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Preventing adolesent abuse: Effective intervention strategies and techniques
Journalof Adolescence1992, 15, 327-333
Book Reviews Preventing Adolesent Abuse: Effective Intervention Strategies and Techniques. R. P. Barth and D. S. Derezotes. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1990. This book is essentially a report of an evaluative research study of the public high school classroom-based child abuse prevention programs for adolescents created under the California Child Abuse Prevention and Training Act of 1984. A student questionnaire was the main instrument used to assess learning of attitudes, knowledge, and “intended” skills in a research design that included control groups, pre- and post-tests, and (for students in the programs groups, only) follow-up tests 3-5 months later. In addition, interviews were performed with some students, parents, and helping professionals to further assess the impact of the programs. Six programs were evaluated in various parts of the state, although efforts were made to obtain descriptions of all such programs in California, as well as of some in other states. Only modest learning gains were found for program group students when their post-test scores were compared to those of control group students. The chapter that reports this central finding, along with many ancillary findings, is marred by the fact that several of its numerous tables contain columns that are mislabelled and unlabelled, with several entries misplaced. A number of factual discrepancies appear between descriptions in the text and corresponding entries in the tables, and the reader is referred to two appendices that happen to be missing from the book. The authors appropriately criticize the California programs for being too narrow and limited, relying almost solely on brief classroom presentations, focusing too heavily on the prevention of just sexual abuse and acquaintance rape, not addressing the fact that adolescents are perpetrators as well as victims of abuse, and not successfully forging linkages with parents, teachers, or comunity programs. Most of the programs are not delivered by high school teachers, but by outsiders who do not have an ongoing association with the adolescents. The two concluding chapters, containing the authors’ program development recommendations, are the best and most useful. The authors suggest that adolescent abuse prevention content should be incorporated into high school family life and health education courses, and integrated with content taught at earlier developmental stages. Embracing an ecological model of child maltreatment, they further recommend a network of school-level and community-based adolescent abuse prevention programs as well as classroom-based approaches. While classroom-based approaches might be offered in all schools, community-based -programs that address the differential and more profound needs of adolescents in high-risk schools and communities might be targeted accordingly. Although 0140-1971/92/030327+06
$03.00/O
Q 1992 The
Association
for the Psychiatric
Study
of Adolescents
328
BOOK
REVIEWS
short on concrete services addressing material conditions of poverty, the authors’ suggestions encompass a promising mix of programs including recreation programs, youth community service projects, in-home conflict resolution services, and school-based adolescent service centers. Leroy H. Petton
Teaching Decision Making to Adolescents. J. Baron and R. V. Brown (Eds.). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrance Erlbaum Associates, 1991. The Adolescent as Decision-maker: Applications to Development and Education. J. Wore11 and F. Danner (Eds.). San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1989. These two edited collections, both generally directed toward educational applications, concern decision making in the developmental stage of adolescence. They are quite different, however, in their orientation and in their adherence to the overall topic of decision making. Both volumes make important contributions to the study of adolescence, but in each case the title of the book is somewhat misleading. The Wore11 and Danner collection includes relatively little about decision making as a specific topic. However, the collection is impressive as a review of theory and research on diverse topics in the study of adolescence. It also has as a clear focus the application of these topics to the education of adolescents. The Baron and Brown volume, by contrast, has a much narrower and more specific focus on programs that are designed to teach decision-making. Not all of the contributions, however, as interesting as they are, address adolescent populations per se. Several of the authors focus on decision-making curricula without specific regard for adolescents as the target population. Because the collections are so different, the remainder of this review addresses the strength of the two volumes separately. Wore11 and Danner: The Adolescent as Descision-maker Wore11 and Danner divided their collection into three parts. Part I, “Concepts of development in adolescence,” contains two overview chapters. The first, by the editors, raises that basic question for the book (“How does adolescence differ from other major periods of the life span and of what significance are these differences for the educational community?“). The second chapter briefly summarizes a number of theories (14 in all) grouped into six areas. Part I thus sets the stage for closer scrutiny of specific topics in adolescence in the remaining two parts. Part II leads the reader on a “journey through adolescence,” with five ports of call: cognitive development, social relationships and skill training, moral and social education, self-awareness and self-identity, and adolescent motivation and The chapter on cognitive development, primarily from the achievement. Piagetian perspective, provides an excellent discussion of several issues, including training studies and the lack of consistent evidence for the universality of formal operations. Kohlberg’s work forms the backdrop for a chapter on moral and social education. The authors acknowledge the lack of consensus in several areas of
