This text provides readers with an in-depth understanding of the essential aspects of youth substance abuse-an important contemporary personal, social, and public health issue. Humans have been using natural and synthetic chemicals for at least two millennia-primarily for the purpose of treating medical problems, but also for recreational purposes. The 2014 Monitoring the Future survey of eighth, tenth, and twelfth grade students indicates a general decline in the use of illicit drugs over the last two decades. On the other hand, perceptions among youth that certain types of drug use-like marijuana and e-cigarettes-are harmless are growing. Youth Substance Abuse: A Reference Handbook provides an overview of the history and development of youth substance abuse along with a discussion of the medical, social, psychological, legal, and economic issues associated with youth substance abuse both in the United States and other parts of the world. The book begins with a comprehensive introduction to the subject of youth substance abuse that explains how modern societies have reached the point where abuse of both legal and illegal substances is a major health issue in many nations. Readers will learn about the effects of substances such as cocaine, marijuana, and heroin as well as substances that are typically legal but have deleterious health, social, or psychological effects, such as tobacco, alcohol, prescription drugs, and electronic cigarettes. Subsequent chapters address how and why youth substance abuse has become a problem in the United States and other countries, the demographics of this widespread problem, the direct and indirect effects of youth substance abuse and addiction, and the range of services and methods that are available for treating substance abuse. Presents individual perspectives on youth substance abuse issues that provide readers with a very personal outlook on specific aspects of the topic Provides readers with broad coverage of current issues and topics in substance abuse by adolescents as well as a historical perspective of how this problem has developed in the United States over the past century Includes a chapter of primary documents sourced from a number of laws and court cases dealing with various aspects of youth substance abuse

In rural Mexico, people often say that Alzheimer's does not exist. ""People do not have Alzheimer's because they don't need to worry,"" said one Oaxacan, explaining that locals lack the stresses that people face ""over there"" - that is, in the modern world. Alzheimer's and related dementias carry a stigma. In contrast to the way elders are revered for remembering local traditions, dementia symbolizes how modern families have forgotten the communal values that bring them together. In Caring for the People of the Clouds, psychologist Jonathan Yahalom provides an emotionally evocative, story-rich analysis of family caregiving for Oaxacan elders living with dementia. Based on his extensive research in a Zapotec community, Yahalom presents the conflicted experience of providing care in a setting where illness is steeped in stigma and locals are concerned about social cohesion. Traditionally, the Zapotec, or ""people of the clouds,"" respected their elders and venerated their ancestors. Dementia reveals the difficulty of upholding those ideals today. Yahalom looks at how dementia is understood in a medically pluralist landscape, how it is treated in a setting marked by social tension, and how caregivers endure challenges among their families and the broader community. Yahalom argues that caregiving involves more than just a response to human dependency; it is central to regenerating local values and family relationships threatened by broader social change. In so doing, the author bridges concepts in mental health with theory from medical anthropology. Unique in its interdisciplinary approach, this book advances theory pertaining to cross-cultural psychology and develops anthropological insights about how aging, dementia, and caregiving disclose the intimacies of family life in Oaxaca.

Some 80,000 British children - many of them under the age of ten - were shipped from Britain to Canada by Poor Law authorities and voluntary bodies during the 50 years following Confederation in 1867. How did this come about? What were the motives and methods of the people involved in both countries? Why did it come to an end? What effects did it have on the children involved and what eventually became of them? These are the questions Roy Parker explores in a meticulously researched work that brings together economic, political, social, medical, legal, administrative and religious aspects of the story in Britain and Canada.He concludes with a moving review of evidence from more recent survivors of child migration, discussing the lifelong effects of their experiences with the help of modern psychological insights. His book - humane and highly professional - will capture and hold the interest of many: the academic, the practitioner and the general reader; and they will include the relatives and descendants, both in Britain and Canada, of the children around whom this study revolves.

