Richard Van Acker

Heterogeneity of popular boys: antisocial and prosocial configurations.

This study examined subtypes of popular 4th-6th grade boys (N = 452). Popular-prosocial (model) and popular-antisocial (tough) configurations were identified by means of teacher ratings and compared with peer and self-assessments and social centrality measures. Peers perceived model boys as cool, athletic, leaders, cooperative, studious, not shy, and nonaggressive. Peers perceived tough boys as cool, athletic, and antisocial. Model boys saw themselves as nonaggressive and academically competent. Tough boys saw themselves as popular, aggressive, and physically competent. Tough boys were disproportionately African American, particularly when African Americans were a minority in their classrooms. Model and tough boys were overrepresented at nuclear social centrality levels. These findings suggest that highly aggressive boys can be among the most popular and socially connected children in elementary classrooms.

Stressful events and individual beliefs as correlates of economic disadvantage and aggression among urban children.

This study examined 3 factors that were hypothesized to increase risk for aggression among urban children: economic disadvantage, stressful events, and individual beliefs. Participants were 1,935 African American, Hispanic, and White elementary-school boys and girls assessed over a 2-year period. The relation between individual poverty and aggression was only significant for the White children, with significant interactions between individual and community poverty for the other 2 ethnic groups. With a linear structural model to predict aggression from the stress and beliefs variables, individual poverty predicted stress for African American children and predicted beliefs supporting aggression for Hispanic children. For all ethnic groups, both stress and beliefs contributed significantly to the synchronous prediction of aggression, and for the Hispanic children, the longitudinal predictions were also significant. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for preventive interventions in multiethnic, inner-city communities.

Peer Groups, Popularity, and Social Preference Trajectories of Social Functioning Among Students With and Without Learning Disabilities

The extant literature on the social functioning of students with learning disabilities (LD) has indicated that whereas a majority belong to peer groups, a higher proportion are isolated and most have lower social status among peers in general than their typically achieving classmates. Although some work has examined these issues over short-term longitudinal studies, none to date have examined them over extensive time periods. Toward this end, the current study examined a sample of 1,361 students (678 girls and 683 boys; 55 with LD) using multiple measures of peer social functioning assessed each semester from spring of third grade through fall of sixth grade. The results indicated that whereas students with LD were similar to their typically achieving peers in terms of group functioning and characteristics, they were viewed as lower in social standing among their classmates as a whole. These effects were maintained over time, indicating that long-term inclusion may not substantially affect peer social functioning among students with LD.

How Can We Improve School Safety Research

The authors of this article consider how education researchers can improve school violence and school safety research by (a) examining gaps in theoretical, conceptual, and basic research on the phenomena of school violence; (b) reviewing key issues in the design and evaluation of evidence-based practices to prevent school violence; and (c) suggesting new directions for a translational science agenda that can inform policy and practice. The authors describe international empirical approaches that help match annual school safety monitoring data with specific evidence-based practices for each school site, school district, or region. The systemic exploration of successful large-scale applications of evidence-based programs at the district, regional, and state levels could inform theoretical paradigms, empirical databases, and practice.

Deviant or Diverse Peer Groups? The Peer Affiliations of Aggressive Elementary Students.

This study examined peer affiliations of aggressive children in a sample of 948 students (496 girls, 452 boys) from 59 elementary classrooms (4th-6th grades). Groups were identified as zero aggressive, nonaggressive, aggressive, and mixed. The deviant peer group hypothesis was partially supported. Two thirds of aggressive boys and one half of aggressive girls were members of nonaggressive or mixed peer groups. Unpopular aggressive boys were most likely to be members of nonaggressive groups, whereas popular aggressive boys were most likely to be in aggressive and mixed groups. Aggressive and nonaggressive associates tended to be similar on key social characteristics (i.e., popularity, athleticism, leadership).

Cyberbullying: Prevention and Intervention to Protect Our Children and Youth

Bullying has long been of concern to school officials and parents alike. Bullying, which is a type of aggressive behavior, has now entered the electronic age in the form of cyberbullying (e.g., e-mails, text messages, profile sites). Cyberbullying is especially insidious because it affords a measure of anonymity and the opportunity to reach a much larger number of victims without a significant threat of punishment. In this article, the authors discuss efforts to combat cyberbullying that include prevention and intervention programs at the community, school, and family levels. The authors point out that the majority of U.S. states have written legislation to address bullying and cyberbullying and that many schools have established policies that prohibit electronic bullying and developed consequences for doing so. Last, the authors discuss a number of antibullying curricula and mediated programs, software packages, and intervention strategies for the school and home designed to help protect children and adolescents from being targets of cyberbullying.

