The Development of Community Engagement from Infancy to Adulthood uses a developmental perspective to trace how individuals develop the cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and moral capacity to be actively engaged in their communities. It also provides an analysis of the role of volunteerism and civic engagement in an era of social division, shrinking budgets, and shrinking services. In order to support childhood and adolescent volunteerism, we must understand how children become adults who volunteer a lot, sometimes, or not at all. This book describes the development of volunteerism from theoretical, empirical, and practical viewpoints, starting from the earliest development of empathy, through the social institutions that help shape us, to adolescence and young adulthood. It concludes with an analysis of modern ways to engage young citizens in social action. In doing so it addresses the key question – how can we encourage and support the development of the behaviors, belief systems, and ecologies that will lead to volunteerism and community involvement in our citizens? With fresh and thought-provoking arguments and insights, this book will be of interest to all academics and students working within the fields of social work, social services, volunteer management, applied social psychology, community psychology, service learning, and sociology, as well as non-profit personnel and activists.

Adolescenceâ€"beginning with the onset of puberty and ending in the mid-20sâ€"is a critical period of development during which key areas of the brain mature and develop. These changes in brain structure, function, and connectivity mark adolescence as a period of opportunity to discover new vistas, to form relationships with peers and adults, and to explore one's developing identity. It is also a period of resilience that can ameliorate childhood setbacks and set the stage for a thriving trajectory over the life course. Because adolescents comprise nearly one-fourth of the entire U.S. population, the nation needs policies and practices that will better leverage these developmental opportunities to harness the promise of adolescenceâ€"rather than focusing myopically on containing its risks. This report examines the neurobiological and socio-behavioral science of adolescent development and outlines how this knowledge can be applied, both to promote adolescent well-being, resilience, and development, and to rectify structural barriers and inequalities in opportunity, enabling all adolescents to flourish.

This book presents new scientific knowledge on using developmental science to improving lives of children and youth across the globe. It highlights emerging pathways to sustainability as well as the interconnectedness and interdependence of developmental science and sustainable children and youth development globally. Presenting cross-cultural views and current perspectives on the role of developmental science in the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals for children and youth development, contributors from different disciplines from low-and-middle-income countries or scholars working in these countries capture ground realities of the situation of children and youth in these regions. This book addresses developmental issues related to inequity, gender, health, education, social protection, and needs of vulnerable populations of children and youth. Other areas of focus are improving mechanisms and monitoring frameworks of development and well-being indicators.

Focusing on adult patrons ages 19 through senior citizens, this book explains how libraries can best serve this portion of their community's population at different life stages and foster experiences that are "worth the trip"—whether actual or virtual. Adult library patrons are busier than ever before—working, taking classes and studying for advanced degrees, caring for children, helping their aging parents, taking care of their homes or rental properties, planning and nurturing careers, managing investments and retirement funds, and inevitably retiring. Each of these endeavors can require highly specific learning and education. Throughout their lives, adults continue to have different information needs that the library and its services can fill. Designing Adult Services: Strategies for Better Serving Your Community discusses the many ways libraries can serve adults of various ages and at different life stages, covering online services, collection development, programming, and lifelong learning. This guide's unique approach simplifies the processes of designing and carrying out a successful adult services program for adult library users in all the various stages of life. The book is organized by age groups, with the respective information needs and life challenges. Each chapter suggests programs, services, and collection development strategies for the life stages. Public library administrators and managers as well as adult services librarians in public libraries will find this guide a must-read.

Providing a focus on meaningful involvement and participation in communities and activities of choice, that secure benefits for all, the chapter authors examine both innovative evidence-based practices that facilitate transition, and potential barriers, supplemented by informative case studies.

Lifespan human development is the study of all aspects of biological, physical, cognitive, socioemotional, and contextual development from conception to the end of life. In more than 800 signed articles by experts from a wide diversity of fields, this volume explores all individual and situational factors related to human development across the lifespan. The Encyclopedia promises to be an authoritative, discipline-defining work for students and researchers seeking to become familiar with various theories and empirical findings about human development broadly construed. Some of the broad thematic areas will include: Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood Aging Behavioral and Developmental Disorders Cognitive Development Community and Culture Early and Middle Childhood Education through the Lifespan Genetics and Biology Gender and Sexuality Life Events Mental Health through the Lifespan Research Methods in Lifespan Development Speech and Language Across the Lifespan Theories and Models of Development. Featuring signed articles by experts from the fields of child development, psychology, neuroscience, behavior analysis, education, sociology, and more, this five-volume encyclopedia promises to be an authoritative, discipline-defining work for students and researchers seeking to become familiar with the various approaches to and theories of human development as well as past and current research.

With an emphasis on promoting self-reliance, autonomy and independence, this exciting new book provides a contemporary and holistic analysis of the childhood resilience. It recognises 'resilience in childhood' as a complex construct, critically deconstructs it by drawing upon a wide range of academic disciplines and practices, and provides an account of the factors that help and hinder the development of resilience during childhood and adolescence. Part I unpacks definitions of resilience and its "construction" over the last 50 years. Part II examines psychological, sociological and neurobiological perspectives that contribute to our understanding of how childhood resilience can be developed and fostered. Part III explores strategies and approaches relating theory to current intervention practice and policy drivers. Application to professional practice within a multi-agency context is explored throughout. Importantly, this book seeks to develop the notion of 'the promise of resilience' and establish the bond between capabilities built up in childhood and the promise of a positive successful future. Efforts to foster and build effective skills that lead to resilience will result in long-lasting abilities to positively navigate through life's challenges and to become the key architect of one's own success in later life.