Mortality, With Friends is a collection of lyrical essays from Fleda Brown, a writer and caretaker, of her father and sometimes her husband, who lives with the nagging uneasiness that her cancer could return. Memoir in feel, the book muses on the nature of art, of sculpture, of the loss of bees and trees, the end of marriages, and among other things, the loss of hearing and of life itself. Containing twenty-two essays, Mortality, With Friends follows the cascade of loss with the author's imminent joy in opening a path to track her own growing awareness and wisdom. In ""Donna,"" Brown examines a childhood friendship and questions the roles we need to play in each other's lives to shape who we might become. In ""Native Bees,"" Brown expertly weaves together the threads of a difficult family tradition intended to incite happiness with the harsh reality of current events. In ""Fingernails, Toenails,"" she marvels at the attention and suffering that accompanies caring for our aging bodies. In ""Mortality, with Friends,"" Brown dives into the practical and stupefying response to her own cancer and survival. In ""2019: Becoming Mrs. Ramsay,"" she remembers the ghosts of her family and the strident image of herself, positioned in front of her Northern Michigan cottage. Comparable to Lia Purpura's essays in their density and poetics, Brown's intent is to look closely, to stay with the moment and the image. Readers with a fondness for memoir and appreciation for art will be dazzled by the beauty of this collection.

Current demographic developments and change due to long life expectancies, low birth rates, changing family structures, and economic and political crises causing migration and flight are having a significant impact on intergenerational relationships, the social welfare system, the job market and what elderly people (can) expect from their retirement and environment. The socio-political relevance of the categories of 'age' and 'ageing' have been increasing and gaining much attention within different scholarly fields. However, none of the efforts to identify age-related diseases or the processes of ageing in order to develop suitable strategies for prevention and therapy have had any effect on the fact that attitudes against the elderly are based on patterns that are determined by parameters that or not biological or sociological: age(ing) is also a cultural fact. This book reveals the importance of cultural factors in order to build a framework for analyzing and understanding cultural constructions of ageing, bringing together scholarly discourses from the arts and humanities as well as social, medical and psychological fields of study. The contributions pave the way for new strategies of caring for elderly people.

The Outcast Majority invites policymakers, practitioners, academics, students, and others to think about three commanding contemporary issues-war, development, and youth-in new ways. The starting point is the following irony: while Africanyouth are demographically dominant, many act as if they are members of an outcast minority. The irony directly informs young people's lives in war-affected Africa, where differences separating the priorities of youth and those of international agencies are especially prominent. Drawing on interviews with development experts and young people, Marc Sommers shines a light on this gap and offers guidance on how to close it. He begins with a comprehensive consideration of forces that shape and propel the lives of African youth today, particularly those experiencing or emerging from war. They are contrasted with forces that influence and constrain the international development aid enterprise. The book concludes with a framework for making development policies and practices significantly more relevant and effective for youth in areas affected by African wars and other places where vast and vibrant youth populations reside.

This gripping book considers the history, techniques, and goals of child-targeted consumer campaigns and examines children's changing perceptions of what commodities they "need" to be valued and value themselves. In this critique of America's consumption-based society, author Jennifer Hill chronicles the impact of consumer culture on children-from the evolution of childhood play to a child's self-perception as a consumer to the consequences of this generation's repeated media exposure to violence. Hill proposes that corporations, eager to tap into a multibillion-dollar market, use the power of advertising and the media to mold children's thoughts and behaviors. The book features vignettes with teenagers explaining, in their own words, how advertising determines their needs, wants, and self-esteem. An in-depth analysis of this research reveals the influence of media on a young person's desire to conform, shows how broadcasted depictions of beauty distort the identities of children and teens, and uncovers corporate agendas for manipulating behavior in the younger generation. The work concludes with the position that corporations are shaping children to be efficient consumers but, in return, are harming their developing young minds and physical well-being. Features content from across disciplines including sociology, psychology, cultural anthropology, and social work Introduces the idea that corporations exert a powerful-and largely negative-influence over children and childhood Offers a theoretical explanation of the current state of consumer capitalism Presents findings based on original research conducted by the author

