Use of Psychiatric Medications in Juvenile Detention Facilities and the Impact of State Placement Policy

The use of psychotropic medications is a significant factor in the overall effort to respond to detained youth with mental illness, yet there are very few studies of psychotropic medication use in juvenile detention settings. It is important to understand the factors that influence the use of mental health services and psychoactive medications in these settings since youth with emotional problems are overrepresented in them. This paper addresses the proportion of youth in these settings who receive mental health services and psychoactive medications. In addition, the impact of a major statewide policy change—the shift of juvenile placement responsibility from the state to local government—on these proportions was examined using 8 years of publicly available data from county probation departments. Multivariate regression analyses of 1,760 observations of quarterly reports from 55 counties showed that the use of both mental health services and psychoactive medications in detention facilities increased concurrently with the policy change. While these proportions had already been gradually increasing in these facilities, it appears that after the policy change they increased even more. This contradicts the aim of most juvenile justice planners—to divert non-violent youth offenders with emotional problems away from incarceration settings and towards community based treatment alternatives. If adequately available, these support services could provide diversion alternatives to prevent inappropriate detentions, and to provide post-detention treatment to prevent lapses in continuity of care and, ultimately, to prevent reoffending.     

Dutch immigrant policies before and after the Van Gogh murder

The murders of the Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn and the filmmaker Theo van Gogh have made headlines internationally and made readers wonder what happened in the country that used to have a reputation for tolerance and practice integration policies for immigrants that were seen as progressive in the European context. This article outlines the background of these spectacular and tragic events. Specifically it tries to assess the consequences for integration policies in the Netherlands. First an outline is given of the “Ethnic Minorities Policies” started in the Netherlands in the early 1980s, how the framing of that policy changed gradually in the 1990s to a more Republican integration policy and underwent a final change from 2002 on towards an assimilationist policy that serves restrictive and selective admission of immigrants. Secondly, as a background to these changes the public and political discourse on immigration and integration and integration is analyzed: from a depoliticized, consensus-policy in the 1980s, the gradual politicization of these topics in the 1990s, towards the populist rhetoric and policy argumentations after the turn of the century. Thirdly, the murder on Van Gogh and its interpretations by politics, media and society is specifically analysed. Finally the consequences for integration policies in the Netherlands are assessed.     

The relationship between out-of-school activities and positive youth development: an investigation of the influences of communities and family

There is growing evidence that participation in constructive leisure activities facilitates positive youth development. Empirical evidence also supports the influence of families and communities on positive developmental outcomes for adolescents. This study examined the relationship among attitudes toward family and community, participation in structured out-of-school activities, and pro-social behavior. As predicted, community aspects such as opportunities available and the attitudes the youth held toward the community, as well as their attitude toward family were predictive of activity involvement. Activity involvement, in turn, was predictive of pro-social behavior. Attitude toward family was also predictive of attitude toward the community. Attitude toward community was a direct predictor of the positive developmental outcome of pro-social behavior, although contrary to the original hypothesis, family influences did not have a direct effect on pro-social behavior. Implications for continued practice and change for a variety of sectors in the positive youth development field such as educators and educational institutions, youth-serving organizations, families, and policy makers are discussed, along with recommendations for continued research in this field.     

Youth Action Research for Prevention: A Multi-level Intervention Designed to Increase Efficacy and Empowerment Among Urban Youth

Youth Action Research for Prevention (YARP), a federally funded research and demonstration intervention, utilizes youth empowerment as the cornerstone of a multi-level intervention designed to reduce and/or delay onset of drug and sex risk, while increasing individual and collective efficacy and educational expectations. The intervention, located in Hartford Connecticut, served 114 African-Caribbean and Latino high school youth in a community education setting and a matched comparison group of 202 youth from 2001 to 2004. The strategy used in YARP begins with individuals, forges group identity and cohesion, trains youth as a group to use research to understand their community better (formative community ethnography), and then engages them in using the research for social action at multiple levels in community settings (policy, school-based, parental etc.) Engagement in community activism has, in turn, an effect on individual and collective efficacy and individual behavioral change. This approach is unique insofar as it differs from multilevel interventions that create approaches to attack multiple levels simultaneously. We describe the YARP intervention and employ qualitative and quantitative data from the quasi-experimental evaluation study design to assess the way in which the YARP approach empowered individual youth and groups of youth (youth networks) to engage in social action in their schools, communities and at the policy level, which in turn affected their attitudes and behaviors.     

