This investigation described the perceptions of involved adults concerning the sexuality of individuals with intellectual disabilities. Participants completed a Q-sort with a concourse of 36 items. Analysis produced four different belief systems: advocates, supporters, regulators, and humanists. These belief systems describe the respondents' views…

Since welfare reform in 1996, marriage has been promoted as a means to reduce welfare dependency and out-of-wedlock childbearing. Despite extensive public and academic discourse surrounding marriage promotion, a basic factor preceding and predicting marriage--expectations to marry--has received little attention. Using insights from the life course…

In this article, the author shares some of the tricky discussions he has presented to his students in his "Argument and Persuasion" course, a second-level writing class designed to develop students' skills in reasoning, conducting research, and writing essays. He relates how this course always makes it difficult for him to be neutral when…

Since 1997 the federal government has invested more than $1.5 billion dollars in abstinence-only programs--proven ineffective programs which censor or exclude important information that could help young people protect their health. In fact, until recently, programs which met a strict abstinence-only definition were the only type of sex education…

In 2002, Child Trends drew on statistics and research findings to produce a report called "Ten Reasons to Keep the Focus on Teen Childbearing." That report took note of the steady decline in the nation's teenage pregnancy and childbearing rates, beginning in 1991, while citing multiple reasons to continue to be concerned about teen childbearing.…

Pregnancy and new parenthood is a time that is life forming for infants as well as parents. Teenagers' own development is challenged by their parental development. This article looks back at 13 years of doula services and lessons from a statewide network of doulas serving teenage parents. The author illustrates how doulas can use an approach that…

Nancy E. Adler, winner of the Award for Distinguished Scientific Applications of Psychology, is cited for her research on reproductive health examining adolescent decision making with regard to contraception, conscious and preconscious motivations for pregnancy, and perception of risk for sexually transmitted diseases, and for her groundbreaking…

The Centre for Social Action was commissioned by the Leicester City Council to evaluate its Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Strategy. This was a multi-stage project with a central element of consulting with young people. This article outlines the process that was followed in order to recruit, train and support young people through the process of…

Historically, alcohol has been used for different purposes including as a part of religious observances, as a food, at times as a medicine and its well-known use as a beverage. Until relatively recently these purposes have not changed and have at times been at odds with one another, resulting in collisions among policies and practices in science,…

Research on pregnancy and sexual health among homeless youth is limited. In this study, qualitative interviews were conducted with 41 homeless young injection drug users (IDUs) in Los Angeles with a history of pregnancy. The relationship between recent pregnancy outcomes, contraception practices, housing status, substance use, utilization of…

Reproductive justice is an important and comprehensive conceptualization for understanding the complexity of reproductive issues faced by women. When considering attitudes and beliefs that give rise to policies related to reproduction, it is critical to examine the ways in which the issues are framed. In this case-study-style analysis, the…

The Youth Pathways Project tracked the life-course trajectories of street-involved young women (n=75) in Toronto over a one-year period. At first contact, 60% of these women had been pregnant, and 29% of those had children. In the interim leading up to the final interview 12 months later, five participants became pregnant and five had given birth.…

The author has written this latest volume to help parents and educators understand children's cognitive development and provide suggestions on how to nurture children to their full potential. A companion to "The Adolescent Brain", this rich resource: (1) Examines the neurobiology of childhood, explaining the body/brain systems that develop during…

Many governments advocate nationwide health insurance coverage but the effects of such a program are less known in developing countries. We use part of the 2006 China Agricultural Census (CAC) to examine whether the recent health insurance coverage in rural China has affected children mortality, pregnancy mortality, and the school enrollment of…

Big Brothers/Big Sisters is a national program aimed at providing mentors for disadvantaged children. This study tested whether Big Sister mentors could be trained to increase communication with their Little Sisters about sexual health issues. The study tested an intervention based on social cognitive theory in which a sexual health communication…