One of the most evident signs that a child is on the path to dropping out of [BT1] school is disengagement from school (Kortering & Christenson, 2009). Given the amount of time that young people spend with their peers and the influence that peers have (Monahan, Steinberg, & Caufman, 2009), there is a need to better understand the role that peers play in the decision to drop out of school (Farmer, Estell, Leug, Trott, Biship, & Caims, 2003). Using Ericson’s stages of psychosocial development (1956), social identity theory, and self-categorization theory as a framework, an afterschool program in the form of a social club was designed and implemented. The goal was to foster friendships between academically engaged students and disengaged students, using a short-term, cost effective intervention. It was hypothesized that the new friends would act as role models giving the disengaged students a more accurate perception of positive academic behaviors and the related benefits, thus leading to a positive change in academic engagement. This study used a mixed-methods design: a quantitative phase consisting of pretest-posttest surveys administered to teachers and students in order to assess possible changes in student academic engagement and a second pretest-posttest survey administered to students in order to determine if any new friendships between academically engaged and at-risk students had formed. A second, qualitative phase used focus groups to gain insight into the students’ perceptions of their academic experience. The findings of this study contribute to the current literature on dropout by providing insight into the possibility of utilizing peers as a catalyst to academic engagement in students who are at risk for school failure and high school drop out, in particular those with disabilities. In addition, the findings reiterate the importance of positive student-teacher relations and the importance of ongoing attempts to create those relations. The results of this study remind us that there is no single approach to solving the problem of high school dropout. However, by providing diverse opportunities for at-risk students to develop positive perceptions of the academic experience it is possible to ultimately increase academic engagement and reduce dropout. [BT1]Abstract body text must not exceed 350 words.

The purpose of this study is to unveil how inclusion in contrast to exclusion, between children, is being exercised during unrestricted play. Furthermore, the study intends to highlight how educators discern how children are given equal opportunities regarding influence and participation during unrestricted play. The following questions arise as a resultant: How can we recognize the appearance of relationships among the children during unrestricted play? How do the educators acknowledge that the children have an opportunity to influence and participation in the unrestricted play?The theoretical assumption used in this essay is based on the sociocultural perspective and sociologist William Corsaro’s theory about peer culture. As a basis for the survey method, we have interviewed five educators that consisted of preschool teachers and caretakers. The observations were made by studying both the young and older children’s section which in turn provided a wide scope of data. In summary, the result from this study demonstrates that both inclusion and exclusion are present during children’s unrestricted play simply since these phenomena coexist and are dependent on each other. In addition, relationships among children surface during social interaction based on the children’s various peer affiliations created within particular peer culture. These relationships vary based on aspects like age and language. In conclusion, the opportunity for children to have influence during unrestricted play presents itself during negotiations of different roles and can also be seen through their actions during this type of play.

The present study examined the social skills and social acceptance of children with SAD (n=20), children with GAD (n=18), and typically developing (TD) children (n=20). A multimodal assessment paradigm was employed to address three study objectives: (a) to determine whether social skills deficits are unique to children with SAD or extend to children with GAD, (b) to assess whether skills vary as a function of social context (in vivo peer interaction Wii Task versus hypothetical Social Vignette Task) and (c) to examine the relationship between anxiety diagnosis and social acceptance. Parent questionnaire data indicated that both youth with SAD and GAD experienced difficulties with assertiveness, whereas children with SAD experienced a broader range of social skills difficulties. Blinded observers’ ratings during the behavioral assessment social tasks indicated that compared to children with GAD and TD children, children with SAD have deficits in social behaviors and social knowledge across settings, including speech latency, a paucity of speech, few spontaneous comments, questions and exclamations, and ineffective social responses. In addition, vocal analysis revealed that children with SAD were characterized by anxious speech patterns. By comparison, children with GAD exhibited non-anxious speech patterns and did not differ significantly from TD youth on social behaviors, with the exception of fewer spontaneous comments and questions. Lastly, children with SAD were perceived as less likeable and less socially desirable by their peers than both children with GAD and TD children. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed

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Attachment and family systems theories provided a framework for examining parental structure and support and adolescent delinquency, substance abuse, peer relations, and self-esteem. Three parent scales: support, watchfulness and decidedness, and eight adolescent outcome variables assessing self-esteem, peer relations, and risk-behaviors were derived from the National Educational Longitudinal Study. The sample of 16,749 adolescents was diverse regarding race and ethnicity. All participants were in the tenth grade in the first wave and continued participation in the second wave two years later.</P> Parental support was hypothesized to be associated with increased self-esteem, positive peer relationships and reduced risk behaviors. Although the research findings support the hypothesis for each of the adolescent variables, support was most related to adolescent self-esteem and peer alienation, consistent with an attachment schema. The hypothesis that parental watchfulness is linked to a reduction in adolescent high-risk behaviors was not supported. Instead, watchfulness was linked to self-esteem and peer alienation. These findings indicate that watchfulness, similar to support, is more related to internal processes rather than a mechanism for controlling behavior. Parental decidedness is associated with lower risk behaviors along with lower self-esteem and greater susceptibility to peer alienation. This construct, in contrast to support and watchfulness, presents a different direction of influence depending on the adolescent outcome. The direction of influence of decidedness is negative for self-esteem and peer relations and positive for adolescent risk reduction. The overall research findings indicate that high amounts of support and watchfulness are related to the most positive outcomes for adolescent self-esteem and peer relations. In contrast, the effect of parental decidedness was less salutary for self-esteem and peer relations. In summary, conclusions from this research have implications for theory and practice. For theory, the understanding of specific linkages between these parenting constructs and adolescent outcomes is advanced in this research. These linkages have implication for extensions and modifications of attachment and family systems theories. For practice, the findings suggest refinement in contemporary parent education and clinical work with families. / Ph. D.

