Good religious education needs to be rooted in a robust theological anthropology. The Roman Catholic Church's gender complementarity approach is inadequate for accompanying adolescents in Catholic schools as they engage in questions of gender and sexuality; instead, educators need a theological anthropology oriented towards adolescent flourishing.…

Social responsibilities are a central component of adolescents' and young adults' development, particularly for those from immigrant backgrounds. Social responsibility--a sense of responsibility and duty that extends beyond the self (Wray-Lake & Syvertsen, 2011) includes both family obligations (Fuligni, 2001; 2007) and community engagement…

James Marcia (1991, 1994, 1999, 2002) expanded on Erikson's theory of identity formation. Specifically, he focused on two essential processes in achieving a mature identity: exploration and commitment. Erikson's observations about identity were extended by Marcia, who described four identity statuses: identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium…

Adolescence is a period of transition, marked by physical, psychological, and cognitive changes underpin by biological factors. Today's generation of young people--the largest in history--is approaching adulthood in a world vastly different from previous generations; AIDS, globalisation, urbanisation, electronic communication, migration, and…

This article explores the opportunity to create spaces within the family, school, and community that specifically promote the well-being of transgender adolescents and young adults. When social contexts are supportive, transgender youth report significantly less risk. Supportive home and school environments have been linked to better outcomes…

How do social services professionals identify and design supportive environments that promote the positive development of LGBT youth? Although there are extraordinary examples of individuals and programs that exist for the purpose of supporting LGBT youth and fostering their development, the work of documenting and empirically analyzing what works…

New research reveals that media use may contribute to shaping not only adolescents' developing beliefs about gender, race, sexuality, and beauty ideals but also their brains and biology.

Discusses how young male voices change due to development during puberty, the make-up of their voices, and the effect male peers have on their decision to become a choir member. Explains how male adolescents can be encouraged to join the choir and how teachers can strengthen their male students' voices. (CMK)

Explores the teaching of gender history within secondary education, focusing on the creation and development of a course on gender taught at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Addresses why teenage students are resistant to seeing the effects of gender. (CMK)

A lifespace has to do with how selves are mediated by combining multiple cultural symbols to construct an identity in the world. The authors cite examples from media texts, as well as from a narrative study conducted with 10 adolescent girls in a treatment program for eating disorders, that illustrate the importance of practitioners considering…

Summarizes a courage behavior study of 1050 children and adolescents in Northrhine-Westphalia (Germany). Notes that most tests of courage are performed by 11-year-olds. Reveals that boys perform twice as many acts of courage as girls. Discusses the gender specific differences in relation to the development of children and adolescents. (CAJ)

Jon Gilgoff is the Boys Services Manager of the Youth Justice Institute in Oakland, California, and a former Robert Bowne Foundation Fellow who researched Boyz 2 Men through his work with the Educational Alliance in New York City. Boyz 2 Men aimed to provide a positive alternative to drugs as a means of coping with the multiple challenges young…

The psychological study of moral development has expanded greatly, both in terms of the diversity of theoretical perspectives that are represented in the field, as well as in the range of topics that have been studied. This "Handbook of Moral Development" represents the diversity and multidisciplinary influences on current theorizing about the…