Describes and evaluates attempts to mitigate effect that watching television violence has on young children. Most relevant studies have been laboratory experiments, and there is no reported evidence that any intervention has been effective over long-term. Concludes that interventions combining cognitive and behavioral approaches have most promise,…

The scope and incidence of school-based aggression, specifically physical and verbal assault, are noted. Interventions discussed include: contingency management (reinforcement, ignoring, response cost, timeout, peer procedures, and aversive consequences) and self-management procedures (social skills training, problem-solving training, and…

Proposes a model of social exchange in children which conceptualizes social behavior as a function of the child's processing of a set of social environmental clues. Reports results of two studies which provide support for a reciprocal influence model of the relation between social information-processing patterns and children's social behavior.…

Discusses a study of children aged eight to nine years who were presenting aggressive behavior, with the aim of facilitating intervention at an early stage. Results of questionnaires given to teachers, the children themselves, their peer group, and parents are examined. Difficulties that arose in undertaking this study are explored. (Author/CT)

Multiple measures of social and cognitive functioning were obtained to investigate whether abused and neglected children demonstrate serious psychological disturbances following instances of child maltreatment. Participants were 42 preschool children who had a previous history of physical abuse, serious neglect, or no maltreatment. (Author/RH)

Followed 1,130 low peer choice children through record sources into young adulthood. Examination of specific childhood problem behavior clusters revealed that childhood aggression, in context of peer rejection, was related significantly to delinquency for males, antisocial diagnosis for both sexes, and differentiated those in the judicial and…

This paper focuses on the structured learning approach to psychological skill training with aggressive adolescents, examining 30 evaluation-oriented studies of skills training with such youth. Emphasized are relevant experimental designs, prescriptive utilization of skills training, means for enhancing trainee motivation, transfer and maintenance,…

Kindergarten children (N=90) were given opportunities to report to their class during "sharing time" the cooperative or friendly behaviors of their peers which had occurred during the day. Cooperative behavior increased and aggressive acts decreased when peers reported prosocial behavior to the class. (Author)

Peer abuse in the form of bullying is now recognised as an endemic feature of school life and in terms of impact, outcomes and intervention requirements can be equated with other forms of child abuse. It is argued in the light of data presented here that the parallels between peer abuse and more generally accepted forms of child abuse must be…

The causes and symptoms of violence among children and adolescents can be complex and difficult to control. A strategy that was designed to help one youth center's staff, volunteers, and members recognize the signs and symptoms of verbal and physical violence is described here. The youth facility is located in a crime-ridden part of an urban…

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…

Several hypotheses have been generated about the functions of mock aggression, including its association with dominance. This paper describes a study that expanded this line of research by interviewing college students about a broad array of mock aggressive behaviors and their contexts, targets, benefits, and functions. The hypotheses were that:…

Violence in America is a public health problem of the highest magnitude. In order to address this problem, the causes of violence and an overview of some effective treatment and prevention programs are presented in this booklet. It focuses on biobehavioral factors (ways in which physiological characteristics influence behavior) and centers on such…

This review of the literature on aggression and violence in girls, especially girls in Canada, begins with data showing increasing rates of assault and other violent crimes by Canadian girls, although the rate for girls continues to be much less than for boys (a fact possibly responsible for the small amount of research on this population). The…

The commission studied the establishment and effectiveness of district-wide school disciplinary policies and practices and developed a plan to address the growing concern of violence in the public schools. The following 11-point plan was presented, including key findings and recommendations: (1) adopting statewide student conduct and…