Many theories have been offered to explain why people are impoverished. This article by Karen Seccombe uses the case study of "Dee," a newly single mother, to explore four of the most common: individualism, social structuralism, the culture of poverty, and fatalism. She concludes that poverty is a highly complex phenomenon, and it is likely that…

The phrase, "Boys will be Boys" is often given as a tongue-in-cheek response to aggressive or "boyish" behavior; the kind of roughhousing or bullying more often tolerated--or even encouraged--among boys than girls. Such a strict and outmoded definition of masculinity serves as one major barrier to boys and young men who seek the opportunity to…

Although the negative effects of witnessing domestic violence are finally becoming acknowledged, many young girls are already victims of violence within their own dating relationships. Research studies uniformly find that, on average, about 25% of teen dating relationships contain violent elements. Research with pregnant and parenting teens show…

It is estimated that between 3.3 million and 10 million children in the U.S. witness physical violence between their parents each year. This type of violence ranges from overhearing some form of violent behavior from their bedrooms, to seeing severe acts of violence such as beatings or assaults with guns and knives. In many cases, these youth…

Many professionals who work with youth have adolescent parents within their clientele yet don't have the demand to create special programs for these youth. Information regarding ways to assist teen parents in the normal course of the day, without developing a teen parent program, is difficult to find. Questions about supporting teen parents were…