Junior high school students, particularly Negroes, experience an excessive amount of inner conflict because they are lacking in social skills and confidence. These feelings of insecurity stem mainly from an awareness of social ostracism. (CK)

Explores the causal nature of the association between grade repetition and later adolescent problem behaviors for 197 retained and 204 promoted African-American sixth and seventh graders in two urban middle schools. Regression analyses imply that retention reduced rebellious behavior in school and increased attachment to school. (SLD)

Describes a study in which young, urban African American adolescents with behavior problems participated in weekly group sessions that used rap music to promote the development of appropriate social skills related to morality, identity, judgement, decision making, anger management, impulse control, and crime and punishment. Overall, student…

A disproportionately high number of minority students are referred by general education teachers for placement in special education. Teacher perception of social skills and problem behaviors of African American male students with and without identified disabling conditions was studied with 44 African American urban male students in grades 3, 4,…

The extent to which adolescents are exposed to various types of violence, as victims or witnesses, and the association of such exposure with trauma symptoms and violent behavior were studied in samples of students from central city, suburban, and small city high schools. An anonymous self-report questionnaire was completed by 3,735 students in 6…