Discusses a case study that investigated situational mechanisms of peer group interaction in collaborative activity. Aims to highlight the processes and conditions for meaning-making and to characterize the relationships of social and cognitive processes in peer-mediated collaborative learning. Explains that twelve year olds (n=20) participated in…

Discussion of professional ethics focuses on a study by Johan Bekker that recommends a new code of ethics for librarians. Topics discussed include confidential information, extraoccupational activities, continuing education, research, occupational development, membership in occupational associations, and peer group role. A sidebar presents…

Investigates children's peer group discussions of a storybook, an information book, and an informational storybook. Finds older students collaborating more, drawing more on peer information, participating in longer discussions, and making more confirming and challenging responses than younger children. Finds that children stayed on topic longer…

Discusses "Doe v. Petaluma City School District," the only reported federal court decision dealing with "peer sexual harassment," and other sexual harassment cases. Cites major remedies available to victims of peer harassment in schools and the scope and extent of school district and/or employee liability for peer harassment.…

Contrasts the youth movement of the 1960s with the position of young people today, when there are no comparable mass-based movements of youth struggling for social change. Young people today exercise power as consumers and through peer networks rather than through political power. Attacks on immigrants and affirmative action may awaken young…

This study explored gender differences in social and physical aggression experienced by adolescents. Personal reports and self-perception profiles revealed that the most common social aggression was gossip. Both genders reported equal frequencies of social aggression, but girls were more distressed by it than boys. Frequency of social aggression…

States that peer-group meetings for Virginia Community College System classified employees are promising avenues for professional development in the VCCS. Describes the development and successful outcomes of four "drive-in" conferences held for secretaries to division chairs and academic directors. Emphasizes the need for continuing…

Semistructured interviews were conducted with 40 adolescents who reported inhaling volatile solvents. All were aware of the short-term health risks involved in use, and most reported experiencing ill effects. Offers suggestions for intervention. (Author/GCP)

Discusses the Brain Power Program, an attribution retraining intervention to reduce peer-directed aggression. Results suggest that improvements in behavior are related to changes in subjects' attributions. Intervention effects are moderate to strong for many students but not evident at all for some students. Treatment effects diminished over time.…

Reports on a method of curriculum design which allows student empowerment while simultaneously promoting essential literacy skills in a developmental-education course. States that students designed their own curriculum through the use of collaborative groups and peer decision making. Finds students continued to sharpen literacy skills throughout…

Focuses on teasing as a form of verbal aggression in the educational environment. Examines the relationships between undergraduate students' recollections of receiving peer teasing during their junior and senior high school years and students' self-esteem and affect for school. Yields limited correlations between peer teasing and self-esteem, and…

Presents a model for enhancement of teacher empowerment and self-efficacy in which the school social worker facilitates a teacher peer-coaching program. Tested in a preliminary study in two urban schools, the model led to teachers more often seeking and giving advice and to the identification of systematic (versus child-centered) problems. (Author)

Presents a two-part study that looks at the impact of social support on college adjustment among "traditional" campus residents and commuters. Begins with a review of social support measures and the relationship between commuting and college adjustment. Finds factors critical to academic adjustment vary in the contexts of commuting students and…

Investigated the links between attachment and parent peer-management practices, and how each is related to children's home-based peer networks, in a sample of preschoolers and their parents. Found that most securely attached girls, but not boys, were more involved in initiating their peer contacts; home-based peer networks were related to parent…

Describes Juvenile Peer Court--a middle ground between school-centered sanctions and juvenile court. Notes that juveniles who decline Peer Court or who do not complete their ordered sanctions are referred to formal prosecution in juvenile court. (SR)