The Social Norms Approach to Preventing School and College Age Substance Abuse A Handbook for Educators, Counselors, and Clinicians

The Social Norms Approach to Preventing School and College Age Substance Abuse offers educators, counselors, and clinicians a handbook for understanding and implementing a new and highly successful alternative to traditional methods for preventing substance abuse among young people. The proven "social norms" approach outlined in this book identifies young people's dramatic misperceptions about their peer norms and promotes accurate public reporting of actual positive norms that exist in all student populations. The contributors to this important book are the originators, pioneers, and active proponents of this new approach. Many of them have successfully applied the social norms approach in secondary and higher education settings and as a result have promoted healthier lifestyles among adolescents and young adults across the United States.

H. Wesley Perkins, is one of the originators and foremost leaders of the social norms approach to substance abuse prevention and health promotion. Currently he is professor of sociology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. Perkins is the author of dozens of journal articles, is a frequent speaker and consultant for educators and health professionals working with youth and young adults, and has been honored with several national awards for his work in preventing alcohol and drug abuse in colleges and universities.