This document measures two sociological theories against patterns which emerge from six studies on former student activists. Because the existing data neither confirm nor contradict each theory, a third orientation is introduced. Briefly stated, the social integration theory suggests that former activists assume adult work roles, retreat from…

Current data on youth substance abuse behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes are important in addressing social and health issues. To obtain these data, students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 from 144 Iowa school districts completed a 105-item survey assessing demographics, peer influence, parent influence, school influence, personal preferences, and…

This paper reports feedback from 349 fifth through eighth graders who participated in Say It Straight (SIS), a school-based drug abuse prevention program which combines assertiveness training with role playing and guided imagery. The feedback presented concerns students' feelings about sending and receiving messages using the following…

Cooperative learning is a generic classroom technique that requires students to work and talk together about academic material while learning effective interpersonal skills. This packet, prepared in conjunction with the Minnesota School Effectiveness Program, describes the benefits of cooperative learning and defines its critical attributes,…

The use of small instructional groups can make several contributions to college writing courses. First, small group instruction is participatory, it provides helpful feedback, and it fosters higher levels of cognition. There is near universal acceptance of the theory that students of all ages learn best when participating actively in their own…

This book looks at the problem of drug abuse, particularly the use of marihuana by children ages 9 to 14, and describes one strategy parents can use to prevent drug use by their children. On the premise that nonmedical drug use is not acceptable for children, parents need to provide guidance and exercise discipline with respect to drug use among…

A teacher's experience of being a student in high school for a semester is recounted. The wide differences between teachers' and students' perceptions of responsibility for learning and teaching are pointed out as well as differences in attitude toward school and the world in general. Some suggestions are made for improving teaching and rapport…

A study compared the perceptions of the social environment of satisfied women engineering students against disatisfied students and ex-students at twelve engineering schools with varying percentages of female students. The results found no direct effects of the perceived or actual porportion of female enrollment on satisfaction with engineering.…

The extent of drinking among college students (N=800) was investigated, to compare the consumption of various groups in terms of such variables as: age, sex, religious preference, class standing, type of living accommodation and type of college (i.e., religious vs. secular and co-ed vs. all female). Various life styles and their relationship to…

A total of 734 sixth through twelfth grade students completed two questionnaires in a study that focused on the development of consumer skills, the sources of consumer skill acquisition, the effects of cognitive development and social factors on the socialization processes, and the effects of levels of competency on various consumer skills. A…

Marijuana use on college campuses is commonplace both as regards experimentation and frequent use. In attempting to understand factors contributing to this phenomenon which flies in the face of legal America, researchers have examined various aspects of parental influence including parental consumption of legal and illegal drugs and their…

One of 52 theoretical papers on school crime and its relation to poverty, this chapter presents an institutional product theory of school crime, along with related evidence and a preliminary test of the theory. Two theoretical traditions, Albert Cohen's "delinquent subculture" theory and the social psychological "cognitive balance" theory, can…

Peer pressure was shown to have a powerful influence on the verbally expressed drug attitudes of the undergraduate male sample. Subjects exposed to a group which consistently espoused either conservative (anti-drug) or liberal (pro-drug) attitudes toward the personal use of drugs were highly likely to conform to the groups attitudinal norms.…

Age trends in conformity and independence, using a sample of 366 children from the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th grades were investigated. Three types of stimuli were used: (1) visual judgments; (2) opinion statements; and (3) delay of gratification preferences. Age-trends were observed for unanimous peer pressure, adult influence, and peer pressure…

A 20 item television commercial attitude survey given to 232 6th, 8th, and 12th grade students tested the hypotheses that: 1) younger children are more influenced by commercials than are older children; 2) that children are more apt to buy products which exert peer pressure upon them; and 3) that children are more susceptible to commercials which…