Antisocial, Aggressive, and Violent Behavior in Children and Adolescents Within Alternative Education Settings: Prevention and Intervention

The display of antisocial behavior by children and youths in America is recognized as one of the most pressing concerns facing educators today. To meet the educational needs of these students while maintaining safe school environments, school districts across the nation have increasingly looked toward alternative educational programs. Approximately 2%, or roughly 280,000 youths, attend alternative schools in the United States (J. A. Grunbaum et al., 1999). For the most part, these students are at high risk for school failure or display significantly challenging behavior so that school officials have sought to have them educated in classrooms or facilities away from other students. As a result, students with significant behavioral concerns or educational disabilities are clustered together into alternative educational programs. The author explores alternative education programs serving students who display antisocial behavior and discusses research on the impact of alternative school placement on the display of antisocial, violent, and aggressive behavior within these settings. The author also focuses on the social context of the alternative school that might exacerbate the development of antisocial behavior and highlights empirically validated prevention and intervention efforts.The display of antisocial behavior by children and youths in America is recognized as one of the most pressing concerns facing educators today. To meet the educational needs of these students while maintaining safe school environments, school districts across the nation have increasingly looked toward alternative educational programs. Approximately 2%, or roughly 280,000 youths, attend alternative schools in the United States (J. A. Grunbaum et al., 1999). For the most part, these students are at high risk for school failure or display significantly challenging behavior so that school officials have sought to have them educated in classrooms or facilities away from other students. As a result, students with significant behavioral concerns or educational disabilities are clustered together into alternative educational programs. The author explores alternative education programs serving students who display antisocial behavior and discusses research on the impact of alternative school placement on the displ...

The Social Integration of Students with Mild Disabilities in General Education Classrooms: Peer Group Membership and Peer-Assessed Social Behavior

The social integration of students with mild disabilities was examined in 59 elementary classrooms. 198 students with mild disabilities were included in the sample of 1,538 students in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. 3 aspects of the social relations of students with mild disabilities were assessed with questionnaires: peer group membership, peer-assessed behavioral characteristics, and the peer-assessed behavioral characteristics of their associates. Most students with mild disabilities were members of classroom peer groups. However, students with mild disabilities were overrepresented as social isolates (20%). Students with mild disabilities differed from general education and academically gifted students on peer-assessed behavioral characteristics, were underrepresented in prosocial peer groups, and overrepresented in antisocial peer groups. Students with mild disabilities who had high levels of prosocial behavior tended to be members of high-prosocial peer groups. Students with mild disabilities who had high levels of antisocial behavior tended to be members of high-antisocial peer groups. Implications for intervention research are discussed.

An Effective Computer-Based Requesting System for Persons with Rett Syndrome

Persons with Rett syndrome experience multiple disabilities including a severe movement disorder, motor planning difficulties, impaired cognitive functioning, and a severe language disorder. Until recently, persons with severe multiple disabilities often were denied access to critical skill training programs, such as augmentative communication instruction, due to unfounded beliefs in the poor prognosis of such intervention. The present study explores the use of a computer-based requesting system, employing animated graphics and touch-sensitive screen input, with three girls having a primary diagnosis of Rett syndrome. Results indicate that all three girls displayed increased item requesting when provided computer-based requesting instruction. Two of the students met and exceeded acquisition criteria for all training lexigrams, while the third student acquired only one of the initial three lexigrams. When provided the opportunity to differentially request liked and disliked foods, all three girls were found to display the ability to discriminate the preferred items above chance levels.

Social Status and Aggressive and Disruptive Behavior in Girls: Individual, Group, and Classroom Influences.

Recent studies have found distinct subtypes of aggressive youth, marked by either high social status or social marginalization, and that various measures of status differentially associate with aggression. The majority of these studies, however, focused on boys, adolescents, and/or relational aggression in girls. The current research examined how the kind of status measured and the social ecology affect the association between overt aggression and social status in a sample of 187 3rd grade girls. Cluster analysis uncovered aggressive-popular, aggressive-unpopular, and prosocial-popular configurations. Although likeability was related solely to prosocial behavior, other measures of status co-occurred with both prosocial and aggressive behavior. Peer-group behavior complemented that of individuals, though peer-group and classroom acceptance of aggression were not related to cluster prevalence.