While it’s easy (and correct) to assume that 100% of college students are Internet users, it might come as a surprise to learn that the percentage of 18-24 year-olds not in college that use the Internet is still 92%. Young adults are indeed that wired.
In such a connected environment, rules and norms are constantly changing. Shifts in dating and relationships because of widespread social media are at the heart of the research of Dr. Lauren Reed, Assistant Project Scientist at UC Santa Barbara’s International Center for School-Based Youth Development (iCSBYD). Her recent paper in the journal Violence Against Women explored the issue of “digital dating abuse,” as the sometimes too-social media of Facebook, Snapchat, Yik Yak and more can become an unfortunate and all-too-convenient means of snooping on, harassing, and pressuring dating partners.
Such research helps inform her work here in Santa Barbara, too, as Reed is the coordinator for the evaluation of the What is LOVE? program. What is LOVE? is a school-based dating violence prevention and healthy relationships program for high school students, founded and directed by Christy Haynes. The program consists of several components including an assembly, parent workshops, and a six-week small group student workshop. Reed and her team, all part of the Gevirtz School’s Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology, evaluate the implementation of this program in three high schools in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. Since 2009, What is LOVE? has provided programming for over 23,000 Santa Barbara County teens.
Reed’s work not only focuses on dating violence prevention, but also ways to improve programs for girls in juvenile detention and prevent recidivism. She coordinates the Female Specific Project, a collaboration between researchers from CSBYD, Santa Barbara County Probation, and the Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness. This project was motivated by the community partners’ desire to evaluate and improve services for youth on probation in our county, and specifically, for girls in juvenile detention. For this project, Reed and her group are conducting a historical analysis to identify predictors of recidivism, successful probation program completion, mental health, and socio-emotional health among the girls and boys on probation in our county. They also have been conducting an evaluation of the Girls Group program in the Santa Maria Juvenile Hall, which is a program for some girls in detention that is focused around a trauma-informed, psycho-education curriculum.
Reed comes to UC Santa Barbara’s Center for School-Based Youth Development after receiving her Ph.D. in Social Work and Developmental Psychology from the University of Michigan in 2015, with a dissertation entitled, “‘Digital dating abuse:’ Digital media as a gendered context for dating violence in the digital world.” Her research interests include gendered violence prevention, youth violence prevention, positive youth development, community-based program evaluation, digital media as a context and tool for dating violence, and youth participatory action research.
The International Center for School-Based Youth Development is a community of researchers devoted to developing a better understanding of the ecological influences affecting children’s lives and that promotes academic, social, emotional, and physical well-being. The iCSBYD engages in research that informs educators how to enhance school engagement and thereby promote all students’ social, emotional, and academic competence. Scholars promote the mission of the Center through grant preparation, project evaluation, community networking, school/community consultation, conference presentations, and scientific publications.