Adults condemn violence but teach children to fight back. The message that aggression is legitimate causes grave harm to untold numbers of children and youth in our violent culture. Children are literally losing their lives trying to gain "respect" and preserve their "dignity." The author draws on extensive direct professional work with violent…

This address first briefly reviews what children are expected to know and be able to do when they reach adulthood and considers the critical developmental tasks which they must engage in and go through to meet such expectations. Then, consideration is given to the institutions of social networks in which development occurs as they operated in the…

In spite of the most adverse circumstances, some children manage to survive and even thrive, academically and socially, into adulthood. A complex array of individual, family, and community factors has been identified that best explains resilience and lays the foundation for programs and interventions targeted at fostering the development and…