Functional communication training (FCT) is an intervention frequently used for students with developmental disabilities to reduce problematic behaviors and to increase prosocial behaviors. This intervention appears to be very effective when the communication responses trained are matched to the function of the student's problematic behaviors. In…

Preschoolers' prosocial and aggressive behaviours were explored longitudinally, with a focus on the inferred underlying motives of these behaviours. Forty-four children (initially 22-40 months of age) were observed in naturalistic interactions with peers, during a 2-month period, for each of three consecutive years. Three categories of prosocial…

For the past 30 years, peace educators have drawn attention to the vital role of language--the caring, creative words that describe and enhance peace. The language of peace has evolved through several stages of growth and complexity. It also offers a heritage of caring and acceptance for all children who enter through educators' classroom doors.…

Objective: Although social maladjustment appears to be common among abused children, negative outcomes are not inevitable. This investigation was designed to determine whether ethnicity and features of the parenting context predicted children's social adjustment, and whether the strength and direction of these relations differed for abused and…

This report summarizes the findings from a national evaluation of mentoring programs funded under the U.S. Department of Education's Student Mentoring Program. The impact evaluation used an experimental design in which students were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. Thirty-two purposively selected School Mentoring Programs and…

Truancy is a considerable problem among adolescents. Considering the historical emphasis on studying truancy in urban regions, a concerted effort is needed to extend this research into rural areas to examine cultural generalizability of findings. The purpose of this study was to assess variables associated with truancy in a rural sample (N = 367)…

This article describes the implementation and evaluation of a sport-based life skills and community service program. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the impact of a combined life skills and community service program on adolescents' prosocial values. The program was part of a national golf and life skills enrichment academy for…

In the present study, the authors examined the relations among parenting styles, parental practices, sympathy, and prosocial behaviors in adolescents. The participants were 233 adolescents (M age = 16.7 years; 69% girls; mostly White) from public high schools in the Midwestern region of the United States who completed measures of prosocial…

African American adolescents disproportionately perform poorly compared to peers in both behavioral and academic aspects of their educational experience. In this study, African American male students participated in an after-school program involving tutoring, group counseling, and various enrichment activities. All students were assessed regarding…

These essays attempt to chronicle the work of six authors in peace education as they reflect on the processes and important persons leading them to commit to peace education. They also examine those obstacles, successes and failures encountered trying to make these commitments concrete and substantial. The essays in this volume include: (1)…

This booklet reports on an international survey of the ministries of education of several countries, conducted in cooperation with the National Board of Education in Sweden. The study sought to assess the status of peace education in various countries in the mid-1980s and again in 1991-92. The questionnaire concentrated on three questions: (1)…

Two studies investigated children's responsiveness to an adult's negative emotions (anger, sadness, and pain). The studies also evaluated effects of adult scaffolding (labeling and explaining negative emotions, and requesting help). In the first study, subjects were 55 preschool children between the ages of 33 and 56 months. During individual play…

Becoming successful through positive thinking can make a person a winner throughout life. Winners are specific and positive, are prepared, and accept personal responsibility for their actions. By mentally imaging a goal, an individual can gain the confidence necessary to accomplish that goal. An individual's life can be made easier by thinking of…

While many studies have documented the negative consequences of excessive television watching, few behavioral programs have investigated techniques for reducing television viewing. A 13-year-old girl who watched from 6 to 9 hours of television daily was provided a behavioral program featuring a token-actuated timer in an attempt to reduce her…

This is a first-grade unit of study about the concept of cooperation. The content covers the concept of cooperation and the context in which it is illustrated: through rules in sports, at home and at school; through teamwork in games and projects; and through individual efforts of helping, trusting and sharing. Additional content focuses on how…