When the investigation of the home was completed, students compiled the evidence they found to prepare for the next step of the exercise. Then, the students organized their findings and met with student actors who portrayed the parents in the case. The intent of the mock interviews was to provide the students with experience completing formal investigations and making a determination in child abuse cases.

Dr. Angel Knoverek, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Child Advocacy Studies (CAST) Coordinator, serves as the instructor of Forensic Investigations of Child Maltreatment and led the simulation. Knoverek said, “Child abuse case simulations using problem-based learning are an interactive way to engage and prepare students for real-world situations in the various human services fields.”

A walk-through of the simulation was available to faculty and staff to better understand the experiential learning in progress through the duration of the simulation.

The CAST minor curriculum at C-SC prepares students with real-world experiences in a classroom setting. The purpose is to develop professionals who will be best equipped to work on multi-disciplinary teams to benefit children, such as nursing, education, and psychology among others.

While all the students in the course are CAST minors, they represent several different academic programs, such as nursing, criminal justice and psychology.

The presentation helped viewers understand adolescent development, including what is normal and what is not normal. The unique needs of teens also was discussed. Emphasis was on identifying traumatic experiences and how these can impact adolescent neurodevelopment resulting in impairments in social, emotional and cognitive functioning. Viewers learned strategies to boost adolescent engagement.

Knoverek’s talk on Wednesday, Sept. 23 was live-streamed in the Robert W. Brown Performing Arts Center to allow C-SC students to watch. Most members of the virtual audience came from a variety of professional settings, including but not limited to child advocacy centers, domestic violence shelters, case workers/managers, clinicians and legal counsel.

Knoverek joined the Culver-Stockton faculty in August 2017. She develops and teaches courses on psychology, child and adolescent development, childhood trauma and maltreatment, psychological assessment and counseling. She also serves as an associate faculty to the Complex Trauma Treatment Institute, which provides specialized training around the world, and as the co-chair of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network’s Complex Trauma/Developmental Trauma Disorder Work Group. She is the owner of the Mindshift Center in Quincy, which provides counseling to individuals, couples and families. She previously held a variety of positions at Chaddock in Quincy from 2001 to 2017.

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The article is titled “The Long-Term Effect of Bereavement and Grief with a Highly Publicized Violent Death.” It takes a look at how grief is often deeply personal in nature with family and friends, but a person who has faced loss in a highly-publicized violent death often faces additional issues, including media and social media scrutiny.

The article is published on the Taylor & Francis Group website (). Taylor & Francis partners with world-class authors, from leading scientists and researchers to scholars and professionals operating at the top of their fields. It is one of the world’s leading publishers of scholarly journals, books, eBooks, textbooks and reference works.

Stiles also serves as the pre-occupational therapy coordinator and pre-art therapy coordinator at C-SC. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2005 from Culver-Stockton, her master’s degree in community and school counseling in 2008 from Quincy University, and her doctorate in psychology from Walden University in 2015.

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