The influence of race and ethnicity on psychiatric diagnoses and clinical characteristics of children and adolescents in children's services

This study examined the influence of race and ethnicity on psychiatric diagnoses and clinical characteristics of 1,189 children and adolescents participating in the federally funded Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program. Results showed that after controlling for age, gender, functional impairment, and socioeconomic status, there were significant race and ethnicity effects on diagnosis and clinical characteristics. Black and Native Hawaiian youth were more likely than White youth to be diagnosed with disruptive behavioral disorders. Hispanic and Native Hawaiian youth were less likely than White youth to be diagnosed with depression or dysthymia. Black, Asian American, and Native Hawaiian youth were rated as exhibiting less internalizing behavior problems than White youth. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.     

Gratitude and the Reduced Costs of Materialism in Adolescents

Materialistic youth seem to be languishing while grateful youth seem to be flourishing. High school students (N = 1,035) completed measures of materialism, gratitude, academic functioning, envy, depression, life satisfaction, social integration, and absorption. Using structural equation modeling, we found that gratitude, controlling for materialism, uniquely predicts all outcomes considered: higher grade point average, life satisfaction, social integration, and absorption, as well as lower envy and depression. In contrast, materialism, controlling for gratitude, uniquely predicts three of the six outcomes: lower grade point average, as well as higher envy and life satisfaction. Furthermore, when examining the relative strengths of gratitude and materialism as predictors, we found that gratitude is generally a stronger predictor of these six outcomes than is materialism.     

Immigrant Youth and Employment: Lessons Learned from the Analysis of LSIC and 82 Lived Stories

Finding a job has become a critical challenge to many youth. Immigrant youth, who have been a key part of the global migrants, are particularly vulnerable when entering the job market of the host country due to various structural barriers. However, in both public policy discourse and research, their labour market experience tends to be overlooked. In this paper, we report the employment experience of recently arrived immigrant youth based on an analysis of the LSIC and findings of in-depth interviews of 82 immigrant youth in four cities in Canada. Our results reveal that recently arrived immigrant youth tend to work in lower-skilled employment, experience significant delays in finding employment, have difficulties with foreign credential recognition, and have fewer means to access to job markets.     

Focusing on children and youth: The role of social capital in educational outcomes in the context of immigration and diversity

Social capital matters for young people, especially for immigrant and minority youth; however what counts as social capital for young people is poorly specified. This paper reviews recent studies on the influences of parents, communities and schools; then focuses on youth social networks that begin to reveal how young people form, develop and use social capital. In light of this knowledge base, we address social and educational policy-making, making suggestions for capacity building for future policy and research. We conclude with recommendations toward a model of social capital accumulation.     

Shifting the Relationship Education Field to Prioritize Youth Relationship Education

The field of couple and relationship education is dominated by a focus on helping committed couples strengthen their relationship. This article reviews several lines of research to argue that the field should give greater priority to youth relationship education—individually oriented relationship literacy education for adolescents and young adults. Serious problems are common in adolescent and young adult romantic relationships and increasing numbers of youth follow paths from adolescence to marriage that make it harder for them to form and sustain a healthy marriage. Early evidence on the effectiveness of individually oriented youth relationship education provides some reason for optimism. The article concludes by exploring implications of this proposed shift in the field for practice and policy.     

‘Left to your own devices’ – the missed potential of adult career guidance in Denmark

In 2008, the European Council agreed on a Resolution on better integrating lifelong guidance into lifelong learning strategies. The Resolution promoted lifelong guidance as a policy to support people during the multiple transitions provoked by a more volatile labour market. However, when looking into the guidance policy of Denmark, the Resolution does not seem to have taken effect. Whereas, the career guidance system is relatively developed in terms of transitions from basic schooling into youth education and from youth education to higher education, when it comes to transitions during a working life, adult career guidance structures are patchy and scattered across different policy areas and institutions. The objective of this article is to investigate the potential of adult career guidance as a support structure for Lifelong Learning, career transition and labour market mobility. To this end, we draw on Holzkamp's concept of ‘disruption of the cyclicity in everyday life’ to analyse working life narratives. We focus on the potential contact points between the individual and public structures supporting working life transitions. This article hereby contributes to ongoing discussions concerning access to career guidance as part of a social contract underlying flexible labour markets.     

