Thorvald Dahle, a criminal justice doctoral student, and Carol Archbold, associate professor of criminal justice, published an article titled “I wish the hitting would stop … An assessment of a domestic violence education program for elementary students” in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

The paper is based on a 2010 evaluation of the “I Wish the Hitting Would Stop” program presented to elementary school children by the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center of Fargo-Moorhead. The study examines the level of knowledge retention by students who participated in the program during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years. Fourth- and fifth-grade students responded to open-ended questions regarding their understanding of domestic violence and their retention of the concepts presented in the program.

While the results suggest that students retain the information presented in the program, there also appears to be a gender difference in knowledge retention.

The Journal of Interpersonal Violence is published monthly and is devoted to the study and treatment of victims and perpetrators of interpersonal violence. 

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.