Involvement in community service can benefit middle-school students by helping them feel valued, teaching responsibility, and improving teacher-student relations. A rural Pennsylvania middle school evaluated community-service opportunities and then employed StarServe, a resource kit encouraging students to develop their own service projects.…

Offers statements about elementary students' own learning styles, learning environmental characteristics they desire, and qualities in adults they consider supportive of their learning. Statements are selections from over 700 comments from students in 7 schools who completed following sentences: "The adults at school that help me the most are the…

The article describes the implementation of Immediate Strategic Intervention, a counseling strategy which utilizes trained adolescent female friends to help during the first 24 hours of an emotional crisis (e.g., potential suicide). Middle school adolescents can be taught basic psychological concepts and utilize them in supporting friends and…

Investigated kin networks, kin network support, and consequences of this support for women's work using data from a national survey of young mothers, both Black and White (n=1,787). Results indicated most young mothers had access to nearby kin, and it was these kin who most often provided child care and income support. (Author/ABL)

Examined effects of reasoning and choice on prosocial behavior of 48 second and third graders enrolled in day camps. Results indicated that the children were more helpful in choice than in no-choice conditions. However, prosocial behavior was most likely when no reasoning was used. (Author/BB)

Defines manipulative behavior and its potentially detrimental impact on helping relationships. Client manipulative behaviors discussed and illustrated include attempting to control conditions of treatment, avoiding engaging in helping process, attempting to gratify needs in helping relationships that are ordinarily gratified for other sources,…

Minor disagreements can quickly escalate when a child feels threatened with losing face or fears retaliation. Peer-mediation programs can help students refocus their energies while learning communication skills they can use in other situations. The benefits of an Oregon elementary school's peer-mediation program are discussed. (MLH)

A survey of parents of 36 children with deaf-blindness found that relationships between siblings consisted of unequal roles, with siblings primarily taking on a helping role. According to parents, unique modifications needed to interact effectively with individuals with deaf-blindness were not being implemented by the siblings. (Author/CR)

Reports the multistage development of the Community Service Attitudes Scale, an instrument for measuring college students' attitudes toward community service. Analysis of scores for samples of 437 and 332 students yields strong reliability evidence, and principal components analysis supports the helping behavior model of S. Schwartz. (SLD)

Presents a comprehensive, research-based rationale for rejecting "get-tough," punitive approaches to juvenile detention and implementing "helpful programs" in detention settings instead. Offers a review of the information that explains why and how juvenile detention should be a first step in the treatment of young offenders,…

Discusses ways of helping children learn to care for one another. Notes that even very young children respond with empathy to others' expressed distress. Explores ways to enhance children's natural empathy in terms of empathy as identification, as communication, as a caring act, as a moral act, and as respect. (DLH)

A study explored how 432 visual impairment professionals learned of the field and why they entered it. Newer teachers were more likely to identify professional contact as the way they first learned about the field. The desire to help others was the major factor motivating entrance to the field. (Contains nine references.) (CR)

A study examined the mentorship experiences of three gifted underachieving male adolescents. Findings indicate that open-minded and nonjudgmental characteristics of the mentors were required to sustain an on-going relationship. A plan of strength- and interest-based strategies for intervention to reverse patterns of underachievement was…

Describes a peer helper program developed for students in grades K-5. The program applies the concept that each student has something positive to offer the school and is responsible for providing that service. Discusses program goals and objectives, ways to gain support for the program, training, implementation, and evaluation. (RJM)

Examines the influence of caregivers' Attachment Styles and personality traits on their experiences of caring for dementia dependents. Results, based on 126 caregiver-dependent pairs, indicate connections between attachment style factors and caregiver experiences. Those choosing to institutionalize dependents ranked higher on Avoidance factors…