Recounts working with a young client in the Serious Habitual Offender Comprehensive Action Program. Client's reflections offer insight into how youth can use significant events in their lives as pathways to more antisocial behavior. Includes Rolf Loeber's (1990) developmental model that describes how children progress from disruptive to criminal…

Experience with one young man in a school for troubled adolescents helps author understand how the application of voluntarism could help initiate troubled adolescents into a community of learners and empower them to take control of their lives. Describes the school's successful venture teaming up with Habitat for Humanity to provide work…

Evaluated extent to which stress, coping strategies, and social support were associated with depressive symptoms, poor physical health, and substance use in homeless youth. Found that stressful life events were associated with depressive symptoms, poor physical health, and substance use. Problem-focusing coping and social support counteracted some…

Surveys the worries of adolescents in Northern Ireland, with a focus on identifying age and gender differences. Analysis reveals that females report worrying significantly more frequently than males, particularly in regard to transition from school and personal and academic issues. Students over 16 report worrying significantly less than their…

Focus groups and interviews with African American youth in Los Angeles and Afro-Caribbean youth in London found gangs to be one of their five top issues; identified social, educational, and employment factors fostering gang formation; and identified psychological, social, and economic functions of gangs for their members. (Contains 95 references.)…

Pilot study examined efforts to promote bonding of socially disengaged youth into conventional mainstream by integrating them with conventional youth on a service project. Ninth-graders (N=42) in four schools achieved significant improvements in attendance, achievement, ratings of social-academic competence and conventionality. Findings lend…

Many homeless youth may be considered "thrownaway" in that they have specifically been told to leave home. Prevalence data, family background characteristics, and high-risk behaviors of youth are examined in two national samples: (1) youth residing in shelters; (2) street youth in 10 cities. Implications of findings are discussed.…

Compared psychological adjustment of adopted adolescents and their siblings born to adoptive parents. Found poorer adoptee adjustment in areas of delinquency, licit drug use, and school adjustment. Nonclinically referred adopted boys were better adjusted than norm subjects on withdrawal; nonreferred adopted girls were better adjusted on social…

A group of adolescent girls portray in art and in words their journey from trauma and hurt to trust and hope. Students, who are members of a positive peer culture group, designed and painted a mural in three sections. As a whole, the mural represents the three stages of the adolescent process. (Author)

Prevention and developmental sciences have many complementary goals and much to gain by collaboration. The article introduces this special issue, which includes four empirical articles using growth modeling techniques (hierarchical linear modeling, latent growth curve analyses) to examine direct and indirect effects of theory-based, longitudinal…

A journalist has interviewed numerous youth and families who have placed problem children in private camps or boarding schools which promise to turn them into model citizens. Many of these programs operate outside the realm of regulators and insulate children from contact with their families. (Author)

In two interviews Janet Reno, former U.S. Attorney General, discusses the biggest challenges facing children and youth and how government, families, and communities can come together to meet these challenges. The first interview was conducted by Mary Shahbazian; the second was conducted by Father Chris Riley. (Author)

Offers four judges' perspectives on the various changes in the juvenile court system focusing on the increased violence among juveniles as having the greatest effect on the courts; includes issues such as juveniles being tried in adult courts, the need to improve juvenile courts, and the role of public interest. (CMK)

Describes peer leadership components within a community-wide trial to prevent alcohol use and related youth problems. Seventh and eighth graders could be elected or volunteer as peer leaders. Surveys indicated that at baseline, both types of leaders had fewer problem behaviors than non-peer leaders. Following the 7th-grade curriculum, alcohol use…

Examines the attitudes toward suicide of trainee teachers from a large metropolitan university. Results indicate that while trainees endorsed the metaphor representing suicide as a cry for help, they also perceived the communicative intent of suicide as being primarily manipulative in nature. Discusses results with reference to training and…