Drawing on social identity theory, this study explored the impact of the peer group on childhood bullying. Participants were 351 students, aged 8 to 13 years. Involvement in bullying, friendship group membership, norms of particular groups, and intra-group positions (prototypical vs. peripheral) were determined using peer reports. Results revealed…

The author offers the thesis that hunter-gatherers promoted, through cultural means, the playful side of their human nature and this made possible their egalitarian, nonautocratic, intensely cooperative ways of living. Hunter-gatherer bands, with their fluid membership, are likened to social-play groups, which people could freely join or leave.…

John C. Weidman (1989) was one of the first to argue that a socialization model is necessary to fully understand college impact. Weidman also contends that socioeconomic status (SES) is an important part of the socialization process for students. In fact, he placed such emphasis on SES that he included it in two locations within his model: (1)…

Applied the concepts of agonism and dyadic dominance to the analysis of children's behavior. (SB)

Tests were conducted to determine if domestic chicks would respond to multiple social separations with the cumulative disruption of social development seen in other species. (Author/SS)

This paper describes some of the more current research in the area of social networks of the early adolescent (ages 10 to 15), and discusses the direction of research in adolescent social networks. (KC)

Concepts and suggestions are offered to deaf adolescents for achieving independent living or social independence. (BD)

Two studies of a total of 17 preadolescent emotionally disturbed children were undertaken to observe children's reflective and naturalistic social cognition, and to utilize a developmental sequence of levels of interpersonal understanding to evaluate the interpersonal problem solving skills of emotionally disturbed children. Individual interviews…

Observed functioning of same-sex triads of middle grade children during an intimate discussion, a cooperative puzzle task, a competitive game, and free play. Found that triads of girls were more intimate, exchanged more information, and were less aggressive than triads of boys. Girls and boys expressed similar attitudes toward triadic interaction,…

This study evaluated the impact of a program for improving group functioning through reducing the frequency of inappropriate student behavior. Participating were 160 students in grades 3, 7, 10, and 11 from a primary school, a junior high, and 3 high schools. All of the subject schools were in low- to upper-middle class communities located in five…

This collection of papers represents an extension of analytic approaches and concepts from animal social ethology to the study of activities among stable groups of young children. A major emphasis of this research was on the description of organizational patterns in social behavior observed during periods of free play. The papers are: (1) "An…

Examined role of friendship aspects in moderating behavioral antecedents and outcomes of peer victimization among fourth and fifth graders. Teacher-reported internalizing and externalizing behaviors predicted increases in peer-reported victimization; relation of internalizing behaviors to increases in victimization was attenuated for children with…

Socially rejected students are actively excluded for long periods of time by many of their peers at school and are often the recipients of verbal or physical abuse. Although most consideration of this problem has focused on rejected students, social rejections could be considered as a group phenomenon, determined by the structure of the social…

Suggests looking at group dynamics when managing conflicts between children in the classroom. Uses an example from the classroom to demonstrate how teachers can facilitate safe and fair conflict management, increase cooperative behavior, and, as a result, contribute to children's self-esteem. Discusses careful observation in the classroom,…

Discusses effects of peer relationships on preschoolers' social development. Peer acceptance is important for successful social interaction and adjustment to school, whereas antisocial behavior is associated with rejection. Family interaction and experience are connected to peer acceptance. Suggests approaches that teachers may use to facilitate…