This program's success is based on trust between the committee members and the administration, the administration's willingness to share power with students--some of whom have not been model students, and the selection of students who are "underground" leaders and who are willing and able to help resolve student conflicts. (Author/IRT)

Two peer-imitation training procedures, each consisting of adult-delivered prompts and social reinforcement, were employed in two separate experiments to increase five retarded preschool children's imitation of their four nonretarded classmates' free-play behavior. (Author/DLS)

Conducted communication skills workshops to prevent cigarette smoking among adolescents by teaching adults how to help young people make responsible decisions and resist peer influences. One year later, 66% reported use of skills five or more times in the previous month, and significantly fewer adolescents in the high workshop intensity area…

Two strategies for managing disruptive elementary students are described: (1) mini courts (which apply simplified judge and jury courtroom procedures in the classroom); (2) good behavior report sessions (a self-report strategy). For adolescents, two additional strategies are described: (1) goal attainment scaling; and (2) mission impossible teams…

Students in grades 1, 2, and 5 ranked moral transgressions as more wrong than conventional transgressions and rated moral rules as more important than conventional rules. The distinction between morality and convention on criterion judgments was made more comprehensively by older than younger children. Justifications differed by domains at all…

Addresses adolescent suicide, the third leading cause of death among youths. Reviews depression, stress, family, and peer factors that impinge on adolescents and predispose them to suicide. Examines role of professionals in prevention efforts and outlines practice paradigm for identifying and helping suicidal adolescents. (Author/KS)

Presents concepts and philosophies of positive peer culture (PPC) treatment approach and describes implementation of PPC approach in state youth center. Notes PPC can be effective behavior management tool. Considers PPC not easy to implement and develop, yet sees implementation as worthwhile for both students and staff. (NB)

Cooperative professional development is a process by which teams of teachers work together for their own professional development. Types of cooperative development described include the following: (1) professional dialogue; (2) curriculum development; (3) peer supervision; (4) peer coaching; and (5) action research. (MLF)

The study compared the effectiveness of a peer model and an adult model in teaching an expressive language task to four autistic boys (ages 7-10). Results indicated that all children learned from both models and few consistent differences occurred across the two conditions. Generalization and maintenance was also consistently high in both…

An interdependent group-managed response-cost system mediated by free tokens was employed to decrease inappropriate verbalizations of two groups of elementary-level learning disabled children (N=9). Results indicated that this contingency system was a viable and effective method of decreasing inappropriate behavior. Peer pressure was credited for…

Youth gangs can be found throughout all racial, ethnic, and religious groups. Characteristics of gang membership and suggestions for parent and school involvement in preventing gangs are discussed. (DF)

Cummings (1979), citing evidence from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, reports that one of every eleven adult Americans suffers from a severe addictive problem. Drug addiction is epidemic among teenagers; one of every six teenagers suffers from a severe addictive problem. This paper focuses on adolescent drug/substance abuse. (Author)

Describes two reinforcement techniques designed to ensure transfer of learning from management training courses to the workplace: (1) participant journal writing to capture management insights occurring during training and (2) support groups providing encouragement, feedback, and accountability. Results of an evaluation of the techniques'…

Reports on a survey of 42 nurse leaders, which is compared to a 1977 survey that used the same questionnaire with 71 nurse leaders. Results report the current trends in occupational positions, location, habits, travel, career emphasis, mentor activity, sources of influence, publishing, activism, and research. (CH)

Comments on the difficulty of writing novels for adolescents and the writer's efforts to encourage adolescents not to conform, to be responsible for themselves and their friends, and to communicate with adults. (SRT)