Children and Youth Interdisciplinary Perspectives

by Herbert J. Walberg; Olga Reyes; Roger P. Weissberg

• ISBN13: 9780761909071
• ISBN10: 0761909079
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-03-20
• Publisher: Sage Publications

Summary

While "city life" can be exciting, its problems can be challenging for families and children, particularly when they are members of minority groups. An interdisciplinary team of researchers examines the positive and problematic circumstances that confront children and youth living in cities and identifies the best researched-based solutions for improving or enhancing those circumstances. Divided into three parts--families, schools, and health--this impressive array of scholars explore such topics as: factors that have influenced inner-city life, including migration patterns and middle-class flights from cities and ghettos; the role of coping, resources, and skills in an urban familyÆs successful management of stress; community-university partnerships that offer workable solutions to urban children and their families; the features of homes, schools, and communities that promote academic success and healthy psychological development in adverse circumstances; barriers to urban schoolingùsuch as under funding, dangerous environments, and teacher overload--and promising avenues of reform for effective schools; strategies for preventing violence and substance abuse among city youth; the use of cultural competency training for health care providers so as to overcome the geographic, language, and ethnic barriers to the urban poorÆs access to this care; and the development and implementation of the collaborative programs across disciplines to better serve city children and their families. Clearly written so as to be more accessible to researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in the fields of developmental psychology, sociology, family studies, social work, counseling, human services, and nursing this book provides readers with the best interdisciplinary information available today on the problems with growing up in a city and ways to solve them.

Table of Contents

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW - Herbert J Walberg, Olga Reyes and Roger P Weissberg

Introduction and Overview

PART TWO: FAMILIES - Sharon Landesman Ramey and Craig T Ramey

The Role of Universities in Child Development - Geraldine K Brookins, Anne C Petersen and Lisa M Brooks

Youth and Families in the Inner City

Influencing Positive Outcomes - Patrick H Tolan and Deborah Gorman-Smith

Families and the Development of Urban Children - Sam Redding

Urban Myth

The Family in Hard Times

PART THREE: SCHOOLS - Margaret C Wang, Geneva D Haertel and Herbert J Walberg

Fostering Educational Resilience in Inner-City Schools - William Lowe Boyd and Roger C Shouse

The Problems and Promise of Urban Schools - Edward Seidman and Sabine E French

Normative School Transitions among Urban Adolescents - John U Ogbu

Understanding the School Performance of Urban Blacks

Some Essential Background Knowledge - Donald R Hellison and Nicholas J Cutforth

Extended Day Programs for Urban Children and Youth

From Theory to Practice

PART FOUR: HEALTH - Kelli A Komro, Frank Bingchang Hu and Brian R Flay

A Public Health Perspective on Urban Adolescents - Robert L Johnson

Health Perspectives on Urban Children and Youth - Suzanne Feetham

Families and Health in the Urban Environment

Implications for Programs, Research, and Policy

PART FIVE: CONCLUSIONS - Herbert J Wallberg et al

Afterword

Strengthening the Families, Education, and Health of Urban Children and Youth