Ethnic Issues in Adolescent Mental Health

The effects of social and environmental conditions on mental health, and the need to understand ethnic values and attitudes when developing helping strategies are the major themes of this volume, which is aimed at raising awareness of the effects of ethnicity on adolescent mental health.

America′s minority adolescents are clearly a population at risk. In the immediate years to come, many are in danger of experiencing mental health problems and being left without a promising future. Ethnic Issues in Adolescent Mental Health is designed to raise awareness on the effects of ethnicity on adolescent mental health. Two primary themes are addressed: First, the effect of social and environmental conditions as causes of mental health problems; and second, the necessity for understanding ethnic values and attitudes in developing appropriate helping strategies. Problems of identity formation, acculturation education, antisocial behavior, sexuality, substance abuse, and suicide are all thoroughly examined as afflicting the mental health, and hence the lifetime opportunities of minority adolescents. Ethnic Issues in Adolescent Mental Health will be useful as an adjunct text for information about ethnicity in classes concerning adolescents in the fields of psychology, social work, sociology, and related areas. In addition, this book will also be of interest to those individuals doing research on adolescent mental health to provide background information on ethnic issues concerning different mental health problems. "Ethnic Issues in Adolescent Mental Health is a timely volume on ethnic-specific issues as applied to the mental health context. . . . This is a book I highly recommend for both researchers and clinicians who are interested in the role of ethnicity and/or practice conducted among ethnic minority adolescents." --Journal of Adolescence "This collection focuses on current knowledge about the impact of ethnic issues on adolescent mental health and the implications of the issues for effective intervention programs. . . . Helpful tables and figures; extensive reference lists accompany each chapter. Appropriate for upper-division undergraduate, graduate, or professional collections." --Choice "The authors address mental health concerns in the contexts of adolescence, ethnicity, and social and environmental conditions. . . . They cover issues of identity formation, acculturation, sexuality, substance abuse, suicide, and living conditions. Family issues are discussed from multiple perspectives. While the population addressed is broad and the subject matter complex, the contributors to this volume bring a needed lens of ethnicity to the examination of adolescent′s concerns." --Families in Society "Politically correct scolding of the majority is not so prominent in this volume as it would have been a few years ago. This shift is certainly wise, because it is the unconverted that need (and indeed want) to learn about the challenges and obligations of increasing diversity in mental health service and research. The general reader will respond to the solid scholarship on ethnic identity by Phinney, Lockner, and Murphy, and to the epidemiology and policy chapter by Marsiglio and Scanzioni. Oyemade and Washington′s chapter is a model of research and integration and model design for the fields of substance abuse, family dynamics, and primary prevention for high-risk Black youth." --Contemporary Psychology