This title offers an insight into key contemporary global issues relating to the lives and experiences of young Muslims. Many Muslim societies, regardless of location, are displaying a 'youth bulge', where more than half their populations are under the age of 25. An increasingly globalized western culture is rapidly eroding 'traditional' ideas about society, from the family to the state. At the same time, there is a view that rampant materialism is creating a culture of spiritual emptiness in which demoralization and pessimism easily find root. For young Muslims these challenges may be compounded by a growing sense of alienation as they face competing ideologies and divergent lifestyles. Muslim youth are often idealized as the 'future of Islam' or stigmatized as rebelling against their parental values and suffering 'identity crises'. These experiences can produce both positive and negative reactions, from intellectual engagement and increasing spiritual maturity to emotional rejectionism, narrow identity politics and violent extremism. This book addresses many of the central issues currently facing young Muslims in both localized and globalized contexts through engaging with the work of academics, youth work practitioners and those working in non-governmental organizations and civic institutions.

"Clear, lucid and powerful The Elegant Self is a must read if you are interested in the further reaches of development." - Ken Wilber author of The Integral Vision Grow Beyond Conventional Adulthood and Distinctively Give Your Gifts. The Elegant Self offers a unique perspective on the future of you. Explore adulthood through a new lens as you tour the many dangers facing our world today. Gain rare clarity into some of the highest stages of development. Learn how the trap of completeness may be holding your influence in the world back in virtually every facet of life. Enjoy this rare invitation into the courage for you to become more of an elegant self. - Save thousands of dollars by understanding the origin of inadequacy. - Go beyond the limitations of the autonomous self most adults are stuck in. - Free yourself from the trap of completeness. - Leverage paradox to fuel greater influence and impact in the world. - Discover never-before-seen ways to free yourself from limiting habits. Robert Lundin McNamara is a professor of developmental psychology in Boulder, Colorado and is a highly respected authority on the higher reaches of adulthood. Rob is author of Strength To Awaken, a speaker, performance coach, psychotherapist, and expert in helping high-achieving adults make greater impact in their lives.

Each chapter provides in-depth discussions and this volume serves as an invaluable resource for Developmental or educational psychology researchers, scholars, and students.
Includes chapters that highlight some of the most recent research in the area of Positive Youth DevelopmentEach chapter provides in-depth discussionsAn invaluable resource for developmental or educational psychology researchers, scholars, and students

Explores how young people from communities targeted in the War on Terror engage with the "political," even while they are under constant scrutiny and surveillance Since the attacks of 9/11, the banner of national security has led to intense monitoring of the politics of Muslim and Arab Americans. Young people from these communities have come of age in a time when the question of political engagement is both urgent and fraught. In The 9/11 Generation, Sunaina Marr Maira uses extensive ethnography to understand the meaning of political subjecthood and mobilization for Arab, South Asian, and Afghan American youth. Maira explores how young people from communities targeted in the War on Terror engage with the "political," forging coalitions based on new racial and ethnic categories, even while they are under constant scrutiny and surveillance, and organizing around notions of civil rights and human rights. The 9/11 Generation explores the possibilities and pitfalls of rights-based organizing at a moment when the vocabulary of rights and democracy has been used to justify imperial interventions, such as the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maira further reconsiders political solidarity in cross-racial and interfaith alliances at a time when U.S. nationalism is understood as not just multicultural but also post-racial. Throughout, she weaves stories of post-9/11 youth activism through key debates about neoliberal democracy, the "radicalization" of Muslim youth, gender, and humanitarianism.

A precise scientific exploration of the differences between boys and girls that breaks down damaging gender stereotypes and offers practical guidance for parents and educators.

