Hispanics and the Future of America presents details of the complex story of a population that varies in many dimensions, including national origin, immigration status, and generation. The papers in this volume draw on a wide variety of data sources to describe the contours of this population, from the perspectives of history, demography, geography, education, family, employment, economic well-being, health, and political engagement. They provide a rich source of information for researchers, policy makers, and others who want to better understand the fast-growing and diverse population that we call "Hispanic." The current period is a critical one for getting a better understanding of how Hispanics are being shaped by the U.S. experience. This will, in turn, affect the United States and the contours of the Hispanic future remain uncertain. The uncertainties include such issues as whether Hispanics, especially immigrants, improve their educational attainment and fluency in English and thereby improve their economic position; whether growing numbers of foreign-born Hispanics become citizens and achieve empowerment at the ballot box and through elected office; whether impending health problems are successfully averted; and whether Hispanics' geographic dispersal accelerates their spatial and social integration. The papers in this volume provide invaluable information to explore these issues.

Discover the role culture, family, and environment have in the prevention of Latino substance abuse Information about the substance abuse behaviors among Latino populations has been limited. Substance Abusing Latinos: Current Research on Epidemiology, Prevention, and Treatment fills this void by presenting the latest research on the epidemic of substance abuse now afflicting the Latino community. Ethnic differences are reviewed, including specific studies covering gang members, low-income urban women, risky behaviors, and language preference indicators of acculturation. This book does more than simply present the research—it discusses effective treatment strategies to help practitioners provide quality, culturally competent care to lacking Latino populations. Latinos, the largest minority in the United States, have an increasing alcohol and illicit drug use problem. Culture, acculturation, and language hold powerful sway in the research of Latino/a substance abuse. Substance Abusing Latinos: Current Research on Epidemiology, Prevention, and Treatment delves deeply into troubling issues such as gang membership, sexual abuse, the lack of healthy family role models, the effects of different levels of acculturation, the lack of health insurance, and rampant involvement with the criminal system. The research is used as a foundation to focus on the latest advances of substance abuse prevention and culturally competent intervention programs. Each chapter is extensively referenced to reinforce research. Substance Abusing Latinos: Current Research on Epidemiology, Prevention, and Treatment explores: substance abuse among gang members in a small city childhood sexual abuse and drug use among low-income Puerto Rican women a comparison of risky behaviors of African-American and Cuban-American adolescent juvenile offenders acculturation status and substance use prevention with Mexican and Mexican-American youth culturally competent intervention with families of Latino youth at risk for drug abuse psychiatric, family, and ethnicity-related factors that can impact treatment among Hispanic substance abusing adolescents HIV/AIDS prevention practice with substance abusers Substance Abusing Latinos: Current Research on Epidemiology, Prevention, and Treatment is essential reading for educators, students, practitioners working with Latino/a populations, and substance abuse researchers.

In Alcohol Use/Abuse Among Latinos: Issues and Examples of Culturally Competent Services, you will learn how to design and improve services for Latinos with substance abuse problems by understanding that the cultures and personal backgrounds of your clients are crucial to the counseling process. This text will also show you how these service skills apply to the individual, family, or an entire community. Studies show that, according to patients, culturally sensitive and responsive practitioners are generally more credible, trusted, and effective. Alcohol Use/Abuse Among Latinos takes into account several different aspects that will help you develop these traits and provide successful services for Latinos dealing with alcohol or other drug problems. You’ll gain valuable insight into: the five elements that are vital to a successful ATOD (Alcohol, tobacco and Other Drug) service--multiculturism, resilience/strengths, competence, community capacity development, and community participation--plus a detailed explanation of why they are needed step-by-step instructions for using three methods, supervision, inservice training, and consultation, as means of providing ongoing learning of cross-cultural competencies to practitioners why key factors such as economic background, gender, and sexual orientation need to be taken into consideration for ATOD services to be effective demographic patterns and case studies of Latino users and abusers of alcohol and other drugs that illustrate the growing number of Latinos in need of ATOD services why the practitioner needs to be aware of how family importance, values attached to cooperation versus competition, sociability, respect, and action-oriented problem-solving play a role in effective services for Latinos the need for practitioners to understand how ethnic identity, biculturality, Spanish language fluency, gender-specific role expectations, skin color, and overall sense of self can affect the success of services for Latino teenagers how excessive marketing of alcohol to Latino communities, lack of representation, and a lack of community involvement are key barriers to successful ATOD services for Latinos Alcohol Use/Abuse Among Latinos also discusses Latino mens’and womens’individual needs concerning substance abuse. One of the topics addressed, the loss of self-esteem, has been found to be a contributing factor to alcohol use and abuse for Latinas. It offers ways you can promote self-esteem in your Latina clients by focusing on their cultural heritage and pride. In addition, this text takes a unique look Latina lesbians and how training through educational and agency internship programs can promote awareness to your clients’ special needs concerning substance abuse. Alcohol Use/Abuse Among Latinos will help you provide all of your Latino clients with efficient and culture-friendly services for resisting or overcoming the abuse of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Alcohol use by young people is extremely dangerous - both to themselves and society at large. Underage alcohol use is associated with traffic fatalities, violence, unsafe sex, suicide, educational failure, and other problem behaviors that diminish the prospects of future success, as well as health risks â€" and the earlier teens start drinking, the greater the danger. Despite these serious concerns, the media continues to make drinking look attractive to youth, and it remains possible and even easy for teenagers to get access to alcohol. Why is this dangerous behavior so pervasive? What can be done to prevent it? What will work and who is responsible for making sure it happens? Reducing Underage Drinking addresses these questions and proposes a new way to combat underage alcohol use. It explores the ways in which may different individuals and groups contribute to the problem and how they can be enlisted to prevent it. Reducing Underage Drinking will serve as both a game plan and a call to arms for anyone with an investment in youth health and safety.