Resources for Youth & Youth Workers

(Listing does not signify blanket endorsement of content or views contained therein)

Training and Assistance

CUYD (The Center for Urban Youth Development)
CUYD provides low and no cost training and resources for urban youth and youth workers.  This ranges from certificate programs to workshops to conferences.  If you would like to request a facilitator for your organization send a letter of request to cuyd@eastern.edu.

Youth Specialties
For over 30 years Youth Specialties has worked alongside Christian youth workers of just about every denomination and youth-serving organization. Each year, Youth Specialties serves more than 100,000 youth workers worldwide through training, Seminars and Conventions, resources, and here on the Internet.

Youthworker.com
Youthworker.com provides free Christian youth ministry resources including group games and activities, lessons, bible study materials, and more.

Books and Authors

Anderson, Elijah (1999). Code of the Street: Decency, Violence and the Moral Life of the Inner City. New York, NY; W.W. Norton and Company.

Arzola, F. (2008). Toward a Prophetic Youth Ministry: Theory and Praxis in the Urban Context. Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press Academic.

Asante Jr., M.K. (2008). It’s Bigger Than Hip Hop: The Rise of the Post Hip-Hop Generation. New York NY: St. Martins Press.

Austin, Joe and Michael Nevin Willard, eds. (1998). Generations of Youth: Youth Cultures and History in Twentieth-Century America. New York, NY; New York University Press

Booth, Alan and Ann C. Crouter, eds. (2001). Does It Take a Village? Community Effects on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Mahwah, NJ; Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Boyles-Watson, Carolyn. (2008). Peacemaking Circles and Urban Youth. Living Justice Press.

Brendtro, L.K., Larson, S. & Calhoun, J.A. (2006). The resilience revolution: Discovering strengths in challenging kids. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

Brown, B. Bradford, Reed W. Larson, T.S. Saraswathi, eds. (2002). The World’s Youth: Adolescence in Eight Regions of the Globe. Cambridge, UK; Cambridge University Press.

Dean, Kenda Creasy, Chap Clark & Dave Rahn. (2001). Starting Right: Thinking Theologically About Youth Ministry. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Devries, Mark. (2008). Sustainable Youth Ministry: Why Most Youth Ministry Doesn’t Last and What Your Church Can Do About It. Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press.

Dunn, Richard R. (2001).  Shaping the Spiritual Lives of Students: A Guide for Youth Workers, Pastors, Teachers and Campus Ministers. Downers Grove, IL; InterVarsity Press.

Dyson, Michael (2001).  Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur. New York, NY; Basic Civitas Books; Perseus Books Group.

Edelman, Peter, Harry J. Holzer, & Paul Hoffner. (2006). Reconnecting Disadvantaged Young Black Men. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.

Fields, Doug. (2002). Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry: a personal and practical guide to starting right. Youth Specialties.

George, Sam. (2004).  “Emerging Youth Cultures in the Era of Globalization: TechnoCulture and TerrorCulture” in Richard Tiplady, One World or Many: The Impact of Globalisation. Pasadena, CA; Wm. Carey Library.

Goodwin Jr., Brady. (2011). The Death of Hip Hop, Marriage & Morals: Helping Youth Resurrect Culture, Family and Faith. Urban Remix Project.

Gutierrez, Eric. (2008). Disciples of the Street: The Promise of a Hip Hop Church. Seabury Books.

Hine, Thomas. (2000).  The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager.  New York, NY; Harper Perennial.

Hodge, Daniel White. (2010). The Soul Of Hip Hop: Rimbs Timbs & A Cultural Theology. Downers Grove, Ill.: Inner Varsity Press.

Carrie James, Katie Davis, Andrea Flores and John M. Francis, eds. (2009). Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media: A Synthesis from the GoodPlay Project. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning.

Kaplan, Paul S. (2004). “The World of Adolescence” from Adolescence. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Keeter, Scott and Taylor, Paul. (2009).  The Millennials. Pew Research Center Publications. December 11, 2009. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1437/millennials-profile

Larson, S. (2014). At risk: Bringing hope to hurting teenagers. Gainesville, GA: Praxis Press.

Larson, S. & Tocchini, D.L. (2015). Groundwork: Preparing the soil for God's transformation. Loveland, CO: Group Publishing. ISBN-13:978-1470718459

Lerner, Richard. (2001).  Adolescence: Development, Diversity, Context, and Application. Upper Saddle River, NJ; Prentice Hall.

Levitt, Steven D. and Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh. (2000).  “An Economic Analysis of a Drug-Selling Gang’s Finances” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Robert J. Barro, Edward L. Glaeser and Lawrence F. Katz, Editors. MIT Press, Vol. 115, Issue 3, August 2000, Cambridge, MA; pp. 755-789.

Linhart, Terry and David Livermore. (2011). Global Youth Ministry: Reaching Adolescents Around the World. Zondervan.

Mincy, Ronald B., ed. (2006).  Black Males Left Behind, Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press. 

Neild, Ruth C. and Robert Balfanz. (2006).  Unfulfilled Promise: The Dimensions and Characteristics of Philadelphia's Dropout Crisis, 2000-05. Baltimore, MD; Johns Hopkins' Center for Social Organization of Schools.

