James Garbarino
James Garbarino Ph.D. is an author and Professor at Loyola University Chicago. He has specialized in studying what causes violence in children, how they cope with it and how to rehabilitate them. Dr. Garbarino has served as consultant or adviser to a wide range of organizations, including the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, the National Institute for Mental Health, the American Medical Association, the National Black Child Development Institute, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, and the FBI. In addition, Dr. Garbarino's work is associated with the School of Human Ecology at Cornell University under the leadership of Dr. Urie Brofenbrenner who began Head Start programs in the US.
Academic work
Dr. Garbarino has conducted research into the causes of violent behavior from children and how they cope with stress. Dr. Garbarino has studied the impact of war on children in several countries, including children in Kuwait, Iraq, Bosnia, Croatia etc. He has also conducted many interviews with children who have been convicted of violent crimes in the USA. He has researched the background of these children and concluded that abuse and neglect at an early age are a contributing cause to the violent behavior of these children. He has served as an expert witness involving issues of trauma, violence and abuse in both civil and criminal trials. Dr. Garbarino and his coauthors have also conducted many interviews with other high school students and teachers about bullying and social problems at school to help understand ways to improve the school environment.
Dr. Garbarino recommends that violence prevention begins at an early age by recognizing underlining causes and addressing them before they expand. He advocates programs that provide assistance to young at risk children and parents including a home visiting program. This program provides home visitors to young mothers at risk who help with child care and provide advice about how to handle early child rearing. Children who have benefited from this program have reduced the drop out and delinquency rates.[1] He has also advised intervention when there are problems in school at a young age with advise and counseling rather than punishment when possible. He believes this is often less expensive and more productive than waiting for problems to get worse.[2]
Dr. Garbarino's work with families, while related to individuals with disabilities and their families (e.g., suicides in adolescents, cognitive limitations) does not stem from the development of community services or prevention programs (e.g., family support, mental health counseling), but often infant and childhood development (e.g., Piaget and Brazelton), adolescent development (e.g., Dr. Ellie Macklin), and the field of "neglect" and abuse in families.
Books by Garbarino
- "Successful schools and competent students" by James Garbarino 1981
- "The Psychologically Battered Child" (Jossey Bass Social and Behavioral Science Series) by James Garbarino, Edna Guttmann, and Janis Wilson Seeley 1986
- "The Future As If It Really Mattered" by James Garbarino 1986
- "What Children Can Tell Us: Eliciting, Interpreting, and Evaluating Information from Children." Jossey-Bass Social and Behavioral Science Series by James Garbarino and Frances M. Scott 1989
- "Children and Families in the Social Environment" (Modern Applications of Social Work) 1992
- "Toward A Sustainable Society" - by James Garbarino 1992
- "Raising Children in a Socially Toxic Environment" San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers 1995
- "Understanding Abusive Families: An Ecological Approach to Theory and Practice" by James Garbarino and John Eckenrode 1997
- "Children in Danger: Coping with the Consequences of Community Violence" Jossey-Bass Social and Behavioral Science Series 1998
- "Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them" Free Press – 1999 ISBN 978-0-385-49932-3
- "And Words Can Hurt Forever: How to Protect Adolescents from Bullying, Harassment, and Emotional Violence" By James Garbarino, Ph.D. and Ellen deLara, Ph.D. Free Press – 2001
- "Parents Under Siege: Why You Are the Solution, Not the Problem, in Your Child’s Life" By James Garbarino, Ph.D. and Claire Bedard Free Press – 2001
- "Por Que Las Familias Abusan De Sus Hijos" (Spanish Edition) by John Eckenrode and James Garbarino 2001
- "An Educator's Guide to School-Based Interventions" by Ellen de Lara, James Garbarino, and James M. Cooper 2003
- "See Jane Hit: Why Girls Are Growing More Violent and What We Can Do About It" The Penguin Press – 2006
- "Children and the Dark Side of Human Experience: Confronting Global Realities and Rethinking Child Development" 2009
- “Listening to Killers: Lessons Learned From My 20 Years as a Psychological Expert Witness in Murder Cases” (University of California Press, 2015)