Despite a growing body of scholarship on the phenomenon of adolescent parenting, minimal attention has been given to investigating systematic changes in adolescent mothers' and their children's psychological functioning over time. This book reports on a longitudinal study conducted to examine the social and psychological consequences of teen parenting for both mothers and their children. Qualitative and quantitative analyses are used to explain why some mothers and children fare better than others, showing that the lives and developmental trajectories of adolescent mothers and children are inextricably interwoven and closely linked to the social contexts within which they live. The book closes with social policy implications of the research including recommendations for intervention programs and policies to help adolescent parents and their children achieve developmental success and find happiness.

Intended for use with late elementary-school-aged and middle-school-aged children who have experienced the death of someone special, the Mourning Child Grief Support Group Curriculum: Middle Childhood Edition is for professionals who work in schools, hospitals, hospices, mental health agencies, or any setting that serves bereaved children. The Middle Childhood Edition contains lesson plans for 10 sessions that include age-appropriate activities. These fun and engaging activities enable young children to approach highly sensitive and painful topics. The authors provide detailed instructions and learning objectives to guide users through the curriculum.

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Contents:
Grief is a Family Process. A Note to Group Facilitators. Sample Telephone Interview. Mourning Child Pre-School Curriculum: Week 1. Mourning Child Pre-School Curriculum: Week2. Mourning Child Pre-School Curriculum: Week 3. Mourning Child Pre-School Curriculum: Week 4. Mourning Child Pre-School Curriculum: Week 5. Mourning Child Pre-School Curriculum: Week 6. Mourning Child Pre-School Curriculum: Week 7. Mourning Child Pre-School Curriculum: Week 8. Mourning Child Pre-School Curriculum: Week 9. Mourning Child Pre-School Curriculum: Week 10. Appendix 1: A Description of Materials. Appendix 2: Samples of Materials to be Used. Appendix 3: Sample Notes to be Sent Home to Caregivers. Appendix 4: Special Activities for Special Days and Sample. Denny the Duck Stories.

Contents:
1. Purpose of the Study: Introduction; Research; Questions 2. Background: Introduction; Characteristics of AIDS Affected Youth; Stigma; Bereavement; Needs of AIDS Affected Youth 3, How the Study was Constructed: My Stance in the Role of Researcher; Rationale for the Method; Recruiting Participants; The Interview Process; The Field Log; Data Analysis; Trustworthiness; Creating the Participants' Stories 4. The Young People's Stories: Introduction; Setting; Joe; Maria; Tina 5. Common Themes: 'We're Out Here by Ourselves'; 'My Mother Had a Problem'; 'Me and my Mother Didn't Get Along'; Something to Live For'; Epilogue; Where are They Now? 6. Discussion and Implications: Unstable Living Arrangements; Behaviour and Learning Problems; Unsafe Sexual Behaviour; Multiple Losses: Disclosure; Responding to AIDS Affected Youth; Implications; Application of Findings; Appendices; Bibliography; Index

In this era of rapid and unsettling change boys now more than ever face difficulties in establishing their self-image and status. In this original and challenging study Mike O'Donnell and Sue Sharpe explore how teenage boys from white, African-Caribbean and Asian backgrounds negotiate contemporary uncertainties to construct their gender identities.
Drawing theoretical insights about how class, race and ethnicity critically affect the formulation of masculinities throughout, the authors examine:
* the discrepancies between boys and girls' attitudes and expectations
*the split between boys' formal acceptance of politically correct ideas and their informal behaviour amongst the peer group
*boys' leisure pursuits including involvement in illegal activities and their selective identification with global youth culture.
Uncertain Masculinities is a fascinating account of the complexity of contemporary boys' identities and will be of use to students of the sociology of youth and of gender studies.

