NCJ Number
132618
Journal
Adolescence Volume: 23 Issue: 91 Dated: (Fall 1988) Pages: 643-660
Date Published
1988
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This integrated, interactive, and reciprocal model for the prevention of health-damaging behaviors in adolescents, including school dropouts, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, and suicide, is based on findings suggesting that high-risk youth have the inherent capability of developing a more mature outlook and an interest in nondeviant lifestyles.
Abstract
In this model, the impact of a youth's experiences will depend on how the youth interprets the meaning of that experience. School personnel who understand how this process operates in high-risk youth are in a position to interact with them in a way that corrects distortions in attributions and creates a school atmosphere that fosters self-esteem. Consistency in these types of interactions could counter the cumulative process that leads to deviance and health-damaging behaviors. Indeed, if youth are exposed to concepts of mental health in a way that relates to their experiences and they are engaged in a positive state of mind, the results will actually have a reciprocal effect that will reverse the alienation process. 1 figure and 58 references (Author abstract modified)