Many parents fear the time when their beautiful happy children will become unmanageable adolescents continually engaging in risky or destructive behaviour. Unfortunately, this view of adolescents is the focus of the media, even though it relates to just a small proportion of young people. As the large amount of research we report shows, most adolescents are responsible young people who care about their families and crave the support of their parents. It is also true, however, as much research indicates, that the quality of the relationship parents have with their adolescents is crucial to the wellbeing of those young people. We discuss the need for parents to set reasonable limits on their adolescents and to expect appropriate behavior. We also show, on the basis of research, that children who have experienced positive, caring relationships with their parents are more likely than other adolescents to behave responsibly. In other words, behavior in adolescence does not ‘come out of nowhere’ but builds on earlier experiences in the family. Because of the large amount of research reported in this volume, we expect that it will be useful to practitioners from a range of professions that are likely to focus on adolescents: social workers, youth leaders, welfare workers, religious leaders, psychologists and psychiatrists and contribute to a better understanding of young people and their development, and the importance of families to that development.

Contents: Introduction, Review of Relevant Literature, Methodology, Results and Discussion, Summary and Conclusion.

Originally published in 1993, Adolescent Drinking and Family Life portrays teenage drinking, not as a symptom of pathology, but as a perfectly normal developmental phase within the context of the home environment. Drinking is predominantly social behaviour and the family is seen as a major agent of socialization. The authors have therefore explored family dynamics and the influence which the home environment has upon adolescent drinking to come up with a new theoretical model. A major feature of this approach is the interaction of ideas from family life psychology and human geography. The authors present a typology of domestic regimes illustrated by case studies of boundary enforcement and transgression. The general theme of boundary transgression, applied here to both the psychosocial environment and built form, represents an interesting new theoretical perspective. The integration of these two fields is an innovation which should stimulate further interdisciplinary work in adolescence and addiction research. Adolescent Drinking and Family Life will be interesting to researchers and practitioners in adolescence, family dynamics, and alcohol as well as any social scientist with an interest in the link between behaviour and the home environment. This new approach had important implications for health education and for interventions concerned with adolescent alcohol use at the time. Today it can be read in its historical context.

Designed for alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA) and mental health professionals, paraprofessionals, administrators, and policymakers who want to learn more about family-centered treatment of adolescents with alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health disorders, this monograph explains the steps necessary to implement a family-centered approach to treatment. Includes a brief overview of family systems theory and practice; focuses on some specific aspects of family-centered clinical practice; examines admin., organizational, financing, and training issues and outlines strategies for addressing theses issues. Implementation checklist.

A comprehensive study of human development from conception to adulthood, this book explores the foundations of modern developmental thought, incorporating international research set within a cultural and historical context.

This book provides an in-depth examination of adolescents’ social development in the context of the family. Grounded in social domain theory, the book draws on the author’s research over the past 25 years Draws from the results of in-depth interviews with more than 700 families Explores adolescent-parent relationships among ethnic majority and minority youth in the United States, as well as research with adolescents in Hong Kong and China Discusses extensive research on disclosure and secrecy during adolescence, parenting, autonomy, and moral development Considers both popular sources such as movies and public surveys, as well as scholarly sources drawn from anthropology, history, sociology, social psychology, and developmental psychology Explores how different strands of development, including autonomy, rights and justice, and society and social convention, become integrated and coordinated in adolescence

Adolescence is often portrayed as an age of particular risk. Adolescents are not only considered a risk to themselves, but also to the rest of society. As a society, we are nervous of them, and consider them vulnerable, yet the seeds of successful and independent adult life are laid down in adolescence, and they need all the help and support that they can get at a challenging time. Adolescents at Risk: Against the Odds looks in depth at some of the key risks faced by adolescents, and at some of the ways in which they can be alleviated. The book is structured according to the operational challenges the research informs.

Contemporary family life educators operate within a wide range of settings and with increasingly varied populations and families. In the fourth edition of Family Life Education, Carol Darling and Dawn Cassidy are pleased to have Sharon Ballard join in the process of exposing readers to the diverse landscape of the field while laying a comprehensive, research-based, and practical foundation for current and future family life educators. The authors, who are CFLE Certified, consider the Certified Family Life Educator credential requirements of the National Council on Family Relations throughout the text. Their broad overview of the field includes a brief history and discussion of family life education as an established profession. New to this edition is the inclusion of several models that provide insight into the discipline and practice. There is expanded information about working with diverse audiences and the skills needed to be a culturally competent family life educator. The addition of the personal experiences and reflections of 17 family life educators working in a variety of settings provides a meaningful context to the continuing evolution and importance of family life education in society. The authors incorporate theory, research, and practice while also providing guidelines for planning, implementing, and evaluating family life education programs. Content on sexuality education, relationship and marriage education, and parenting education highlights some of the more prevalent trends and visible forms of family life education. Comments from 35 international colleagues representing 27 countries and 6 continents facilitate understanding the role of family life education in various international settings. The provision of interactive classroom exercises focuses on building awareness, appreciation of diversity, and global trends. Discussion questions and activities encourage readers to examine issues and apply what they have learned.

The state of North Carolina has had a longstanding concern and com mitment to the understanding and treatment of autistic, communications handicapped children and their families. This commitment found expres sion in the only comprehensive statewide program for families confronted with this disability, Division for the Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication handicapped CHildren (Division TEACCH). Our program staff has been privileged to respond to this commitment by developing and providing the needed services, and to engage in research informed by our clinical experience. Although many of the problems con cerning these developmentally disabled children remain to be solved, substantial progress has been made during this past decade of collabo ration among professionals, parents, and their government representa tives. The TEACCH staff has resolved to mark the effectiveness of this collaboration by holding a series of annual conferences focused on the several major issues confronting these children and their families. The conferences are held in order to bring together the best research knowl edge available to us from throughout the country, and to encourage par ticipation by the different professional disciplines and concerned parents. In addition these annual meetings form the basis for a series of books based on the conference theme. These books are, however, not merely the published proceedings of the presented papers: some chapters are expanded from conference presentations and many others were solicited from experts in the related areas of research and their service application.

The third edition of Handbook of Marriage and the Family describes, analyzes, synthesizes, and critiques the current research and theory about family relationships, family structural variations, and the role of families in society. This updated Handbook provides the most comprehensive state-of-the art assessment of the existing knowledge of family life, with particular attention to variations due to gender, socioeconomic, race, ethnic, cultural, and life-style diversity. The Handbook also aims to provide the best synthesis of our existing scholarship on families that will be a primary source for scholars and professionals but also serve as the primary graduate text for graduate courses on family relationships and the roles of families in society. In addition, the involvement of chapter authors from a variety of fields including family psychology, family sociology, child development, family studies, public health, and family therapy, gives the Handbook a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary framework.