Paul Boxer

Developmental issues in school-based aggression prevention from a social-cognitive perspective.

Contemporary research on the development and prevention of aggressive behavior in childhood and adolescence emphasizes the importance of social-cognitive factors such as perceptual biases, problem-solving skills, and social-moral beliefs in the maintenance of aggression. Indeed, school-based social-cognitive intervention approaches have been identified as best practices by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, because child age is an important covariate of both intervention effectiveness and social-cognitive ability, school-based prevention program designers should keep in mind a number of issues identified through developmental research. In this paper, we review the social-cognitive model of aggressive behavior development as applied to prevention programming. We then discuss some of the ways in which the broader developmental research base can inform the design of aggression prevention programs.Editors Strategic Implications: Educational administrators and policy makers will find evidence in this review that school-based programs that employ a social-cognitive model represent a strategy that works for preventing violence. Prevention researchers will also benefit from the authors insights regarding theoretical mediating processes and the importance of a developmental view.

A Cognitive-Ecological Approach to Serving Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: Application to Aggressive Behavior

In this article we present a cognitive-ecological model for understanding and preventing emotional and behavioral difficulties and propose directions for school-based intervention programs, particularly with aggressive children. In the cognitive-ecological framework, intervention efforts should target certain cognitive skills (e.g., skills that encourage attention to multiple cues in a setting) and knowledge structures (e.g., normative beliefs about appropriate responses to conflict) across multiple contexts that change over time (e.g., classroom, peer, school, family). We also emphasize the importance of coordination among contextual influences so that children learn consistent, cross-context standards that encourage prosocial and socially competent behavior. Practitioners working with students who exhibit emotional and behavioral difficulties should strive to integrate efforts at modifying cognition as well as context in the service of promoting behavioral change that maintains over time and across situations.

Children's evaluations of ambiguous provocation by relationally aggressive, physically aggressive and prosocial peers

The present study assessed childrens evaluations of hypothetical peer provocation. Participants (N = 75, ages 8–11) were presented with hypothetical vignettes depicting relationally aggressive, physically aggressive and prosocial peers engaging in provocative behaviours directed at the participant, including (a) relational (not receiving a party invitation); (b) physical (having a beverage spilled on him/her); and (c) prosocial (being given stale snack food) provocations. Children rated the hostility of the peers intentions and explained what they themselves would do if actually confronted with the situation. Children were more hostile in their attributions for the behaviour of relationally and physically aggressive peers as compared with the prosocial peers. Additionally, when children reported that they liked the peer, they were less likely to attribute hostility to that peers behaviour. Results involving childrens responses indicate the importance of considering peer reputation and provocation type when examining childrens social problem solving. For example, very few children said that they would seek help from an adult when relationally provoked by an aggressive peer; however, in response to physical provocation from an aggressive peer, seeking the assistance of an adult was a common response.

Individual Social-Cognitive Intervention for Aggressive Behavior in Early Adolescence An Application of the Cognitive-Ecological Framework

This study presents a case of successful treatment provided to an early-adolescent African American male diagnosed with conduct disorder. Treatment in this case was conceptualized using a cognitive-ecological framework for understanding the development of aggressive behavior. Specific interventions included individual social-cognitive psychotherapy, family psychoeducation, and school collaboration. Implications for research and practice involving the treatment of aggressive youth are discussed, and recommendations for clinical work based on the cognitive-ecological framework are offered.