This study was designed to investigate the possibility of relationships among sociometric status, prognosis, and selected personality variables of state hospital patients.

The problem of this study was twofold: first, to determine what personal and social characteristics of normal American preadolescent children are revealed in research studies completed since 1950; and, second, to integrate this research into a pattern from which implications could be drawn for use by persons who work with preadolescents.

The present study is designed to utilize a multiple dimension approach to the study of group structure. It will investigate the relationship between psychetele and sociotele choice status and personality development.

This study was conducted to determine if drug addict patients tend to select leaders with good rehabilitation potential, as this potential is determined by examination of certain personality characteristics of the addicts.

The problem of this study was the prediction of aggressive, submissive, and normal student teaching behavior by the use of needs profiles from sociometrically defined groups of education students. The criteria profiles were constructed using beginning education students, and prediction was made on a student teaching population.

This thesis is concerned with the nature of the peer group experience and friendship patterns amongst a sample of 3rd, 4th and 5th year secondary school pupils. The thesis has four parts and a General Introduction in which the need for more sociological research in the area of the peer group and friendship is asserted. Certain themes are developed in relation to the peer group and friendship, and arguments for the research established. In the final part of the General Introduction consideration is given to the nature of the sociology of youth in relation to social class and age grading in society. Part One has three Chapters. The first deals with recent research into the peer group, most of which is American in origin with the exception of certain ethnographic studies which have been published in this country over the last few years. In Chapter Two research into friendship is considered with Chapter Three providing a critical evaluation of the research presented. A general schema is provided, drawing on the literature review which provides the basis for the development of research methods and the subsequent research programme. Part Two establishes the basis for the thesis research and has one chapter. Four objectives are explored. The first concerns the importance of friendship to young people, the second with levels of friendship, the third with deriving definitions of friendship. The final objective examines the effects of age and sex on friendship and is compared with the findings from four significant studies undertaken in this area. Sociometry is considered in relation to "mapping" a group, a self esteem inventory is developed and the Higher Schools Personality Questionnaire evaluated with a view to measuring a number of personality traits. In Chapter Five of Part Three a research design for quantitative and qualitative research is presented. The data are presented in Chapters Six and Seven. 371 young people completed a questionnaire into their friendship and peer relations and two peer groups were intensively involved in group discussion in an endeavour to provide more detailed information on friendship and peer activities. The final part, Chapter Eight, is devoted to a detailed consideration of the findings from the research in the light of the established objectives. An appraisal is undertaken of the extent to which new knowledge has been provided in the social sciences regarding the peer group and friendship.

The study of preschool children's peer relations has primarily employed sociometric interviews and observations of children's social participation during free-play situations as methods of assessment. These assessments of peer relations have traditionally demonstrated lack of fit between attitude (as measured by sociometry) and behavior (observation of social participation). Often, sociometric peer preference and acceptance does not correspond to children's observation of social participation during freeplay. The present study was designed to improve this attitude-behavior fit by developing the Crystallized Sociometric Scales which employed post stratification of opinion responses. Subjects consisted of 65 preschool children between three- to five- years- of age, divided into two preschool groups of 45 and 20 subjects. Interviews on both the traditional sociometric scales and the crystallized sociometric (weighted with questions on peer exclusivity and friendship concept) were obtained. Observation of social participation used Parten's category of play with interval time sampling. Sociometric analyses of data provided a child by child picture of the social structure of the peer group. The discrepancy scores between social participation and the traditional and crystallized sociometric variables were compared using t-tests. Results indicated that peer exclusivity provided the best attitude-behavior fit and was significantly better than the traditional nomination score. The level of the friendship concept did not affect the social participation of children. Crystallized ratings were not significantly different from the traditional ratings. The stability of the Crystallized Sociometric Scales was moderate, although it was significantly better than the traditional sociometric scales. It was concluded that crystallized sociometric nominations provide a methodology to improve the attitude-behavior fit. Although correlated, sociometry and social participation measure different aspects of peer relations whose relationship can be influenced by measurement procedures. / Graduation date: 1992

