This paper describes the implementation of an innovative integrated approach to the delivery of services for disadvantaged youth in Massachusetts, and examines the fiscal, political, and organizational factors that led to its subsequent demise. Massachusetts was one of the first states to envision and implement a statewide system of coordinated…

Changing alcohol and drug use patterns among women and ethnic minorities, such as the over-representation of Hispanics in alcohol-related deaths, drunk driving arrests, and treatment facilities, emphasize the importance of understanding substance use patterns in these populations. This study attempted to identify a single cause of substance abuse…

This study was undertaken to determine the effects of different ways of coping on caregivers' physical health and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Sixty persons living with and caring for a spouse with Alzheimer's disease (n=58) or multi-infarct dementia (n=2) were interviewed and evaluated by a series of instruments. Independent variables…

This paper discusses CEDEN's Parent-Child Program (PCP) and its external evaluation. The program promotes healthy child development among multi-problem, predominantly young families living at or below the poverty level in Austin, Texas. The goals of the PCP are to teach low-income parents in a culturally appropriate manner to encourage their…

Results of a study of physically abused elementary school children in the four urban boroughs of New York City are reported. The study recruited 106 families with a physically abused child between the ages of 8 and 12 years. A matched control sample was recruited from classmates. The abuse sample was highly representative of the New York City…

This paper describes a risk-protection perspective on adolescent problem behavior and mental health and its implications for experiential and adventure educators. Empirically, multiple biological, psychological, and social factors in the individual, family, and environment are predictive of various adolescent antisocial behaviors such as…

Recent third-person perception articles suggest that optimistic bias is the mechanism underlying the perceptual bias, but fail to empirically test the assumption. Minority "at-risk" youth are neglected in both literatures, despite the fact that they are frequently the target audience for the resulting campaigns. This study sought to…

This paper considers cross-cultural definitional issues and research directions in the area of child maltreatment. Vulnerable categories of children and circumstances in which children are at greater risk of maltreatment are identified. The embeddedness of child rearing in social networks and the impact of rapid change are discussed. (JDD)

Welfare reform is unavoidably related to children. The importance of considering children's well-being when governments change the rules of support for poor families cannot be overestimated. Findings in the welfare reform proposal contained in the "Contract with America," and elsewhere, are deeply disturbing because they seek to: deny…

This study examined the effects that cumulation of slight risks-prenatal up to adolescence-had on cognitive competence and school achievement in Austrian students who had not been identified as being at risk. Data were collected on 91 randomly selected 11- to 13-year-olds who participated in the Vienna Developmental Study, which analyzed…

The negative stereotyping of the African American male has a long and inglorious history. Even today, many therapists believe that African Americans are not psychologically minded, that they seem unmotivated for treatment, and that they lack the articulateness needed for successful talk therapy. These stereotypes largely arise from counselors'…

To determine whether parents in families that live in high-risk environments accurately complete developmental questionnaires to be used in identifying infants at-risk for developmental delay, this study evaluated 54 at-risk and 43 nonrisk parent-infant dyads. Risk dyads included those living in extreme poverty and those with mothers whose…

This paper examines the way changing notions of "risk" have shaped federal educational policy. Section 1 of the paper presents a broad history of federal K-12 legislation and suggests that these programs have been motivated by different conceptions of "risk." Section 2 offers a portrait of the 1994 reauthorization of the…

Factors for the academic success of Hispanic American students whose background profiles label them as "at-risk" are explored in this ethnographic study. Areas of focus include demographic and biographical characteristics, everyday life, group identity, and roles of primary and secondary social groups. Observation and discourse analysis…

Incarcerated youth are a subgroup of adolescents who are at particularly high risk for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. This study explored ethnic-racial and gender differences in incarcerated adolescents' engagement in Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)/HIV high-risk behaviors. All subjects for the study were residents of…