This article discusses how a growing network of Christian alternative schools--some nearly as vulnerable as the children they serve--is bent on getting troubled students back on track. Denver Street School expects a lot of its teachers, but does not pay them much, as it tries to turn around the lives of troubled students seeking a second, or even…

The authors look at important demographic trends that will have an effect on schools, including roller-coaster enrollments and increasing diversity. For example, compared with 10 years ago, the average child entering a U.S. school today is less likely to live in a family with two married parents but is more likely to have a living grandparent,…

Very little research exists on self-harm in Hispanic populations, although there is a strong literature that addresses suicidality in Hispanics. This study compares self-reported rates of self-harm in 255 non-Hispanic White (NHW) and 187 Hispanic (predominantly Mexican American) undergraduate students. Results indicated that self-harm is…

This study draws from a social domain framework to explore judgments of parental authority in a Mexican origin familial context. The sample included 277 ninth-grade youth (M = 14.53 years, SD = 0.61) and one of each of their parents. The average age of mothers was 39.88 years (SD = 5.85), and for fathers it was 41.65 years (SD = 5.51). As…

There is some debate about whether or not sex offenders are similar to non-sex offenders with regard to family background (parental characteristics), personality, and psychopathology. The central aim of this study focused on the comparison of juvenile sex offenders and non-sex offenders. The sample consisted of incarcerated juvenile male sex (n =…

Although there are various definitions of wellness, few conceptual definitions have addressed the contextual dimensions of wellness relative to African American counselors. The authors present an overview of generic models of wellness, discuss factors that both inhibit and promote wellness, offer some culture-specific models of wellness, and…

An ethnically diverse sample of at-risk-for-overweight and overweight youths (body mass index greater than the 85th percentile for age and gender; n = 667 male participants, and n = 684 female participants) completed a school-based survey measuring family variables (connectedness, mealtime environment, and weight commentary), psychosocial…

Research on the development of externalizing behaviors during early childhood has focused on child and parenting factors. Fewer studies have investigated effects of aversive features of the micro-level physical environment, such as overcrowding and chaos in the home, and the macro-level environment, such as neighborhood quality. This study extends…

This paper describes the Ecological Inventory, a technique developed to document the range and frequency of literacy-related activities available in pre-kindergartners' everyday lives. This technique can be used by teachers to broaden understanding of their students' home-based experiences. Results from the Ecological Inventory can be used as a…

Educational researchers should expand their methodology to include the student's voice and to consider the impact of the student's environment when defining being "at-risk of failure" or "at-risk of dropping out of school." Current definitions of who is at-risk place the onus of at-riskness entirely within the student.…

This paper seeks to integrate some ideas from family systems theory and attachment theory within a theory of public opinion and social movement. Citing the classic "The Authoritarian Personality," the paper states that the first authorities children know, their parents or other caregivers, shape children's attitudes toward all…

Family therapy presents ethical dilemmas not encountered elsewhere in mental health practice. For example, who is the patient? Is it an individual, a particular dyad or the family system? If there is more than one patient, how is the therapist to maintain a posture of therapeutic neutrality? How is confidentiality to be managed? Little progress…

The causal attributions of 142 parents (80 mothers and 62 fathers) of Turkish children with mental retardation and autism for their child's disabilities were investigated in this study, which also examined the relationship of these attributions with stress. Parents were given a questionnaire designed to tap potential parental causal attributions…

Emphasizing the shortcomings of family law and their impact on divorced families and children, this report discusses a variety of topics related to divorce. Topics covered in the report include the following: (1) divorce statistics; (2) methods of resolving family disputes; (3) the marital contract; (4) the public's image of divorced fathers; (5)…

In comparing the personality characteristics of late adolescent and young adult children of alcoholics with those of their peers, it was found that individuals with grandparents who were alcoholics in the absence of parental alcoholism were very similar to children of alcoholics. Grandparents may exert a social influence by passing on…