Laurence Steinberg is the Laura Carnell Professor of Psychology at Temple University. He received his A.B., from Vassar College and his Ph.D. from Cornell University. Dr. Steinberg, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is the current President of the Society for Research on Adolescence, the largest professional organization in the world of social and behavioral scientists interested in adolescent health and development. He is also Director of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent development and Juvenile Justice, a national initiative that is examining a range of scientific and policy issues concerning the treatment of juvenile offenders in the juvenile and criminal justice systems. A nationally recognized expert on adolescent development and family relationships, Dr. Steinberg is the author or co-author of more than 150 scholarly articles and 15 books, including Adolescence, the leading college textbook on the subject, and, most recently, Beyond the Classroom, a book acclaimed as one of the most important books on education written in the past decade. He has been honored by several universities and professional organizations for his contribution to the study of young people and has served as a consultant to Vice-President Gore and Secretary of Education Riley on American school reform and to the National Academy of Sciences as a member of the Academy's panel on the health implications of child labor.
Dr. Steinberg's scholarly work over the past 25 years has examined a range of issues concerning the health and well-being of American youth. He has received support for this work from numerous private and public sources, including the MacArthur Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, the Lilly Endowment, the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. department of Justice. His current work focuses on two areas: the development of mental health problems during the transition into adolescence; and the application of information on normal and atypical adolescent development to the development of sensible juvenile justice policies. The research on psychopathology is aimed at identifying, during middle childhood and preadolescence, youngsters whose biological vulnerabilities or living conditions place them at high risk for developing serious mental illnesses in adolescence, including depression, anxiety disorders, substance dependency, and conduct problems. This work is a collaborative effort involving a team of scientists from several universities around the country.
Dr. Steinberg's work in the area of juvenile Justice is responding to recent concerns over the problem of youth violence in America. The research network he directs is composed of a dozen national experts in social science and the law, and has undertaken several large-scale research projects of tremendous urgency. Dr. Steinberg is actively involved in two such projects: a national investigation of Juveniles ' competence to stand trial, which will shed light on whether and at what ages young offenders should be tried as adults; and a large-scale, longitudinal study of serious juvenile offenders. This research, which is supported by the U.S. Department of Justice, will follow 1200 juveniles who have been convicted of a felony as they move through the justice system in order to examine which sorts of sanctions and programs are effective in promoting desistance from serious crime.
In addition to his work as a scholar, Dr. Steinberg is a dedicated teacher who has received teaching awards at the University of California, the University of Wisconsin, and Temple University, where he was honored in 1994 as one of Temple's Great Teachers.