Discusses the role of young adult literature written from an authentic black cultural perspective in helping black young adults achieve the skills and knowledge they require to succeed in this society. Examples of relevant titles are given in the genres of realistic fiction, biography, autobiography, and folklore. (Contains 35 references.) (LRW)

Used psychological tests to examine the effects of early childhood experiences on interaction patterns that have resulted from East and West German children growing up in different social contexts. Subjects were 140 East and West German adolescents. Found that West German adolescents showed more prosocial tendencies and had stronger emotion-based…

Analyzes treasured possessions and their meanings in adolescence, including their relation to those treasured during early life and their relation to self-identity. Subjects were 14- to 18-year-old high school students (n=249). Results showed that males' most treasured possessions embodied enjoyment and instrumental meanings, whereas females'…

As an undergraduate at Williams College, G. Stanley Hall learned a theistic developmental psychology from Mark Hopkins. As president of Clark University, Hall initiated a program of questionnaires that contributed to a scientific vision of childhood and adolescence. Hall treated this vision as a moral philosophy. (BC)

Presents arguments against lab dissection in the science classroom. Author discusses adult negative memories associated with earlier school dissections. Asserts that, for the early adolescent, dissection may be mingled with messages pertaining to sex, excretion, identity, and privacy. Suggests that dissection arouses a feeling of "defilement": a…

Male college students completed anonymous questionnaires on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) related knowledge, attitudes, moral development, personality factors, and behaviors. Adolescents reporting multiple sex partners, drinking, and picking up sex partners were significantly more likely to engage in sex without condoms, as were adolescents…

Boarding school adolescent boys (n=197) rated dormitory mates on each dimension of Marcia's levels of ego identity achievement (Identity Achievement, Moratorium, Foreclosure, and Diffusion) twice with interval of six months. Results indicated age differences in identity status for young adolescents, identity development associated with time, and…

Describes the activities of the Lake Country school in Minneapolis, cofounded by Larry Schaefer in 1976 with the goal to create a Montessori school for children aged 2.5 to 18. In 1982, the school began a junior high program, with the goal to help adolescents think and learn for themselves. Discusses characteristics and needs of early adolescents.…

Examined age differences in 9- to 15-year-olds' experiences with families and friends, and by themselves. Amount of time spent with family decreased with age. Affect with family became less positive through seventh grade; affect with friends became more favorable with age; affect when alone did not vary. (BC)

Black college students (n=172) completed survey of biographical, educational, and vocational information about themselves and immediate relatives. Results indicated that educational realism tended to increase across college years. Found no difference in satisfaction with school or intent to leave school as function of educational or salary…

This discussion of underachievement in gifted high school males notes the high incidence of male underachievers and the common co-occurrence of poor social skills. Also considered are the beginnings of underachievement, the importance of the peer group in adolescent development, the importance of social skill development, and the prevention of…

Describes work being done by National Indian Youth Leadership Project (NIYLP), which gains its inspiration from both traditional sources and contemporary models of youth development and which draws upon Indian heritage to address problems of alienation, dropouts, delinquency, and substance abuse. Contrasts traditional parenting to present patterns…

Criticizes current prevention education efforts for retaining characteristics of older quantitative approaches to education. Suggests qualitative approach to prevention education be taken and discusses transactional model of substance abuse based on development of the child within both social and family context. Recommends approach that draws…

Applies two-axis model of human development to problem of suicide trajectory, in which organism begins each stage at negative or dystonic position in reaction to stage-initiating life event and must move ahead vertically to achieve positive syntonic quality and attain stage-specific syntonic equilibrium. Provides clinician with developmental guide…

Discusses the importance of a knowledge of adolescent development for practice. Reports findings of a survey of 258 middle and high school teachers that was administered to assess their perceptions of the importance of general developmental principles, their knowledge of such principles, and the influence that increasing knowledge would have on…