We Think the World of Kids

Deep Brain Learning - Pathways to Potential with Challenging Youth (2009)
by Larry K. Brendtro, PhD
     Martin L. Mitchell, EdD
     Herman J. McCall, EdD

Exciting new brain research shows that all children are born to trust, achieve and develop self-control and generosity. But toxic environments spawn serious emotional, behavioral and learning problems. The goal of this book is to provide a roadmap to powerful educational and treatment strategies that enable youth to transform their troubled lives. Using the latest research, practice wisdom, and voices of young people, Deep Brain Learning offers powerful universal principles for success with children and youth.

A Boy's Point of View - A Starr Commonwealth Student in the 1930's (2005)
By: Gerald D. Robinson
Edited by: Inge Logenburg Kyler

A memoir of a young boy, Gerald Robinson, and his experiences at Starr Commonwealth in the 1930's.

Connectedness, Continuity, Dignity & Opportunity: Principle-Based Action for Kids (1998)
By: Martin L. Mitchell, EdD
      Christi Tobin Barrett, MS
      John R. Seita, EdD

This training manual is to suggest a national standard in the form of a set of guiding principles that should unergird all action and practice on behalf of our children, adolescents and youth. This manual is not based upon deficits, weaknesses, labels, categories or pathologies but seeks to meet the developmental needs of young people by offering an approach seeks meaningful relationships, stability and a sense of permanence, respect and purpose for our lives. Connectedness, Continuity, Dignity, and Opportunity (CCDO) are transcendent principles that will provide for our children positive relationships with adults, permanence, predictability and the chance to leave a legacy, a safe and pleasing environment where respect is exhibited and the opportunity to develop personal competencies.

Connecting With Kids in Conflict (2008)
By: William C. Morse

As the crowning creative contribution of his career, Bill Morse worked with editorial staff from the journal Reclaiming Children and Youth to publish this book. It shares Dr. Morse’s insights from over 60 years in the field. Its richly inspiring pages are valuable for anyone and also ideal for college classes or staff development. “This book strikes a fine balance between theory and practical information. Best of all, these pages reflect so well Bill Morse’s legacy of warmth and caring.” Ralph D. Rabinovitch, MD, child psychiatrist and founder of Hawthorn Center, Livonia, Michigan.

Bruise (2001)
Written and Illustrated By: The Children of The Hannah Neil Center

In prose and art, students and staff from a residential treatment center for troubled children in Columbus, Ohio, help us see the depth of pain children and their caregivers face in the process of healing from abuse.

In Whose Best Interest? One Child's Odyssey, a Nation's Responsibility (1996)
By: John R. Seita, EdD
      Martin L. Mitchell, EdD
      Christi Tobin Barrett, MS

"John Seita's life is a triumph over the nightmare of growing up poor, lonely and without roots. It is a story of what a child can become when caring adults reach out with the love and support not available, for whatever reason, from the birth family. I'm very grateful he is making his life journey, during those tumultuous years, available to us through the pages of his book. We will all be better for it." Connie Binsfield, Lieutenant Governor, State of Michigan, Lansing, MI.

Kids Who Outwit Adults (2002)
By: John R. Seita, EdD
      Larry K. Brendtro, PhD
      Foreword by Matt Damon

The strength-based interventions in this groundbreaking book have benefited thousands of youths in trouble-including Seita himself. Seita and Brendtro disclose the "private logic" behind kids' violent and defiant acts. Weaving together an effective, highly rewarding approach based on tired-and-true resilience models, insights from their years of experience working with youths, and youths' own heart wrenching accounts, the authors illuminate the internal strengths and external supports kids need in order to break out of these negative behavior patterns.

No Disposable Kids (2001)
By: Larry K. Brendtro, PhD
      Arlin Ness, MSW
      Martin L. Mitchell, EdD
      Foreword by Muhammad Ali

No Disposable Kids challenges the notion of any child being "too far gone" to be helped. The authors provide profound insight into the world of these youths, not only sharing strategies drawn from the best of the resiliency models, but also illustrating their successful use with actual cases. By reframing rebellious acts as signs of resilience, the authors uncover the natural self-righting tendencies of youths who are progressing toward normal adult development, despite adverse circumstances.

"...No Such Thing" (1968)
By: Elizabeth W. McAdam
      Floyd Starr

…No such thing “is the true story of the revolutionary conviction of a young man, Floyd Starr, that ‘there is no such thing as a bad boy.”   It contains the trials and the almost over­whelming difficulties of its early beginnings to the culmination of its triumphant success. It tells the lives of boys termed "bad” - their backgrounds, their problems, their hopes and frustrations as they struggle to find a place for themselves in our world of today. The book opens the eyes and the hearts of its readers to the vast potentialities for good among today’s ever-increasing “lost gener­ation." If it focuses a light upon the hidden recesses of the growing-pains of all youth, it will have fulfilled its aim—and its hope.

Re-Educating Troubled Youth: Environments for Teaching and Treatment (1983)
By: Larry K. Brendtro
      Arlin E. Ness

This book is about helping troubled young people who are searching desperately for security, identity, and purpose in their lives. Childhood and adolescence are pivotal stages in the quest to belong, to become somebody, and to be worth something. Children need stimulation, affection, and guidance in order to develop their potentials, but many are reared in environments that deprive them of these nutriments. Adolescents approach the threshold of independence with only the experiences gained from childhood; many lack the support of significant adults. Those who encounter difficulty in navigating through these turbulent years come to be identified by society as troubled or troublesome. These children and youth present challenges that do not yield to simple panaceas. Although no single approach holds all the answers, bridging various concepts of education and treatment offers the best opportunity for creating positive change.