Jane Close Conoley

Dean Jane Close Conoley giving the Chancellor's Breakfast talk at El Paseo Restaurant in downtown Santa Barbara

Dean and Professor Jane Close Conoley will present the talk at the first UC Santa Barbara Chancellor’s Community Breakfast of the fall quarter on Thursday, December 12 at 7:30 am at El Paseo Restaurant, 813 Anacapa Street. Her program is entitled “The Right Gang for Every Child? Community Safety and Children’s Development.”

Young people’s participation in antisocial gangs is a dual threat--first to their development as productive citizens and second to the safety of the community. What drives youngsters to join and stay in gangs? Dean Conoley’s talk will illustrate that children’s natural motivation for attachment, safety, and self-esteem are the basis for why young people join gangs and must be the characteristics of gang prevention and desistance programs. Conley will highlight research being done by Gevirtz School faculty members that directly benefit children’s development and community safety.

Jane Conoley, a professor in the Department of Counseling, Clinical and School Psychology at the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, became dean in January 2006 after serving for 10 years as dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University, where she was a professor of educational psychology. In 2013 she served an eight-month period as the Acting Chancellor at UC Riverside. The author or editor of 21 books, and over one hundred articles and book chapters, Conoley has been honored with fellow status from both the American Psychological Association and the Association of Psychological Science.

This event is open to the public and tickets will be available at the door for $20 per person, payable to UC Regents. For more information, or if you need special arrangements to accommodate a disability, please call 893-2877, or email Kimberly.Peden@ia.ucsb.edu.