This groundbreaking three-volume set spotlights how conditions around the world are affecting the healthy development of adolescents in their respective environments, on all six continents.Continually unstable or perpetually poor economic conditions, globalization, and rapid technological change are just three of the forces affecting a group 1.2 billion strong today, a demographic poised to become our world leaders and catalysts in the not-too-distant future: the world's adolescents. Led by two editors who have been dedicated to studying adolescent development worldwide for decades, this novel collection of works from contributors in more than 40 countries emphasizes how possibilities for healthy mental and physical development are affected by the difficulties youths face in their countries and how these challenges have shaped, and are shaping, contemporary teenage life today.The set comprehensively addresses issues for adolescents across the globe, such as the day-to-day challenges of poverty, inadequate education, violence or war, disease, reproductive matters, globalization and technological challenges, and more, while also providing a strengths-based focus in the volumes, showing how and why some teenagers in each country have surmounted the challenges and forged stronger characters to better their worlds. These stories document more than personal victories, and their experiences matter to far more than the adolescents themselves. In its State of the World's Children 2011 report, UNICEF noted that the world community needs to turn its attention to adolescents in need, explaining that focusing on this large and potentially powerful group makes economic sense as well as being a necessary step in working towards achieving human justice. By addressing the risks, challenges, and strengths of teenagers as a group in countries worldwide, this work serves to break the cycle of poverty, violence, discrimination, and death for adolescents.

AcknowledgmentsVolume 3 Africa, Asia, and the Middle EastChapter 1 Introduction to Volume 3, Part 1: African Youth Development: Claiming the Past for the Future in Neoliberal TimesAndrew BabsonChapter 2 The Influence of Community on Youth Transferable Skills in Livelihood Development: A Case Study from Rural Malawi and UgandaNihkit D'Sa, Selah Agaba, and Promise MchengaChapter 3 Cultural and Social Factors Influencing Youth Development in NigeriaNneka Ibekwe, Anthony Alagbile, and Emmanuel IbekweChapter 4 Community Youth Mapping: Unlocking the Possibilities for Youth in EgyptEric Kilbride, Marwa Mohamed Abdel Wahab Mohsen, and Raul RatcliffeChapter 5 Youth Cultural Involvement as a Resource for Self-Development: What We Can Learn from South Africa's "House Nation"Andrew BabsonChapter 6 Introduction to Volume 3, Part 2: Living with Contradiction: Youth Development in Contemporary Asia and the Middle EastLaura Murray and Mengjiao GuoChapter 7 Going Against Peril: Neoliberal Threats and School Reform in JapanEisuke Saito and Naomi TakasawaChapter 8 South Korean Youth: Rapid Change, Conflict, and Opportunities in DevelopmentLydia HaRim Ahn and Insil ChangChapter 9 The Positive Development of Chinese Youth: Possibilities, Challenges, and SuggestionsFei Jiang and Han RuChapter 10 The Demographic Dividend: Enhancing Youth Skills, Knowledge, Capital, and Networks toward Sustainable Possibility Development in IndiaB. Venkatesh Kumar and Sharon M. RavitchChapter 11 Risk, Resilience, and Possibility Development Among Taiwanese AdolescentsJian-Ming Hou and Chia-Po ChengChapter 12 The Influence of Buddhism and Respect Patterns on Youth Development in ThailandChonlada JarukitisakulChapter 13 The Possibility for Development Among Young People in VietnamThao Thi Thanh Dang and Thi Diem Hang KhongChapter 14 Risk, Resilience, and Youth Development in Contemporary CambodiaPeter Tan Keo and Seng-Dao KeoChapter 15 The Development of Israeli Jewish Youth: Challenges and Opportunities in a Context of Intractable ConflictShai Fuxman, Steven Brion-Meisels (Posthumous), and Gretchen Brion-MeiselsChapter 16 Positive Youth Development in Iran: Living within ContradictionsGolkoo HosseiniChapter 17 Understanding the Plight of Pakistan's Education System and Its Impact on Youth DevelopmentSahar Akhtar, Maryam Suheyl, and Zahbia SarfirazAbout the Editors and ContributorsIndex