In the past decade, we've come to accept certain ideas about the differences between males and females--that boys can't focus in a classroom, for instance, and that girls are obsessed with relationships. In Pink Brain, Blue Brain, neuroscientist Lise Eliot turns that thinking on its head. Calling on years of exhaustive research and her own work in the field of neuroplasticity, Eliot argues that infant brains are so malleable that small differences at birth become amplified over time, as parents and teachers--and the culture at large--unwittingly reinforce gender stereotypes. Children themselves intensify the differences by playing to their modest strengths. They constantly exercise those "ball-throwing" or "doll-cuddling" circuits, rarely straying from their comfort zones. But this, says Eliot, is just what they need to do, and she offers parents and teachers concrete ways to help. Boys are not, in fact, "better at math" but at certain kinds of spatial reasoning. Girls are not naturally more empathetic; they're allowed to express their feelings. By appreciating how sex differences emerge--rather than assuming them to be fixed biological facts--we can help all children reach their fullest potential, close the troubling gaps between boys and girls, and ultimately end the gender wars that currently divide us.

This study reflects a growing recognition of the contribution that studies of the post-war "welfare state" can make to contemporary debates about the restructuring of welfare. Drawing on the community care debates from 1971 to 1993, it illuminates contemporary concerns about such key issues as rationing care, the health and social care divide, the changing role of residential care and the growing emphasis on provider competition "From community care to market care?" focuses on the interpretation and development of national policy at local authority level in four contrasting local authorities. The authors outline the development of welfare services for older people from 1971 to 1993, and explore whether service developments in this period were as inadequate as claimed by the proponents of radical change. The continuities and changes in the pre- and post-1990 NHS and Community Care Act systems of community care are also examined The results of the study should make a significant contribution to the community care provision for older people. The book will be of interest to academic, policy and practitioner audiences.

How do young people survive in the era of high unemployment, persistent economic crises and poor living standards that characterise post-communist society in the former Soviet Union? This major original book - written by leading authorities in the field - shows how young people have managed to maintain optimism despite the very severe economic and social problems that beset the countries of the former Soviet Union. In most former Soviet countries the devastating initial shock of market reforms has been followed by precious little therapy. The effects have been most pronounced among young people as only a minority have prospered in the new market economies and inequalities have widened dramatically. Despite an all-round improvement in educational standards, most young people have been unable to obtain proper jobs. Housing and family transitions have been blocked. Uses of free time have shifted massively from the public into the private domain. Few young people have any confidence that their countries' political leaders will engineer solutions. Yet in spite of all this, the majority prefer the new uncertainties, and the merest prospect of the Western way of life, to the old guarantees. They are prepared to give the reforms more time to deliver, but this time is now fast running out. Surviving Post-communism will be an illuminating exposition of the realities of post-communist life for scholars of sociology and transition studies.

Adding to the contributions made by Soul Searching and Souls in Transition--two books which revolutionized our understanding of the religious lives of young Americans--Lisa Pearce and Melinda Lundquist Denton here offer a new portrait of teenage faith.
Drawing on the massive National Study of Youth and Religion's telephone surveys and in-depth interviews with more than 120 youth at two points in time, the authors chart the spiritual trajectory of American adolescents and young adults over a period of three years. Turning conventional wisdom on its head, the authors find that religion is an important force in the lives of most--though their involvement with religion changes over time, just as teenagers themselves do. Pearce and Denton weave in fascinating portraits of actual youth to give depth to mere numerical rankings of religiosity, which tend to prevail in large studies. One teenager might rarely attend a service, yet count herself profoundly religious; another might be deeply involved in a church's social world, yet claim to be "not, like, deep into the faith." They provide a new set of qualitative categories--Abiders, Assenters, Adapters, Avoiders, and Atheists--quoting from interviews to illuminate the shading between them. And, with their three-year study, they offer a rich understanding of the dynamic nature of faith in young people's lives during a period of rapid change in biology, personality, and social interaction. Not only do degrees of religiosity change, but so does its nature, whether expressed in institutional practices or personal belief.
By presenting a new model of religious development and change, illustrated with compelling personal accounts of real teenagers, Pearce and Denton offer parents, scholars, and religious leaders a new guide for understanding religious development in teens.