The present study attempts to further our understanding of peer exclusion in young children’s social interactions by answering the question, “What are the motivating factors behind children’s usage of exclusion.” Exclusion is very common amongst young children (Corsaro, 1985; Fanger, Frankel & Hazen, 2012), but can also cause harm to the victims (Juvonen & Gross, 2005; MacDonald, Kingsbury & Shaw, 2005). This study used modified grounded theory to examine data collected on the exclusionary behavior of 43 children (mean age 61 months). Extensive data on all incidents of peer exclusion occurring amongst the children, including audio recordings, as well as interviews on children’s relationships and social status were used. Results indicated that some exclusion is perpetrated by a particular child if they want be in control of a social situation or to help them be powerful or high status. An entirely different type of exclusion is the exclusionary behavior that occurs for social reasons; either to help a friendship or to support a group identity. Exclusion is sometimes simply the result of the particular context surrounding the interaction: either some aspect of the children’s school environment leads to exclusion, the exclusion has become an ongoing pattern for the children or the exclusion is perpetrated to protect the children’s play. Exclusion is also sometimes the result of the excludee’s behavior—either something they did immediately prior to the incident caused them to be excluded or the way they behave, in general, contributes to them being a target of exclusion. Finally, it appears that the overall social culture of a particular classroom or specific peer group can, itself, contribute to the frequency with which children use exclusion. Typically, exclusion occurs for a combination of these reasons and only rarely does an incident of exclusion have only one cause. Implications of these findings for future research as well as practical applications and interventions are discussed. / text

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This study was carried out during an intervention program tackling bullying in classrooms. The study's main aim was the exploration of emotional expressions (verbal and nonverbal) of bullies, victims and bystanders, the hypothesis being that these children react in emotionally different ways. The intervention program was carried out in an Italian elementary school over a period of 8 months. The sample of the study included 6 experimental classes (in which intervention strategies were carried out) and 3 control classes (in which the normal curriculum was used). Peer nominations were used to single out bully, victim and bystander children. In experimental classes Cooperative Group Work (CGW) was carried out once a week. This was video-recorded and so was children's behaviour in the playground. Using these videos children were interviewed at the beginning and at the end of the intervention by means of Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR, Kagan and Kagan, 1991). These interviews were also video-recorded, and then analysed using content analysis for the verbal emotional expressions and the Maximally Discriminative Facial Movement Coding System (MAX, Izard, 1979) for facial expressions. Moreover, naturalistic observation in the playground was carried out using a behavioural check list, again at the beginning and at the end of the intervention. Results show that during IPR victims displayed significantly less verbal and non verbal emotional expressions than bullies and bystanders, and that the latter showed indifference towards victims' experience. In the last interview more empathy and more awareness about their own and the others' emotions was found in most children. Some bullies and some victims did not show any change in the considered behaviours. Both victims and bystanders showed improvement of social skills during playground activities. Finally, peer nomination scores of bullies and victims of experimental classes significantly improved compared to those of control classes.

The arrival of Smartphones has changed the way young people communicate with one another. These devices allow youngsters to have continuous access to their social world away from the prying eyes of adults. Unfortunately, increased access to online networking provides new means through which they can be bullied. Case study methodology employing mixed methods was adopted. The study consisted of two distinct phases and had two separate aims. During phase 1 of the study, a total of 352, Year 7 and Year 10 students were asked to complete a questionnaire, the aim of which was to investigate the prevalence and extent of cyberbullying amongst students. Quantitative analysis of the data revealed that students were reluctant to report their experiences of unpleasant cyber incidents to school staff. Phase 2 of this study investigated this finding further. A total of 18, Year 7 and Year 10 students participated in three separate focus group discussions, the purpose of which was to explore students' views on what actions need to be taken in schools to support the reporting of incidents of cyberbullying to staff. The results from the questionnaire data revealed that Smartphones are deeply embedded in young people's lives even among those from the most socially deprived areas of England. Over a quarter of the students indicated that they had experienced any one of ten different unpleasant cyber incidents. The findings also suggested that much of the cyberbullying occurred within the context of students' social relationships in real life. Data from the focus group discussions highlighted that students wanted access to a diverse range of reporting routes. Notably, students stressed the importance of raising the profile of anti-bullying initiatives within school. Once this was embedded, students perhaps would be more willing to assert their rights and report incidents of bullying. Implications of the findings are discussed in relation to extending the focus of e-safety education beyond both technological solutions and stranger danger. Highlighting the differences between relationships in the real and virtual worlds to students is discussed. There is also a focus on engaging students in debate around ethical questions such as, identifying their rights in relation to bullying and learning to manage their own interpersonal conflicts.

