Compared with respect to their susceptibility to peer pressure to engage in deviant activity were fifth-, sixth-, eighth-, and ninth-graders from intact, single parent, and stepparent families. Youngsters living with both natural parents were less susceptible to pressure than those living in other family environments. (Author/RH)

Focuses on various levels of diabetic patients' involvement in the care of their disease and effects of these levels on how closely they later followed self-care programs. Suggests that by participating in group discussions about excuses for not following a self-care regimen, and offering solutions to counter those excuses, diabetic patients…

A small peer support group for women in middle management positions provides a mechanism for broadening perspectives, generating alternative solutions to managerial problems, and enhancing professional and personal esteem. (MLF)

Results of a case study designed to test the hypothesis that acting-out students would exhibit less disruptive behavior when grouped with "well-behaved" peers than when grouped with disruptive peers indicated that placement with well-behaved peers significantly reduced disruptive behavior, suggesting that grouping is an effective and nonintrusive…

Sought to describe and categorize specific processes by which friends serve to influence emerging life structures of early adulthood. Five categories were developed from open-ended interviews of 34 young adults between 20 and 28 years of age. These categories describe friends in the roles of models, active agents for change, reactors, interactors,…

This study utilized a social learning framework to test the hypothesis that adolescents who have tried smoking in the past differ from those who have never smoked on several factors that theoretically place them at higher risk for beginning to smoke again. Implications of the findings for the design of school-based smoking prevention programs are…

Discusses the Just Community Approach to corrections that, partly through the use of participatory democracy, strives to make the two cultures into a single community in which staff act as leaders and advocates for justice and the welfare of the community, rather than as authoritative managers of the correctional institution. (CT)

Investigated whether conformity in the experimental setting suggested by Asch was related to American culture and less likely to be replicable elsewhere. Kuwaiti subjects (N=200) were used in replicating the original experiment. Obtained an 'Asch effect' of a comparable magnitude to that of Asch. Individual differences in conformity were evident.…

Evaluated whether age differences in children's generosity result from increasing altruistic motivation or increasing susceptibility to experimenter influence strategies. A total of 282 first, third, and fifth graders voted on how to spend a gift of money under one of five instructional sets--three levels of experimenter influence, peer influence,…

Explores the relationship between adolescent lifestyle and the development of autonomy. Suggests that the expansion of the high school system with its emphasis on continued dependence, and the rise of the market economy emphasizing economic independence, create potential discontinuity in adolescent socialization. (JAC)

The transition to junior high school is often as hard for both children and parents as starting kindergarten. The school and home have a great need to stay in contact. Eight suggestions to help children through this difficult period are noted. (MT)

The effects of a positive peer culture program upon the moral development of "youths in distress" within the framework of street-corner gangs was measured. Moral-development measures indicated a positive effect upon the participants, and for some moral indices, on their friends' moral development. (Author/LMO)

Describes a program called the Character Education Curriculum developed by the American Institute for Character Education that is the most widely used plan for teaching the basic traits of character, conduct, and citizenship. (MD)

A study investigates the relationship between an activity-centered health program and positive health attitudes, future use of cigarettes, and changes in smoking behavior of parents. Results show that the experimental group posessed more positive health attitudes, and parents reported favorable changes in their own smoking behaviors. (Author/DF)

Based on data collected from 181 students across grades six to eight in rural northern Michigan, results suggest that peer substance use is highly correlated with personal substance use and increases with age. Sexual differences were also noted. (Author/PN)