Dr. Jeffrey Jones, a faculty member in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Educational Studies at Western Michigan University, has been conducting an applied study of participant experience in PeaceJam, an innovative social action program. “Participation as Relational Process: Unpacking Involvement in Social Action and Community Service,” published in Afterschool Matters, describes how supportive features of the program environment affect motivational processes. Issues of self-representation and behavioral change are explored in “Promoting the development of moral identity, behavior, and commitment in a social action program,” in the Journal of Peace Education.

A research team including Dr. Jeffrey Jones, Ricky Pope of the Department of Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology, and Brittney Tinnon of Sociology gave two presentations at the Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference. This group has been investigating organizational structures and participant outcomes in the Young Adult Diversion Court. They presented on the negotiation between the competing interests of sanctions and rehabilitation, and the integration of counseling and therapeutic services in this context.

Link to online post: https://wmich.edu/teaching/jones