O trabalho teve como objetivo estudar os vÃnculos afetivos em famÃlias onde ocorrem relaÃÃes incestuosas. Foram estudadas famÃlias atendidas pelo Projeto Sentinela, que se destina ao atendimento psicossocial a crianÃas e adolescentes vÃtimas de violÃncia sexual, e que à vinculado ao Centro de ReferÃncia de AtenÃÃo à CrianÃa e ao Adolescente VÃtimas de ViolÃncia, da Secretaria de AÃÃo Social do Governo do Estado do CearÃ. A amostra foi constituÃda de cinco famÃlias, onde houve a prÃtica de abuso sexual contra crianÃas do sexo feminino cometido pelo pai ou padrasto. As vÃtimas se situavam na faixa etÃria entre sete e quinze anos de idade e eram do sexo feminino. O instrumento de pesquisa foi o teste sociomÃtrico, que estuda as estruturas sociais atravÃs das escolhas e rejeiÃÃes que ocorrem dentro dos grupos humanos. Os resultados demonstraram a estrutura sociomÃtrica dos grupos, o status social ocupado pelos participantes, os vÃnculos que se encontram harmoniosos e os que apresentam conflitos. Os dados colhidos indicaram que as vÃtimas apresentam a auto-estima rebaixada e dÃficits de percepÃÃo, que as mÃes gozam de elevado status social dentro dos grupos, que as filhas vitimadas tambÃm mantÃm um bom nÃvel de aceitaÃÃo por todos os membros da famÃlia, mas nÃo conseguem perceber essa posiÃÃo dentro do grupo, e que os agressores figuram como membros rejeitados dentro da organizaÃÃo familiar, podendo constituir-se em focos de tensÃo e ameaÃa para o equilÃbrio grupal, se seus vÃnculos nÃo forem trabalhados. O estudo constata que os vÃnculos afetivos se configuram de maneira diversa para cada grupo, podendo sofrer influÃncias de fatores como o tempo, a cultura e o contexto social no qual se apresentam, o que leva a crer que a prÃtica das relaÃÃes incestuosas pode ser impulsionada por essas peculiaridades do modo de vinculaÃÃo de cada famÃlia, e, portanto, nÃo deve ser compreendida apenas pelo viÃs psicolÃgico. Chega à compreensÃo de que os membros das famÃlias incestuosas estÃo envolvidos em uma trama de relaÃÃes disfuncionais e alerta para a necessidade de desconstruir crenÃas fortemente arraigadas no senso comum, como a culpabilizaÃÃo de mÃes e vÃtimas e a demonizaÃÃo dos agressores. Considera a necessidade de incluir o agressor nas possÃveis intervenÃÃes, uma vez que o mesmo, embora figure como membro rejeitado, mantÃm relaÃÃes carregadas de afeto dentro dos grupos. Considera que o conhecimento aprofundado dos vÃnculos afetivos nas famÃlias incestuosas pode servir de subsÃdio para a criaÃÃo de programas e projetos na Ãrea das polÃticas pÃblicas, uma vez que dispÃe de instrumentos que podem viabilizar um diagnÃstico precoce dos casos, instrumentalizar os profissionais, tanto no aspecto tÃcnico quanto emocional para o lidar com as questÃes relativas à violÃncia sexual, assim como fornecer mÃtodos terapÃuticos para os indivÃduos e grupos atingidos. / The objective of the present study was to characterize the affectional bonds of families affected by incestuous relationships. The study population consisted of five families, in which children of the female sex had been abused by the father or stepfather, attending a psychosocial care service (Projeto Sentinela) for children and adolescents suffering sexual abuse, affiliated to a state reference center for children and adolescents exposed to violence (Centro de ReferÃncia de AtenÃÃo à CrianÃa e ao Adolescente VÃtimas de ViolÃncia, Secretaria de AÃÃo Social do Governo do Estado do CearÃ). Victims were seven years old or over. A sociometric test was employed surveying social structures through choices and rejections observed within the social group. The test provided information on sociometric group structure, individual social status as well as negative and positive affectional bonds. Our findings show that victims suffered from lowered self-esteem and perception deficit, that mothers are attributed a high social status within the group, that victims are in good social standing in the group though unaware of the fact, and that aggressors are viewed by the familiy as rejectees and, if left unassisted, a source of tension and threat to the overall group balance. The affectional bonds observed varied according to family characteristics, time and cultural and social context, suggesting that incestuous behavior may be associated with such factors and should not be analyzed from the psychological perspective alone. The dysfunctional relationships observed in incestuous families point to the need for deconstructing the common belief that incest is the fault of mothers and victims and that aggressors are necessarily perverse. Aggressors should be included in interventions in consideration of their psychological distress and affectional relationships within the group. It considers that the deepened knowledge of the affective bonds in the incestuous families can serve of subsidy for the creation of programs and projects in the area of the public politics, a time that makes use of instruments that can make possible a precocious diagnosis of the cases, to provide the means for someone else to qualify the professionals, as much in the aspect how much emotional technician to deal it with the relative questions to the sexual violence, as well as supplying to therapeutical methods the individuals and reached groups.

The purpose of this study is to change the structure of a fifth-grade class in order to increase the social interaction of the group.

It is the basic hypothesis of this study that there exists a relationship between personal attitude and value changes and participation in group discussion. The purpose of this study will be an attempt to assess how some personality variables change as a result of group discussion.