Stephen Houghton

The news of teenagers and even younger children committing ever more serious and violent crimes continues to shock and baffle. The escalating psychological and social toll of youth crime is being paid by all – from victims to offenders to parents and siblings to teachers and to the community as a whole. "Adolescent Reputations and Risk" looks beyond traditional theories to examine, from a solid empirical basis, the motivation and values that make some young people choose antisocial over positive behavior, resulting in potent new insights and possible solutions to this ongoing problem. Synthesizing 15 years of research with delinquent youth, this volume describes the volatile dynamic of child and adolescent social worlds, emphasizing reputation enhancement and goal-setting as bases underlying deviant behavior. In innovative and accessible terms, "Adolescent Reputations and Risk" addresses delinquency throughout the course of childhood and adolescence, offers the first detailed explanation of delinquency by integrating goal-setting and reputation enhancement theories, provides evidence analyzing deviant trends in goal-setting and reputation enhancement terms among primary and high school students, answers key questions on topics such as impulsivity, drug and inhalant use, early-childhood psychopathy, links between ADHD and aggression, and the psychology of loners and includes current data on interventions for at-risk youth, including family and school methods, cognitive-behavioral therapy, wilderness and boot camp programs, and interactive multimedia strategies. This volume is an essential resource for clinical child, school, and counseling psychologists; social workers; and allied education and community mental health professionals and practitioners.

The news of teenagers and even younger children committing ever more serious and violent crimes continues to shock and baffle. The escalating psychological and social toll of youth crime is being paid by all – from victims to offenders to parents and siblings to teachers and to the community as a whole. "Adolescent Reputations and Risk" looks beyond traditional theories to examine, from a solid empirical basis, the motivation and values that make some young people choose antisocial over positive behavior, resulting in potent new insights and possible solutions to this ongoing problem. Synthesizing 15 years of research with delinquent youth, this volume describes the volatile dynamic of child and adolescent social worlds, emphasizing reputation enhancement and goal-setting as bases underlying deviant behavior. In innovative and accessible terms, "Adolescent Reputations and Risk" addresses delinquency throughout the course of childhood and adolescence, offers the first detailed explanation of delinquency by integrating goal-setting and reputation enhancement theories, provides evidence analyzing deviant trends in goal-setting and reputation enhancement terms among primary and high school students, answers key questions on topics such as impulsivity, drug and inhalant use, early-childhood psychopathy, links between ADHD and aggression, and the psychology of loners and includes current data on interventions for at-risk youth, including family and school methods, cognitive-behavioral therapy, wilderness and boot camp programs, and interactive multimedia strategies. This volume is an essential resource for clinical child, school, and counseling psychologists; social workers; and allied education and community mental health professionals and practitioners.

Peers play a crucial role in the establishment of adolescent friendships. While considerable variation exists in the purpose and nature of these friendships, research clearly demonstrates that the basic style of friendship established during the adolescent years is generally replicated in friendships in later life. Thus, the adolescent selection of peer friendship group is critical. For most adolescents, friendships are based on mutual involvement in socially conforming activities conducted primarily with like-minded peers. For some, however, friendships are based on indulgence in non-conforming and delinquent type activities, which in some cases place young people at risk of adverse outcomes. This book provides a substantive understanding of the socio-psychological and cultural processes at play among various adolescent friendships.

The majority of research conducted in the field of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) has comprised laboratory-based psychological studies using highly repetitive and boring tasks. Hence, the generalisability of such work is somewhat limited. This book describes, in three sections, a unique research program which successfully sought to achieve ecological validity in research. Specifically, the three sections describe: (i) the historical conceptualisation of AD/HD and the emergence of models of AD/HD; (ii) the development of a unique quantitative research program incorporating studies using a traditional approach through to those conducted in naturalistic settings; and (iii) the initiation of a related grounded theory' research approach to bringing about a fuller understanding of the everyday experiences of individuals with AD/HD.