Drug Abuse Prevention with Multiethnic Youth

What is known about the influence of ethnicity upon drug use? How can this knowledge be used to develop prevention programmes for multi-ethnic youth? Contributors to this invaluable book address these and other pressing questions. They consider specific problems and challenges confronting researchers involved in studying substance abuse in minority communities; explore explanations for racial and ethnic differences in drug use; and examine possible risk and protective factors which influence use. Current drug abuse prevention models in settings including schools, communities and homeless shelters are also presented.

Drug Abuse Prevention with Multiethnic Youth offers well-written chapters by well-qualified authors. This volume provides good documentation on a subject that is timely and important. --Jacob U. Gordon, Ph.D., Executive Director, Institute for Black Leadership Development and Research, The University of Kansas Contributors to this probing volume examine the connection between race/ethnicity and drug abuse and investigate how understanding this connection can play a role in the development of prevention programs for multiethnic youths. The first chapters review the terms ethnicity and ethnic identity and their representation in drug abuse research, considering specific problems and challenges that confront researchers who study substance abuse in minority communities. Next, the contributors focus on drug use prevalence rates and observed racial/ethnic differences in adolescent drug use. This sensitive and proactive volume concludes with a comprehensive analyses of models of drug abuse prevention in a variety of settings--homes, schools, communities, and homeless shelters. Members of the helping professions, researchers in drug abuse treatment and prevention, and students in related public health courses will find information in this volume invaluable to better understanding and responding to multiethnic youths in crisis and at risk of drug abuse.