SuEllen Fried

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SuEllen Fried
Portrait of SuEllen Fried.png
SuEllen Fried with her signature
"Power of Kindness" button
Born
SuEllen Weissman

(1932-09-18) September 18, 1932 (age 89)
St. Louis, Missouri
NationalityAmerican
Other namesSue
Alma mater Washington University in St. Louis
Park University (BA)
OccupationWriter, Bullying prevention activist, Educator
Board member ofLife member Prevent Child Abuse America
President Emeritus Reaching Out From Within
Commissioner LINC (Local Investment Commission)
Advisory Board Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey
Member Author's Guild
Charter Member American Dance Therapy Association
Spouse(s)Harvey Fried
ChildrenJeffery Fried
Paula Fried, Ph. D
Marc Fried
Website www.bullysafeusa.com

SuEllen Fried is an American bullying prevention activist, writer and educator. [1] She was number 900 on President George H. W. Bush's Thousand Points of Light foundation list in 1993. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Born SuEllen Weissman on September 18, 1932 in St. Louis, Missouri.

She graduated from University City High School in University City, Missouri in 1950. She studied at Washington University in St. Louis, where she was a member of Sigma Delta Tau. [3] She earned a B.A. from Park University, in Parkville, Missouri in 1975 and an M.A. equivalency from the American Dance Therapy Association in 1996.

Career

Fried was a member of the Dance Ensemble of the St. Louis Municipal Opera from 1949 through 1951. She also appeared in a party scene in Kansas City native Robert Altman's 1957 film The Delinquents .

Fried worked as a dance therapist for twenty years, and from 1961 to 1978, Fried was a volunteer dance and drama therapist at Osawatomie State Hospital in Kansas. In 1970 was appointed to President Richard Nixon's Task Force on the Mentally Handicapped. She was a consultant to the National Institute of Mental Health as well as the Center for Advanced Study and Continuing Education in Mental Health.

Fried's work with Dr. Karl Menninger led her to found STOP Violence in 1982, an organization that developed a program called Reaching Out From Within. This monthly program trained volunteers to teach prison inmates to change their violent language, actions and thoughts. As of 2004, it ran ten programs in seven Kansas Correctional facilities. [4] [5]

The program has been effective, recording much lower recidivism rates among program participants than non-participating inmates. From a Huffington Post profile of Fried and Reaching Out From Within:— [6]

Over 40 percent of American prisoners released in 2004 returned to a state penitentiary within three years of being released, according to a 2011 Pew study. Among inmates who attend between 20 and 40 ROFW meetings, the recidivism rate drops to 23 percent, according to Fried, and it further decreases to just 8 percent among inmates who attend a minimum of 60 meetings.

Abuse prevention work

Fried draws upon her dance therapy experience in her abuse prevention program, helping teach body awareness and how to adjust to others. [7]

Fried's seven "prevention principles" were defined in her book Bullies and Victims, and given the acronym SCRAPES:

Her books are intended for parents of children who have been bullied as well as those whose children may be bullies. [8] She and her co-authors attempt to offer practical suggestions for minimizing peer abuse, to teach about the harm caused by gossip and name-calling and to prevent an escalation to violence. [9]

In 2002, Fried founded BullySafeUSA, which has enabled her to work with more than 90,000 students, educators, councilors, administrators and parents in 36 states [10] Additionally, she and her organization are working to help reduce cyber-bullying on social networking sites and web pages. [11]

Books

Related Research Articles

Restorative justice Restitution with input from victims and offenders

Restorative justice is an approach to justice where one of the responses to a crime is to organize a meeting between the victim and the offender, sometimes with representatives of the wider community. The goal is for them to share their experience of what happened, to discuss who was harmed by the crime and how, and to create a consensus for what the offender can do to repair the harm from the offense. This may include a payment of money given from the offender to the victim, apologies and other amends, and other actions to compensate those affected and to prevent the offender from causing future harm.

Mobbing, as a sociological term, means bullying of an individual by a group, in any context, such as a family, peer group, school, workplace, neighborhood, community, or online. When it occurs as physical and emotional abuse in the workplace, such as "ganging up" by co-workers, subordinates or superiors, to force someone out of the workplace through rumor, innuendo, intimidation, humiliation, discrediting, and isolation, it is also referred to as malicious, nonsexual, non-racial/racial, general harassment.

Bullying Use of force or coercion to abuse or intimidate others

Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception of an imbalance of physical or social power. This imbalance distinguishes bullying from conflict. Bullying is a subcategory of aggressive behavior characterized by hostile intent, imbalance of power and repetition over a period of time. Bullying is the activity of repeated, aggressive behavior intended to hurt another individual, physically, mentally or emotionally.

Recidivism Person repeating an undesirable behavior following punishment

Recidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of that behavior. It is also used to refer to the percentage of former prisoners who are rearrested for a similar offense.

School violence encompasses physical violence, including student-on-student fighting and corporal punishment; psychological violence, including verbal abuse; sexual violence, including rape and sexual harassment; many forms of bullying, including cyberbullying; and carrying weapons in school. It is widely held to have become a serious problem in recent decades in many countries, especially where weapons such as guns or knives are involved. It includes violence between school students as well as physical attacks by students on school staff.