Book Reviews Preventing Adolesent Abuse: Effective Intervention Strategies and Techniques. R. P. Barth and D. S. Derezotes. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1990. This book is essentially a report of an evaluative research study of the public high school classroom-based child abuse prevention programs for adolescents created under the California Child Abuse Prevention and Training Act of 1984. A student questionnaire was the main instrument used to assess learning of attitudes, knowledge, and “intended” skills in a research design that included control groups, pre- and post-tests, and (for students in the programs groups, only) follow-up tests 3-5 months later. In addition, interviews were performed with some students, parents, and helping professionals to further assess the impact of the programs. Six programs were evaluated in various parts of the state, although efforts were made to obtain descriptions of all such programs in California, as well as of some in other states. Only modest learning gains were found for program group students when their post-test scores were compared to those of control group students. The chapter that reports this central finding, along with many ancillary findings, is marred by the fact that several of its numerous tables contain columns that are mislabelled and unlabelled, with several entries misplaced. A number of factual discrepancies appear between descriptions in the text and corresponding entries in the tables, and the reader is referred to two appendices that happen to be missing from the book. The authors appropriately criticize the California programs for being too narrow and limited, relying almost solely on brief classroom presentations, focusing too heavily on the prevention of just sexual abuse and acquaintance rape, not addressing the fact that adolescents are perpetrators as well as victims of abuse, and not successfully forging linkages with parents, teachers, or comunity programs. Most of the programs are not delivered by high school teachers, but by outsiders who do not have an ongoing association with the adolescents. The two concluding chapters, containing the authors’ program development recommendations, are the best and most useful. The authors suggest that adolescent abuse prevention content should be incorporated into high school family life and health education courses, and integrated with content taught at earlier developmental stages. Embracing an ecological model of child maltreatment, they further recommend a network of school-level and community-based adolescent abuse prevention programs as well as classroom-based approaches. While classroom-based approaches might be offered in all schools, community-based -programs that address the differential and more profound needs of adolescents in high-risk schools and communities might be targeted accordingly. Although 0140-1971/92/030327+06
$03.00/O
Q 1992 The
Association
for the Psychiatric
Study
of Adolescents
328
BOOK
REVIEWS
short on concrete services addressing material conditions of poverty, the authors’ suggestions encompass a promising mix of programs including recreation programs, youth community service projects, in-home conflict resolution services, and school-based adolescent service centers. Leroy H. Petton
Teaching Decision Making to Adolescents. J. Baron and R. V. Brown (Eds.). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrance Erlbaum Associates, 1991. The Adolescent as Decision-maker: Applications to Development and Education. J. Wore11 and F. Danner (Eds.). San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1989. These two edited collections, both generally directed toward educational applications, concern decision making in the developmental stage of adolescence. They are quite different, however, in their orientation and in their adherence to the overall topic of decision making. Both volumes make important contributions to the study of adolescence, but in each case the title of the book is somewhat misleading. The Wore11 and Danner collection includes relatively little about decision making as a specific topic. However, the collection is impressive as a review of theory and research on diverse topics in the study of adolescence. It also has as a clear focus the application of these topics to the education of adolescents. The Baron and Brown volume, by contrast, has a much narrower and more specific focus on programs that are designed to teach decision-making. Not all of the contributions, however, as interesting as they are, address adolescent populations per se. Several of the authors focus on decision-making curricula without specific regard for adolescents as the target population. Because the collections are so different, the remainder of this review addresses the strength of the two volumes separately. Wore11 and Danner: The Adolescent as Descision-maker Wore11 and Danner divided their collection into three parts. Part I, “Concepts of development in adolescence,” contains two overview chapters. The first, by the editors, raises that basic question for the book (“How does adolescence differ from other major periods of the life span and of what significance are these differences for the educational community?“). The second chapter briefly summarizes a number of theories (14 in all) grouped into six areas. Part I thus sets the stage for closer scrutiny of specific topics in adolescence in the remaining two parts. Part II leads the reader on a “journey through adolescence,” with five ports of call: cognitive development, social relationships and skill training, moral and social education, self-awareness and self-identity, and adolescent motivation and The chapter on cognitive development, primarily from the achievement. Piagetian perspective, provides an excellent discussion of several issues, including training studies and the lack of consistent evidence for the universality of formal operations. Kohlberg’s work forms the backdrop for a chapter on moral and social education. The authors acknowledge the lack of consensus in several areas of