The Role of Social Contexts and Special Education in the Mental Health Problems of Urban Adolescents

Special and general educators need to be well informed about the mental health problems of youth because significant proportions of students can experience social and emotional problems that interfere with learning, yet few students with mental health problems receive school-based treatment in programs designed specifically for youth with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD; Adelman & Taylor, 1999; Kauffman, 2001; U.S. Department of Education, 1998). Instead, youth with mental health problems receive scattered services from psychologists or counselors with enormous caseloads (Adelman & Taylor) or are placed in programs for youth with learning disabilities (Duncan, Forness, & Hartsough, 1995; Forness, 1990; Forness, Kavale, & Walker, 1999; San Miguel, Forness, & Kavale, 1996). This issue may be magnified for youth in urban schools, who may experience more severe mental health problems than do suburban and rural youth but receive less help because the urban schools have fewer resources to support them (Weist et al., 2000). Special education students may experience comorbid or co-occurring mental health problems at higher rates than their peers without disabilities; significant numbers of these youth can be both depressed and act out, yet even in special education settings, their emotional and behavioral problems may not be identified (Forness et al., 1999; Tankersley & Landrum, 1997). If students are to receive treatment for mental health problems, educators outside the field of EBD must be aware of their problems and the contexts in which they develop (Forness et al., 1999). The development of mental health problems in youth occurs not merely within the individual child and his or her relationship with parents or caregivers (see Patterson, Reid, & Dishion, 1992) but also in the broader social contexts of families, peers, and schools (Coie & Jacobs, 1993). The risk for mental health problems may be significantly increased for youth in large urban centers because they may have a higher probability of experiencing family stress, affiliating with peers involved in risky behavior, and attending schools in violent and impoverished neighborhoods than youth from rural areas and small cities (Gorman-Smith, Tolan, & Henry, 1999). Significant research has been devoted to (a) identifying the social forces that promote positive mental health outcomes for urban youth and (b) examining the role of social contexts in the development of externalizing mental health problems, including aggression, conduct disorders, antisocial behavior, and delinquency (see Hawkins, Catalano, Kosterman, Abbott, & Hill, 1999; Loeber, Farrington, Stouthamer-Loeber, & Van Kammen, 1998; Patterson et al., 1992). Significantly less research has been devoted to examining the social contexts associated with internalizing problems (i.e., depression and withdrawal) or with complex, comorbid mental health problems of urban youth (i.e., wherein the same individual experiThe Role of Social Contexts and Special Education in the Mental Health Problems of Urban Adolescents