Parents of Teenagers

Adolescence can be shocking and painful both to experience and, as a parent, to observe. Addressing the isolation, fear, and silence that parents endure at this developmental stage, authors Michael Riera and Joseph Di Prisco go beyond the stereotypes and expertly guide parents to a better appreciation of what they are seeing -- and perhaps missing -- in their teenager's frustrating if not completely troubling behavior.

Through stories and conversations, Field Grade to the American Teenager dramatizes teens living their lives on their own terms and illuminates for bewildered and sometimes beleaguered parents the "extraordinary-in-the-ordinary" reality of everyday teenage life. Complete with original suggestions for how to improve parent-child communication, Field Guide lets parents stand briefly in their teenager's shoes, ultimately guiding families toward genuine mutual respect and understanding.

The current generation of adolescents is experiencing more stressful and/or negative experiences at an earlier age in their development than previous generations. The consequence is that more and more teenagers are becoming casualties of drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, and mental illness. In this book, George R. Holmes provides caregivers and parents with specific tactics to move teenagers successfully through adolescence.

In the tradition of Irvin Yalom's Love's Executioner, Dr. Lynn Ponton's remarkable book takes readers inside the minds of 15 troubled adolescents to provide a compelling look at today's teenage experience. Included are Jill, a 13-year-old thrill-seeking runaway; Hannah, a privileged daughter of suburbia who suffers from anorexia; and Joe, a high school senior with a serious drinking problem. The case studies vary from the puzzling to the horrifying, but with her confident and engaging voice, Ponton brings out the unifying themes in all of them. She proposes that teenage "acting out" can be understood in terms of "risk-taking", and that by redirecting this natural impulse into healthy channels parents can minimize the dangers inherent in today's teen culture and help their children develop into mature individuals.

Challenging the traditional views of adolescence and offering a constructive new model for understanding teenage behavior, The Romance of Risk is an essential book for parents concerned about their children's well-being in this age of drug abuse, rampant violence, and AIDS.

[All orders originating from Japan must order through Maruzen International Co., Ltd.: TEL: +81-3-3275-8582; FAX: +81-3-3275-9072; http://www.maruzen.co.jp] NEW! CD-ROM, Handbook of Parenting, Second Edition, Volumes 1-5-$150.00 (see below) Completely revised and expanded from four to five volumes, this new edition of the Handbook of Parenting appears at a time that is momentous in the history of parenting. Parenting and the family are today in a greater state of flux, question, and redefinition than perhaps ever before. We are witnessing the emergence of striking permutations on the theme of parenting: blended families, lesbian and gay parents, and teen versus fifties first-time moms and dads. One cannot but be awed on the biological front by technology that now not only renders postmenopausal women capable of childbearing, but also presents us with the possibility of designing babies. Similarly on the sociological front, single parenthood is a modern day fact of life, adult child dependency is on the rise, and parents are ever less certain of their own roles, even in the face of rising environmental and institutional demands that they take increasing responsibility for their offspring. The Handbook of Parenting concerns itself with: *different types of parents--mothers and fathers, single, adolescent, and adoptive parents; *basic characteristics of parenting--behaviors, knowledge, beliefs, and expectations about parenting; *forces that shape parenting--evolution, genetics, biology, employment, social class, culture, environment, and history; *problems faced by parents--handicap, marital difficulties, drug addiction; and *practical concerns of parenting--how to promote children's health, foster social adjustment and cognitive competence, and interact with school, legal, and public officials. Contributors to the Handbook of Parenting have worked in different ways toward understanding all these diverse aspects of parenting, and all look to the most recent research and thinking in the field to shed light on many topics every parent wonders about. Each chapter addresses a different but central topic in parenting; each is rooted in current thinking and theory, as well as classical and modern research in that topic; each has been written to be read and absorbed in a single sitting. In addition, each chapter follows a standard organization, including an introduction to the chapter as a whole, followed by historical considerations of the topic, a discussion of central issues and theory, a review of classical and modern research, forecasts of future directions of theory and research, and a set of conclusions. Of course, contributors' own convictions and research are considered, but contributions to this new edition present all major points of view and central lines of inquiry and interpret them broadly. The Handbook of Parenting is intended to be both comprehensive and state of the art. As the expanded scope of this second edition amply shows, parenting is naturally and closely allied with many other fields.

Weaves the author's own story of raising teenage daughters with the voices of dozens of other mothers of girls.

Why is it that relationships with family members predict the quality of children's relationships outside the family? A wealth of research has documented that various aspects of family relationships are predictably related to the quality of children's interactions and relationships with peers. Understanding what account for these effects is important both for theories of children's relationships and intervention efforts to ameliorate children's peer relationship difficulties. This volume advances the field by discussing several mechanisms that may account for continuities across family and peer relationships.

Almost all books for parents focus on the way children develop. Ellen Galinsky, instead, writes about how parents develop. Drawing on the work in adult development of Erik Erikson and DanielLevinson, she describes six distinct stages in the life of a parent: the image-making that occurs during pregnancy; the nurturing rolethat swallows parents up from birth through the first couple of years; the authority parents must develop as small children showindependence; the interpretive stage when parents explain the world and their values to school-age children.

Depressive disorders can produce dramatic and frightening changes in young peoples' behaviour, but while parents may suspect something is wrong, they are often at a loss to know what. This book shows parents how to tell the difference between the ordinary ups and downs and true depression, helping them better understand clinical warning signs and the various approaches to treatment. Dealing sensitively with how depression sometimes manifests itself-self-harm, alcohol and drug abuse, and suicide attempts-the book offers parents practical guidance on how they can reach out to their children and find professional assistance.

Focusing on the kinds of networks that most adequately meet adolescent needs, Stinson conducts thirty in-depth interviews with adolescents and their custodial parents. She divides interviews evenly between those living with biological parents, with divorced mother, and with mother and stepfather. Empirical results are applied to guiding questions: How are adolescent social support networks affected by parental divorce and remarriage? What are the impacts of network size and structure on adolescents' well-being? For researchers and practitioners in adolescent well-being, divorce, and remarriage counseling.