Prosocial behavior is important for the functioning of society. This study investigates the extent to which environment shared by family members, nonshared environment, and genetics account for children's prosocial behavior. The prosocial behavior of twins (9,424 pairs) was rated by their parents at the ages of 2, 3, 4, and 7 and by their teachers…

In Roberts and Strayer (1996) we described how emotional factors were strongly related to children's empathy, which in turn strongly predicted prosocial behavior. This paper focuses on how these child emotional factors, assessed across methods and sources, related to parental factors (empathy, emotional expressiveness, encouragement of children's…

Many terms have been used to describe the perseverative behavior displayed by children with autism, including "circumscribed, narrow, obsessive, restricted, or special interests." Past researchers have focused on the punishment of such perseverative behaviors by individuals diagnosed with autism, and many parents and teachers also may be inclined…

The authors present their journey through the development of an action research project based on collaboration between university health lecturers and a practice development and research nurse in an NHS Trust hospital. The project was designed to raise awareness and improve the practice of all staff in relation to the dignity and respect shown to…

The present study was conducted to determine if participation in extracurricular activities predicts multiple positive outcomes such as attending college, voting in national and regional elections, and volunteering for community and religious organizations. From analyses of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, a nationally…

As the integrated education movement in Northern Ireland passes its twenty-first anniversary, it is pertinent to explore the legacy of mixed Catholic and Protestant schooling. This paper summarises the findings of different studies regarding the impact of integrated education in Northern Ireland on social identity, intergroup attitudes and…

The present study explored the heterogeneous nature of popularity by investigating subgroups of popular girls (N = 365) in their first year of secondary school (mean age = 13.05). Cluster analysis revealed the presence of five subgroups based upon sociometric popularity (i.e., those considered "likeable" by peers) and consensual popularity (i.e.,…

Background: Many responses to students whose behaviour is considered unacceptable at school fail because they treat young people as isolated individuals and do not operate in the context of the community of people who know and care about them. In some parts of the world there is a move towards exploring how to support such students by moving away…

The focus of this action research project report was to reduce female bullying in the school. There were 35 female participants from sixth and seventh grade, one counselor, and eight recess supervisors. This research project took place from September 4, 2007 through December 14, 2007. Some of the behaviors associated with this problem included:…

This paper analyzes the role of peace education in the creation of a culture of peace from the standpoint of social psychology. To meet the current challenges to peace, it is necessary to develop programs of research, education, and intervention that are as systemic and multidimensional as violence itself. The United Nations Educational,…

Incidences of aggressive and violent actions in schools have been increasing. The goals of this practicum were to reduce aggressive and violent behavior in a large, comprehensive, public high school and to make students and staff aware of peaceful alternatives to conflicts. Solution strategies included teaching conflict resolution skills in the…

Using the Peaceful Solutions Peer Mediation Training Program, a study sought to understand self-efficacy as it relates to conflict resolution, and the effects of sex and socioeconomic status on training in conflict resolution. Two trained adult mediators conducted 13.5 hours of training at each of 7 elementary schools. Each training group had…

While once thought to be oblivious to parental violence, child witnesses to parental violence are now considered to be at risk as victims of both chronic trauma and psychological maltreatment. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among childrens' parental violence history, cognitive skills, processing of social information,…

By state law, many educators are being forced to move from a traditional norm of autonomy to one of collaboration. This paper presents findings of a study that identified the changing role of the 21st century superintendent and described the way one female superintendent promoted state-mandated collaboration in a rural school district with very…

These activity cards represent a way for teachers to supplement the content of the curriculum with activities that address the concept of conflict. Students become aware of conflicts in their lives and discover individual methods for coping with those conflicts. The cards contain action-oriented activities to enable students to learn through…