Adolescents are forging a new path to self-development, taking advantage of the technology at their fingertips to produce desired results. In Adolescents and Their Social Media Narratives, Walsh specifically explores how social media impacts teenagers' personal development. Indeed, through unique empirical data, Walsh presents an aspect of teen media use that is not often documented in the press-the seemingly deep and meaningful process of evaluating the self visually in an attempt to reconcile their presentation with their internal "self-story." Nevertheless, as Walsh outlines, this is not a process without its challenges. Tracking teenagers' progress towards self-validation from the offline stages preceding online exhibitions, this enlightening volume will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students, scholars, and researchers interested in fields such as Social Media Studies, Sociology of Adolescence, Identity Formation, Developmental Psychology, and Society and Technology.

An anthology of contributions from eleven renowned specialists in the field who deal with topics that effect Arab youth in the Middle East the most, such as demographic growth, rising unemployment, and the difficult prospects of their future. Apart from studies on violence and youth in the Algerian civil war, the book offers new insights into generational conflicts and attempts by contemporary youth to overcome their alienation by creating their own eclectic cultural solutions to the problems of tradition and modernity. The book is based on the latest research and opinion surveys held in different Arab countries.

An anthology of contributions from eleven renowned specialists in the field who deal with topics that effect Arab youth in the Middle East the most, such as demographic growth, rising unemployment, and the difficult prospects of their future. Apart from studies on violence and youth in the Algerian civil war, the book offers new insights into generational conflicts and attempts by contemporary youth to overcome their alienation by creating their own eclectic cultural solutions to the problems of tradition and modernity. The book is based on the latest research and opinion surveys held in different Arab countries.

Les B. Whitbeck and Dan R. Hoyt begin their report on street children in the Midwest with the statement, "If you live in or have visited even a medium-sized city recently, you have seen runaway and homeless young people. They congregate in certain downtown areas and hang out in malls during inclement weather . . . Mostly, they look like the other kids. . . . The difference is that they won't be going home tonight."

This book draws on a study of over six hundred runaway and homeless adolescents and over two hundred of their caretakers from cities in four Midwestern states. It focuses on the family histories of these young people and on the developmental impact of early independence. Street social networks, subsistence strategies, sexuality, and street victimization are all considered, as well as their effect on adolescent behaviors and emotional health.

Relying on interviews and data from survey research, and working in partnership with street outreach agencies, Whitbeck and Hoyt lead the reader through the various risk factors associated with precocious independence, beginning in the family and extending to external environments and behaviors. Nowhere to Grow is an emotional account of the cumulative consequences for young people with few good options at the outset and even fewer once they are on their own.

This book sets out to celebrate physical education and sport, and by doing so, encourage the educational establishment to embrace the subject area as a vehicle for the complete development of the individual. In addition, it shows that the benefits of physical activity far outweigh the shallow claims of populous magazines - there are benefits for the individual, the community and for society as a whole. Laker contends that the importance of physical education and sport in many areas of social life has been overlooked at best, and misused at worst. Physical activity has a vast contribution to make, not only as a topic of small talk on a Monday morning, but also to the personal and social development of individuals and possibly to the well-being of the global community as a whole. This book explores the land 'beyond the boundaries of the game.'

Based on observation of sex education programmes and in-depth interviews with young people, the authors aim to understand more about adolescent's attitudes to sexuality and their sexual behaviour in order to develop policies which will meet their needs more appropriately and effectively.
Issues covered in this interesting and accessible book include the ways adolescent informal culture affects sex education programmes and practice; the impact of gender inequality on sex education and safer sex behaviours; legislation and policy frameworks which effect sex education policies; the way young people see legislation and evaluate sex education programmes; and the impact health professionals can have in school sex education.
The authors contend that the insights into the values and views that young people bring to bear on the sex education they receive should have an important role to play in the development of policy and practice of those involved in sex education work.

