Tests the utility of four standardized instruments used in assessing 105 families that sought services in a juvenile corrections setting for their teenage children. Results demonstrate that parents and adolescents can complete standardized assessment instruments and that the information provided can help in understanding distressed families. (RJM)

Reports the results of a study examining the preliminary screening, assessor staff service recommendations, and service utilization outcomes of 143 youths processed at the Hillsborough County, Florida Juvenile Assessment Center. Results indicate that assessors were making recommendations that were meaningfully associated with the youths' potential…

Looks at the organization of street gangs and suggests that some of the same concepts used to describe family systems may be applied to them. States that the complex organization of gangs forms a web of interconnectedness, and that in order to provide effective intervention plans, gangs must be viewed from a systematic and holistic perspective.…

Youthful antisocial behavior is often viewed as a precursor to later violent behavior. Examines the assertion that aggressive reaction patterns in males over time approach the stability of intelligence by studying evidence from 82 reports of prospective studies. Analysis finds considerably more modest relationships between earlier antisocial…

Professional and government committees are examining use of physical restraints with troubled youth as a result of reports of problems with its use. Examples of what is being done to improve practice standards in area of crisis intervention include limiting how often restrictive procedures can be use; stating the technique must never negatively…

Investigates risk factors associated with internalizing and externalizing problems among 169 gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents. Data were gathered on individual, family, and community risk factors and youths' mental health and behavioral functioning. Results suggest that adolescents should be carefully assessed for concerns related and not…

Introduces concept of Community Youth Development, the purpose of which is to help communities respond to youth violence; reviews community efforts to respond to youth violence; describes history of community youth development; discusses positive youth-development building blocks; provides four-part definition of community youth development;…

Profiles programs that provide academic and behavioral interventions, expectations, and support for children and youth, equipping them with the educational and social skills they need to be successful in the least restrictive environment. Describes Project ACHIEVE, The Bertha Abess Children's Center, Inc., and the Rhode Island Training Schools.…

Maintains that therapy with adolescents and their families to adequately take social context into account. Claims that this failure contributes to parental blame and a reluctance on the part of parents to discuss the difficulties they are facing. Recommends that therapists work collaboratively with families and empower parents to recognize the…

Article discusses two questions: (1) What are the differences among runaway-homeless, throwaway, and independent youth? (2) What youth demographics, personal characteristics, and family factors predict youth's reunification? Among runaway-homeless youths, family characteristics were most important for reunification; among throwaway youths, problem…

Although in the past the field of youth development has been subsumed within or occluded by other traditional development sectors such as education, a re-emerging emphasis on security in US government foreign assistance has tended to foreground youth as a frame of reference for international development programming and public diplomacy. While…

Leadership is a subjective concept that can be applied in diverse ways, depending on the circumstances either negative or positive (Ubong and Wokocha, 2001) Subjective as the concept of leadership is, it is definable in relationship with power. Galbraith (1984) used Max Weber's definition of power to make leadership more understandable. In the…

This social report concerns the efforts of the German Youth Institute in working with other institutes and with other countries to develop youth policies and programs. It begins by describing German and Soviet youth researchers working together to develop a concept for a long-term youth policy based on democratic structures. The German approach to…

This document is the third in a series of annual guides to the literature on alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use among American youth and its prevention. It is designed to assist readers in finding the latest information about this social problem and the most effective strategies for eliminating it. This bibliography consists of an indexed…

Working class and minority participation in action-learning poses potential problems likely to be overlooked by program planners. This presentation reveals the trouble spots and offers constructive suggestions. (Editor)