Smith, Efrem. (2004). Raising Up Young Heroes: Developing a Revolutionary Youth Ministry. Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press.

Smith, Efrem and Phil Jackson (2005). The Hip-Hop Church: Connecting with the Movement Shaping Our Culture. Downers Grove, IL; InterVarsity Press.

Stavans, Ilan. (2001).  The Hispanic Condition: The Power of a People (2nd edition). New York, NY; Rayo (Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers).

Tienda, Marta and William Julius Wilson, eds. (2002).  Youth in Cities: A Cross-National Perspective. Cambridge, UK; Cambridge University Press.

Walsh, D.A., PhD & Walsh, E. (2014). Why do they act that way?: A survival guide to the adolescent brain, for you and your teen. New York: NY: Atria Books.

Watkins, Ralph C., Jason A. Barr. Jr., Jamal-Harrison Bryant, William H. Curtis, Otis Moss III.  (2007).  The Gospel Remix: Reaching the Hip Hop Generation. Valley Forge, PA; Judson Press.

Wells, Tina. (2011). Chasing Youth Culture and Getting it Right: How Your Business Can Profit by Tapping Today's Most Powerful Trendsetters and Tastemakers. Wiley.

Websites

Hip-hop, Rap and Street-related Websites

http://www.b-gyrl.com
features articles, interviews, mp3s, downloads, reviews, links, dj mixes and b-gYrL radio.

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/hiphop
Beyond Beats and Rhymes: A self-described "hip-hop head" takes an in-depth look at masculinity and manhood in rap and hip-hop, where create genius collides with misogyny, violence and homophobia, exposing the complex intersections of culture and commerce.

http://www.sohh.com
Your XXL Source on all Hip-Hop, SOHH.com is 'the best overall hip-hop site' according to Rolling Stone magazine.

http://www.thesource.com
The online version of the popular Hip-hop music magazine that provides news coverage of urban music, African American issues, youth culture and politics.

Youth Ministry-Related Websites

Center for Youth Studies:  http://www.centerforyouth.org
The Center for Youth Studies (CYS) seeks to provide relevant informational resources and promote local and global collaboration towards a comprehensive systems approach to ministry with youth.

Group Magazine:  http://www.groupmag.com
The domain itself says it all: this is the go-to place on the Web for youth-ministering ideas and solutions. Youthministry.com is GROUP Magazine's Web portal for youth leaders. Our goal is to connect you with people, organizations, ideas, and resources from every corner of the youth ministry universe. If we don't have what you need, we'll get it for you.

Institute for Youth Ministry, Princeton Theo. Seminary:  https://iym.ptsem.edu/
Princeton Theological Seminary established the Institute for Youth Ministry in 1995 as an international center offering specialized training in youth ministry for church leaders. Committed to integrating theory and practice, The Institute for Youth Ministry collaborates with seminaries, church leaders, congregations, communities, and adolescents to promote the strategic importance and practice of ministry with young people from early adolescence through college age. Although the work of the Institute is international and ecumenical in its scope, it maintains a particular interest in youth ministry in mainline denominations.

Youth Issues-Related Websites and Portals

Black Youth Project:  http://blackyouthproject.uchicago.edu
Black Youth Project is a research project exploring the attitudes, actions and decision-making of African American youth by highlighting their lives, ideas and voices.

Monitoring the Future (Study of American Youth):  http://monitoringthefuture.org
Monitoring the Future is an ongoing study of the behaviors, attitudes, and values of American secondary school students, college students, and young adults. Each year, a total of approximately 50,000 8th, 10th and 12th grade students are surveyed (12th graders since 1975, and 8th and 10th graders since 1991). In addition, annual follow-up questionnaires are mailed to a sample of each graduating class for a number of years after their initial participation.

Parents.  The Anti-Drug:  http://www.theantidrug.com
TheAntiDrug.com was created by the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign to equip parents and other adult caregivers with the tools they need to raise drug-free kids. Working with the nation's leading experts in the fields of parenting and substance abuse prevention, TheAntiDrug.com serves as a drug prevention information center, and a supportive community for parents to interact and learn from each other.

Youth Today:  http://www.youthtoday.org
Youth Today is the only independent, nationally distributed newspaper that is read by more than 70,000 professionals in the youth service field.  Some of the issues covered include: Youth development; Juvenile justice; Gang and violence prevention; Adolescent health; Teen pregnancy, sex, and parenting; After-school programs and mentoring; Job training and school-to-work; Best practices.

Film and TV

Born into Brothels (2003), Sonagchi, Calcutta, India (documentary)

City of God (2002), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (drama)

Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes (2006), USA (documentary)

Hoop Dreams (1994), Chicago, IL, USA (documentary)

Juvies (2004), Los Angeles, USA (documentary)

Kidulthood (2006), Westside of London, England (drama)

Mad Hot Ballroom (2005), New York, NY, USA (documentary)

Rize (2005), South Central Los Angeles, CA, USA (documentary)

Tsotsi (2006), Johannesburg, South Africa (drama)

The Wire: Season 4 (HBO, 2006), Baltimore, MD (drama)