Based on observation of sex education programmes and in-depth interviews with young people, the authors aim to understand more about adolescent's attitudes to sexuality and their sexual behaviour in order to develop policies which will meet their needs more appropriately and effectively.
Issues covered in this interesting and accessible book include the ways adolescent informal culture affects sex education programmes and practice; the impact of gender inequality on sex education and safer sex behaviours; legislation and policy frameworks which effect sex education policies; the way young people see legislation and evaluate sex education programmes; and the impact health professionals can have in school sex education.
uhe authors contend that the insights into the values and views that young people bring to bear on the sex education they receive should have an important role to play in the development of policy and practice of those involved in sex education work.

Two decades have now passed since the revolutions of 1989 swept through Eastern Europe and precipitated the collapse of state socialism across the region, engendering a period of massive social, economic and political transformation. This book explores the ways in which young people growing up in post-socialist Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union negotiate a range of identities and transitions in their personal lives against a backdrop of thoroughgoing transformation in their societies. Drawing upon original empirical research in a range of countries, the book's contributors explore the various freedoms and insecurities that have accompanied neo-liberal transformation in post-socialist countries - in spheres as diverse as consumption, migration, political participation, volunteering, employment and family formation - and examine the ways in which they have begun to re-shape different aspects of young people's lives. In addition, while 'social change' is a central theme of the issue, all of the chapters in the collection indicate that the new opportunities and risks faced by young people continue both to underpin and to be shaped by familiar social and spatial divisions, not only within and between the countries addressed, but also between 'East' and 'West'. This book was originally published as a special issue of Journal of Youth Studies.

This brand new textbook on child and adolescent development reflects a scientist's understanding of key research, a psychologist's understanding of people, and a teacher's understanding of students. It features significant new findings, a broad-based global perspective, and enhanced media offerings. With all of this, the book itself is at just the right length and level of coverage to fit comfortably in a single-term, undergraduate-level Developmental Psychology course. With its clear presentation and integration of detailed real-world examples, this acclaimed core textbook accessibly illustrates the relevance of social sciences research without sacrificing key content. This book can be purchased with the breakthrough online resource, LaunchPad, which offers innovative media content, curated and organised for easy assignability. LaunchPad's intuitive interface presents quizzing, flashcards, animations and much more to make learning actively engaging.

The nature of childhood, the consideration of whether a certain age denotes innocence or not, and the desire to teach good citizenship to our children are all issues commonly discussed by today's media. This book brings together a variety of perspectives on the study of childhood: how this has been treated historically and how such a concept is developing as we move into the next century.
The book is divided into five main sections:
* part one sets the scene and provides the reader with an overview of attitudes towards childhood.
* part two surveys the contribution of literature from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
* part three examines educational issues such as childrens' play, language acquisition and spiritual development
* part four looks at the representation of children in film, television and other mass media
* part five offers further help for study and research
This book draws on a number of academic disciplines including education, literature, theology, language studies and history. It will be of particular use to those on Childhood studies courses and all those studying for a teacher qualification. Teachers of children aged between 4-12 years old will find its contribution to their continuing professional development extremely helpful.

"Adolescent Relationships and Drug Use" explores the communicative and relational features of adolescent drug use. It focuses on peer norms, risk, and protective factors and considers how drugs are offered to adolescents, examining such factors as who makes the offers and how they are resisted, where the offers take place, and what relationship exists between the persons making the offers and the persons receiving them. Unlike other studies of drug resistance, this work examines the communication processes that affect adolescents' ability to effectively resist drug offers. Michelle Miller and her colleagues study how personal qualities, communication skills, and relationships with others affect an individual's ability to resist offers of drugs.
This volume provides a detailed analysis of drug resistance in the context of such factors as relationships, types of drugs, family and peer group relationships, personality, and situations. It places drug use and resistance in a living, relational context, and offers the first comprehensive communication and relational approach to drug resistance. The authors argue for the development of a relational and communication competence model of drug resistance, and suggest unique approaches for future drug prevention efforts.
In describing the social and relational processes of drug resistance and then linking intervention techniques to the adolescents' relational world, this work makes a major contribution toward understanding drug use among adolescents. It informs relationship, communication, and psychology research, assists drug and health research by presenting new ways of considering the issue, and enlightens drug resistance practice by demonstrating a new approach to prevention. As such, it makes an effective and invaluable contribution to the ongoing efforts to reduce drug use among adolescents.

