Steven R. Rose

Revisiting the Americans with Disabilities Act after two decades.

This article examines the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 20 years after its passage. It provides an overview of the history and major components of the ADA, examines who has disabilities and how they are faring, and traces how the ADA has evolved through court cases that have limited its scope. In addition, the article investigates abuse of the ADA, its economic impact, and the problems in defining a disability. Although the ADA is continuing to evolve, it requires significant change to live up to its magnificent promise.

A Review of Effectiveness of Group Work with Children of Divorce

This article reviews the published studies of the effectiveness of major group work programs, mainly implemented in schools, which address the stressful impact of parental divorce on children. Focused short-term program group work has shown to be modestly effective in helping children of divorce. However, methodological issues exist in regard to the evaluation studies, related to research design, program fidelity, biased ratings, and the overreliance on measures that focus on psychopathology and ignore coping and adaptation.

A demographic–economic model for adolescent substance abuse and crime prevention

A demographic–economic model is used to estimate the impact of evidenced-based, substance-abuse social intervention that addresses delinquent crime. If ramped-up with more extensive financing, prevention would have many beneficial effects on drug and behavioral problems of delinquent youth. Historical data show drug use accelerates in the 14–15 year age group and peaks in the 18–20 year age group and then begins to decline until age 30. Over a 1-year interval, African Americans aged 12–17 have been found to use illicit drugs at a rate of 14% and Whites at 17%; however, African American youth drug offenses are 51% higher than comparable White youth offenses. Significant economic costs are generated by the disproportionate criminal justice outcomes experienced by African American adolescents, and cost savings are calculated. Two scenarios are developed to illustrate the effect of expanded programming for at-risk youths. A decline in residential placement in the juvenile justice system is projected along with cost savings to taxpayers and victims.

Contemporary Youth Violence Prevention: Interpersonal-Cognitive Problem-Solving

ABSTRACT Considerable progress has been made in the past decade in identifying which factors contribute to youth violence. The purpose of this article is to illuminate the issues and group factors that underlie youth violence, assessment and profiling, and prevention programs. Guidelines for predicting youth violence are presented and critiqued. School violence prevention programs, the role of SAMHSA, and interpersonal-cognitive problem-solving are presented.

Social security and privatization: a viable combination?

Privatization involves placing Social Security contributions into individual savings accounts. Recent moves to promote the privatization of Social Security in the United States assume that the Social Security system itself is now in crisis, although the evidence suggests otherwise. Nevertheless, there are real concerns about the future viability of Social Security that should be addressed. The public remains supportive of Social Security and all that appears necessary are minor modifications of the Social Security system, rather than its abandonment to the private sector.

The emotional growth of teens: How group counseling intervention works for schools by Fibkins, W. L.

The need for group counseling programs in schools remains important today. The thesis of this book appears to be that school counselors can make use of groups to do counseling in schools rather than mostly or exclusively perform administrative tasks. The emphasis is on developing an ongoing group counseling program. Being “human” and meeting a wide range of needs of students are emphasized in this small, pleasant book. Fibkins cares about “kids in need.” He believes in helping “marginalized” students and “marginal” students. Fibkins “tells it like it is” regarding how he sees the priorities in the school environment. He appears to believe that a focus on good students without attending to the needs of other students is harmful to schools. Counseling groups are seen as a counterpoint to individual counseling, and this is part of their raison d’etre. The influence of earlier models of counseling on group counseling in the schools is apparent. The role of the group counselor is said to be that of a listener and facilitator. The title of the book suggests that group counseling will lead to emotional growth in adolescents. The emphasis of this book is on a lightly structured approach to group counseling. Although Fibkins is opposed to highly structured approaches, the use of checklists or instruments, which are compatible with such approaches, is given considerable attention. He presents a Counselor Sexual Misconduct Awareness Inventory (CSMAI) consisting of question sets and a series of checklists. In addition, he offers a Group Counselors Self-Awareness Inventory (GCSAI) designed “to help you assess your strengths as a helper.” As this book’s approach is explicitly antipackage, consequently it appears to be, in effect, anti-evidence–based group work as well. Despite warning that too much structure, being excessively didactic, or controlling of the group process can be counterproductive, Fibkins does promote the use of “teaching groups” in secondary schools run by counselors “to give students facts and information” (p. 69).

Resilient Playgrounds by Doll, B., with Brehm, K.

This is the third published title of the School-Based Practice in Action Series, carefully edited by Rosemary B. Mennuti and Ray W. Christner, with nine more promising books in development. It is a guidebook for schoolbased practitioners, including social workers. This handy book assumes that school-based practitioners will take playgrounds seriously as a place of practice and will devote their attention to using playgrounds to promote child development. As the major focus of education and schooling, the classroom maintains its primacy as a site for academic learning. This informative book is a companion to the earlier volume, Resilient Classrooms: Creating Healthy Environments for Learning (2004) written by the same two school psychologists, along with school psychologist Steven Zucker. As noted by the authors, in an attempt to meet the requisites of No Child Left Behind, many school districts are attempting to increase academic and classroom time and restrict or do away with recess. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that the limited abilities of children to sit still and concentrate on their studies can be enhanced by a recess period. This contemporary book shows how recess can be used constructively to promote children’s well-being. The authors suggest that recess, especially playground recess, offers the potential for increasing the social competence of children. However, as discussed by the authors, many schools are concerned about bullying and aggression, gang formation, and drug abuse, all of which can occur in a range of school settings, including playgrounds. By making the playground a place of considerable attention, observation, and practice of school-based practitioners, these problems are less likely to occur. This fine book begins in the first or introductory chapter by pointing to the connection between students’ social competence and the school playground. In examining peer relationships among students, the second chapter provides a developmental view of friendship. The chapter shows how children participate in study, educational, and neighborhood groups. Aggression, school bullying, social isolation, social structure, social class, culture, “race,” and ethnicity, which also influence friendship choice and social relations, are also discussed in the second chapter.