This document contains a short fictional story about a girl who, with the help of a fictional guardian armadillo, learns how to say "no" when her friends want her to do something she thinks is wrong. Readers will learn how to say no without losing their friends. (NB)

Two studies were conducted to determine whether outerdirectedness was an effective problem solving style for educable mentally retarded (EMR) students. In Study I, 60 EMR and 60 normal elementary Ss were presented easy or difficult tasks in one of three instructional conditions--relevant, irrelevant, or control. Glancing was measured to record…

The degree to which children aged 2 and under imitated a peer's novel uses of a material was examined. After being trained to emit "correct use responses" with the materials a child was placed in a peer group with instructions to show other children what he had learned. Results are discussed. (SE)

Outlines some steps that students can take to encourage excellence in their schools. (IRT)

The article describes a five-step group therapy program for 21 male adolescent sex offenders. Key elements were peer interaction and a system of incentives for therapy. (DB)

Administered questionnaires to 272 preadolescents to assess their degree of parent-peer compliance. Results revealed that, on most items, youths were clearly parent compliant. There was, however, a significant age trend in the direction of peer compliance, with males demonstrating the greatest degree of change. (Author/NRB)

Many institutions and school systems have adopted the Positive Peer Culture (PPC) method for helping disturbed adolescents by turning the peer culture from a negative to a positive "caring" force. The paper discusses some of the major limitations and how assertion training, in conjunction with PPC, provides a successful resolution. (Author/SB)

Studied risk and reckless behavior in 375 emerging adults using self-report measures and a cross-sectional design. Risk behaviors were found to be reliably predicted by sensation seeking, but not by antisocial peer pressure, while the reverse pattern was more true in relation to "reckless" behaviors. (SLD)

Examined peer influence for 1,969 adolescents across 5 risk behaviors: smoking, alcohol consumption, marijuana use, tobacco chewing, and sexual debut. Results show that a random same-sex peer predicts a teen's risk behavior initiation through influence to initiate cigarette and marijuana use, and influence to initiate and stop alcohol and chewing…

Collected data from first 100 subjects in on-going longitudinal study of drug use before and during pregnancy in adolescence. Findings from unmarried pregnant adolescents revealed that, although lifetime prevalence of drug use was relatively high, substance use declined voluntarily and substantially during pregnancy. Prepregnancy drug use…

Provides an overview of the preceding articles in this journal issue. Considers the timing of gender segregation, compatibility between play styles and gender segregation, possible physiological processes underlying gender segregation in play, children's cognitive knowledge about gender, and the consequences of gender segregation. (BAC)

Explores adolescent Satanism as a phenomenon of adolescent developmental issues, most frequently occurring in the context of chemical abuse. Explains what a cult is, reviews history of Church of Satan, identifies characteristics of adolescent Satanism, and provides a case study of 16-year-old male with chemical dependency who becomes involved in…

Responds to arguments presented by Judith Harris's book "The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do" (1998). Maintains that her work should come as a relief to parents, as it encourages a constructive focus on ways parents can influence their children. Contends that Harris's ideas reflect a model in which parents' role matures…

Reports on an analysis through a symbolic interactionist perspective that indicates that hazing occurs because fraternities view it as a necessary component of their initiation rites. Posits that fraternities use systematic manipulation of symbols, social relations, and definitions of situations while reshaping the pledge's "self."…

Describes findings of several studies examining the influence of peer pressure on children and adolescents and what schools can do to help alleviate that pressure, especially among adolescents. (PKP)