Although there are an increasing number of youth development programs that aim to empower young people, there is a dearth of psychometrically sound measures that can be used to assess flexible youth-led organizing and participatory research approaches that tackle a wide range of social and community problems. This study developed and tested…

Despite an increased interest in adolescent depression from theoretical and clinical perspectives, there have been few attempts to investigate depression in non-clinical populations. To identify demographic, sociocultural, and behavioral factors related to adolescent depression in a non-clinical population of urban adolescent females, a racially…

Analysis of data from the 1958 Philadelphia Birth Cohort Study indicates that individuals who dropped out from delinquency were less likely to renew their involvement with crime as adults regardless of race, socioeconomic status, gender, or particular dropout period. (FMW)

Examines patterns of drug use and other delinquent behaviors among students and school dropouts in six inner-city neighborhoods. Finds no correlation between substance use, delinquency, and dropping out, but does find that all dropouts were characterized by weak family support systems and social isolation. (FMW)

This research examined the effects of belief-based messages on the intentions of ninth and tenth grade, Hispanic-American students to enroll in their first elective science course at the pre-college level, chemistry. The design of the study was guided by the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1989) and the Elaboration Likelihood Model of…

Between March 1983 and January 1984, the Hispanic Research Center conducted exploratory field research in a South Bronx (New York City) neighborhood in order to develop hypotheses and collect data which could be used in research relevant to the avoidance of delinquency by male Puerto Ricans considered at risk. The research highlighted the…

This study tested for the existence of neighborhood effects on end of school educational attainment some 2,500 urban youth who left school between 1984 and 1986 in one educational authority in Scotland. Data were drawn from a student survey and from the United Kingdom 1981 Census of Population. A hierarchical linear regression model was used to…

First- and fifth-grade kibbutz and city children (320 in two studies) individually were requested to distribute rewards between themselves and a partner who had produced either more or less than the subject had. Fifth graders were also asked about the level of effort and merit displayed by themselves and their partners. (Author/RH).

Describes a group of seniors at a Montreal high school, the offspring of working class Southern European immigrants, whose socialization is confined to school because most work part time. Suggests the importance of balancing the focus on leisure youth groups with school-based cultures such as this. (DM)

Studies in the area of video training for offenders note the possibilities of modeling as a training method for delinquents. The impact of three job-related, interpersonal skill training programs for 50 Black and Hispanic inner city adolescent and young adult ex-offenders in a community-based employment program was examined. In addition, the…

Describes studies involving students sponsored by A Better Chance, Inc. (ABC), a nonprofit search and referral service that identifies and places talented minority inner-city children. Results indicate that standardized tests do not necessarily predict ABC student success, and that ABC students can be productively directed toward mathematics and…

This paper describes a methodology for the evaluation of dropout prevention programs, for calculating dropout rates, and for comparing alternative programs equitably. A first step involves developing a hierarchy of criteria for evaluating programs. These criteria are used to obtain dropout risk probability for individuals and groups and types of…

This document, presented in chart essay form, reports findings of a study of the individual, family, school, and community characteristics of Hispanic ninth grade students enrolled in predominantly minority high schools in major American cities in 1986-87. The findings represent an essential firt step in ascertaining why Hispanic students stay in…

This paper is an ethnographic study of African American male students at an urban high school and an examination of the quality of education received by those students. The study population was composed of 115 African American males in the high school class of 1989 observed from January, 1987, through the December following their expected…

This study investigated the relationship between locus of control orientation and adoption of cigarette smoking among ninth grade urban black Southern students. It sought to identify this relationship and determine if school-setting (junior or senior high school) or gender-related differences exist. The following information was used to assess…