Discusses the importance of decision making in daily living and of teaching decision making skills in schools; outlines a decision making strategy; lists a sequence of questions as an example of a decision making approach; and presents a decision making map to help in the decision making process. (Author/JK)

Mediation, in which a neutral third party helps two people come up with their own solutions, is being used to settle faculty and staff grievances. Experiences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Duke University, Emory University, and the University of Cincinnati are described. (MLW)

School-based, social problem-solving (SPS) training offers promise both for the prevention and remediation of social maladjustment of disabled children, with emphasis placed on social competence, social skills, and social problem-solving. Strategies for maximizing SPS skills acquisition include repetition, modeling, and role-playing. (CB)

In this lesson, junior high students consider two instances of exponential population growth--one at the local community level and one at the world level--as a way of illuminating some of the problems posed by growth and the limits that may curtail it. (RM)

Mediation, as distinguished from arbitration or negotiation, is likely to emerge in a law school's curriculum only if a faculty member wishes to teach it, but a trend toward inclusion is growing and leadership is being provided by individuals, professional organizations, institutions, and research groups. (MSE)

Compared pairs of five- to seven-year-old children working collectively on spatial perceptive problems to control subjects working individually on the same problems. Although children working in dyads did not do significantly better than children working alone, there were several critical features in the frequency and quality of social interaction…

Techniques are presented that can help teachers resolve conflicts that arise in the classroom. Strategies are outlined for working out differences among students or between the teachers and a student and for fostering cooperative attitudes among the children. (PP)

The complexities of child and youth violence suggest that the solution requires a concerted approach. This paper draws upon research studies that seek to isolate the root causes of violence and the effect of exposure to violence on children. Factors from the home, school, and community environments may provide both the cause and the cure. There is…

This paper reviews the assessment measures developed to recognize nonviolent dispositions. Based on computer searches of the Psychological Abstracts (PsychLit) database, the document identifies the best measures for assessing nonviolence such as: (1) The Nonviolence Test developed by Kool and Sen (1984); (2) the Gandhian Personality Scale…

This work, commissioned by the Presidents Academy of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), presents a variety of case studies illustrating the types of sensitive situations in which community college presidents may find themselves and offers advice on how best to prepare for and resolve such situations. It addresses some of the…

Describes elephant experience as situation which person is unable to integrate. Discusses ways in which school personnel can help student to cope more effectively by understanding the symptoms, sources, and process of using experience constructively. (CJ)

Interviewed married couples (N=30) concerning strategies each spouse used to resolve conflicts. Findings show that husbands win most conflicts regardless of the strategies they or their wives employ. Suggests general background factors of the marriage shape outcomes but the process by which they are translated into outcomes is unclear. (Author)

The most outstanding characteristic of the American College Health Association is its propensity for a ceaseless and continuing altercation. This paper stresses the importance of teamwork within the medical profession. (JN)

Troubled children can greatly influence the behavior of their teachers. Interaction between a teacher and student follows a circular process in which the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors of the teacher are influenced and in turn influence the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors of the student. The five steps in the process are: self-concept,…

Functioning as a researcher, a second-grade teacher evaluated the effectiveness of puppetry in the reduction of student arguments and teacher intervention in those arguments. The teacher defined and observed the behaviors to be changed, designed and implemented the puppet intervention, and then observed the behaviors again, noting reductions in…