The Ecology of Child Behavioral Health: Prevention, Intervention and Public Policy

CLI PY750 - The Ecology of Child Behavioral Health: Prevention, Intervention and Public Policy

Credits: 3

This course provides a broad and deep knowledge of both the basic concepts and practical applications of the concepts of risk, assets and resilience as applied to the development of children, adolescents, and families. Risk categories to be covered include, but are not limited to, individual medical and developmental challenges, family loss and disruption, psychosocial trauma, economic status, race and ethnicity, and disaster and geographic disruption. Assets will be identified at the individual, family, community, and societal levels, including secure attachment, competent self-regulation, well-resourced schools, supportive mentor relationships, economic security, and cultural embeddedness. Effective programs of prevention and intervention, all with the goal of increasing resilience and improving outcome, will be detailed. Students will develop skills in applying results from the empirical literature in designing intervention programs for specific combinations of risks. The focus of this course is on building the knowledge that informs competent prevention and intervention and not on therapeutic technique per se. Pre-requisite(s): LS659, PY521, RS526 or permission of instructor.