Adolescents and Risk: Making Sense of Adolescent Psychology

by Patrick B. Johnson, Micheline S. Malow-Iroff

Overview

Substance abuse, gambling, sexual promiscuity, violence, mental health problems, suicide: all are risky and dangerous consequences of adolescent instability. Through the implementation of psychological research and basic theories, Johnson and Malow-Iroff expertly assess each specific risk behavior as it correlates with demographics, socio-economic statuses, and cultural factors surrounding today's youth. In addition, this book provides resources for handling harmful situations facing adolescents, offering practical and straightforward methods to aid one in negotiating positive paths for those in distress. Parents, educators, and adolescents alike will only benefit from knowing the causes of adolescent risk-taking and the ways of preventing such behavior.

Each chapter is devoted to a specific risk that many adolescents take throughout their teenage years. These include: drug abuse, gambling, sex, violence, and suicide. Johnson and Malow-Iroff discuss the mental health problems that lead to dangerous activities. Each topic explains the causes that lead to these risky behaviors, ways to prevent them, and advice that will be useful to parents and educators in addressing these issues.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313336874
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/30/2008
Series:	Making Sense of Psychology
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

PATRICK B. JOHNSON is Professor in the Department of Human Development and Learning at Dowling College on Long Island. Before moving to Dowling, Johnson was a senior fellow and Deputy Director of the Medical Research Division at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. He also was Senior Research Associate at the Hispanic Research Center at Fordham University where he worked on culture and alcohol abuse for over a decade.

MICHELINE S. MALOW-IROFF is Assistant Professor in the Special Education Department at Manhattanville College located in Westchester, New York. Prior to joining the faculty at Manhattanville College, Malow-Iroff was Assistant Professor at Queens College in the Elementary and Early Childhood Education Department. In addition, Malow-Iroff is a certified school psychologist and worked in a preschool for children with special needs for eight years providing therapy and support to children, teachers, and parents.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Adolescent Drug Use
Chapter Three: Adolescent Gambling
Chapter Four: Adolescent Sex
Chapter Five: Adolescent Violence
Chapter Six: Adolescent Suicide
Chapter Seven: Beyond Risk: Adolescent Mental Disorders
Chapter Eight: Possible Causes of Adolescent Risk Taking
Chapter Nine: Preventing Adolescent Risk Taking
Chapter Ten: Conclusion
Index

What People are Saying About This

Lewis A. Opler

"Adolescents and Risk: Making Sense of Adolescent Psychology is a valuable source of information for policy makers, researchers, and clinicians, as well as a practical survival guide for parents/teachers/adolescents traversing the inevitable stresses and strains that come with adolescence."

—

Lewis A. Opler, MD, PhD., Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

Lawrence S. Gaines

"As I read Adolescents and Risk: Making Sense of Adolescent Psychology I found myself thinking about it from the perspective of a parent, clinical psychologist and researcher. This book can be useful and stimulating to all three groups because of what and how it presents theory and research findings about adolescent risk-taking. Most important, it presents information from studies that are phenomenological and illustrate how intentions and will are experienced. I think this is important because too often we read about risk-taking in the context of executive processes but not the experience of young decision makers. As to its method of presentation, it emphasizes developmental processes that can be verbally engaged and stimulated according to effective developmentally-sensitive interventions. Even my seventeen year old daughter found it stimulating."

Lawrence S. Gaines

"As I read Adolescents and Risk: Making Sense of Adolescent Psychology I found myself thinking about it from the perspective of a parent, clinical psychologist and researcher. This book can be useful and stimulating to all three groups because of what and how it presents theory and research findings about adolescent risk-taking. Most important, it presents information from studies that are phenomenological and illustrate how intentions and will are experienced. I think this is important because too often we read about risk-taking in the context of executive processes but not the experience of young decision makers. As to its method of presentation, it emphasizes developmental processes that can be verbally engaged and stimulated according to effective developmentally-sensitive interventions. Even my seventeen year old daughter found it stimulating."

—

Lawrence S. Gaines, Ph.D., Dept. of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University

Lewis A. Opler

"Adolescents and Risk: Making Sense of Adolescent Psychology is a valuable source of information for policy makers, researchers, and clinicians, as well as a practical survival guide for parents/teachers/adolescents traversing the inevitable stresses and strains that come with adolescence."

Steven Belenko

"This important and well-written new book tackles a wide range of risk behaviors among adolescents in an engaging, thorough, and reasoned manner. The book is extremely well organized into types of risk behaviors and covers various theories of adolescent risk with clarity and a critical eye. The inclusion of gambling, often ignored in discussions of problem addictive behavior, is one of the many notable aspects of this book and represents a newly emerging problem for teens. The organization of the book allows the reader to absorb detailed information about each type of risk-taking, while making the necessary connection among the different behaviors. Drs. Johnson and Malow-Iroff succinctly illustrate programs that are effective, as well as those that have not been demonstrated to reduce adolescent risk behaviors. This valuable guide should be mandatory reading."

Steven Belenko

"This important and well-written new book tackles a wide range of risk behaviors among adolescents in an engaging, thorough, and reasoned manner. The book is extremely well organized into types of risk behaviors and covers various theories of adolescent risk with clarity and a critical eye. The inclusion of gambling, often ignored in discussions of problem addictive behavior, is one of the many notable aspects of this book and represents a newly emerging problem for teens. The organization of the book allows the reader to absorb detailed information about each type of risk-taking, while making the necessary connection among the different behaviors. Drs. Johnson and Malow-Iroff succinctly illustrate programs that are effective, as well as those that have not been demonstrated to reduce adolescent risk behaviors. This valuable guide should be mandatory reading."

—

Steven Belenko, Ph.D., Professor, Temple University

Editorial Reviews

Johnson and Malow-Iroff present a thoughtful analysis of the most pressing problems apparent in adolescents today. The authors explain how an adolescent might perceive the world and how those perceptions might lead to risky behaviors involving sex, alcohol, and other drugs or become troubled or dark enough to lead to thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts. Johnson and Malow-Iroff do not argue that all, or even many, adolescents contemplate or attempt suicide, but the risk is real and the authors explore it and other behaviors with compassion and honesty. The chapter on adolescent sex, for example, discusses statistics on sexual activity, condom usage, and the effectiveness of various teenage pregnancy prevention programs, and provides additional resources for information on this important issue. This book will be especially valuable for individuals (teachers, coaches, counselors) working with this population and for parents struggling to understand problems their adolescent might be confronting. It is not for those who think looking the other way is the solution. Highly recommended. Graduate students, professionals, general readers.” —Choice

“Johnson and Malow-Iroff assess each risk behavior as it correlates with demographics, socio-economic statuses, and cultural factors surrounding today's youth. In addition, this book provides resources for handling harmful situations facing adolescents, offering practical and straightforward methods to aid one in negotiating positive paths for those in distress. . . For each topic, the authors explain the causes of the risky behavior and ways to prevent it, and offer advice that will be useful to parents and educators in addressing these issues.” —Family Therapy

From the Publisher