Safe Passage: Making It Through Adolescence in a Risky Society - Hardcover

Dryfoos, Joy G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195112563 ISBN 13: 9780195112566

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1998

Synopsis

Children today face daunting obstacles on the path to adulthood--failing schools, dangerous streets, drug abuse, teen pregnancy. But the good news, according to child advocate Joy Dryfoos, is that there are many programs out there that work--models that we can apply to our own communities and our own children. In Safe Passage, Dryfoos helps us find them.
Indeed, this book examines hundreds of successful programs, ideas that have worked in the real world--in a very tough real world at that--such as the Turner Middle School in Philadelphia, a model of a "university assisted" community school. Dryfoos examines the new trend toward full-service schools, programs that make the school the hub of the community, serving as enrichment centers and neighborhood safe havens. She evaluates programs that try to cope with sex, drugs, and violence--revealing which ones work and what aspects of these programs are most effective--and she also dissects programs that have failed, such as the highly touted drug program, DARE. Dryfoos concludes with a passionate call for action, outlining what must be done if our young people are to be assured safe passage to the future.
Whether they live in a room down the hall, a house across town, or a tenement a thousand miles away, these are our children. This book shows us what we can do to give them a better chance to succeed in life, to grow up to be healthy and productive adults.

About this title

About the Author

Joy Dryfoos is an independent researcher and writer whose work is supported by the Carnegie Corporation. She lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

Reviews

The transition from adolescence to adulthood represents an aspect of psychosocial development that has increasing importance not only for individuals but also for public policy makers. To the extent that adolescent development can be influenced by politics, Dryfoos, former director of the Alan Guttmacher Institute and author of Full-Service Schools, suggests that government programs are essential in facilitating the "safe passage" to socially constructive adulthoods for American adolescents at risk for antisocial forms of behavior. Arguing in support of the federal government's continued involvement in structuring America's social and educational programs for adolescents, Dryfoos holds that "full-service schools" (schools that integrate psychosocial programs into a child's basic education) are needed if high-risk youths are to establish or maintain the "basic trust" in adult authority that is considered to underlie successful social adaptation. Although one may question Dryfoos's contention that the individual process of psychosocial maturation could ever be a right ensured by the state, her discussion of how federal government policies can create programs for adolescents that prevent the development of antisocial pursuits and foster social adaptation is clearly written and well thought out. While more research concerning the benefits of full-service schools is undoubtedly necessary, anyone interested in the fate of government programs for American adolescents should read this book.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The subject, tone, and organization of this book are very similar to Dryfoos's previous Adolescents at Risk: Prevalence and Prevention (Oxford Univ., 1990). It aspires to be a wake-up call for educators, social workers, and policymakers, exhorting them to rethink and retool family, school, and community programs for helping troubled adolescents. Dryfoos is best when she sticks to the facts; reports of the numbers and results of formal studies make compelling arguments for the need to create new programs that will address alarming trends in adolescent substance abuse, sexual behavior, violence, and school failure. A chapter on sources of state and federal aid is somewhat useful. For the most part, however, Dryfoos's use of the first person and shrill tone undermine this effort. Recommended for academic and special libraries only.?Ellen Gilbert, New Brunswick, N.J.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195112563
• ISBN 13: 9780195112566
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304