A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a sexual nature; however, some sex offenders have simply violated a law contained in a sexual category. Some of the serious crimes which usually result in a mandatory sex-offender classification are sexual assault, statutory rape, bestiality, child sexual abuse, incest, rape, and sexual imposition.

The Duluth Model is a program developed to reduce domestic violence against women. It is named after Duluth, Minnesota, the city where it was developed. The program was largely founded by feminist Ellen Pence.

A prison nursery is a section of a prison that houses incarcerated mothers and their very young children. Prison nurseries are not common in correctional facilities in the United States, although prior to the 1950s many states had them and they are widespread throughout the rest of the world.

Sibling abuse includes the physical, psychological, or sexual abuse of one sibling by another. More often than not, the younger sibling is abused by the older sibling, however this is not always the case. Sibling abuse is the most common of family violence in the US, but the least reported. As opposed to sibling rivalry, sibling abuse is characterized by the one-sided treatment of one sibling to another.

School bullying Type of bullying in an educational setting

School bullying, like bullying outside the school context, refers to one or more perpetrators who have greater physical or social power than their victim and act aggressively toward their victim by verbal or physical means. Different types of school bullying including physical, emotional, verbal, cyberbullying, sexual, and higher education. There are warning signs for the situations of a child being bullied, a child being the bully, and a child that has witnessed bullying at school. The cost of school violence is significant across many nations but there are political leaders who have had success in reducing school bullying through implementing certain strategies. Some methods of control/ prevention that some schools use or that have been suggested to implement include educating the students, restriction of recording devices, security technology, and guards in the school. Responses to bullying vary widely depending on specific circumstances. Victims and perpetrators of bullying possess different characteristics that can be indicators of their status. There are many effects of school bullying, the most common being feelings of depression, anxiety, anger, stress, and helplessness. In less common instances the victim may have a decline in school performance or even less commonly, commit suicide. 1 in 3 children experience bullying at some point in their education.

Prison contemplative programs are classes or practices that are offered at correctional institutions for inmates and prison staff. There are measured or anecdotally reported benefits from studies of these programs such a stress relief for inmates and staff. These programs are gaining in acceptance in North America and Europe but are not mainstream.

Bullying is an undesirable, attacker behavior that often happens among school aged children and adolescents. This behavior is repetitive. Both children who are bullied and bullies themselves may have serious mental problems. There are different types of bullying such as verbal, social, physical and cyber.

Workplace harassment is the belittling or threatening behavior directed at an individual worker or a group of workers.

Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital sphere has expanded and technology has advanced. Cyberbullying is when someone, typically a teenager, bullies or harasses others on the internet and other digital spaces, particularly on social media sites. Harmful bullying behavior can include posting rumors, threats, sexual remarks, a victims' personal information, or pejorative labels. Bullying or harassment can be identified by repeated behavior and an intent to harm. Victims of cyberbullying may experience lower self-esteem, increased suicidal ideation, and various negative emotional responses, including being scared, frustrated, angry, or depressed.

Susan Kelly-Dreiss is an American women's rights and anti-violence activist. She co-founded and served as the first Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV). She helped pass the Pennsylvania Protection from Abuse Act, that state's first domestic violence law.

Relationships for incarcerated individuals Familial and romantic relations of individuals in prisons or jails

Relationships of incarcerated individuals are the familial and romantic relations of individuals in prisons or jails. Although the population of incarcerated men and women is considered quite high in many countries, there is relatively little research on the effects of incarceration on the inmates' social worlds. However, it has been demonstrated that inmate's relationships play a seminal role in their well-being both during and after incarceration, making such research important in improving their overall health, and lowering rates of recidivism.

Debra Pepler is a Canadian psychologist known for her research and advocacy within the field of childhood aggression and bullying. She is currently a distinguished research professor at York University in Toronto, Ontario.

Nicola Graham-Kevan is a psychologist and professor of criminal justice psychology at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, England. She is also a professor of clinical psychology at the Mid Sweden University in Östersund, Sweden. She conducts research on aggression, domestic violence, stalking, victimisation, psychological trauma and post-traumatic growth. Professor Graham-Kevan is the Director of TRAC Psychological Limited (tracpsychological.co.uk) where she develops and delivers behaviour change programmes, training and evaluations. She also works clinically designing interventions for offenders with emotional management or aggression management problems.

Wendy Marion Craig is a Canadian clinical-developmental psychologist known for her research and advocacy in the field of childhood bullying. She is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Decarceration in the United States Overview article

Decarceration in the United States involves government policies and community campaigns aimed at reducing the number of people held in custody or custodial supervision. Decarceration, the opposite of incarceration, also entails reducing the rate of imprisonment at the federal, state and municipal level. Home to 5% of the global population but 25% of its prisoners, the U.S. possess the world's highest incarceration rate: 655 inmates for every 100,000 people, enough inmates to equal the populations of Philadelphia or Houston. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinvigorated the discussion surrounding decarceration as the spread of the virus poses a threat to the health of those incarcerated in prisons and detention centers where the ability to properly socially distance is limited.

