The movie "Thirteen" examines the lives of two middle school girls on their journey to ultimate destruction. "Thirteen" is a frightening look at the main characters' downward spiral as they plunge into a dangerous world of drugs, alcohol, sex, and "blowing off" school work. This article presents a discussion by a counselor educator and a teacher…

In this article I explore some of the limitations of violence, in particular focusing on how it can possibly be undermined by dialogical action. Firstly, I argue that, although violence is at times justified by some people, its disrespectful use against innocent others, makes it illegitimate and therefore un-dialogical. Secondly, the use of…

The athlete role model has emerged as the new pastor invested with the task of leading young people classed "at-risk" from entering into self-destructive pathways. The logic invested in the athlete role model is that young people identify with their sporting heroes and in the process try to emulate them. This holds for the major sporting…

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has been shown to be effective in randomized controlled trials with women with borderline personality disorder and histories of chronic self-inflicted injury including suicide attempts. The present study is a pre-post replication of a comprehensive DBT program in a community mental health center for individuals…

Background: We examined the benefits of risperidone, including quality of life (QoL), in the treatment of violent and self-injurious behaviour in adults with moderate, severe or profound intellectual disability. Methods: Twenty-four participants received open-label, oral, flexible-dose risperidone of 0.5-6 mg/day for 12 weeks. Efficacy was…

This guide is designed to assist people with learning disabilities to recognize their disabilities and the connection between learning disabilities and substance abuse. It begins by defining learning disabilities and providing a self-test checklist for common signs and symptoms of learning disabilities. Difficulties with organization, memory,…

Patients' rights legislation makes the determination of possible danger to self and others extremely important for patients about to be discharged from mental institutions, especially patients who were admitted because of suicidal behavior. Because evaluation methods which rely on patient self-reports may be manipulated by clever patients, a new…

This report addresses the issues delineated by the 70th Texas Legislature in directing the Central Education Agency to study the problem of youth suicide. "Causes and Factors Contributing to Youth Suicide" presents data on national suicide rates for 15- to 19-year-olds and deaths by suicide in Texas for children between the ages of 5 and 19.…

A 13-item adult risk taking scale was selected by factor analysis and internal reliability testing from 25 items administered to 270 urban adults (56% Black; 33% White; 11% Hispanic/other) stratified by socioeconomic status. Chronbach's alpha equaled 0.77. Five items refer to risk of injury, five to risk of illness, one to gambling, and two to…

The literature review looks at self-injurious behaviors in handicapped students in terms of characteristics, prevalence, etiology (biological, psychological, and as learned behavior), and management including extinction, positive punishment, negative punishment, and reinforcement of other behaviors. Problems in areas of management, administration,…

The author discusses the adolescent experience and why adolescents engage in self-destructive behavior. He suggests some changes in the way that adults treat adolescents that could reduce adolescent behavior problems and self-abuse. (CH)

The author describes the formation of a citizens' group in Clarkesville, Tennessee, to educate the town's youth about the health risks of drug use. This group developed a curriculum entitled "I'm Special" designed to teach self-esteem and decision-making skills to fourth graders, to enable them to deal with peer pressure to try or use…

Focuses on suicidal behaviors among 313 high school students. Provides a linchpin between studies of adolescent suicide attempt rates and studies reporting on percentages of adolescents who made suicide attempts. Suicide is a personal concern for most high school students, with 62.6% reporting some degree of suicidal ideation or action.…

Two studies of women who were sexually abused as children compared women who blame themselves to a high degree with women who blame themselves to a lesser degree. Findings show that high-self blamers were more depressed and suicidal than low self-blamers, making self-blame an important variable in understanding self-destructive behavior. (RJM)

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.…