Presents findings regarding human and vicarious influences in the lives of members of the North American Association for Environmental Education. Provides excerpts from 34 statements to illustrate the variety and richness of their narratives. (Author/CCM)

Describes the relationship between personal and perceived opposite-sex peer expectations and drinking behavior. As compared to themselves, participants believed that their opposite-sex best friend had greater expectations for the effects of alcohol. Perceived peer expectancies added to the prediction of self-reported drinking beyond that which is…

Examines gender differences in adolescents' (N=39) behavior during conflict resolution tasks with their best friends and differences in descriptions of those friendships. Results show that females were rated lower in withdrawal and higher in communication skills and support validation while males rated higher in conflict. (MKA)

Considerable evidence supports the hypothesis that peer relationships influence the growth of problem behavior in youth. Developmental research consistently documents the high levels of covariation between peer and youth deviance, even controlling for selection effects. Ironically, the most common public interventions for deviant youth involve…

In a religion class of 26 bright creative sixth graders, one student demonstrates the power of peer pressure. Part of the morning ritual is to say prayer petitions. Students seems to be calmed by their expressions of care for their families, friends, pets, their military troops, victims of natural disasters, the homeless, etc. However, one student…

Since friendship and peer relationships are particularly important to teenagers, students with passive aggressive behaviors frequently and intentionally "set up" more aggressive peers to get them to react and to lose control, guaranteeing a behavioral consequence. As a result, the victim of being set up or "manipulated" also ends up being…

A teacher-researcher uses the metaphor of recycling along a continuum to describe how teachers adapt the ideas of their colleagues with varying degrees of change based on their different contexts. The objective of recycling is not only to reduce waste but also to extend use and the key to lasting changes in mind is sustained participation in…

Aims: To investigate UK university student drinking in terms of social and motivational factors. Design: Quantitative and qualitative studies. Participants: Undergraduate students at a UK university: 50 "heavy drinkers" and 49 "light drinkers", equally distributed in terms of sex and year of study. Data: Questionnaire measures…

There is evidence of higher prevalence rates for alcohol use among rural adolescents relative to urban adolescents. Strategies aimed at preventing adolescent alcohol use typically include the development of social skills to resist peer pressure; among the social skills frequently targeted is assertiveness. Self-report data were collected from a…

Peers can influence each other's health lifestyle choices. However, limited research informs as to the factors that determine whether and how peers confront one another over their poor health lifestyle choices. We used Newell and Stutman's model of social confrontation as a theoretical framework to predict the manner in which college students will…

This article analyses alcohol-related lifestyles among Danish teenagers. Building on Bourdieu's reasoning on symbolic capital and distinction, we analyse three interrelated themes. First, we show that alcohol-related variables (drinking patterns, drinking debut, experience of intoxication, etc.) can be used to identify some very distinctive life…

In order to develop a comprehensive substance abuse prevention plan for a boarding school for American Indian middle school students, the students (N = 66) were surveyed at two time points and teacher reports and discipline records were collected. Factors most strongly related to substance use were affiliation with risk-taking peers, lower levels…

The many sea-changes in German culture have given rise to a growing population of children and youth at risk. This article describes the creation of a Positive Peer Culture in a special school for students with emotional and behavioural problems. The authors review challenges facing youth in modern Germany, the implementation of the PPC program,…

Academic participation based on merit can oftentimes frustrate a young person when his/her condition hampers full participation in the process of learning. This study provides detailed sociological description of Hawaii's youth offenders with learning disabilities and the various ways they get involved with the juvenile justice system. This study…

Both individual and ecological influences are implicated as factors linked to youth violence. In this paper, we conduct analyses on several databases of 6th-12th grade students in the United States, to explore the linkage of positive relationships, opportunities, skills, and values, called Developmental Assets, to prevention of youth aggressive…