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Abstract: 

If you have seen the movie “Pay it Forward,” about a young lad who is challenged by his disfigured social studies teacher to make a difference in the world as a yearlong project, then you will surely understand when I tell you that Dr. Edward Latessa “pays it forward” each day of his life. Ed Latessa is a teacher, mentor, friend, colleague, and a brilliant researcher. He has influenced systems and leaders within systems to apply science to practice. In this interview, Dr. Latessa shares some of his thoughts on a variety of issues ranging from how he views the oppositional defiant and emotionally disturbed youth to the role he has as head and professor of the Division of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Latessa reinforces our position that applied research has advanced outcome-based cognitive behavioral programs and services for the populations we serve and that we have progressed from a seat-of-the-pantstrial-and-error, choose-what-looks-good approach to a science that includes matching program responsivity to the criminogenic needs of the oppositional defiant and/or emotionally disturbed youth.

Keywords: Cognitive-behavioral interventions

Affiliations:  .