Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, May 2010. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 15, 2010). "Department of Sociology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 134-143).

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Also available in print.

abstract: Given the major investment young people make in earning and maintaining a peer reputation, our goal in this study was to explore the association between dimensions of negative and positive peer reputation in middle school and adjustment several years later, by the end of high school, among upper middle class youth. Prior research has shown negative reputations such as aggressive-disruptive and sensitive-isolated to be associated with maladjustment later in life, whereas reputations like popular and prosocial-leader have been related to positive future outcomes. However, there are contrary findings that reveal a more complex relationship between peer reputation and adjustment, showing certain “negative” reputations to be tied with better outcomes in some domains and the converse in others. Using a sample of middle school students, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to test a four-factor model of the Revised Class Play, a peer report measure on peer reputations. CFA findings supported the four-factor model with the following reputations: popular, prosocial, aggressive, and isolated. Structural equation models were used to predict 12th grade adjustment outcomes (academic achievement, psychopathology, substance use) from middle school peer reputation. Prosocial reputation in middle school was connected to higher academic achievement and fewer externalizing symptoms in 12th grade. Both prosocial and isolated peer reputation were negatively associated with alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use, whereas a popular reputation was related to higher levels of alcohol use. Middle school reputation did not predict internalizing symptoms in 12th grade. Findings are discussed in terms of adaptive and maladaptive adjustment outcomes associated with each peer reputation and implications for future research. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2016

No description available.

Magister Artium - MA / A favourable school atmosphere, in which adolescents behave positively, is one of the greatest concerns for teachers, administrators and parents. Although there are several different pressures leading to adolescent misbehaviour at school, the most contributing factors are peer pressure and the socio-economic status of the school. As adolescents enter the school, the peer group then functions as an important socializing agent for them. As peers socialize within their different school environments, individuals are forced to conform to the practices and opinions of the group. Usually this conformity is unconstructive and clashes with the parents' and teachers' expectations. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of peer pressure on adolescent misbehaviour in advantaged and disadvantaged schools. A quantitative methodological approach was used to conduct the study. The study was conducted with adolescents aged from 13 to 17 years in both advantaged and disadvantaged secondary (high) schools in Windhoek, Namibia. A sample of 300 participants was randomly stratified across the schools. The Exposure to Peer Pressure Control Scale (Allen & Yen, 2002) a) and Child Behaviour Checklist questionnaires (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1987) were used to collect the data. Ethical considerations were carefully considered before and during the research procedure of data collection. The reliability of the instruments was checked by means of a pilot study. The data was analysed by means of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18 to reveal descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed a significant positive relationship between peer pressure and adolescent misbehaviour in schools. In addition, misbehaviour was also positively predicted in both advantaged and disadvantaged schools, with disadvantaged schools being significantly more influential. When comparing peer pressure and adolescent misbehaviours in both advantaged and disadvantaged schools, adolescents in advantaged schools engaged significantly more in misbehaviour activities and also responded positively more to peer pressure than their counterparts in advantaged schools. Implications for further research were suggested. / South Africa

Researchers have consistently shown that as a society, we have failed to protect a large number of Aboriginal children and youths from violence and aggression across multiple contexts. Aboriginal children and youth are at a disproportionate risk of being involved in violent victimization ranging from homicides, family violence, and physical and sexual abuse compared to the rest of Canadian children and youth. However, the extent to which Aboriginal children and youths are involved in bullying remain largely unknown. In the present study, data from a Canadian population-based study was used to examine ethnic and sex differences in children’s and youths’ involvement of different forms of bullying (general, physical, verbal, social). Participants were categorized into three broad ethnic groups: Aboriginal, Caucasian, and ethnic minority. Results indicated that across the forms of bullying, Aboriginal children and youths were more frequently involved than their non Aboriginal peers. Sex differences also emerged, such that, Aboriginal boys were more frequently physically victimized than their non Aboriginal, same sex peers while no ethnic group differences were found for girls. The results highlight the need for an Aboriginal-specific bullying policy and specialized programs and services at school to support this vulnerable group of Canadian school-aged children.

