This study addresses a timely and crucial topic, the socialization of today's youth, by asking such precise questions as--What are the young socialized for? Which skills, modes of thinking or action are required of them and what are their developmental values? All too often, socialization tends to be viewed within the confines of a particular geographical or cultural situation. The multi-national contributors bring an international perspective to the problem of socialization in work and adult life by emphasizing common issues facing youth around the world.

This book is concerned with the question of how families matter in young people's development - a question of obvious interest and importance to a wide range of readers, which has serious policy implication. A series of key current topics concerning families are examined by the top international scholars in the field, including the key risks affecting children, individual differences in their resilience, links between families and peers, the connections between parental work and children's family lives, the impact of childcare, divorce, and parental separation, grandparents, and new family...

Research clearly indicates that ethnic groups differ significantly on levels of mental and physical health, antisocial behavior, and educational attainment. This book explains these variations with respect to their psychological and social functioning and tests competing hypotheses about the mechanisms that might cause the functioning to differ in pattern from other groups. Attention is paid to educational attainments, antisocial behavior, schizophrenia and suicide, and to the complex and changing patterns of ethnic identity. The book concludes with a discussion of the multiple meanings of...

This volume makes an important contribution to the growing literature on the transition from school to work. It provides a unique perspective on the global changes that have transformed school-to-work transitions since the 1970s; offers an integrative conceptual framework for analysis; and promotes a comparative, cross-national understanding of school-to-work transitions in a changing social context. The articles assembled in this volume compare and assess variations in school-to-work transitions across Europe and North America, providing empirical evidence on how young people negotiate the...

Cultural values and religious beliefs play a substantial role in adolescent development. Developmental scientists have shown increasing interest in how culture and religion are involved in the processes through which adolescents adapt to environments. This volume constitutes a timely and unique addition to the literature on human development from a cultural-contextual perspective. Editors Gisela Trommsdorff and Xinyin Chen present systematic and in-depth discussions of theoretical perspectives, landmark studies, and strategies for further research in the field. The eminent contributors...

During the transition from childhood to adulthood, adolescents face a unique set of challenges that accompany increased independence and responsibility. This volume combines cutting-edge research in the field of adolescence and the field of motivation and self-regulation to shed new light on these challenges and the self-regulation tools that could most effectively address them. Leading scholars discuss general principles of the adolescent period across a wide variety of areas, including interpersonal relationships, health, and achievement. Their interdisciplinary approach covers perspectives...