how they storied the violence. Clinical implications for working with survivors of CSA will be discussed.
     
     
  2. Living the Family Legacy
     Dr. Donna S. Martsolf, Professor, College of Nursing, Kent State University
     
     ABSTRACT: This theoretical framework describes the processes by which survivors of sexual violence respond to childhood adversity and parent their children.  The narratives of 60 women and 46 men who described significant adversity in their families of origin provided data for the framework. Findings suggest that parenting is best understood in the context of a lifetime process we have labeled Living the Family Legacy.  The process includes three major life patterns: (a) Being Stuck in the Legacy, (b) Being Plagued by the Legacy, and (c) Rejecting the Legacy. Parenting processes associated with these life patterns are: (a) Passing on the Legacy, (b) Taking a Stab at Leaving a New Legacy, and (c) Leaving a New Legacy.  Because participants were particularly invested in protecting their children from violence, each life pattern involved hypervigilance related to children’s safety. The clinical implications for working with survivors of childhood adversity who have concerns regarding their parenting will be discussed.
     
     
  3. Sexual Violence and Sexual Health
     Dr. Cynthia Roller, Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, Kent State University
     
     ABSTRACT: This theoretical framework describes how the sexual health of survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is affected by the abuse.  The narratives of 74 women and 46 men who experienced on-going CSA provided data for the framework. The findings suggested that the problem shared by the participants in regards to their sexuality was the need to understand the nature (“what it was”) and cause (“why did it happen”) of the abuse, as well as the effects the abuse had on their sexuality (“what it makes me as a sexual person”).  The framework outlines four processes used by participants in response to this problem: (a) Grappling With, (b) Figuring Out, (c) Tackling, and (d) Laying Claim to… the nature, cause, and sexual effects of the abuse.  The participants were particularly vigilant in the context of their sexual relationships as their past experiences caused them to anticipate pain, shame, rejection, and exploitation. The implications for working with clients who experience concerns related to their sexuality will be discussed.
     
     
  4. Sexual Violence Screenings in Healthcare Settings
     Dr. Ratchneewan Ross, Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, Kent State University
     
     ABSTRACT: This study was conducted to provide preliminary data prior to developing the nursing sexual violence assessment guide.  Thirty-three unit managers and advanced practice nurses were interviewed about how they screened for sexual violence. Barriers to, and facilitators of, sexual violence screening in clinical settings were identified.  In addition, data revealed that there are many ways that nurses “know” when clients have experienced sexual violence; one such way of knowing is intuition based on an acquired vigilance for hidden signs and symptoms.
     
     MODERATOR: Thomas B. Rusk, Project Coordinator, College of Nursing, Kent State University

AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSION TOPICS

• How Trauma Interferes with the Judgment and Physiology of Vigilance: Our Minds and Our Bodies
  
• 1. The Impact of Trauma on Battered Women’s Ability to Establish Safety
     Dr. Dawn M. Johnson, Clinic Coordinator and Assistant Professor, Summa-Kent State Center for the Treatment and Study of Traumatic Stress
     
     ABSTRACT: Many battered women experience chronic and severe abuse resulting in substantial psychiatric symptoms. These symptoms are often associated with substantial impairment in daily functioning. Consistently, our research shows that these trauma-related symptoms interfere with battered women’s ability to access important resources and to establish long-term safety for themselves and their children. Considering this, offering treatment that specifically addresses trauma-related symptoms is an essential part of safety planning with battered women. Importantly, this helps us understand the impact of trauma more generally, as trauma interferes with our ability to plan and protect ourselves and our families, even though we may at the same time be overly concerned with our trauma experience.
     
     
  2. How Does Post-Traumatic Distress Develop: The Role of Early Hyperarousal?
     Dr. Doug Delahanty, Department of Psychology, Kent State University; Summa-Kent State Center for the Treatment and Study of Traumatic Stress
     
     ABSTRACT: Hyperarousal and hypervigilance are hallmark symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  Recent research attempting to elucidate risk factors present soon after trauma that increase one’s risk of developing PTSD has determined that initial hyperarousal may be associated with increased risk for PTSD and comorbid disorders.  Findings of studies examining both self-report and physiological arousal soon after trauma support a role for exaggerated arousal in the pathogenesis of PTSD.  Based on this work, novel pharmacological interventions designed to reduce PTSD are currently underway.
     
     
  3. The Impact of Sleep Disturbances on the Nature and Treatment of Post-Trauma Mental and Physical Health Problems
     Dr. Patrick Palmieri, Research Coordinator, Summa-Kent State Center for the Treatment and Study of Traumatic Stress
     
     

     ABSTRACT: Trauma exposure can result in hypervigilance, sleep problems, and other forms of hyperarousal that may play an etiological role in the development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and physical health problems.  Trauma-related sleep disturbances (e.g., difficulty falling asleep, difficult staying asleep, nightmares) are among the most commonly reported symptoms of PTSD and are associated with more severe PTSD in general.  They attenuate overall PTSD treatment gains, tend to be resistant to primary PTSD treatments, and, following otherwise successful PTSD treatment, seem to increase risk of relapse.  Sleep problems also may serve as a mechanism that explains the link between trauma/PTSD and physical health problems.  Implications for the treatment of trauma-related mental and physical health problems will be discussed.
     
