Training

Hiiii friends.

So the past four days we've spent training.  So backtracking a little bit, the research project I'm working on is at the University of South Alabama in Mobile.  There are 27 interns and we'll be going around to the impoverished neighborhoods of Mobile and Prichard to families mostly living in public housing developments.  The study has been ongoing for the past 13 years and it's trying to get a sense of how poverty affects adolescent development, risk behaviors, and decision making.  This study is really awesome because it's the only longitudinal study that actually gets data directly from the adolescents by going out into the streets.  A lot of other researchers are too afraid of going out into the violent neighborhoods so the majority of the existing data out there doesn't really reflect what's actually going on in these neighborhoods.  So, the funding that goes out to these past/present research projects is actually funding programs that aren't really working-- why-- because the true cause of the problems aren't known therefore treating them inaccurately doesn't work very well.  Also, a lot of the current research targets this at-risk population in the school systems to avoid having to go out in the neighborhoods but this also leads to biased results and missing an entire portion of the population-- those who have dropped out of school.  So, school-based research doesn't really effectively provide the whole picture of the problem.  So, our study actually goes out into the neighborhoods door-to-door based on previous participation and school-records (for addresses) to recruit previous and prospective participants.  After we go door-to-door and neighborhood-to-neighborhod we bring the kids in to actually administer the survey in community centers, churches, etc.  We'll be asking a series of questions about themselves, their views of themselves, their neighborhood, violence, relationships, sex, and drugs and alcohol to get a better sense of how their situation in life (poverty) affects their development and hopes for success in the future.

One really touching quote from a kid in one of the neighborhoods who told this to one of the researchers that really put this research in prospective was, "...why should I worry about my risk of getting AIDS at 25 when I'll probably be shot by then and won't even live that long."  The stories from the kids and parents and possible scenarios that could/have happen(ed) are pretty intense--ranging from an intern administering a survey in a home and feeling something under the couch cushion which ended up being a gun to being jumped.  This summer's really going to be an eye-opener and definitely a life-changing experience.

Tomorrow we'll actually be going out into one of the public housing neighborhoods to get a sense of what we'll be dealing with and become comfortable with the layout.  Monday we'll actually be assigned partners and start heading out to the neighborhoods to start recruiting.  I know a lot of this seems pretty intense, but don't worry we've been thoroughly trained and safety always comes first!  Miss & love you all!