Reports on violence prevention in an inner-city middle school. Interviews of students, deemed by peers and teachers as good at managing conflict, revealed eight themes. For example, student experts inoculated themselves in attitude to avoid violence; de-escalated situations when provoked; and believed the cost of fighting exceeds the reward. (RJM)

Many students today face barriers to learning such as physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Others are exposed to violence, substance abuse, or poor relationships in their home and community. North Eugene (Oregon) High School is trying to combat these barriers to learning with anger-management classes. These classes not only stress the…

Schools have increasingly been implementing peer mediation programs as a way to help students find peaceful means for resolving conflicts (Casella, 2000). Peer mediation is a process in which students that have been taught a structured, step-by-step model assist others to peacefully negotiate solutions to their interpersonal conflicts. In spite of…

Reports on an exploratory outcome study of the Program for Young Negotiators training model with adolescents in Buenos Aires, Argentina. An increase in overall negotiation attitudes and behavior was found on the Five Factor Negotiation Scale. Students who presented a pretest thought-action gap marked by high interpersonal understanding showed the…

This paper introduces a project that sought to examines students' perceptions of the meaning of school violence, its impact on their schooling experience, and the effectiveness of current strategies for dealing with violent behaviors. Interviews were conducted with 60 students in grades 7-9 (in groups of 12) drawn from 5 K-9 schools in central…

This action research project evaluated a program to reduce inappropriate behavior and maximize prosocial skills. The program involved development and implementation of cooperative learning, weekly prosocial lessons, a conflict resolution program, and a community service project. The target population consisted of 240 seventh and eighth grade…

Addresses decision-making skills as one approach to increasing adolescents' ability to manage interpersonal violence. Data from Healthy Transitions, a pilot violence prevention study in Baltimore (Maryland), illustrate ways adolescents think about situations of social conflict and highlight the need to understand adolescents' viewpoints when…

This study evaluated the association between middle school students' perceived risk of fighting and actual fighting behavior, examining the effects of race, gender, and grade. Surveys indicated that perceived risk of fighting was high, and one in five students fought regularly. There were associations between race, gender, grade, and fighting. (SM)

Examined the situations in which a random sample of African-American middle school students are violent, the students' interpretations of these situations, the goals of their violent behavior, and how they justify the use of threats or force against others. Created recommendations for violence prevention implied by these research findings. (TJQ)