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Summary This paper examines the transition of twelfth grade students graduating from high school. The authors followed two groups, one drawn from mainstream educational programs, and the other from special education programs for students with learning disabilities or behavioral disorders. Participants were followed from the last semester of their senior year until six months following their graduation from high school. The study is presented through an ecological perspective that emphasizes the relationships between individuals and their social contexts. Attention is paid to both education-and employment-related transition outcomes, and to the processes involved in negotiating the transition, both generally and with regard to seeking employment. Results indicate that while most of the participants in both groups were engaged in some type of meaningful activity following the transition, the special education group showed higher risk for disengagement. Respondents reported relying on informal resources (e.g...

The authors suggest several explanations why the growth in the field of primary prevention has not been accompanied By a requisite level of attention to the ethical issues involved in prevention research and practice. One explanation is the field's lack of recognition of the paradigmatic assumptions and values which underlie the different approaches to primary prevention. Different prevention paradigms entail different ethical issues, and the process of elaborating these paradigms will promote a long-overdue examination of the ethical implications of primary prevention work. A heuristic for examining ethical issues is proposed in the form of three assertions about primary prevention. The development of a specific ethical code for the prevention field is viewed as being premature, because the field currently lacks the shared identity and standards of practice which form the basis for an accepted code. However, it is certainly time for responsible preventionists to undertake an ethics-based reflect...

Commentary is provided on an overview of consultation guided by the ecological paradigm and four case studies of ecologically-based consultation. The case studies are used as examples in the discussion of environmental reconnaissance and the search for resources, the development of processes to mobilize and enhance resources, and the development of ways of assessing the side-effects and ripples of consultation. The evolutionary and ongoing nature of the processes of preventive interventions is also discussed.