Describes a field study that found that student "brinkmanship" (assertive behavior attempting to challenge the school's authority system yet avoid negative sanctions) is related to organizational routinization and student-teacher rapport. When rapport is poor, high routinization and control is correlated with low brinkmanship. (Author/JM)

The relationship between student brinkmanship, defined as an assertive student behavior which attempts to challenge school authority while avoiding negative sanctions, and classroom social structure in five secondary school classrooms was investigated through a field study. Subjects were 185 students in a small rural high school in Georgia.…