A study employed a Burkeian framework in order to determine the nature of Al-Anon's rhetoric and evaluate the success of the organization's rhetorical strategies in appealing to the co-alcoholic population that it addresses. According to Kenneth Burke, a message is persuasive if the audience perceives a commonality with the central beliefs of the…

Aspects of W. Glasser's Control Theory are applied to the education of behaviorally disordered students. It is believed that stimulus/response theory and tools are inadequate with this population and that the stress should be on understanding internal motivating forces. The caring classroom, an approach which emphasizes ways to meet both the…

Following a description of the proceedings of the conference (including sponsors and a 3-day program), 12 papers are presented on the communication problems of the mentally handicapped. The keynote address, by S. Segal, reviews trends in teaching communication to mentally retarded persons, including the impact on teaching of British legislation…

Seven author-contributed papers address theoretical and applied interventions with children who have behavior disorders. V. Rezmierski reviews the developmental perspective and the Intervention by Prescription model in "Developmental Interventions with Behaviorally Disordered Youth." D. Glenn et al. follow with a discussion of research and theory…

A curriculum in affective education was developed for learning disabled and emotionally impaired high school students. The initial course in the curriculum was one on personal growth (in which students were encouraged to become more aware of identity, competencies, preferences, influences, and body). Objectives were written for three major subject…

The manual introduces the framework of STARS (Striving Together and Reaching Success), a program for serving behaviorally disordered students in grades 1-8. The underlying philosophy is to provide a consistently structured instructional program to promote successful reintegration into a less restrictive educational setting. An overview section…

Two experiments compared cross-age and peer tutoring interventions within special education settings. In experiment 1, 47 elementary age learning and/or behaviorally disordered (LD/BD) students acted as tutors of younger LD and BD students. In experiment 2, 31 same-age LD and BD students alternated tutor and tutee roles. In both experiments,…

Three groups of adolescents (n=82) who received treatment for emotional disturbances as children were compared on four predictive indicators: organic problems, family problems, conduct disorders, and academic problems. Using childhood treatment data, significant differences were found between the aggressive group and one or both of the comparison…

The article describes the Behavior Management Level System (BMLS), a model program for emotionally disturbed adolescents combining a token economy approach with a hierarchial system of levels which provides an objective standard for graduation from the system. Points are accumulated as immediate reinforcers and traded for tangible or social…

Teacher completed Behavior Problem Checklists on 730 behaviorally disordered pupils were subjected to first- and second-order factor analyses. Four narrow band factors and two broad band factors were identified suggesting two general patterns of psychopathology among children. (Author/DB)

Psychometric properties of the Hopelessness Scale for Children (HSC) were evaluated with 834 normal adolescents and 93 adolescent suicide attempters. Positive correlations with depression and depressive attributional style were found for the suicide attempter group. These and other results are discussed in terms of the utility of the HSC. (JW)

Thirty-two studies, involving 47 discrete experiments, are reviewed on the application of overcorrection to management of self-injurious behavior in intellectually handicapped individuals. The literature supports short-term efficacy of overcorrection. Reservations include the intrusive and restrictive nature of the technique and limited data on…

An historical overview of suicide in childhood and adolescence is presented. Current legal, etiological, and treatment issues related to the act of self-destruction, including data from British Columbia and other Canadian provinces are discussed. The role of the teacher in prevention and in providing support services for the bereaved is…

Results of a peer confrontation procedure on the disruptive classroom behavior of three behavior-disordered and mildly retarded students (ages 9-11) are reported. Immediately following each episode of disruptive behavior, peers were prompted by the teacher to label the target behavior, indicate why it was unacceptable, and suggest an alternative…

The position paper discusses issues surrounding definition and identification procedures used for students with behavior disorders. Five recommendations address the need for revision of the federal definition, elimination of arbitrary exclusions, focus on sources of data collection, alternative models of service delivery, and priority needs for…