On 26 October 2018, a Symposium marked the 15th anniversary of The Zurich Project on the Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood (z-proso), hosted by the Jacobs Foundation.
Welcome addresses were delivered by Mr. Sandro Giuliani, Managing Director of the Jacobs Foundation and Prof Michael Shanahan, director of the Jacobs Center. Dr Denis Ribeaud (Jacobs Center, University of Zurich) gave a presentation entitled, The long-term study z-proso: an overview. This was followed by a talk by Prof Eisner, University of Cambridge and University of Zurich, entitled Psychosocial development and experiences of violence: core findings and implications for prevention.
Prof. Daniel Nagin (Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh) discussed the international implications of the study in a talk entitled, The international significance of z-proso for criminological research: past achievements and future perspectives. This was followed by an intervention by PD Dr. Marcel Aebi (Center for Child and Youth Forensics, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich) called: Relevance of the study for the youth forensic practice.
Prof. Urs Hepp (Integrated Psychiatry Winterthur - Zurich Unterland) delivered an intervention called Implications for an integrated prevention policy. The concluding talk was by Councilor Jacqueline Fehr, Director of Justice and Home Affairs, with a talk called, Effective prevention and intervention from the point of view of politics.
You can read an article on the event here and download the English version of the Symposium’s report here. Videos are on this page. The University of Zurich hosted a series of workshops. You can find the videos here.
General information about the project
The Zurich Project on the Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood (z-proso) is an on-going longitudinal study of 1,675 children, which started with their admission to the first year of Zurich’s primary schools in the autumn of 2004. It aims to understand the developmental dynamics involved in aggressive behaviour and victimisation during childhood, adolescence and early youth.
The Study was initiated by Prof Manuel Eisner (University of Cambridge, University of Zurich), who now leads the project together with Dr Denis Ribeaud (University of Zurich) and Prof Michael Shanahan (University of Zurich). It is based at the Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich, and is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
You can find out more about z-proso here (University of Zurich) and here (University of Cambridge). Information on the z-proso’s international research network is on this page.
The photo used on this article and those shared on social media are property of the Jacobs Center, released by kind permission of the Centre. The Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development is an Institute at the University of Zurich. It is half funded by the University of Zurich, half by the Jacobs Foundation. The Jacobs Foundation is an independent, private philanthropic foundation.