The Crisis in Youth Mental Health
Critical Issues and Effective Programs
by Hiram E. Fitzgerald, Gen. Ed., Robert Zucker, Kristine Freeark
December 2005, 1488pp, 6 1/8x9 1/4
4 volumes, Praeger

Hardcover: 978-0-275-98480-9
$227, £175, 198€, A311
eBook Available: 978-0-313-03837-2
Please contact your preferred eBook vendor for pricing.

Experts explain the apparent epidemic of psychological disorders among our children and teenagers presenting insights to the causes, displays, repercussions, and potential cures.

A recent report to the nation from the Commission on Children at Risk warned that rising rates of mental and emotional problems among U.S. children and teenagers signal a crisis for the country. Depression, anxiety, attention deficit, conduct disorders, suicidal thinking, and other serious psychological problems are striking more and more children and youths. In these volumes, dozens of experts describe in clear language what the maladies are, how they develop, what fuels them, and what can be done to stem the tide or eradicate these disorders. Particular situations are examined, and the roles of parents, family, peers, childcare leaders, school personnel and programs, as well as pediatricians are discussed.

A recent report to the nation from the Commission on Children at Risk warned that rising rates of mental and emotional problems among U.S. children and teenagers signal a crisis for the country. Depression, anxiety, attention deficit, conduct disorders, suicidal thinking, and other serious psychological problems are striking more and more children and youths. Conservative estimates say one in every ten children and adolescents now suffers from mental illness severe enough to cause impairment. Fewer than one in five ever gets treatment.

In these volumes, dozens of experts from across the nation, including a Nobel Prize winner and researchers from Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, describe in clear language what the maladies are, how they develop, what fuels them and what can be done to stem the tide or eradicate these disorders. Included are chapters on attachment disorders, aggression and antisocial behaviors, learning disabilities, suicidal behavior, and autistic spectrum disorders, among others. Particular situations examined include the mental health crisis for abused children, for immigrant, foster, African American, Latino, Indian and Alaskan children, for those living in poverty, and for teenagers among the sexual minority. The roles of parents, family, peers, childcare leaders, school personnel and programs, as well as pediatricians are discussed.

Reviews

"Fitzgerald, Zucker, and Freeark bring considerable combined expertise and skill to this well-edited four-volume set. Together the volumes offer 51 chapters that reflect a diverse set of methodologies dealing with the science and practice underlying issues related to parenting, mental health, child care, and public policy. Cultural factors and formulations are embedded into all four volumes, making this remarkable set a cutting-edge tool. Each chapter includes references, and each of the four volumes includes a subject and author index. This resource will be valuable for psychologists (developmental, clinical, and counseling), social workers, practitioners working with children and youth, and those aspiring to work in these capacities. Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals."—Choice, October 1, 2006

"The Crisis in Mental Health: Critical Issues and Effective Programs texts do provide a mass of useful findings that certainly carry important messages for....other countries....These four volumes are persuasive on the reality of at least some of the concerns, they summarise many useful findings, and they provide some useful intervention leads."—The Lancet, August 25, 2007

"[A] worthy addition to this growing literature ... Clinical medical and nursing libraries should consider buying this..."—Reference Reviews, September 1, 2006

"Inspired by a sense of urgency about a rise in the rates of mental and emotional problems among U.S. children and teenagers and a need to make known the crucial importance of early intervention, a varied group of professionals authored and edited this four-volume reference set, which comprises the initial offering in the publisher's series, Child Psychology and Mental Health....Each volume contains between 10 and 15 essays reviewing what is known and what must be done. For policymakers and professionals of all stripes whose work involves children."—SciTech Book News, March 1, 2006

This book serves as a useful resource for researchers, specialists and policy makers interested in understanding the various challenges that every youth is susceptible to and likewise developing preventive and intervention strategies to resolve the challenges. The language is relatively non-technical and will therefore appeal to the lay person as well who at some level or the other, forms a part of the home, school or community and can play a vital role in ensuring the well being of the youth.—Metapsychology, February 27, 2007

"Early Intervention Programs and Policies is a state-of-the-art compilation of what makes a difference in the lives of children, written by some of the most influential social scientists in the field, as well as a provocative compendium of the possibilities for smart public policy. It belongs on the bookshelves of everyone--researcher, practitioner and policy analyst alike--whose labor of love is to afford the young a truly meaningful start."—David L. Kirp, Professor of Public Policy, Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California-Berkeley and author of Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line:The Marketing of Higher Education and Before School (forthcoming)
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