This diploma thesis is focused on selected aspects of socialisation of adolescents. It examines natures of interactions of adolescents and adults, emphasises social relations perception and pursues the influence of authority on socialisation processes of this group. The thesis was written in a theoretically-empirical approach, given that the theoretical part clarifies the above-mentioned areas of research. The empirical part, on the other hand, applies the qualitative research design. The respondents group consists of adolescent boys and girls, all of whom are clients of OSPOD (Department of Social and Legal Child Protection) and curators for adolescence. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, analysing the issue of relations with individual socialisation variables and their reflection in the curators' point of view. It is assumed, socialisation processes and interactions are conflicting to a certain extent. In respect to their further development, it is necessary to understand these particular development symptoms and their perceptions. The outcome of this research is further elaborated and discussed in accordance to academic resources. At the end of the thesis, further researches as well as interventions regarding work with adolescents who experience socialisation issues are recommended. The...

Studiens syfte är att undersöka sambandet mellan elevers läs- och skriv svårigheter och självförtroende samt om självbildsuppfattningen påverkar läs- och skrivinlärning samt kamratrelationer. Syftet konkretiseras genom följande frågeställningar: Är självbilden en påverkansfaktor i kamratrelationer, för elever med läs- och skrivsvårigheter? Är läs- och skrivsvårigheter en påverkansfaktor för självförtroendet i skolprestationer, för elever med läs- och skrivsvårigheter? Uppfattar elever med läs- och skrivsvårigheter sin skolsjälvbild mer negativt än elever utan läs- och skrivsvårigheter? Den teoretiska bakgrunden och tidigare forskning visar både samband och olikheter i resultat av liknande studier. Sambanden i frågeställningarna undersöktes med kvantitativ enkätundersökning av 58 respondenter. Undersökningen av eleverna i de specifika klasserna har inte gett något underlag till att det skulle finnas något samband mellan försämrat själförtroende, för elever med läs- och skrivsvårigheter och kamratrelationer. Däremot har undersökningen visat tydliga samband mellan undersökningsgruppens prestationssjälvbild och deras läs- och skrivsvårigheter. Det har även visat sig att det inte går att se någon generell bild av hur läs- och skrivsvårigheter påverkar individens självbild i kamratrelationer, prestationssjälvbild samt skolsjälvbild. / The studies intention is to examine the correlation between students reading and writing disabilities and self-confidence and if the read-and write learning affect the self-image interpretation and peer relationship. The objective concretizes trough the following formulations of questions: Is the self-image interpretation an influence factor in peer – relationships, for students with read and writes disabilities? Is read-and write disabilities an influence factor for self- concept of ability in school performance, for students with read and write disabilities? Does student with read-and write disabilities experience their school self image more negatively than student without read-and write disabilities? The theoretical background and earlier research points to both correlation and differences in results from similar studies. The correlations in the study’s formulations of questions were surveyed by quantitative questionnaire study on 58 respondents. The surveys show no correlation between low self-esteem and peer-relationships for students with read-and write disabilities. The study has shown that there are remarkable correlations between the survey group performance self-image and their read-and write disabilities. The study has also showed that there is no clear general evidence on how the read-and write disabilities affects the individual self-image in peer-relationship, performance self-image and school self-image.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 29-34).

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Studiens syfte var att bredda kunskapen för nyexaminerade förskollärare om strategier och förutsättningar som kan behövas i deras arbete för att stärka barns kamratrelationer och förebygga utanförskap. Studien visar på att förskollärare befinner sig i ett omedvetet dilemma i förskolan om kamrat- och vänskapsrelationer. Den saknade kunskapen av viktiga komponenter i området riskerar att förskollärare arbetar kontraproduktivt. Teorier som har presenterats i vår studie som utgångpunkt är socialkonstruktivism och om barns kamratkulturer. I vår kvalitativa studie har vi använt oss utav semistrukutrerade intervjuer för datainsamling. Metoden för att bearbeta datainsamlingen var tematisk analys. Genom denna metod kunde vi sedan skapa teman för vår studie. Respondenternas svar på frågorna analyserades sedan med stöd av teorier och tidigare forskning som vi har valt.