From Publishers Weekly
Striking a sober but ultimately hopeful note, psychologist and Cornell University professor Garbarino (Raising Children in a Socially Toxic Environment) lends his voice to the growing chorus of concern about the difficulties boys face in their journey to manhood. We live in dangerous times, he asserts, citing the ready availability of guns (nearly half of all American households contain one) and the escalating rate of youth homicide (which increased 168% in the past decade alone). Noting that the highly publicized killings by children of the 19971998 school year have served as a kind of wake-up call, Garbarino devotes the first part of his book to examining the roots of violence among boys. He traces it to class and race issues, as well as risk factors such as child neglect, parental abandonment, physical and emotional abuse, spiritual emptiness and a culture that legitimizes violence in movies, television and video games. In the second half, he outlines how involved adults might prevent the downward spiral by identifying and treating patterns of aggression early in a boys life, and how providing the proper spiritual, psychological and social anchors can keep a troubled boy from drifting into violence. Garbarino effectively illustrates his points with stories of his own work with violent boys. Solidly researched and written, this book is of equal value to parents, educators, family therapists and other professionals. It could easily serve as a blueprint for preventing more tragedies like the ones in Jonesboro, Ark., and Springfield, Ore. 20-city TV and radio satellite tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
The school murder sprees of 1997-98 provide a backdrop for this inquiry into an "epidemic" of youthful male violence that has been worsening over the past 25 years. The bulk of the book is devoted to an analysis of the roots and meaning of lethal violence as revealed through interviews with perpetrators. Garbarino (human development, Cornell Univ.; Raising Children in a Socially Toxic Environment, Jossey-Bass, 1995) discusses these narratives in the context of statistical and psychological/ psychiatric research. Causative factors like abuse, gangs and codes of honor, substance abuse, neurological deficits, and school problems are considered from a social ecology perspective grounded in the work of Garbarino's mentor, Urie Bronfenbrenner. The book concludes with a catalog of strategies to combat boyhood violence. Solutions call for spiritual literacy as well as government action and research-based programs. Readable yet well documented and brimming with ideas, this book is recommended for larger public libraries and public policy collections.AAntoinette Brinkman, Southwest Indiana Mental Health Ctr. Lib., Evansville
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
