The discovery that a child is lesbian or gay can send shockwaves through a family. A mother will question how she's raised her son; a father will worry that his daughter will experience discrimination. From the child's perspective, gay and lesbian youth fear their families will reject them and that they will lose financial and emotional support. All in all, learning a child is gay challenges long-held views about sexuality and relationships, and the resulting uncertainty can produce feelin...

Hurt provided a vivid and insightful view into the world of today's teenagers. Now leading youth ministry expert Chap Clark substantially updates and revises his groundbreaking bestseller (over 55,000 copies sold). Hurt 2.0 features a new chapter on youth at society's margins and new material on social networking and gaming. Each chapter has been thoroughly revised with new research, statistics, quotations, and documentation.Praise for the first edition

The best way to understand male sexual abuse is to learn about its survivors. They are the victims, and they have stories to tell.Author OBrien Dennis recounts how he was sexually abused as a boy in Jamaica, and he also shares accounts from other men who were abused. By giving them a voice, he unveils how male sexual abuse can so easily happen at the hands of close and trusted family, friends and even strangers.As you read these intimate stories, youll learn how societys na...

Following on the heels of the first edition, Breaking Out II expands its coverage by including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals. While some societies have become more tolerant and accepting of sexual and gender diversity, LGBTI people continue to suffer psychological damage caused by growing up in largely heterosexist, homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic milieus. How can LGBTI individuals learn to love themselves when many or most of the signals socie...

Whether straight or gay, most men start their relationships desiring monogamy. This is rooted in the pervasive notion that monogamy exists as a sign of true love. Yet despite this deeply held cultural ideal, cheating remains rampant. In this accessible book, Eric Anderson investigates why 78% of men he interviewed have cheated despite their desire not to. Combining 120 interviews with research from the fields of sociology, biology, and psychology, Anderson identifies cheating as a product ...

Recently the lives of people from age 18 to 29 have changed so dramatically that a new stage of life has developed, emerging adulthood, that is distinct from both the adolescence that precedes it and the young adulthood that comes in its wake. Rather than marrying and becoming parents in their early twenties, most people in industrialized societies now postpone these transitions until at least their late twenties, and instead spend the time in self-focused exploration as they try out diffe...

Raising a child is overwhelming, thrilling, exhausting, terrifying, and joyous--and all at the same time. In addition to the adjustments that any new parents must make, lesbian mothers face numerous special questions and concerns. From "coming out" to your child to coping with the pressures of trying to be a lesbian super-mom, this wise and reassuring book offers information and support for women forging a new path in what it means to be a family. The authors are uniquely qualified for the...

Where do our prejudices come from? Why are some people more biased than others? Is it possible for individuals, and society as a whole, to truly defeat prejudice? In these pages, leading scientists, psychologists, educators, activists, and many others offer answers, drawing from new scientific discoveries that shed light on why and how our brains form prejudices, how racism hurts our health, steps we can take to mitigate prejudiced instincts, and what a post-prejudice society might actuall...

Girls are more than just sugar and spice. We’ve all figured that out. What we haven’t figured out completely is how they’re wired, why they do the things they do, how the world around them affects their choices and opinions, and what that means for youth ministry—until now.In Teenage Girls, you’ll find advice from counselors and veteran youth workers, along with helpful suggestions on how to minister to teenage girls. Each chapter includes discussion questions to help you and other youth w...

Why would a young, beautiful, talented country music star want to end her life? It seems like a mystery to most people, but before coming out, that's exactly what openly gay singer Chely Wright wanted to do. And thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people have felt the same way. Discover some of the factors that lead to mental health issues for gay people, and find out steps that can be taken to help reduce or eliminate these threats. Take advantage of groups such as...

Widening the Circle is a passionate, even radical argument for creating school and classroom environments where all kids, including children labeled as “disabled” and “special needs,” are welcome on equal terms.In opposition to traditional models of special education, where teachers decide when a child is deemed “ready to compete” in “mainstream” classes, Mara Sapon-Shevin articulates a vision of full inclusion as a practical and moral goal. Inclusion, she...

In recent decades, the lives of people in their late teens and twenties have changed so dramatically that a new stage of life has developed. In his provocative work, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett has identified the period of emerging adulthood as distinct from both the adolescence that precedes it and the young adulthood that comes in its wake. Arnett's new paradigm has received a surge of scholarly attention due to his book that launched the field, Emerging Adulthood. On the 10th Anniver...