Most interventions for at-risk youth are group based. Yet, research indicates that young people often learn to become deviant by interacting with deviant peers. In this important volume, leading intervention and prevention experts from psychology, education, criminology, and related fields analyze how, and to what extent, programs that aggregate deviant youth actually promote problem behavior. A wealth of evidence is reviewed on deviant peer influences in such settings as therapy groups, alternative schools, boot camps, group homes, and juvenile justice facilities. Specific suggestions are offered for improving existing services, and promising alternative approaches are explored.

Scientists, educators, and parents of teens have long recognized the potency of peer influences on children and youth, but until recently, questions of how and why adolescents emulate their peers were largely overlooked. This book presents a comprehensive framework for understanding the processes by which peers shape each other's attitudes and behavior, and explores implications for intervention and prevention. Leading authorities share compelling findings on such topics as how drug use, risky sexual behavior, and other deviant behaviors "catch on" among certain peer groups or cliques; the social, cognitive, developmental, and contextual factors that strengthen or weaken the power of peer influence; and the nature of positive peer influences and how to support them.

Adolescence is a distinct, yet transient, period of development between childhood and adulthood characterized by increased experimentation and risk-taking, a tendency to discount long-term consequences, and heightened sensitivity to peers and other social influences. A key function of adolescence is developing an integrated sense of self, including individualization, separation from parents, and personal identity. Experimentation and novelty-seeking behavior, such as alcohol and drug use, unsafe sex, and reckless driving, are thought to serve a number of adaptive functions despite their risks. Research indicates that for most youth, the period of risky experimentation does not extend beyond adolescence, ceasing as identity becomes settled with maturity. Much adolescent involvement in criminal activity is part of the normal developmental process of identity formation and most adolescents will mature out of these tendencies. Evidence of significant changes in brain structure and function during adolescence strongly suggests that these cognitive tendencies characteristic of adolescents are associated with biological immaturity of the brain and with an imbalance among developing brain systems. This imbalance model implies dual systems: one involved in cognitive and behavioral control and one involved in socio-emotional processes. Accordingly adolescents lack mature capacity for self-regulations because the brain system that influences pleasure-seeking and emotional reactivity develops more rapidly than the brain system that supports self-control. This knowledge of adolescent development has underscored important differences between adults and adolescents with direct bearing on the design and operation of the justice system, raising doubts about the core assumptions driving the criminalization of juvenile justice policy in the late decades of the 20th century. It was in this context that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) asked the National Research Council to convene a committee to conduct a study of juvenile justice reform. The goal of Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach was to review recent advances in behavioral and neuroscience research and draw out the implications of this knowledge for juvenile justice reform, to assess the new generation of reform activities occurring in the United States, and to assess the performance of OJJDP in carrying out its statutory mission as well as its potential role in supporting scientifically based reform efforts.

The definitive reference to the policies and practices for treating disruptive and impulse-control disorders, edited by renowned experts The Wiley Handbook of Disruptive and Impulse-Control Disorders offers a comprehensive overview that integrates the most recent and important scholarship and research on disruptive and impulse-control disorders in children and adolescents. Each of the chapters includes a summary of the most relevant research and knowledge on the topic and identifies the implications of the findings along with important next directions for research. Designed to be practical in application, the text explores the applied real-world value of the accumulated research findings, and the authors include policy implications and recommendations. The Handbook address the nature and definition of the disorders, the risk factors associated with the development and maintenance of this cluster of disorders, assessment processes, as well as the evidence-based treatment and prevention practices. The volume incorporates information from the ICD-11, a newly revised classification system, along with the recently published DSM-5. This important resource: Contains a definitive survey that integrates the most recent and important research and scholarship on disruptive and impulse-control disorders in children and adolescents Emphasizes the applied real-world value of the accumulated research findings Explores the policy implications and recommendations to encourage evidence-based practice Examines the nature and definition, risk factors, assessment, and evidence-based practice; risk factors are subdivided into child, family, peer group and broader context Considers changes, advances and controversies associated with new and revised diagnostic categories Written for clinicians and professionals in the field, The Wiley Handbook of Disruptive and Impulse-Control Disorders offers an up-to-date review of the most authoritative scholarship and research on disruptive and impulse-control disorders in children and adolescents as well as offering recommendations for practice.

After-school programs, scout groups, community service activities, religious youth groups, and other community-based activities have long been thought to play a key role in the lives of adolescents. But what do we know about the role of such programs for today's adolescents? How can we ensure that programs are designed to successfully meet young people's developmental needs and help them become healthy, happy, and productive adults? Community Programs to Promote Youth Development explores these questions, focusing on essential elements of adolescent well-being and healthy development. It offers recommendations for policy, practice, and research to ensure that programs are well designed to meet young people's developmental needs. The book also discusses the features of programs that can contribute to a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood. It examines what we know about the current landscape of youth development programs for America's youth, as well as how these programs are meeting their diverse needs. Recognizing the importance of adolescence as a period of transition to adulthood, Community Programs to Promote Youth Development offers authoritative guidance to policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and other key stakeholders on the role of youth development programs to promote the healthy development and well-being of the nation's youth.

"The book′s rich, relevant and comprehensive contributions from experienced writers make it a substantial resource for teaching, reference and research." Mark Prever, trainer, writer and supervisor "The needs and problems of young people are currently extremely topical and justify a dedicated textbook. The wide range of internationally renowned authors contributes to the strengths and diversity of this publication, enhancing its potential as a resource for students and professionals." Jenny Pinfield, University of Worcester This book responds to the urgent need for practical intervention approaches targeting young people at risk. It provides a much needed practical resource for practitioners and students from a variety of helping professions. Focussing on interventions that practitioners can use in collaboration with the young person, the book offers hands-on strategies for addressing challenges and issues typically face by young people, such as: - Depression, suicide and self-harm - Substance Misuse - Problematic Sexual Behaviour - Marginalised Youth - Mental Health Issues. Throughout the book, multi-disciplinary and international authors share their expertise, highlighting relevant evidence-based interventions and considering themes such as anti-oppressive practice, culture, values and ethics. It will prove invaluable reading for students and practitioners working with young people, especially in the fields of youth work, social work, psychology, counselling, and education.