References

  1. Perez Tobias, Suzanne (May 23, 2004). "Once every five minutes. Study finds surprising amount of bullying at younger ages". Sunday Gazette-Mail (Knight-Ridder)  via  HighBeam Research (subscription required). Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2013. Fried travels the country giving workshops for students, educators and community leaders. She says children should be taught about bullying even before school.
  2. Schupmann, Melissa (Nov 28, 2012). "Crusader SuEllen Fried reaches out to end violence". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 1 March 2013. Her awards and honors could fill a page themselves. She was President George H.W. Bush’s 900th Point of Light in 1993
  3. St. Louis Post Dispatch, March 2, 1952.
  4. Adler, Eric (February 7, 2004). "STOP Violence Volunteers Helping Felons Change". Yakima Herald-Republic  via  HighBeam Research (subscription required). Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2013. Founded in 1982 by SuEllen Fried, the Kansas City author of "Bullies and Victims: Helping Your Child Through the Schoolyard Battlefield," STOP Violence operates 10 inmate programs in seven Kansas state prisons.
  5. Engel, Beverly (2001). The power of apology : healing steps to transform all your relationships. New York ; Chichester: Wiley. ISBN   978-0471218920 . Retrieved 28 February 2013. Part of her program is to encourage children to apologize for making derogatory remarks to other children or for not sticking up for kids who are being bullied.
  6. Gregoire, Carolyn (September 16, 2013). "This 80-Year-Old Is Spreading Kindness And Hope In The Most Unlikely Place". Huffington Post. Retrieved 16 January 2014. Fried co-founded ROFW 30 years ago with a prison inmate as a way to offer help to prisoners who wanted to change their ways. The program's impact on recidivism rates has been enormous: Going through the program dramatically reduces the likelihood of an inmate repeating illegal behavior after being released from prison, Fried says. Over 40 percent of American prisoners released in 2004 returned to a state penitentiary within three years of being released, according to a 2011 Pew study. Among inmates who attend between 20 and 40 ROFW meetings, the recidivism rate drops to 23 percent, according to Fried, and it further decreases to just 8 percent among inmates who attend a minimum of 60 meetings.
  7. Roach, edited by Annelise Mertz ; with a foreword by Joseph (2002). The body can speak : essays on creative movement education with emphasis on dance and drama. Carbondale (Ill.): Southern Illinois university press. ISBN   9780809324187. In a recent book, Bullies and Victims, Fried identifies seven “prevention” principles (known by the acronym SCRAPES), all of which are assisted by dance/movement therapy intervention.{{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  8. Hunker, Paula Gray (May 12, 1998). "The other side: Helping bullies change behavior, for good of all". The Washington Times (Washington, DC). SuEllen Fried, who wrote "Bullies & Victims" with her daughter Paula, gives parents seven points to counteract bullying behavior.[ dead link ]
  9. "The Torment that Students Suffer in Silence". The Buffalo News (Buffalo, NY)  via  HighBeam Research (subscription required). October 22, 1996. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2013. In the new book "Bullies & Victims," authors Suellen Fried and Paula Fried offer more practical suggestions. They say adults need to teach young people that name calling and gossip can be damaging, and that it can escalate to violence, by a bully or by a frustrated victim.
  10. Sosland, Blanche. "Camping Out Against Bullying". Phi Kappa Phi Forum. Summer 2011: 3. The Student Empowerment Session, developed in 1993 by my colleague and child advocate SuEllen Fried, would be an ideal tool for summer camps. This interactive strategy helps children learn about the pain inflicted by bullying and about how kindness and empathy help in banishing bullying. Fried has worked successfully with more than 90,000 students in 36 states using it.[ dead link ]
  11. Rothschild, Scott (February 15, 2007). "Students seek law against bullies". Journal-World (Lawrence, Kansas)  via  HighBeam Research (subscription required). Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2013. SuEllen Fried, of Prairie Village, a longtime mental health advocate who has written several books on bullying, said youngsters today are confronted with much worse bullying practices than in the past, including cyberbullying, where people write demeaning comments to children over the Internet. "It is just as serious as beating kids up in the playground," she said.
  12. Fried, SuEllen; Paula Fried (1996). Bullies and victims : helping your child survive the school yard battlefield . Unknown: M Evans And Co. ISBN   9780871318404.
  13. Fried, SuEllen; Paula Fried; Ph. D (2004). Bullies, targets and witnesses : helping children break the pain chain. [S.l.]: M Evans& Co Inc. ISBN   978-1590770566.
  14. Fried, SuEllen; Sosland, Blanche (2009). Banishing bullying behavior : transforming the culture of pain, rage, and revenge. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education. ISBN   978-1607092216.
  15. Fried, SuEllen; Sosland, Blanche (2011). Banishing bullying behavior : transforming the culture of peer abuse (2nd ed.). Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Education. ISBN   978-1610484336.
  16. Fried, SuEllen; Lang, Lynne (2005). 30 activities for getting better at getting along (1st ed.). St. Louis, MO: Imagine That Enterprises, L.C. ISBN   978-0972306737.