Educational Alternatives for Vulnerable Youth: Student Needs, Program Types, and Research Directions

Chapter 1 of this document examines the need for alternative education among vulnerable youth by reviewing the numbers and characteristics of youth who disconnect from mainstream developmental pathways in various ways. The second chapter examines the question of "what is an alternative education school or program" and draws on a variety of elements from the literature to suggest the beginnings of a typology that might be used to define and organize the varieties of educational alternatives that currently exist and might be promoted in the future. Finally, Chapter 3 summarizes the findings of a roundtable on directions for future research on alternative education and describes the types of information and studies that are needed to advance the field of alternative education and foster more support for the development of high quality educational alternatives that all children can choose and benefit from

Youth Development Approaches in Adolescent Family Life Demonstration Projects

Youth development (YD) strategies in conjunction with appropriate age-graded sexuality and family life education programs/curricula may have an important role to play in formulating convincing answers to these questions. Youth development approaches help youth enhance their assets rather than concentrating on their difficulties. They focus on where youth are going, helping them develop a belief in a viable future and in their ability to take actions that will bring that future about. The commitment to a future that would be disrupted by a pregnancy during adolescence is about the only thing that Zabin and her colleagues (1986) found to differentiate among Baltimore adolescents using teen clinics who did and did not get pregnant. Teens without a strong reason to avoid pregnancy got pregnant at the same rate as those who wanted to get pregnant; the only teens who were successful at avoiding pregnancy were those who had a future goal that a pregnancy would disrupt. Thus, incorporating youth development principles along with some specific techniques into the work of the Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs' (OAPP) abstinence-oriented programs would seem to be an important program enhancement with potentially valuable impacts

Nine Strategies to Guide Efforts to Reduce Youth Gun Violence

Gun violence, including that perpetrated by young people, is a pernicious problem for many communities, particularly those facing historically high levels of concentrated disadvantage and disinvestment. To effectively address youth gun violence and establish and maintain peace, communities need stable safety infrastructures and effective interventions.We developed a research-based practice guide to help local governments, law enforcement agencies, and antiviolence organizations determine how to shape their approaches to reducing gun violence perpetrated by young people ages 10 to 25 in gangs or groups. Here, we summarize the guide's recommendations on how to develop effective interventions and build a broader safety infrastructure that supports the success of different partners working to protect young people and communities from gun violence

A Research-Based Practice Guide to Reduce Youth Gun and Gang/Group Violence

While extensive research exists, the field lacks a current and translational synthesis of what works to reduce youth group and gun violence. In response, the Urban Institute developed a research-based practice guide to inform local government, law enforcement, and community-violence-intervention stakeholders as they implement new antiviolence interventions and refine existing ones. To inform the development of the guide, Urban researchers conducted a comprehensive literature synthesis of research on violence reduction interventions and conducted a scan of interventions representing well-known antiviolence models and other innovative strategies. Drawing on the findings from the literature synthesis and scan of practice, the practice guide presents recommendations around nine practice areas related to building an infrastructure to support a multi-faceted antiviolence strategy and implementing effective violence reduction programs

Adolescent Risk Factors for Sexual Victimization: A Longitudinal Analysis of Rural Women

Longitudinal data were used to examine risk factors for sexual victimization among 237 young adult rural women. In this sample, 8% reported experiencing forced sex (i.e., physically violent experiences) and a separate 22% reported experiencing coerced sex (i.e., external psychological manipulation, substance-related coercion, or internal psychological pressure.) Women who had more educated mothers had a greater probability of reporting forced sex. In addition, mothers’ education moderated the relationship between individual risk factors and the probability of reporting forced sex. For women with less educated mothers, higher frequency of sexual activity during adolescence was related to an increased probability of reporting forced sex. For women with more educated mothers, higher frequency of sexual activity was related to a decreased probability of reporting forced sex. Frequency of sexual activity during adolescence was also related to coerced sex, with higher frequency of sexual activity predicting a greater probability of reporting coerced sex

Adolescent Risk Factors for Sexual Victimization: A Longitudinal Analysis of Rural Women

Longitudinal data were used to examine risk factors for sexual victimization among 237 young adult rural women. In this sample, 8% reported experiencing forced sex (i.e., physically violent experiences) and a separate 22% reported experiencing coerced sex (i.e., external psychological manipulation, substance-related coercion, or internal psychological pressure.) Women who had more educated mothers had a greater probability of reporting forced sex. In addition, mothers’ education moderated the relationship between individual risk factors and the probability of reporting forced sex. For women with less educated mothers, higher frequency of sexual activity during adolescence was related to an increased probability of reporting forced sex. For women with more educated mothers, higher frequency of sexual activity was related to a decreased probability of reporting forced sex. Frequency of sexual activity during adolescence was also related to coerced sex, with higher frequency of sexual activity predicting a greater probability of reporting coerced sex