Eighteen low-income, socially isolated mother-child dyads were referred for psychological help because of the children's oppositional behaviors and the mothers' aversive reactions to the children. Findings were taken to suggest that a mother's extrafamily social contacts may influence her child interaction patterns at home. (Author)

The counselor, facilitating classroom development guidance lessons, may experience conflict and difficulty. The management system presented here allows for flexibility and provides sufficient behavioral structure, while encouraging individual expression from students. This behavioral management approach is supportive of, but secondary to,…

The performance of five students (ages 6 to 10) in an adjustment class for deaf children was compared under fixed and variable ratio schedules of reinforcement. During the VR condition, students visually attended more and engaged in disruptive behavior less often than during the FR condition. (Author)

Children can be taught to change their own inappropriate behavior and thereby make better use of their school time. This study indicates that such learning can be accomplished in small groups which should have efficiency appeal to counselors and administrators. (Author)

Presents a model for understanding children's formation of schemas of self, other, and how self and other do and should communicate emotion. Attributes important roles to families' tendencies to display or not display emotion and to their rules regarding desirability and importance of communicating emotion. Notes that child characteristics and…

Describes how a female student who was harassed by a male peer broke free of the victim role. Includes background information of this "Manipulation of Body Boundaries" crisis. Interview with the 12-year-old girl reflects the six stages of "Life Space Crisis Intervention," through which she learned strategies to resist…

Describes specific parallels between rational emotive behavior therapy and humanism. Places specific emphasis on the application of these principles with children and adolescents. Concepts are illustrated with case studies and a description of the similarities between rational emotive and humanistic, or affective, education. Highlights emotional…

This article reviews research describing assessment-based antecedent interventions implemented in natural settings. Descriptive information is provided along a number of dimensions pertaining to participant characteristics (n=42), assessment utilized, and intervention attributes. Results indicate the most common interventions targeted aggression,…

Single-subject multiple probe designs were employed in two studies with 5 young adults who had mental retardation and mental illness. After learning visual arts activity skills in Study 1 and personally expressive behaviors in Study 2, participants displayed improvement in behaviors associated with mental illness and increases in expressive…

Information on family context was used to individualized behavioral support plans designed to support family use of functional communication training (FCT) for three children (ages 3-5) with autism. Results indicate problem behavior decreased and functional communication increased when FCT was introduced into family routines selected for training.…

Surveys current research on causes and treatment of autism. Identifies features of autism and outlines causal theories and related treatments. Analyzes problems with the different approaches to causes of autism. Suggests the multiplicity of approaches implies lack of success in any one area. Contends behavior modification provides best results and…

Evaluation of treatment acceptability was conducted with 78 staff members at a community-based residential facility for youth with severe behavior disorders and mental retardation, where the institutional treatment philosophy was explicitly behavioral. Unlike a previous study, in this setting acceptability ratings were not influenced by severity…

The Mainstream Assistance Teams Project in elementary and middle schools involves prereferral intervention embedded within a larger process of teacher consultation to better accommodate difficult-to-teach pupils in regular classrooms. Project interventions are prescriptive, student directed, and designed to transfer to additional school settings.…

The article discusses the following conceptual models of depression, noting their related treatment approaches: (1) biological model (psychopharmacology); (2) behavioral model (behavior modification, social skills training, problem-solving skills); (3) cognitive model (cognitive therapy); (4) life stress model (focusing on environmental stresses…

In two studies, severe aggressive and self-injurious behaviors exhibited by two adult men with mental retardation were reduced through the implementation of functional communication training. Reductions came after years of less successful nonaversive and aversive interventions. Behavior changes were generalized across staff, new environments, and…