This document discusses whether young people with difficulty entering adulthood can be helped, or if accumulated effects of various adversitites have caused irremediable damage. First the developmental tasks that adolescents need to accomplish before they can take on adult roles are described. Next, two well-known explanations for youths' failure to accomplish these tasks are presented. The first explanation discussed assumes that individual defects, thought to result from flaws in genetic make-up, upbringing, or character, prevent young people from functioning within acceptable norms. The second explanation presented blames youths' problems on environmental flaws beyond the control of the family and developing child. It is noted that proponents of this explanation tend to be optimistic about young people's capacity to change in response to changes in the environment. A research review is presented which analyzes evidence about the capacity of young people in trouble to change course and about contextual attributes that promote and hinder accomplishment of developmental tasks. The discussion concludes that no one factor alone accounts for the difficulties many youths have in taking on adult roles. Common characteristics of circumstances shown to promote positive changes in young people are listed. Two commentaries on the document are included. (ABL)