Asocial behaviors were significantly reduced among 36 adjudicated adolescents who participated in a 30-day therapeutic wilderness program focusing on interpersonal problem solving and peer group dynamics. Behavior change was related to instructor experience and expectations and to participant interpersonal problem-solving skills. Contains 19…

The main factor in determining the seriousness of offensive speech should not be the group that is offended, but whether harassment or discrimination, legally defined, results. Colleges have an obligation to teach students how to analyze the surrounding society and determine how their actions reflect and are reflected in that society. (MSE)

The voices of pupils excluded from school for disciplinary reasons are infrequently heard. This article draws together the views of a small sample of pupils, gathered over three separate projects, and identifies common themes. The pupils' voices are reported in the more general context of the role of schools in promoting social inclusion and in a…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate intervention procedures to teach conditional use of a communicative request for assistance and independent task performance. A 40-year-old man with autism and severe mental retardation with a history of escape-related problems was taught to use a graphic symbol to request assistance and to engage…

When a group of elementary school teachers decided to pay more attention to bullying in their school, it clearly had an impact on the problem. But beyond that, as the authors report, the teachers' increased awareness of their students' needs translated into a better learning environment overall. Bullying may be viewed as an inevitable part of…

Although a 2-factor model has advanced research on the psychopathy construct, a 3-factor model was recently developed that emphasized pathological personality and eliminated antisocial behavior. However, dropping antisocial behavior from the psychopathy construct may not be advantageous. Using a large sample of psychiatric patients from the…

It has been argued that group treatment of antisocial adolescents may increase rather than decrease conduct problems. One mechanism that has been suggested to underlie this effect is "deviancy training," wherein during group sessions deviant peers reinforce each other's antisocial actions and words. These 2 hypotheses have important implications…

Analogue functional analysis methodology was used to assess potential maintaining contingencies of episodic self-injurious behavior (SIB) of a 4-year-old child diagnosed with autism. Analogue conditions were presented within a multielement design when the child did, and did not exhibit signs of a possible sinus infection, and when the participant,…

We evaluated and treated swimming pool avoidance that was exhibited by a 14-year-old girl diagnosed with autism. In part, treatment involved blocking for flopping (dropping to the ground) and elopement (running away from the pool) and access to food for movements toward a swimming pool. Treatment also involved reinforcement for exposure to various…

This study involves a two-year longitudinal investigation of adolescent participation in unstructured youth recreation centres and the development of antisocial behaviour. Participants were 1163 adolescents who represented 92% of all eighth-grade students in the town of Orebro, Sweden, during the fall of 1999. Antisocial young people and those…

This study examines self-harm in a community sample of adolescents. More specifically, the study identifies the prevalence and types of self-harm, elucidates the nature and underlying function of self-harm, and evaluates the relation of psychological adjustment, sociodemographic, and health-risk variables to self-harm. Self-report questionnaires…

School discipline is a growing concern in the United States. Educators frequently are faced with discipline problems ranging from infrequent but extreme problems (e.g., shootings) to less severe problems that occur at high frequency (e.g., bullying, insubordination, tardiness, and fighting). Unfortunately, teachers report feeling ill prepared to…

Despite nationwide decreases in school crime and violence, a relatively high and increasing number of students report feeling unsafe at school. In response, some school officials are implementing school-police partnerships, especially in urban areas, as an effort to deter criminal activity and violence in schools. This article examines the initial…

This paper examines the relationships of pupils' on-task orientation at school and their opposition to teachers with perceived cognitive competence, perceived relevance of schoolwork, and the belief that going against school norms increases peer status. The study was conducted as a survey among a national representative sample of 3834 pupils in…

The report by the Ombudsman on violence in schools--bullying--served to highlight that there are instances of abuse and violent behavior among schoolchildren at the majority of educational institutions (AA.VV., 2000). From contacts with experts in teaching, we know that this phenomenon is frequently only made known to the educational community…