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Research in the 1980s suggested that young “metalheads” were at risk for poor developmental outcomes. No other study has assessed this group as adults; thus, we examined 1980s heavy metal groupies, musicians, and fans at middle age, using snowball sampling from Facebook. Online surveys assessed adverse childhood experiences, personality, adult attachment, and past and current functioning in 377 participants. Results revealed that metal enthusiasts did often experience traumatic and risky “sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll” lives. However, the “metalhead” identity also served as a protective factor against negative outcomes. They were significantly happier in their youth and better adjusted currently than either middle-aged or current college-age youth comparison groups. Thus, participation in fringe style cultures may enhance identity development in troubled youth.

Groupies, heavy metal musicians, and highly devoted fans (metalheads) were some of the most salient identity groups for teenagers and emerging adults in the 1980s-the tail end of the Baby Boom and the beginning of the newly emerging Generation X. Met with appalled reactions from conventional society, the heavy metal scene nevertheless appeared to help at least some disenchanted youth negotiate turbulent times. The present study of 144 middle-aged 1980s groupies, metal fans, and professional musicians used both quantitative and qualitative data to develop insights into the developmental processes of these emerging adults of the 1980s. Metalheads described their childhood experiences, including maltreatment, their sexual and substance use activities in the 1980s, identity issues, and reported on current indicators of adjustment, such as education, mental health, and happiness. The results confirm that youth involved in the metal scene had high rates of substance use, risky sexual behaviors, and especially for groupies, traumatic childhood experiences, as well as drug dependence and sexual violence during their groupie days. However, despite their trauma and risky behaviors, participants were able to thrive and develop healthy adult lives, from which they look back fondly on those 1980s experiences. The richness of these data provide insights into the search for identity for marginalized youth, and provide hypotheses for future research on the understudied developmental processes of such adolescent style cultures. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

This article outlines challenges and opportunities educators and students face while attempting to develop a global perspective in social work. It discusses the need for more international focus in the classroom and increased field placements in non-Western countries. Exercises using an in-depth case study of the historic and current dynamics of Cyprus are proposed. After centuries of strife, Cyprus remains divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. This case provides social work educators with classroom material lending itself to both student self-reflection and a greater understanding of imperialism, colonization, and marginalization by Western nations and how those elements affect student ideologies. Particular attention is paid to the need for culturally informed and self-reflective international approaches to child welfare.

Tasha R. Howe got her BA in psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She received her MA and PhD in developmental psychology from the University of California, Riverside. After doing an NIMH-sponsored postdoctoral fellowship in developmental psychopathology at Vanderbilt University, she served as assistant professor of psychology at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. Currently as assistant professor of psychology at Humboldt State University in California, Dr. Howe specializes in child abuse, family violence, developmental psychopathology, community violence, and ecological factors affecting normal and atypical child development. She teaches a wide variety of courses, including human development, the history of psychology, family violence, assessment and treatment of child abuse and neglect, children's cognitive development, and developmental psychopathology. She is married and has two sons, ages 6 and 1.Linda M. Woolf is the Coordinator of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Professor of Psychology at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. She received her MS and PhD in applied-experimental psychology from Saint Louis University. She currently serves as Review Editor for the e-journal H-Genocide, secretary for the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (Division 2, APA), and an executive committee member for the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence (Division 48, APA). In addition to her courses on the Holocaust, genocide, peace and conflict, and women and global human rights, Dr. Woolf also teaches a wide variety of courses such as women's intellectual contributions to the study of mind and society, the history and systems of psychology, social psychology, adult development and aging, and introductory psychology. She loves baseball, Star Trek, and her dogs and cats!

Child maltreatment and other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) often cooccur and are related to negative socioemotional outcomes; however, limited research differentiates how maltreatment versus other ACEs predict such outcomes. These efforts are necessary to determine whether cumulative ACE screening efforts best predict those at risk for poor outcomes. We examined cumulative childhood ACEs, cumulative maltreatment subtypes, and adult attachment quality in 379 young and middle-aged adults. This sample enabled comparison between emerging adults and older adults who have navigated additional developmental tasks that may counteract the effects of early ACEs. More ACEs and maltreatment experiences predicted insecure anxious, avoidant, and fearful attachment styles; however, maltreatment failed to predict unique variance in attachment quality beyond other ACEs. Results suggest that maltreatment may be best categorized as part of a general cumulative risk profile predicting poor socioemotional outcomes. Findings support burgeoning trends in medical and social service settings assessing ACEs using simple dichotomous screening tools to identify those requiring intervention and support services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]