Youth & Society journal moves to ASU’s Sanford School under new faculty co-editors

How does society influence the lives of youth?

Youth & Society, a peer-reviewed journal, has published research exploring this question for more than 40 years. This winter, the journal moved to Arizona State University’s T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, with two of the department’s faculty members serving as its new co-editors.

Founded in 1969, Youth & Society publishes research on the factors shaping the lives of people ages 10 to 24 — a formative period that influences outcomes well into adulthood. With a global reach, the journal examines how families, schools, neighborhoods, policies and political environments in the U.S. and worldwide lead to healthy development or exposure to harm. It is published eight times a year.

Drawing scholarship from multiple fields, including sociology, psychology, public health, education, criminology, anthropology and political science, the journal complements the Sanford School’s mission to help families and communities — particularly youth — succeed in a complex, modern society. It also closely aligns with the ASU Charter by advancing research and discovery of public value.

“Youth & Society has long published research that connects young people’s everyday experiences to larger social forces,” said Stephen Russell, director of the Sanford School. “That orientation toward public relevance runs through much of the work happening in our unit and across ASU.”

Sarah Lindstrom Johnson

Lindstrom Johnson is a leading scholar in youth development and the founder of the Positive Environments for Adolescents and Children (PEAC) lab. Trained in public health, she works closely with schools, health care providers and community organizations to design and test strategies for preventing violence among youth.

Rather than studying youth development in isolation, her work focuses on the conditions surrounding young people and how those conditions can be changed to reduce harm and support mental, emotional and physical health.

“Youth development doesn’t happen in empty space,” Lindstrom Johnson said. “How young people grow up is shaped by the environments they’re in. Do they feel safe? Are their basic needs met? Do they have someone that they feel cares about them? The work published in Youth & Society seriously considers those contexts, and it’s an honor to steward a journal that connects evidence to the real forces that impact our shared future.”

Anthony Peguero

Peguero is a Foundation Professor in the Sanford School and the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. His research and expertise spans youth violence, socialization, marginalization, education and criminology. He is the director of the Laboratory for the Study of Youth Inequality and Justice and has published extensively on how race, immigration, gender and social conditions shape young people’s experiences, particularly within schools.

“Research on youth cannot be separated from the social structures that surround them,” Peguero said. “Youth & Society has a strong history of publishing work that examines those forces directly, and of producing scholarship that informs both understanding and action. That’s what makes the journal so important to the field.”

Together, Lindstrom Johnson and Peguero also co-lead the Safe Healthy Accessible Resilient Equitable (SHARE) Schools initiative, which works to align school safety, school climate and student well-being efforts through research-informed practice. On Feb. 6, they are hosting a summit — free and open to the public — convening leaders, researchers and practitioners from across the country for a national conversation on school safety and student support.

Under their co-editorship, Youth & Society will continue to publish research examining youth development across key transitions, from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to adulthood.

“Questions about youth development are ultimately questions about the kind of world we are building,” says Russell. “The Sanford School is excited to take part in scholarship that deepens our understanding in this space.”