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Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to explore a particular conception of youth deviance and some of its practical implications. This conception is evident in the way that the media and human services construe phenomena like teen violence and “risky” sex in epidemiological terms: as contagious and spreading rapidly through a population.

Methodology/approach – This chapter broaches these questions through review and analysis of human services research and literature as well as their practical recommendations.

Findings – This chapter argues that the concern over transmission of deviant behaviors or characteristics is linked to anxiety over youth sociality and the spaces it occupies. While historically contingent in their manifestations, causal logics using sociality to explain youth deviance (peer pressure, e.g.) continue to resonate with a medicalized viewpoint of the very category of youth.

Contribution to the field – This chapter has contributed to the field through exploring changing conceptions of youth and the sociological question of the medicalization of social problems.

Alternative education settings (AES; i.e., self-contained alternative schools, therapeutic day treatment and residential schools, and juvenile corrections schools) serve youth with complicated and often serious academic and behavioral needs. The use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) and practices with Best Available Evidence are necessary to increase the likelihood of long-term success for these youth. In this chapter, we define three primary categories of AES and review what we know about the characteristics of youth in these schools. Next, we discuss the current emphasis on identifying and implementing EBPs with regard to both academic interventions (i.e., reading and mathematics) and interventions addressing student behavior. In particular, we consider implementation in AES, where there are often high percentages of youth requiring special education services and who have a significant need for EBPs to succeed academically, behaviorally, and in their transition to adulthood. We focus our discussion on: (a) examining approaches to identifying EBPs; (b) providing a brief review of EBPs and Best Available Evidence in the areas of mathematics, reading, and interventions addressing student behavior for youth in AES; (c) delineating key implementation challenges in AES; and (d) providing recommendations for how to facilitate the use of EBPs in AES.

Ownership of shares by employees in their own firm has grown substantially in the advanced world. In the past two decades, it increased in Britain (Pendleton, Whitfield, & Bryson, 2009), the United States (Kruse, Freeman, & Blasi, 2010), and in many EU countries (Pendleton, Poutsma, van Ommeren, & Brewster, 2005; European Federation of Employee Share Ownership, 2009). By 2004, one-fifth of British workplaces had share ownership plans covering one-third of private sector employees (Bryson & Freeman, 2010). In the United States in 2006, an estimated 18% of workers had shares in their own firm, some held through collective employee stock ownership plans, some bought through employee stock purchase plans that give employees a discount on shares, and some through their 401k retirement savings Plan money. In addition to owning shares, 9% of US employees had stock options with the firm. Taking account of the overlap, 24% had an ownership stake through shares or options (Kruse, Blasi, & Park, 2010, Table 1).

Although a large body of research has focused on young children with learning disabilities (LD) and behavioral disorders (BD) in preschool and elementary school settings, there is considerably less information about this population during adolescence. Recent work suggests that youth with these disabilities experience challenges in areas such as social skills, increased depressive symptoms, and involvement in the juvenile justice system. In addition, for a small percentage of the population, negative outcomes experienced during early childhood appear to persist in adolescence and early adulthood suggesting the need for additional interventions. Two primary aims guide the current chapter. First, we review key domains of adolescent development (social, emotional, and behavioral) and highlight ways in which development differs for students with LD and BD. Second, we introduce the field of social and emotional learning (SEL) and the accumulating body of research that suggests that this approach could have numerous benefits for this population. We describe the results of recent meta-analytic reviews of SEL programs to indicate the current state of the field, highlight a few evidence-based universal and indicated SEL programs for secondary school settings, and describe important areas for future research.