Adolescents at Risk

Joy Dryfoos looks at those young people aged between 10 and 17 growing up in the United States today who have only limited potential for becoming productive adults, because they are at high risk of encountering problems in school, at home or in their communities. This book explores four areas that have received a great amount of resources, public interest and social concern: delinquency, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy and school failure. Her study has three aims: to present a more cogent picture of adolescents who are at risk of problem behaviours and where they fit into society; to synthesize the experience of programmes that have been successful in changing various aspects of these behaviours; and to propose strategies for using this knowledge as a basis for more effective approaches to helping youngsters succeed.