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In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), youths (23 years or younger)--who account for almost half the population--are particularly vulnerable to poverty and exclusion from financial markets and intermediaries. In addition, a significant factor in the financial instability of the region appears to be the economic functioning of its youths. In recent years, social work interventions throughout the region have focused on investing in the economic functioning of youths. This study looked at baseline data from one such intervention in Kenya (N = 3,965), using the financial capabilities framework to evaluate the factors related to youth's saving behaviors. Authors investigated the association between youth's financial literacy (that is, knowledge, socialization), financial access and financial capabilities and savings behaviors. Results indicate that adolescents who rate themselves as financially literate and those living in close proximity to a bank are more likely to report higher capabilities. Furthermore, financial capabilities in turn partially mediate the relationship between financial literacy, access and savings. Overall, the study's findings point to the positive effect of enhanced financial capabilities among youths and offer support for asset-based interventions targeting youths in SSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth media is emerging as an interdisciplinary field of practice and subject of study. Over the last two decades, there have been many efforts within communities to engage in media, especially within the fields of youth work and education. Despite the increase in practice, we found surprisingly little attention to the potential for youth media within the social work literature. Drawing on a qualitative content analysis of program descriptions from 49 youth media groups, the authors attempt to examine the current field of youth media. Using a critical media literacy framework, the authors analyze the practice of these youth media groups and apply those findings to social work practice, education, and research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Out-of-school time (OST) programs offer a unique opportunity to provide educational supports to high-risk children and youths. The authors describe the utility of applying principles of risk and resilience to the development and evaluation of an OST program. Academic outcomes among participants at the Bridge Project, an OST program located in three urban public housing communities, are presented to illustrate a risk and resilience approach to service delivery. Implications for practice and research are delineated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces social workers to the beliefs and practices associated with Paganism, Witchcraft, and Wicca and describes how social workers can help to create a welcoming environment for children and youths belonging to these religious minority groups. Drawing on social science research, social work literature, and a case example, the author presents suggestions for working with Pagan children and youths in various practice settings, including child welfare agencies, schools, and family-oriented programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increased risk of suicidal ideation and attempts among sexual minority youths have been documented in studies using both convenience samples and representative community samples. However, as most youths do not access social services, these studies do not necessarily represent the sexual minority youths that community-based social workers may encounter in their day-to-day practice. As such, the present study on risk and protective factors related to suicidality surveyed 182 sexual minority youths (14 to 21 years of age) who sought assistance at a community-based social services agency in Denver. Similar to existing literature, the findings suggest that risk factors related to suicidality include hopelessness, methamphetamine use, homelessness, and in-school victimization. However, unlike studies of the general youth population, this study found that African American and male sexual minority youths were not at a lower risk of suicidality than sexual minority youths who were, respectively, white or female. In addition, our findings suggest that the presence of gay-straight alliances in schools may function as a protective resource for sexual minority youths. Implications for social work practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is considerable controversy among mental health professionals and the public about the proper role of psychotropic medications in the treatment of youths. Within social work, too, there have been sharp differences of opinion. There have been few studies, however, about the views of practicing clinical social workers on the use of psychiatric drugs in the treatment of youths. This study, a cross-sectional survey of a national sample of social workers, examines their views about medications and the role they may play in the treatment of youths. The findings suggest that social workers hold complex views that recognize both the potential benefits and harms of psychotropic medications, but overall they seem to support their use in a judicious manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Athough teenage pregnancy is at the center of much current social concern and political debate, the focus tends to be on the young mothers and their children. The lives and parenting experiences of young fathers typically receive less attention from researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. This article presents findings from a qualitative research study of 25 low-income young fathers. Young men were asked questions about their own life experiences and social contexts, their connections with their children and female partners, and the implications these had for sense of self. They were interviewed again one year later. The majority of young fathers were found to be involved significantly in the lives of their children, despite their own struggles. This in turn helped them feel positive about their sense of self. Implications for social policy and programs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the effects of an Africentric youth and family rites of passage program on at-risk African American youths and their parents. Data were obtained from a three-year evaluation of a youth rites of passage demonstration project using therapeutic interventions based on Africentric principles. At-risk African American boys between ages 11.5 and 14.5 years with no history of substance abuse were referred from the criminal justice system, diversion programs, and local schools. The evaluation revealed that participating youths exhibited gains in self-esteem and accurate knowledge of the dangers of drug abuse. Although the differences were not statistically significant, parents demonstrated improvements in parenting skills, racial identity, cultural awareness, and community involvement. Evidence from interviews and focus groups suggests that the program's holistic, family-oriented, Africentric, strengths-based approach and indigenous staff contributed to its success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on a pilot study of exemplary community-based youth initiatives in the United States in which young people are active participants in solving problems, planning programs, and providing services at the community level. The article presents brief summaries of six initiatives illustrating a range of youth participation in the issues that affect their lives and their communities. These diverse initiatives exemplify a view of young people as resources and promote individual, organizational, and community development. They were selected on the basis of their commitment to youth involvement, capacity building, collaboration, cultural awareness, community-defined concerns, leadership development, continuity, and comprehensive and change-oriented practice. The initiatives provide lessons for practice and challenge social workers to build meaningful partnerships and practice approaches that challenge problem-oriented interventions and recognize young people as competent community builders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the manifestation and consequences of community violence in the lives of children and youths. Community violence experiences are all too common among young people, particularly for those living in America's urban centers. Recent studies indicate that 80 percent to 90 percent of children living in urban settings are direct victims of or witnesses to significant acts of violence in their neighborhoods, schools or communities. Specific experiences with violent incidents most often are embedded in broader community and social contexts. An impoverished physical environment characterized by abandoned buildings, empty lots, or deteriorated streets may provide a backdrop for violence. The manifestations of racism such as suspicion by neighbors or shopkeepers, hyper vigilance of police and security guards, or exclusionary policies of landlords contribute to an awareness of mistrust and danger in one's community.