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Group mentoring has received much less empirical attention than one-on-one mentoring and it is not clear whether group programs can be expected to yield similar outcomes or whether the mechanisms of change are similar compared to one-on-one mentoring programs. This study examined the effects of a group mentoring intervention on quality of relationships with parents and peers for 71 program participants relative to a comparison group of 31 students. Further, analyses were performed among program participants only to determine effects of sense of belonging with mentor and mentoring group on changes in quality of relationships with parents and peers. Findings revealed no program effects, yet among program participants, findings revealed that sense of belonging with mentor and group are important in predicting changes in quality of relationship with fathers and peers.

This study examined peer relationships and psychosocial functioning as a function of maternal and paternal involvement and nurturance along with the moderating effects of gender, family form, and ethnicity. Prior research has shown the influence of mother’s involvement on peer relationship quality but not of fathers. Further, previous studies did not examine moderation by family form, gender, or ethnicity. The sample consisted of 1359 students who identified their biological mother and father as the most influential parental figures in their lives. Their ages ranged from 18 to 26; Sixty–one percent of the sample was Hispanic, 13% non-Hispanic Black, 25% non-Hispanic White; 76% female and 70% from intact families. The analytical strategy included using bivariate correlations and structural equation modeling to examine these relationships. All dimensions of maternal and paternal nurturing and involvement were positively related to positive characteristics of peer relationships, self-esteem and life satisfaction consistent with the multicultural findings of PARTheory (Rohner, Khalique, & Cournoyer, 2005). A structural model was developed that was able to adequately account for the relationship between parental influence, peer relationships, and psychosocial functioning. These effects of both maternal and paternal influence were strongly moderated by culture, family form, and gender. Finally, a differential effect was found among parental influence with fathers having a greater influence on friendship quality and importance than mothers, despite greater maternal involvement. These findings have theoretical, clinical, and social implications as they call for a socially based theoretical perspective within which to study these relationships. Such a perspective would better inform clinicians when using impaired social functioning as indicative of axial diagnosis, and for the implementation of social policy to encourage paternal involvement.

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A review of research concludes that a high proportion of high school students are disengaged from their learning and that the adolescent peer culture demeans academic success. Parents are just as disengaged from school as their children. The overall guiding question for this study was: How do high school students vary their engagement with school when influenced by the interaction of family involvement practices and peer relationships? Subordinate questions were: (a) Do high school family involvement programs influence individual student engagement? (b) What is the ability of high school instructional and noninstructional programs to positively influence student engagement practices? and, (c) What effects do parental influences have over the relationship between individual students and their peers. The research methodology used in this study was a case study analysis of 20 high school students at a large, comprehensive high school. An analysis of in-depth interviews and a review of available documents were the preliminary methods of investigation. Results indicate that the varied engagement practices of high school students are not directly affected by overlapping influences of peers, family, and school, but that these overlapping influences are a catalyst for five forces for engagement that emerge from these intricate relationships. / Ed. D.

Social agents in the youth sport domain (coaches, parents, and peers) play a crucial role in developing the motivational approaches of youth sport athletes. One theory which has been useful in explaining the important role of such social agents has been Achievement Goal Theory (Nicholls, 1989). Specifically, Achievement Goal Theory was used to delineate various peer behaviors as being task-involving (Ntoumanis & Vazou, 2005) and was used to predict subsequent relationships relationship between the task-involving motivational-climate created by teammates and athletes’ mastery goal orientations and self-esteem, sport competence, enjoyment, and intention to continue playing sport. Participants were 405 boys aged 12-15 years. Using structural equation modeling, an exploratory analysis and confirmatory analysis revealed that higher levels of task-involving behaviors from peers predicted mastery goal orientation. Participants with higher mastery goal orientation reported greater sport competence, self-esteem, and more enjoyment; enjoyment was the strongest predictor of intention to continue. These findings both emphasize the importance of peer relationships within sport on a variety of motivationally and psychologically salient outcomes and provide direction for the development of training programs targeted to create positive and healthy sport experiences.