This article discusses development during the early adolescent years with a focus on recent research on the biological, cognitive, self-identity, and motivational changes that occur during this time period and the implications of this research for middle school counselors. Peer influences on early adolescents also are discussed, with the issue of…

Purpose: To determine (1) the prevalence of use, (2) risk and protective factors for use of inhalants in Florida youth. Methods: The Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey 2004 is a comprehensive assessment of youth substance abuse attitudes and practices obtained by sampling youth from sixty-five counties. Results: The sample consisted of 60,345…

Background: This study sought to examine the associations between indices of socio-economic deprivation in childhood and later involvement in crime. Method: Data were gathered as part of the Christchurch Health and Development Study. In this project a cohort of 1,265 children born in Christchurch in 1977 have been studied from birth to age 21…

The majority of research that exists studying juvenile sex offenders (JSOs) is dominated by the predilection that identifying risk factors associated with recidivism will benefit both the JSOs and treatment providers. Further, the majority of existing treatments are guided by research that has identified what makes JSOs more likely to reoffend.…

This study examined the effectiveness of the Too Good for Violence Prevention Program (TGFV), a multifaceted interactive intervention. Grounded in Bandura's Social Learning Theory, the TGFV curricula focus on developing personal and interpersonal skills to solve conflict non-violently and resist social influences that lead to violence.…

College students who are no longer fully adolescent and not yet fully adult are frequently at risk for developing habits of excessive alcohol use, with consequent poor study habits and aberrant socialization patterns. "Weeding out" such trends is the work of prevention programs on campus. "Seeding" with other pro-social norms becomes the second…

The aim of this research was to explore unwanted sexual behaviour amongst young people. Sexual aggression was operationalized at three levels: "verbal", "non-verbal/intimidating" and "physically violent". A total of 1,700 Dutch adolescents completed a questionnaire that included six clusters of possible determinants…

Objective: To examine provider and type variation in social support (SS) for activity. Methods: Three hundred sixty-three fifth to eighth-grade students completed a questionnaire assessing self-reported activity and social support (SS) from 3 providers: mom, dad, and peers. Important covariates of activity were included in the analysis: age, BMI,…

A focus group with nine university professionals from two large Midwestern universities was conducted to investigate their perceptions regarding the unexpected impact of increasing numbers of students with learning disabilities attending college. Participants consisted of six faculty members, two directors of Offices of Student Disability…

As the focus on school improvement at a state education agency moves from mostly a compliance approach to playing a greater role in capacity building, the agency's leadership needs to rethink student and learning supports. That is the focus of this report. Given that almost half of the chief state school officers have assumed their position in the…

Boys Town, founded in 1917 by Father Edward Flanagan, attempts to respond to the challenges faced by today's children and youth with its own child care model, called the Boys Town Family Home Program. This model is based on family-style nurturing, behavioral-based instruction, and a "systems" approach to staff training and development.…

This book focuses on the psychological, social, and cultural factors that influence the achievement of black youth who are gifted or potentially gifted, the prevention of underachievement, and appropriate interventions in cases of underachievement. The roles that families, educators, peers, and students themselves must play in promoting the…

An ethnographic study is presented, which attempts to gain a better understanding of the gap between California high school students who are at-risk, who eventually drop out, and who are academically successful. Focus is on families, teacher student relationships, peer influence, and social context. A sample of 10 high achieving and 10 low…

Drug use among 4-6 and 7-12 grade American Indian youth attending reservation schools was studied utilizing anonymous self-report surveys administered in class by non-school personnel. The children's survey asked about use of alcohol, marijuana, inhalants, and pills. The adolescent survey included these drugs plus eight other commonly abused…

Data from four separate case studies examining socialization and moral education in the elementary schools of Jamaica, Argentina, Uruguay, and Venezuela are compared and analyzed. The analysis is intended to help national officials, university personnel, and community leaders interpret what is happening in relation to moral values and the…