The Academy for Critical Incident Analysis

The Academy for Critical Incident Analysis, at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, has been established with the support of the Dart Foundation, to promote and disseminate scholarly research relating to the emergence, management and consequences of critical incidents. ACIA sponsors scholarship and research, hosts conferences and symposiums, and maintains research archives of incident records. ACIA also supports the development and dissemination of course curricula and supporting media for the teaching of critical incident analysis, and supports related instruction at the graduate and undergraduate level at John Jay College.

Critical Incidents and Children

The Academic for Critical Incident Analysis annually hosts a conference, examining an important topic in critical incident analysis based on the perspectives and lessons learned from a particular incident. In recognition of the upcoming tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, ACIA assembled an interdisciplinary group of scholars, educators, mental health professionals, writers and journalists for a conference on The World Trade Center Attack: Consequences and Perspectives for Children and Youth. The conference took place from July 20 to 22, 2011. The opening session was held at 7 World Trade Center, in a conference room overlooking the site where the North and South towers stood before the 9/11 attacks and where the new trade center and the memorial museum for the nearly 3,000 victims are being constructed.  The conference participants examined the following topics:

• The experiences of children who were in the immediate vicinity of the towers at the time of the attack;
• The physical health and mental health consequences for New York City children and youth following the attack;
• The presentation of the attack to children and youth in textbooks and instructional materials;
• The presentation of the attack in literature intended for children and youth; and
• Perspectives of children and youth expressed in their own art, performance and literature.

For more information, see the conference website – Critical Incidents and Children.