Prerna Banati

Jennifer E. Lansford

Of the 1.2 billion adolescents in the world today, 90% live in low- and middle-income countries. These adolescents face many challenges in their lives. Enrollment in secondary schools is still low in many parts of the world, with illiteracy rates approaching 30% in the least developed countries. Further, adolescents not in school are more vulnerable to trafficking, recruitment into armed conflict, and child labor. Many adolescent girls marry and begin bearing children at a young age, contributing to the perpetuation of poverty and health problems. Despite these many challenges, adolescents also represent a resource to be cultivated through educational opportunities and vocational training to move them toward economic independence, through initiatives to improve their reproductive health, and through positive interpersonal relationships to help them avoid risky behaviors and make positive decisions about their futures. Edited by Jennifer E. Lansford and Prerna Banati, the Handbook of Adolescent Development Research and its Impact on Global Policy tackles both the challenges and the promise of adolescence by presenting cutting-edge research on social, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and physical development. In addition to providing actionable strategies for policy-makers and practitioners, this volume consciously adopts a positive framing of adolescence, representing young people as opportunities, rather than threats. Throughout the book, readers will find a valuable investment at the individual and societal levels as a way to contribute to a positive shift in the public discourse around young people today.

Handbook of Adolescent Development Research and Its Impact on Global Policy

Kenneth A. Dodge

Thomas J. Dishion

Most interventions for at-risk youth are group based. Yet, research indicates that young people often learn to become deviant by interacting with deviant peers. In this important volume, leading intervention and prevention experts from psychology, education, criminology, and related fields analyze how, and to what extent, programs that aggregate deviant youth actually promote problem behavior. A wealth of evidence is reviewed on deviant peer influences in such settings as therapy groups, alternative schools, boot camps, group homes, and juvenile justice facilities. Specific suggestions are offered for improving existing services, and promising alternative approaches are explored.

Problems and Solutions

Deviant Peer Influences in Programs for Youth

This book is unique in bringing together cutting-edge research on adolescent development with a focus on policies and interventions directed toward adolescents. The book is also distinctive in its focus on issues that uniquely affect adolescents in low- and middle-income countries.

Marc H. Bornstein

Kirby D. Deater-Deckard

How do some families successfully negotiate the linguistic, cultural, and psychological challenges of immigration, while others struggle to acculturate? This timely volume explores the complexities of immigrant family life in North America and analyzes the individual and contextual factors that influence health and well-being. Synthesizing cutting-edge research from a range of disciplines, the book addresses such key topics as child development, school achievement, and the cultural and religious contexts of parenting. It examines the interface between families and broader systems, including schools, social services, and intervention programs, and discusses how practices and policies might be improved to produce optimal outcomes for this large and diverse population.

Immigrant Families in Contemporary Society

Anis Ben Brik

Abdallah M. Badahdah

This timely volume explores the impact of dramatic social change that has disrupted established patterns of family life and human development in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. It addresses several major deficits in knowledge regarding family issues in the Gulf countries, bringing a critical perspective to the emerging challenges facing families in this region. Lansford, Ben Brik, and Badahdah examine the role of urbanization, educational progress, emigration, globalization, and changes in the status of women on social change, as well as tackling issues related to marriage, fertility and parenthood, and family well-being. This book explores how family relationships and social policies can promote physical health, psychological well-being, social relationships, safety, cognitive development, and economic security in the Gulf countries, placing a unique emphasis on contemporary families in this region. Families and Social Change in the Gulf Region is essential reading for scholars from psychology, sociology, education, law, and public policy. It will also be of interest to graduate students in these disciplines.

Jennifer E. Lansford

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