Challenging behavior exhibited by young children is becoming recognized as a serious impediment to social-emotional development and a harbinger of severe maladjustment in school and adult life. Consequently, professionals and advocates from many disciplines have been seeking to define, elaborate, and improve on existing knowledge related to the…

The application of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) procedures for the purposes of developing interventions for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) has received considerable attention since the 1997 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The purpose of this paper is to review the…

The monograph details a process for evaluating programs for behaviorally disordered students as well as the results of that analysis. Initial chapters consider the establishment of criteria for well-conceptualized programs and review of a broad literature search on programs for this population. Difficulties are noted with minimal information on…

The paper addresses current theory and research on cognitive approaches with behaviorally disordered youth, and considers assessment and intervention with special attention to methods developed from both cognitive-behavioral and social-cognitive perspectives. Distinctions and similarities between cognitive-behavioral and social-cognitive…

Among results of the research review on strategies to enhance social skills of behaviorally disordered students were that a conceptual base for research is lacking, that training priorities have not been matched to learner needs, and that investigators have often failed to evaluate generalization of effects to nontraining settings. (Author/DB)

A review of 17 studies on tutoring behaviorally disordered students revealed that tutoring can have a positive effect on both the tutor's and the tutee's academic achievement and can increase social relations of the tutoring dyad as well as attitudes toward content area. However, ancedotal reports of improved general social functioning, are not…

Article examines the diagnosis and assessment of self-injurious behaviors. A classification model for conceptualizing self-injury is discussed, and the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" diagnoses associated with self-injury are addressed. Assessment questions and issues to consider when assessing clients who…

This article considers problems in the federal definition of seriously emotionally disturbed, authority (state or federal) in determining program eligibility, the legislative history of exclusionary rules, and legal options available to those seeking access to special education for behavior-disordered students. (DB)

Noting that treatment foster care is a recent and expanding multisystem service, this article summarizes the empirical literature on treatment foster care and offers suggestions for future research directions. Results from program evaluations and experimental research suggest that treatment foster care is an effective alternative to residential…

This article reviews the past research and principles for facilitating moral growth through group discussion and the theories of judgment-action discrepancies. An intervention model is suggested which utilizes actual moral misbehaviors as the basis for both moral discussion and behavioral intervention. (Author/DB)

This article reviews the psychoeducational, behavioral, and ecological models underlying educational services to students with behavior disorders. Models are compared for their explanatory nature, implications for intervention, and how they address the scientific approach to behavior disorders. (DB)

This review describes four major hypotheses related to aggressive behavior and reviews current means for assessment. Hypotheses suggest that aggressive behavior is the result of a social skills deficit, positive or negative reinforcement, environmental deficits, or deficits in the cognitive processing of social stimuli. Changes in assessment…

This article summarizes and critically analyzes the literature on self-restraint (in which a mentally retarded individual restricts or prevents motion of a body part), particularly its identification, etiology, modification, and relationship to self-injurious behavior. The paper examines the hypotheses of negative reinforcement and stimulus…

Examines psychobiological literature pertaining to conduct disorder (CD), with particular emphasis on how such information can increase understanding of youths representing undersocialized aggressive subtype of CD. Reviews literature from neuroanatomical, biochemical, psychophysiological, and pharmacological arenas. Outlines theoretical framework…

Describes the Wediko Children's Services program in Boston and the Boys Town Center for Adolescent and Family Spirituality in Boys Town, Nebraska. These residential treatment programs for at-risk and troubled youth help young people address inappropriate sexual behaviors and learn alternative skills to create positive and healthy relationships.…