Play is a paradox. Why would the young of so many species--the very animals at greatest risk for injury and predation--devote so much time and energy to an activity that by definition has no immediate purpose? This question has long puzzled students of animal behavior, and has been the focus of considerable empirical investigation and debate.
In this first comprehensive and state-of-the-art review of what we have learned from decades of research on exploration and play in children and animals, Power examines the paradox from all angles.
Covering solitary activity as well as play with peers, siblings, and parents, he considers the nature, development, and functions of play, as well as the gender differences in early play patterns. A major purpose is to explore the relevance of the animal literature for understanding human behavior. The nature and amount of children's play varies significantly across cultures, so the author makes cross-cultural comparisons wherever possible.
The scope is broad and the range multidisciplinary. He draws on studies by developmental researchers in psychology and other fields, ethologists, anthropologists, sociologists, sociolinguists, early childhood educators, and pediatricians. And he places research on play in the context of research on such related phenomena as prosocial behavior and aggression.
Finally, Power points out directions for further inquiry and implications for those who work with young children and their parents. Researchers and students will find "Play and Exploration in Children and Animals" an invaluable summary of controversies, methods, and findings; practitioners and educators will find it an invaluable compendium of information relevant to their efforts to enrich play experiences.

Series Information:
MSU Series on Children, Youth and Families

The nature of childhood, the consideration of whether a certain age denotes innocence or not, and the desire to teach good citizenship to our children are all issues commonly discussed by today's media. This book brings together a variety of perspectives on the study of childhood: how this has been treated historically and how such a concept is developing as we move into the next century. The book is divided into five main sections: * part one sets the scene and provides the reader with an overview of attitudes towards childhood. * part two surveys the contribution of literature from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries * part three examines educational issues such as childrens' play, language acquisition and spiritual development * part four looks at the representation of children in film, television and other mass media * part five offers further help for study and research This book draws on a number of academic disciplines including education, literature, theology, language studies and history. It will be of particular use to those on Childhood studies courses and all those studying for a teacher qualification. Teachers of children aged between 4-12 years old will find its contribution to their continuing professional development extremely helpful.

Contents:
Introduction 1. Boy troubles 2. Girl troubles 3. Age differences in adolescent relationships 4. The ideology of age seniority 5. The culture of feminine violence 6. Homophobias: Intra-Gender Policing 7. Summary of findings: The importance of being gendered 8. Analysis, discussion and wild speculation Appendices

Bullying is one of the most destructive but common social practices that young people experience in schools, and one of the most difficult for teachers to manage successfully. Sexual bullying is even more difficult to deal with.
Most adults can recall the important part sexual reputation played in the hierarchies of peer-group popularity during secondary schooling. The significance of this formative period of our sexual identities seems obvious, but is largely ignored by education policy makers and rarely appears in staff training programmes.
This book draws together a number of theories on gender, adolescent behaviour and schooling to examine social interactions in four comprehensive schools. The original research underpinning this book comprises of group and individual interviews with the pupils, case-studies and classroom-practitioner observations over a seven-year period.
This book will stimulate interest amongst all concerned with pupil welfare and social change.

The articles in this volume discuss the behavioral and social risks that adolescents encounter. In addition, the papers describe both internalizing problems (e.g., depression) and externalizing problems (e.g., substance use and abuse, delinquency, and problems relating to sexual behavior) that are relatively common among adolescents. All of the papers in this volume are grounded in the theoretical belief that adolescent behavior, including risk-taking and problem behavior, as well as positive and healthy behavior, results from complex interactions occurring between the adolescent and the multiple levels of the adolescent's context. Moreover, many of the papers in the current volume emphasize the importance of examining the interactions between the adolescent and his/her context longitudinally since changes in these relations take place as adolescence progresses.