过劳死：拷问医疗社会保障制度的缺陷

过劳死的特征是在岗死亡、英年早逝、男多女少、白领为主、亚健康前兆、猝死为主。过劳死的原因是经济社会转型、竞争加剧、社会压力增大和医疗社会保障制度不健全。应对措施医疗社会保障和劳动制度,应当从消极性治疗为主的模式转变为积极性预防为主的模式、从主要保护体力劳动的模式调整为既保护体力劳动也保护脑力劳动的模式。     

Can We Uncouple Neighborhood Disadvantage and Delinquent Behaviors? An Experimental Test of Family Resilience Guided by the Social Disorganization Theory of Delinquent Behaviors

Although the influence of neighborhood disadvantage on youth development of delinquent behavior is well established, findings from this research have yet to inform the development of family-centered prevention programming to protect youth from these erosive effects. The current paper examines the role of family integration in buffering the impact of social disadvantage in a sample of N = 298 families randomly assigned either to a control condition or to a family-based prevention program previously shown to enhance marriage and parenting. We first confirmed that neighborhood concentrated disadvantage predicted change in delinquent behaviors across the course of the study. Additionally, replicating prior work, parents participating in the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) program, relative to those randomly assigned to the control group, significantly improved their use of effective communication strategies with each other and reduced ineffective conflict in front of youth. This resulted in a significant indirect effect of ProSAAF on change in youth delinquent behaviors. Furthermore, using mediated moderation analysis, the study tested the buffering effect of greater family integration, showing that experimentally produced change in interparental communication skills and the resulting reduction in youth exposure to parental conflict buffered the effect of neighborhood disadvantage on change in youth delinquent behaviors, supporting a mediated moderation model in which family environments buffer neighborhood effects.     

The Role of Families and Care Givers as Risk and Protective Factors in Preventing Youth Violence

This paper reviews research which discusses the risk and protective functions that families and other caregivers provide in influencing the development of aggressive behavior in youth. Currently, there is an emphasis on providing violence prevention programs in the school environment, typically with little parental or caregiver involvement. By enhancing the role of families and caregivers in youth violence prevention programs, we assert that an unique opportunity exists to both address specific risk factors for violence while enhancing the protective features of the family. Relatedly, the risk literature on youth violence indicates that the most influential risk factors (i.e., the family, community, and peers) have their principle impact on youth aggression outside the school. We suggest a shift in the focus of violence prevention programming that is more inclusive of families as both a risk and protective agent. In support of this position, relevant theory and reviews of exemplary family-involved programs are offered. Challenges to involving youth caregivers are identified and recommendations for overcoming those challenges suggested. Last, recommendations for future research and public policy in the prevention of youth violence are offered.     

Romaphobia among Serbian and Dutch adolescents: The role of perceived threat,nationalistic feelings,and integrative orientations

This study examines the relationships between nationalism and integration attitudes on one hand, and anti‐Roma prejudice on the other. Using Stephan and Stephan's threat theory, the study analyzes whether and to what extent these relationships are mediated by perceived economic and symbolic threats. Data were collected among 16‐ and 17‐year‐old students in Serbia and The Netherlands. A path analysis shows that perceived economic and symbolic threats mediate the relationships between nationalism and integration on one hand, and Romaphobia on the other. Moreover, the findings show that these relationships are comparable between Serbian and Dutch youth. Levels of threat and Romaphobia differ between countries. Youth in the Netherlands, who barely have contact opportunities with Roma, are characterized by higher threat and Romaphobia scores than Serbian youth, who have proportionally more contact opportunities. Explanations are discussed as well as implications for theory and prejudice reduction in diverse intercultural settings.     

