Today's Youth and Mental Health

This forceful reference synthesizes international and intersectionality perspectives for a comprehensive examination of the human rights of youth to safety and well-being. Organized around key themes of young people's lives in context, mental health, hope, power, and resilience, it describes complex stressors related to gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, and immigration experience and status. Discrimination, sexual abuse, survivor guilt, and other widespread issues are discussed in terms of personal potential versus societal barriers when identity and autonomy are at their most critical stage. The book links theory and data to practice, policy, and pedagogy, not only in examining problems and recommending solutions, but also in acknowledging issues that are just beginning to be identified.

Included in the coverage:

• The silent shadow of precarious status youth.
• Youth experiences of cultural identity and migration: a systems perspective.
• The role of worries in mental health and well-being in adolescence.
• Mothers' armoring of their adolescent daughters living with facial difference.
• What a critical course on madness can offer university students with mental health histories and concerns.
• Teaching English as an Additional Language (EAL) to refugees: trauma and resilience.       

Today's Youth Mental Health challenges sociologists, clinical psychologists, social workers, and psychiatrists to better understand their young clients' development, and to promote innovative ideas for their empowerment.