The temporal association between aggression, peer rejection, and competitiveness (i.e., the evaluation of one’s own skills and abilities compared to those of another) was examined in a sample of 615 students assessed yearly from grades 7 to 12. Using path analysis, results indicated that competitiveness predicted aggression at every time point with one exception (grade 11 to 12). Competitiveness and peer rejection were found to have a negative reciprocal association, and aggression and peer rejection were shown to be reciprocally related. Competitiveness, aggression, and peer rejection were each statistically significantly stable over time. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Hermes é um arcabouço para a programação de aplicações P2P. Com ele, pode-se criar diversos tipos de aplicações distribuídas, sem se preocupar com a camada de comunicação. O Hermes não é uma implementação de uma rede de sobreposição P2P, e sim uma camada acima das implementações já existentes. O desenvolvedor da aplicação fica isolado da implementação da rede de sobreposição utilizada. Esse isolamento é feito de forma tal que não há limitações quanto à arquitetura de rede utilizada pela implementação, seja ela centralizada, descentralizada, distribuída estruturada ou distribuída não-estruturada. Entre os serviços oferecidos pelo Hermes estão: troca de mensagens, busca, comunicação em grupo e armazenamento distribuído. Geralmente, no início do desenvolvimento de uma aplicação distribuída, tem-se poucas informações sobre o seu tamanho final ou perfil de utilização. O Hermes possibilita ao desenvolvedor da aplicação adiar, até o momento da efetiva implantação do sistema, a decisão sobre qual arquitetura de rede ou qual implementação de rede de sobreposição são as mais apropriadas para suas necessidades. Possibilita também, quando o perfil de utilização muda com o tempo, a troca da implementação utilizada por uma outra que se adeque mais ao novo perfil sem alterações no código da aplicação. / Hermes is a framework for P2P application programming. Using it, one can create several kinds of distributed applications without worrying about the underlying network. Hermes is not a P2P overlay network implementation, but a shell envolving existing implementations. The application developer is isolated from the implementation of the overlay network in use. This isolation is done in a way that poses no limitations on the network architecture used, which may be centralized, decentralized, structured or unstructured. Amongst the services offered by Hermes are: message exchange, search, group communication, and distributed storage. In the early stages of the development of a distributed application, information as to its final size or utilization profile is often unknown. Hermes gives the application developer the possibility of delaying, until the actual moment of system deployment, the decision as to which network architecture or which overlay network implementation is the most appropriate. It also gives the developer the choice, when utilization profile changes over time, of replacing the network implementation with one more suitable to the application needs, without changes on the application code.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of D. Litt. University of Zululand, 2006. / Careful observation of learners by the researcher and constant complaints from educators about the learners' behaviour in school and attitude towards school prompted the researcher to investigate learner behaviour and discipline in a few schools. The researcher researched this problem from the perspective of peer networks. Adolescents were given questionnaires to complete about the manner in which they interacted in their peer groups. The researcher investigated to what extent adolescents cooperated, competed and confronted their peers, whether there were differences between the way in which males and females interacted and to what extent the interaction among these peer groups affects the discipline and tone of the school. A subsequent literature review was conducted to help establish the theoretical framework to serve as the background for the interpretation of the empirical data, help establish the most appropriate research methodology and to determine to what extent other researchers have helped solve the problems identified. The research instruments that were used to collate data from the empirical research were the questionnaire for learners and the interview guide for educators. The empirical survey "was conducted on adolescents in grade ten from a random selection of schools in KwaZulu-Natal and the educators from the same schools were interviewed. Some of the crucial findings were as follows: A larger number of females than males stated that it is true they do fall out with their friends. More females than males indicated that they often discuss their personal problems with their friends. One of the most important findings is that adolescent males seem to have so much more trouble than their female peers in reaching out for help when they are troubled. Higher percentage females than males indicated that they often share secrets with their friends. More adolescent females than males indicated that they often help one another with homework, assignments and projects. Higher percentage adolescent males indicated that they do end up in fights over members of the opposite sex and during sport. More males indicated that they just keep quiet when their friends bully other pupils. Larger number of male respondents has indicated that they do not step back when a conflict situation arises between groups. The researcher correlated gender and peer pressure and discovered higher percentage of males stated that they are more susceptible to peer-pressure than girls. More educators indicated that girls are regularly cooperative and give off their best in school work however when the researcher questioned the learners more males indicated that they were cooperative and that they give off their best in schoolwork There is a stark contrast in the view of the educators and learners.

Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA (Counseling Psychology) in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2009. / The reported study evaluated the effectiveness of the Zululand University HIV/AIDS peer educator programme. The evaluation was surnmative in nature. The research design was a pre-post-test control group design and both qualitative and quantitative methods were used for data collection and data analysis. The outcome measures used for the evaluation were changes in participants' HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitude, and behavioural practices. Results indicated that changes had occurred in the experimental groups attitudes regarding HIV/AIDS, knowledge of HIV/Aids, and the behavioural practices of the participants. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted on attitude, knowledge, and behavioural practices between gender and groups. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that there were no significant differences in knowledge, attitude, or behavioural practices for both gender and groups. However, a qualitative analysis revealed that the programme was significantly beneficial to participants with regards to their own relationships and empowerment. It has been suggested that further research should be conducted using a larger time frame and larger sample for evaluation.