An important underlying theme throughout this volume is diversity. As many of the articles stress, there is wide variation in adolescent behaviors, including problem behaviors, in regard to gender, race, ethnicity, and religiosity. This variation is evident in problem behaviors ranging from internalizing behaviors such as depression, with adolescent girls being much more likely to experience depression than boys; to externalizing behaviors such as precocious sexual activity and pregnancy, with African-Americans adolescents being at a significantly greater risk for experiencing these problems in comparison to adolescents from other racial groups.

The articles in this volume also illustrate the point that during adolescence, problem behaviors tend to co-occur. For example, adolescent substance abusers tend to exhibitadditional problem behaviors such as early sexual activity, delinquency, and depression. Therefore, consistent with recent empirical work, these articles advocate the study of the "whole" adolescent; in contrast to the examination of isolated behaviors.

The underlying ideas presented in this volume have important implications for prevention and intervention. Taken together, they suggest that prevention and intervention programs targeting adolescent problem behaviors should be comprehensive. Such programs need to address the entire system -- the interaction of the "whole" adolescent with his/her context. In addition, these articles suggest that prevention and intervention programs need to encompass variations in behaviors across adolescents, contexts, and time.

In this ground-breaking book, Jenny Slater uses the lens of 'the reasonable' to explore how normative understandings of youth, dis/ability and the intersecting identities of gender and sexuality impact upon the lives of young dis/abled people. Although youth and disability have separately been thought within socio-cultural frameworks, rarely have sociological studies of 'youth' and 'disability' been brought together. By taking an interdisciplinary, critical disability studies approach to explore the socio-cultural concepts of 'youth' and 'disability' alongside one-another, Slater convincingly demonstrates that 'youth' and 'disability' have been conceptualised within medical/psychological frameworks for too long. With chapters focusing on access and youth culture, independence, autonomy and disabled people's movements, and the body, gender and sexuality, this volume's intersectional and transdisciplinary engagement with social theory offers a significant contribution to existing theoretical and empirical literature and knowledges around disability and youth. Indeed, through highlighting the ableism of adulthood and the falsity of conceptualising youth as a time of becoming-independent-adult, the need to shift approaches to research around dis/abled youth is one of the main themes of the book. This book therefore is a provocation to rethink what is implicit about 'youth' and 'disability'. Moreover, through such an endeavour, this book sits as a challenge to Mr Reasonable.

This book is an ethnographic study of a comprehensive school in the south of England. It explores the views of teachers, Asian parents and their children concerning education and schooling. Young people between the ages of 13 and 18 were studied at home and at school and their experiences form the main focus of the study.
The experiences of fifty Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian families - mostly of Muslim faith - are studied with a view to discovering what parents expect from their children's school and how the teachers perceive their own role with regard to their students. These young people are the first generation of Asians to be educated in Britain. Their location in terms of their social class positions, gender and ethnicity are inextricably bound together. They describe how they see their past and their future. This is the first study to take account of boys and girls in order to capture the complexity of their lived experiences.

Based on research about after-school experiences and dilemmas conducted over a four-year period with employed parents and their children, this book draws on the stories these parents and children told--often using their actual words--to emphasize the wide variety of children's after-school arrangements, children's movement over time in and out of different arrangements, and the importance to children of multiple facets of their after-school arrangements, not simply the presence or absence of an adult caretaker. The book also emphasizes that children are not randomly assigned to after-school arrangements. Rather, parents and children struggle to reach optimal solutions to what are often difficult child care dilemmas. To understand these dilemmas, and the diverse strategies that families adopt, one must attend to the individual situations of children as family members understand them.
This book was written to contribute to the development of new family and work policies and practices by illuminating the difficulties families face and their consequences for children. Written for psychologists, sociologists, and other social scientists who study families, maternal employment, child care, or child development, it will also be useful for parents, educators, community leaders, and public policymakers concerned about the well being of children whose parents are employed.