Greater than the Sum of their Parts: The benefits of Youth Violence Prevention Centers

Academic Centers for Excellence on Youth Violence Prevention (ACE), which support a broad range of activities over and above RO1-type research projects, can add significantly to a community's capacity to respond to youth violence. We use the example of the Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center to describe the types of research-practice collaborations these centers can promote, as well as the ways in which these collaborations can foster adoption of program planning, development, implementation and evaluation practices consistent with evidence-based approaches to youth violence prevention. Throughout, we describe the ways in which the existence of a center led, under the ACE format, to research, policy and practice opportunities that would not have existed in the absence of a center.     

How youth get engaged: grounded-theory research on motivational development in organized youth programs

For youth to benefit from many of the developmental opportunities provided by organized programs, they need to not only attend but become psychologically engaged in program activities. This research was aimed at formulating empirically based grounded theory on the processes through which this engagement develops. Longitudinal interviews were conducted with 100 ethnically diverse youth (ages 14–21) in 10 urban and rural arts and leadership programs. Qualitative analysis focused on narrative accounts from the 44 youth who reported experiencing a positive turning point in their motivation or engagement. For 38 of these youth, this change process involved forming a personal connection. Similar to processes suggested by self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), forming a personal connection involved youth's progressive integration of personal goals with the goals of program activities. Youth reported developing a connection to 3 personal goals that linked the self with the activity: learning for the future, developing competence, and pursuing a purpose. The role of purpose for many youth suggests that motivational change can be driven by goals that transcend self-needs. These findings suggest that youth need not enter programs intrinsically engaged--motivation can be fostered--and that programs should be creative in helping youth explore ways to form authentic connections to program activities.     

Diamonds in the Rough: Bridging Gaps in Supports for At-Risk Immigrant and Refugee Youth

Immigrant youth come to Canada with enormous potential to make a significant, positive contribution to the future of their adopted country. In many cases, this potential is realised; in others, it is not. The ease with which immigrant youth and their families integrate into Canadian society has a strong impact on their futures; those who become marginalised during this process risk becoming alienated or involved with the criminal justice system. Interviews were conducted with 12 stakeholders (including representatives from social service agencies, community groups and the criminal justice and forensic mental health systems) who frequently come into contact with immigrant and refugee youth involved in criminal and/or gang activity. Based on the family, individual, peer, school and community risk and protective factors reported to have an influence on immigrant and refugee youth, recommendations are made for bridging gaps in programming and policy initiatives to support at-risk youth.     

A Comparison of Gang- and Non-gang-Related Violent Incidents from the Incarcerated Youth Perspective

Research reveals that violence in correctional settings occurs due to both gang and non-gang issues. But there has been limited scholarship that directly compares violent incidents from the incarcerated youth perspective. This study aids in filling this research gap by utilizing interviews from 264 incarcerated male youth, which include 623 violent incident narratives. Analyses reveal differences between facility location, participant dynamic, number of racial groups, and situational dynamics when comparing gang and non-gang motivated violent incidents. The results provide a better understanding of violence among incarcerated youth and have implications for theory, policy, and programming within a juvenile correctional setting.     

Together Helping Reduce Youth Violence for Equity (ThrYve): Examining the Development of a Comprehensive Multisectoral Approach to Youth Violence Prevention

Comprehensive approaches to youth violence prevention are needed to simultaneously address multiple risk factors across socioecological levels. ThrYve (Together Helping Reduce Youth Violence for Equity) is a collaborative initiative focused on addressing broader factors influencing youth violence, including social determinants of health. Using a participatory approach, the development of ThrYve is examined through an empirical case study. Through a Systems Advisory Board (SAB), ThrYve deploys multiple strategies that support cross-sector collaboration involving over 40 partners across 13 community sectors. Based on the Institute of Medicine’s model for public health action in communities, the SAB identified 87 change levers (i.e., program, policy, practice changes) to support community and systems-level improvements. As a result of the collaborative process, in the first couple of years, ThrYve facilitated 85 community actions and changes across sectors. The changes aligned with identified risk and resilience needs of the youth served in the community. The findings further support prior research, which suggests disparities related to gender may influence risk and resilience factors for youth violence. The study also indicates the importance of continuing to examine academic performance as a factor related to youth resilience.