     DISCUSSANT: Dr. Stevan Hobfoll, Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology; Director, Applied Psychology Center, Kent State University; Director and Co-Founder, Summa-Kent State Center for the Treatment and Study of Traumatic Stress
     
     

• Schools and Violence
  
• 1. Are Students' Threats of Violence Related to Their Violent Behaviors?
     Dr. Mark Singer, Leonard W. Mayo Professor of Family & Child Welfare Director, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University
     
     ABSTRACT: While there has been a great deal of attention given to the issue of students who threaten others, few empirical studies have documented the relationship between students' threats of interpersonal violence and their violent behaviors. We will present a study of elementary, middle school and high school students (N=9487) that addressed the association between these students' threats of violence and their self-reported violent behaviors.
     
     
  2. Does SES Matter?  The Moderating Effect of  Socioeconomic Status on the Fear of Victimization
     Mr. Fred Butcher, Department of Justice Studies, Kent State University
     
     ABSTRACT: Presently, research has shown that exposure to violence is related to clinical levels of anxiety and trauma. In addition, environmental stressors such as socioeconomic status have been shown to affect the susceptibility of an individual to community violence. The present analysis will seek to answer whether socioeconomic status moderates the relationship between exposure to violence and whether an individual feels nervous about safety in their school.  Data were derived from Peacebuilders, a violence prevention program that promotes prosocial behaviors in school-aged children.
     
     
  3. Media Reaction to Incidents of Violence at Schools
     Mr. William Modzeleski, Associate Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, U.S. Department of Education
     
     ABSTRACT: Will discuss the findings from a recently released international report on schools as potential targets of terrorist acts.  Will also discuss the potential impact of media response to mass casualty events at schools, and the public policy implications of these events for school safety and security.
     
     DISCUSSANT: Dr. David Osher, Managing Director, American Institutes on Research
     
     
• Hypervigilance and Penitentiary Survival
  
  PANEL ABSTRACT: America’s high-security prisons are home to killers, rapists, child molesters, and bank robbers, among others who committed heinous violent acts, which exceed the wildest imagination of writers of CSI and Law and Order. Violent criminals don’t become passive when they are imprisoned. Needless to say, prisons are dangerous places where even the most violent criminal finds someone he fears. To remain safe and alive, prison inmates rely on their own survival skills. Survival relies on the learned skills associated with hypervigilance. This panel includes speakers who’ll address prison sexual violence from the perspectives of the federal government’s program to fund prison research and of methods researchers use to conduct research on the sensitive topic of sexual violence. Kent State University researchers and external governmental partners will summarize their research, funded by federal grant awards, on prison sexual violence.
  
• 1. Hypervigilance and Penitentiary Survival
  2. • Dr. Mark Fleisher, Senior Research Associate, Institute for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Kent State University
     • Dr. Shelley Listwan, Assistant Professor, Department of Justice Studies, Kent State University
     • Andy Goldberg, Social Science Analyst, Justice Systems Research Division, National Institute of Justice
     • Bo Saylor, Director, Office of Research and Evaluation, Federal Bureau of Prisons
     • Dr. Chris McCarty, Director, Survey Research Center, Bureau of Economic and Business Research. University of Florida
       
       
• Preparedness Payouts

1. Hypervigilance and Re-Occurring Events
   Main Speaker: Bill Doyle, Assistant Professor, Environmental, Safety and Health Management, The University of Findlay
   
   ABSTRACT: A series of recent floods have had a significant impact upon the community of Findlay and Hancock County, Ohio. The community has suffered three flood events in six months. One of these events was the second worst flood in the recorded history of the community. Two of these events occurred within a month of each other. Hypervigilance, in the aftermath of these events, in relation to the community, in general, and to public health, in particular, are addressed.
   
   Discussion:
2. • Dr. Sharon Stanley, Program Director, The Ohio Center for Public Preparedness, School of Public Health, The Ohio State University; Colonel, Army Nurse Corps, US Army Reserves
   • Dr. Sandra A. Caramela-Miller, Director of Trauma and Loss Counseling, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney's Office; Fellow, The Institute for Life-Span Development and Gerontology, University of Akron; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University
   • Bill Doyle, Assistant Professor, Environmental, Safety and Health Management, The University of Findlay

DISCUSSANTS: Dr. Chris Woolverton, Professor, Biological Sciences; Director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness,Kent State University; Kelly Engelhart, RN, Portage County Health Department; John Mason, Assistant Director, Portage County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management