One central controversy with youth sexting is that adolescents may be prosecuted under child pornography and obscenity statutes that were originally created to protect children from sexual exploitation perpetrated by adults and do not adequately address consensual teen behavior. Due to this concern, many states have implemented laws specifically…

Although interpersonal respect is considered an important quality in successful romantic relationships, limited attention has been paid to this concept. We examined the meaning of respect in romantic relationships as conceptualized by low-income, sexually active, heterosexually identified, African American adolescents aged 15 to 17 (N = 50).…

Video games today give players an unprecedented opportunity to become part of the game. They literally put players in the game. And with rapid technological improvements and endless creativity, games are only becoming more realistic. They are also becoming more violent. Today's games allow players to kill, maim, dismember, and torture victims by…

Adolescent girls reported on their experiences both as perpetrators and as victims of several distinct forms of relational aggression. Details of these incidents were gathered from 114 ethnically diverse ninth and tenth graders via a secure online survey. The frequency with which girls perpetrated or were targeted for particular acts of relational…

People on the road seem to arrange themselves according to three main types: students, street and road people, and runaways. From the perspective of conventional society road people are threatening, for the latter have defined dropping out in a way at least appealing to those who cannot conform to the responsibilities of adulthood. (Author)

This paper describes a California-based interagency program that combines mental health, educational, and probation services in an effort to reduce juvenile recidivism. The program provides interagency services at three therapeutic high schools and one juvenile facility with the goal of keeping minors at home and thereby reducing recidivism by…

The effectiveness of Project Jericho, a 1-year program designed to improve the parole success rate of male California Youth Authority wards living in group homes, was assessed. Each group home had a resource developer who helped parolees find jobs, enroll in school or training, and establish links to the community. Jericho parolees (N=53) were…