The article presents a national profile of youth problems and literature review that focuses on the causes of each of the problem areas. As the 21st century approaches, communities across the United States remain concerned, frustrated, occasionally fearful and sometimes outraged by the behavior of some adolescents. Issues of teenage pregnancy, school dropout, substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, and violence persist despite various attempts to deal with them. Poverty, child abuse and neglect, health risks such as teenage pregnancy and Iow-birthweight babies, juvenile crime, and homelessness conspire to erode the real and perceived quality of life of youths. Recent statistics from a variety of sources illustrate the amount and persistence of youth problems in this country. These indicators suggest that childhood poverty, the teenage unmarried birth rate, child abuse and neglect, and juvenile violent crime have increased during the past 20 years.

The article focuses on inter-organizational and community approach represents by the Little Village Gang Violence Reduction Project in Chicago. Community organization and direct services are not easily combined in the modern lexicon of social work methods. The current rhetoric distinguishing community and personal empowerment from various treatment modalities, however defined, may be insufficient for planning and dealing with the complex problems of troubled and troublesome people in fragmented, impoverished and segregated communities. Youth gang crime and delinquency are major social problems that are no longer confined to inner city areas. Both are now present in small as well as medium-size cities, suburban areas and rural areas.

The word "homelessness" is not a useful term to explain housing problems experienced by high school-aged youths. The term "housing distress" is preferable because it includes both teenagers who are homeless and those who are at risk of homelessness. Many teenagers feel that they have no place where they belong and seek alternative living arrangements for a variety of reasons. Housing distress is a problem for schools because students have difficulties achieving academic success when they have no consistent, safe place to live. To understand how much or how little housing distress is experienced by high school-aged youths, 3,676 high school-aged teenagers were surveyed in nine communities along the seacoast of New Hampshire and southwestern Maine. Between 5 percent and 10 percent of the teenagers surveyed reported that they had been homeless sometime during the past year. Up to 20 percent of the high school students lived in arrangements that could be considered to be distressing and to put them at risk of becoming homeless. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study that examines a youth services center in the People's Republic of China (PRC), a nation that contains more than one-fifth of the world's population and an even greater proportion of Third World citizens. This article is based on my years of direct contact with youth organizations in the PRC, site visits to the Program, in-depth discussions with local cadres and staff responsible for youth services, and observation of youth activities in Canton. It examines the Program's philosophy and goals, administration, and services in light of the problems caused by modernization in the PRC. The Program is operated under the auspices of the Canton Communist Youth League Committee, the operational organization of the CYL at the municipal level, and is subject to the "informal" leadership of the Canton Federation of Youth, a non-party-based community organization that provides various services for Canton youths from all circles and nationalities. The Program is sensitive to the policies and the service theme of these two leading youth organizations on issues relating to youth development and welfare.