Flaherty, Lois T. . Adolescent Psychiatry: the Annals of the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry

Adolescence, Spring, 2004

FLAHERTY, Lois T. (Ed.). Adolescent Psychiatry: The Annals of the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry (Vol. 27). Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press, 2003. 416pp. $59.95 (h).

Volume 27 of Adolescent Psychiatry focuses on trauma and violence among adolescents, and attends especially to the psychological, biological, and social impact of trauma on its victims, especially the young. Michael Kalogerakis offers a historical perspective on adolescent violence in America, whereas Lois Flaherty examines terrorism by looking at the appeal of ideologies that espouse violent revolution to young people. Christopher Thomas and his colleagues add a study that links gang members with serious violent crime. A series of papers by the Committee on Adolescence of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry deals not only with the nature, scope, and impact of trauma, but also with its implications for mental health training and public policy. These papers are supplemented by studies that consider the neurobiological effects of trauma (Patricia Lester et al.) and the cultural and gender-based dimensions of trauma (Warren Gadpaille). The clinical yield of these new perspectives is addressed in chapters on interventions with traumatized adolescents (Monica Green) and on the special vulnerability of late adolescents to combat-related PTSD (Max Sugar). Clinical contributions of related interest show how effective interventions can reduce the use of seclusion and restraint with state hospital adolescent populations (Theodore Petti et al.); and provide an up-to-date understanding of the recognition of, and differentiation between, early-onset schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. ASAP remains ever vigilant to the familial and societal factors that enter into--and may either sustain or ameliorate adolescent psychopathology. James Gilfoil discusses the importance of families' attitudes toward psychotherapy in the outcome of clinical work with adolescents. Saul Levine dissects the various self-deceptions and myths among mental health professionals and policymakers that have militated against appropriate therapeutic care for adolescents. And Volume 27 concludes with an ASAP Position Paper that provides further discussion of the role of societal attitudes about youth in both the perpetuation of violence and the lack of appropriate interventions, Charles Huffine's "Youth Violence: Its Meanings to Society in the 21st Century."