Youth Development Outcomes of the Camp Experience: Evidence for Multidimensional Growth

Three thousand, three hundred and ninety-five families, whose child attended one of 80 different day or resident summer camps for at least one week, completed customized questionnaires that measured growth from precamp to postcamp in four domains: Positive Identity, Social Skills, Physical & Thinking Skills, and Positive Values & Spirituality. Parents, children, and camp staff reported significant positive change in these four domains; more than would be expected by maturation alone. Most gains were maintained or showed additional growth six months later. Few of the camp's structural elements correlated with growth, nor did striking gender, age, or ethnicity differences emerge. The study highlights the particular strengths of camp as an educational institution and social movement and suggests that different variations of summer camp can provide potent developmental experiences. Christopher A. Thurber is full-time faculty at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. He received his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1997. His major research interests include homesickness, youth camping, and developmental psychopathology. Margery M. Scanlin is the Executive Officer for Research at the American Camp Association in Martinsville, Indiana. She received her EdD from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, in 1982. Her major research interests include youth development outcomes, program improvement in youth organizations, and organizational aspects of effective camps. Leslie Scheuler Whitaker is a Senior Associate with Philliber Research Associates in St. Louis, Missouri. She received her PhD in social science research from Washington University in St. Louis in 2000. Her primary research areas include youth development, arts education, and program evaluation. Karla A. Henderson is a professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism at North Carolina State University. She received her PhD in education from the University of Minnesota in 1979 and is currently a member of the American Camp Association Board of Directors. Her research interests include leisure behavior theory, camping and outdoor education, and gender and diversity issues.     

Parenting Behaviors,Association with Deviant Peers,and Delinquency in African American Adolescents: A Mediated-Moderation Model

The aim of the present study was to examine a model positing that association with deviant peers mediates the relation between adolescent perceived parenting behaviors (maternal monitoring and involvement), the interaction of these parenting behaviors, and delinquency in a sample of 135 urban African American adolescents (13–19 years of age). Regression analyses revealed a monitoring by involvement interaction among African American females, suggesting that maternal monitoring may effectively reduce delinquency among African American female adolescents, and that this reduction may be enhanced by increased maternal involvement. Among African American males, only the relation between association with deviant peers and delinquency was supported, suggesting that maternal parenting behaviors may, in isolation, be insufficient in the prevention of delinquent behaviors in African American male adolescents. The results suggest that the pathways from parenting to association with deviant peers and delinquency may differ in males and females, and the salience of certain parenting behaviors may differ across gender. This article is based on research that was submitted by the first author in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the master’s degree in psychology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Support for this research was provided by a Faculty Research Award to the second author. Doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Program at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Her major research interests include risk and resiliency processes in minority youth and measurement equivalence of risk and resiliency constructs. Assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Texas. Her major research interests are ecocultural models of risk and resiliency in minority youth and measurement equivalence of risk and resiliency constructs. Post-doctoral fellow with the Prevention Research Center at Arizona State University. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York. His major research interests are ecocultural models of risk and resiliency in children, preventive intervention development for diverse children, and quantitative methodology and applications in developmental and cross-cultural psychology.     

Socioenvironmental Risk and Adjustment in Latino Youth: The Mediating Effects of Family Processes and Social Competence

The direct and mediated effects of socioenvironmental risk on internalizing and externalizing problems among Latino youth aged 10–14 were examined using prospective analyses. Participants in this study were 464 Latino mother and child dyads surveyed as part of the Welfare, Children & Families: A Three City Study. It was hypothesized that socioenvironmental risk (i.e., maternal psychological distress, maternal parenting stress, neighborhood disadvantage, and perceived financial strain) would influence later adolescent adjustment by interrupting important family processes and interfering with opportunities for adolescents to develop appropriate social competence. Using path analyses, the mediational model was compared across high and low acculturation groups. With two exceptions, the models for the high and low acculturation groups were equivalent. Results supported a mediated effect between early socioenvironmental risk and later adjustment problems for the low acculturation group through family routines and adolescent social competence. Among families high in acculturation, socioenvironmental risk effects were partially mediated through family routines and adolescent social competence. Finally, a path from gender to maternal monitoring was present in the low acculturation group model but not the high acculturation group model. Assistant professor at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Texas. Her major research interests are risk and resiliency processes in minority youth. Assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Michigan State University. Her major research interests are the effects of microenvironmental factors in the externalizing and internalizing behaviors of European American and Latino youth. Assistant professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Michigan State University. Her major research interests are risk and protective factors in children and adolescents at-risk because of parental substance abuse.     

发挥青年院校的优势办出青年类学报的特色

青年院校在研究青年问题和青年工作以及青年所关心的社会问题和理论问题方面,具有自己独特的优势。青年类学报如能依托这种优势,整合科研资源,集中开展这些问题的研究,就能够在我国学术期刊之林显示出自己的特色,打出品牌,独树一帜。     

山西省青少年毒品犯罪的成因及防控对策

毒品犯罪已经成为全球性的难题,近年来有愈演愈烈之势。尽管山西省并非我国毒品违法犯罪的高发省份,但毒品违法犯罪中青少年群体的参与程度和危害后果却不容忽视。实践部门要加大毒品危害性宣传,提高全民禁毒意识,同时强化青少年毒品违法犯罪的抑控机制,加强对青少年毒品违法犯罪的综合治理。     

网络媒体对我国青年思想政治工作的影响及对策

网络媒体对我国青年思想政治工作既有积极影响,也有消极影响。教育工作得要以开放的心态迎接网络媒体的挑战,国家要加速互联网络体系建设,对网络媒体进行依法管理和技术管制,并加强对青年的人文关怀。     

当代青年生存无意义感的理性反思

随着现代科技的迅猛发展和由传统文化建构的意义世界的解体,不少青年人在面对瞬息万变及复杂多样的现代生活时逐渐丧失了支撑其生命活动的价值资源和意义归宿,产生了身心分离的碎片感、疲惫感、宿命感和孤独无助感。对此,德育工作必须改变过去“纯工具化”理性,赋予当代青年更多的人文关怀,如生命情感关怀、终极信仰关怀、社会责任感关怀和苦难与死亡意义的关怀等,引导他们超越自身的有限性和现实的物质纷扰,追求生命的永恒价值。     

育龄妇女身份的探索研究——基于社会性别公平视角对DQ县的调查

为了探索中国育龄妇女在计划生育中的身份地位,本文通过DQ县的田野调查,访问了女性64人,男性19人,从社会性别公平的理念出发,阐述了在计划生育优质服务过程中,中国育龄妇女在生育和节育方面的身份地位状况,分析了计划生育优质服务对育龄妇女身份地位的影响,发现了育龄妇女虽仍处于计划生育"客体"的地位,但其主体性意识已经开始觉醒;最后,为确立育龄妇女的主体身份提出了几点建议.     

"三个代表"与理论创新

江泽民同志“三个代表”重要思想与马克思列宁主义、毛泽东思想、邓小平理论一脉相承,是运用马克思主义的世界观、方法论和宽广眼光观察世界而作出的重大理论创新,是时代精神的科学反映,是对党的执政规律、社会主义建设规律和人类社会发展规律认识的飞跃。     

网络时代的青年思想政治工作

随着信息技术的迅猛发展 ,国际互联网被视为继报纸、广播、电视之后的“第四传播媒体” ,日益介入到社会生活的各个方面 ,对我们开展青年思想政治工作带来了全新的挑战。本文从网络文化的特征入手 ,客观分析了网络对青年思想政治工作的影响 ,提出了新形势下做好青年思想政治工作的建议和对策。