Presents interview with Thomas Bratter, president of the John Dewey Academy, a residential, drug-free college preparatory therapeutic high school. Bratter describes the mission of the school as to provide intensive educational and therapeutic assistance to self-destructive adolescents who are psychologically intact and have superior potential.…

Analysis of data from the 1958 Philadelphia Birth Cohort Study indicates that individuals who dropped out from delinquency were less likely to renew their involvement with crime as adults regardless of race, socioeconomic status, gender, or particular dropout period. (FMW)

Data collected in 1972 found single common factor accounting for positive correlations among various adolescent problem behaviors, including problem drinking, marijuana use, delinquent-type behavior, and precocious sexual intercourse. Conducted maximum-likelihood factor analyses in 1985 on new samples of high school juniors and seniors. Replicated…

Compares the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) profile of youthful victimization with comparable patterns of events from two other national data sets (the National Youth Survey and Monitoring the Future) that focus specifically on juveniles and their experiences. Found young persons are less reliably represented in the NCVS. (JBJ)

Interviewed 74 students with behavior disorders (BD) to determine their perceptions of what skills regular and BD teachers need. Students requested that teachers learn to be fair and respect students and to be sensitive to students' feelings and develop counseling skills. Other themes dealt with personal qualities, instructional skills, behavior…

This study investigated the physical abuse experienced by 195 Canadian adolescent runaways. Subjects had generally been victims of chronic, extreme abuse, experienced at a young age, often perpetrated by biological parents (most often the mother) prior to the first runaway episode. Female runaways were at greater risk than males for all types of…

Music can help create a good moral environment if it is music that can be shared, that channels emotions and shapes the soul, that has stood the test of time, and that tells a story. Today's rock music all too often plays a destructive role in leading youth away from virtue. (SLD)

Analyzes youthful parolees' risk of arrest for a violent crime. Results suggest that prior criminal history and socioeconomic variables are powerful predictors of both the timing and the charge of first arrest following parole. Prior gang involvement and heavy use of alcohol or drugs did not predict violent recidivism. (RJM)

Investigated rates of birth, divorce, marriage, and unemployment for subgroups in Canada and the United States and their effects on suicide rates. In Canada, domestic integration and the economy predicted youth suicide rates more accurately than they did adult rates. The United States had less variation in predictors for age groups. (RJM)

Reviews the various approaches that have dominated the prevention and treatment of delinquency over the last few decades. Presents current thinking about the multiple factors that must be considered in research on delinquency and concludes with a methodological proposal that may facilitate the systematic consideration of these factors. (RJM)

Study examined the sexual risk profiles of delinquent and homeless youth. Medical histories and physical examinations indicated subjects in three youth serving agencies had many risk factors (sex for money, unprotected sex with multiple partners, and high levels of sexually transmitted diseases) that affected individual morbidity and public…

School systems across the country are adding alternative education programs designed for violent or chronically disruptive youth. Some school districts and states are contracting with private groups to provide programs including residential schools. Other programs include the Youth Challenge Corps, authorized by Congress in 1992, and boot-camp…

School board members, administrators, and teachers must remember that the wearing of "gang" clothing or the appearance of "gang" graffiti does not always translate into gang activity and crime. In reality, the so-called national spread of gang problems may be just another teenage fad. School personnel should treat gangs as a…

Describes the City at Peace program originated in Washington, DC, by Creative Response, a nonprofit group that promotes international peace and cross-cultural understanding through the performing arts. The Washington program staged an original musical in January 1993, written and performed by local teenagers, about the problems of racism, drug…

Among 110 Mexican-American adolescents in a Texas drug abuse program, initial use of toxicant inhalants was related to availability and sensation-seeking, followed by psychological problems, parental and home problems, and peer influence. Quitting inhalant use was related to social pressures, attitude change, and perceived health risks. (Author/SV)