Adolescent Boys in High School A Psychological Study of Coping and Adaptation

Originally published in 1979, the research reported in this volume is based on investigations of how tenth-grade boys cope and adapt to the high-school environment in, specifically, two high schools in suburban Detroit in 1970. In addition to information about the ways that students relate to the high school environment, this volume presents examples of how multiple research methods can be used to investigate the expression of complex person and environment relationships. This volume has been prepared to illustrate the application of an ecological point of view for research on person-environment relationships. It was hoped that the community psychologist, social psychologist, and school psychologist interested in doing research with adolescents and the high school environment would find the presentation of research methods informative and encouraging. For those readers involved in teaching and administering in secondary education, the volume was an example of how research can illustrate the ongoing personal and social characteristics of students and the high school environment.

Contributors. Preface. Part 1: Setting the Scene 1. The High School: Students and Social Contexts – An Ecological Perspective James G. Kelly 2. A Dilemma of Diversity: The American High School Terrence E. Deal and Dwight Roper 3. Adolescent Socialization and the High School: A Selective Review of Literature Evie McClintock 4. The Social Environments of the Two High Schools: Background Data Richard R. Rice and Marilyn Marsh Part 2: The Boys and their Context: Five Approaches to Research 5. Coping Preference, Adaptive Roles, and Varied High School Environments: A Search for Person-Environment Transactions Daniel W. Edwards 6. Persons and Environments Daniel W. Edwards 7. Exploration, Identity Development, and the Sense of Competency: A Case Study George E. Gilmore, Jr. 8. Interpersonal Behavior and Preferences for Exploration in Adolescent Boys: A Small Group Study Barbara M. Newman 9. Exploratory Behavior of Adolescents in a Dyadic, Problem-Solving Situation William H. Jones Part 3: Two Approaches to the High School Social Structure 10. Contrasting Adaptations to the Social Environment of a High School: Implications of a Case Study of Helping Behavior in Two Adolescent Subcultures David M. Todd 11. Persons and Settings: A Comparative Analysis of the Quality and Range of Social Interaction in Two High Schools Philip R. Newman Part 4: Feedback, Critique, and Commentary 12. Observations on the Opinions of Youth Study from the Participating High Schools George Bell, Norm Boyea, Jan W. Jacobs, Jack R. Harms and Jack Knox 13. Reflections on a Multi-Method Investigation of High Schools and their Inhabitants Paul V. Gump 14. Exploratory Behavior, Socialization and the High School Environment James G. Kelly. Author Index. Subject Index.