Showing papers on "Peer group published in 1986"
TL;DR: For the 2 decades prior to 1960, published research in social psychology was based on a wide variety of subjects and research sites and content analyses show that since then such research has overwhelmingly been based on college students tested in academic laboratories on academic-like tasks as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: For the 2 decades prior to 1960, published research in social psychology was based on a wide variety of subjects and research sites. Content analyses show that since then such research has overwhelmingly been based on college students tested in academic laboratories on academiclike tasks. How might this heavy dependence on one narrow data base have biased the main substantive conclusions of sociopsychological research in this era? Research on the full life span suggests that, compared with older adults, college students are likely to have less-crystallized attitudes, less-formulated senses of self, stronger cognitive skills, stronger tendencies to comply with authority, and more unstable peer group relationships. The laboratory setting is likely to exaggerate all these differences. These peculiarities of social psychology's predominant data base may have contributed to central elements of its portrait of human nature. According to this view people (a) are quite compliant and their behavior is easily socially influenced, (b) readily change their attitudes and (c) behave inconsistently with them, and (d) do not rest their self-perceptions on introspection. The narrow data base may also contribute to this portrait of human nature's (e) strong emphasis on cognitive processes and to its lack of emphasis on (f) personality dispositions, (g) material self-interest, (h) emotionally based irrationalities, (i) group norms, and (j) stage-specific phenomena. The analysis implies the need both for more careful examination of sociopsychological propositions for systematic biases introduced by dependence on this narrow data base and for increased reliance on adults tested in their natural habitats with materials drawn from ordinary life.
1,932 citations
TL;DR: Three structural equation models designed to examine antisocial behavior in children were tested and analyzed and it was shown that normal peer relations, academic progress, and self-esteem levels suffer because of noncompliance and coercive exchanges.
Abstract: VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: This article by Patterson tested and analyzed three structural equation models designed to examine antisocial behavior in children. METHODOLOGY: A quasi-experimental design was used for this study. The author conducted a literature review of material on antisocial behavior. In addition, the research utilized secondary data to test and analyze the study's models. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: The research rested on three assumptions of antisocial children: aggression scores for children are stable; antisocial behavior covaries with peer rejection, academic problems, and low self-esteem; and parents of antisocial children lack effective family management skills. The author hypothesized that poor family management skills lead to antisocial behavior in children. He argued that this behavior leads to peer rejection, school failure, and rejection by the parents. It was stated that these factors produce low self-esteem. The study further hypothesized that low self-esteem, peer rejection, and school failure put the child at risk for greater problems. To test these hypotheses the study developed performance models and built component constructs. The study presented the findings from the three structural equation models. The first model was the basic training model. It was shown that this model assumes that antisocial behavior is learned and the initial basic training ground is the home. It focused on parents' discipline techniques and parenting skills and their relation to children's antisocial behavior. It was argued that parents who fail to punish coercive behavior start a coercion process. The study presumed that more effective discipline would decrease antisocial behavior. The findings supported this model. The author felt confident that the model was reliable and robust. It was shown that the data provided a fit to the theory-driven model. The second model focused on the relationship between antisocial behavior and disruptions with peers, school, and self-esteem. The study posited that antisocial behavior's coercive and noncompliant core creates these disruptions. It was shown that normal peer relations, academic progress, and self-esteem levels suffer because of noncompliance and coercive exchanges. The author stated that this is a simplistic model as it is simply testing if indeed antisocial behavior is related to low self-esteem, lack of peer acceptance, and academic incompetence. The research reported that the findings supported this model. The third model discussed variables related to disruptions in parenting skills. The study placed these variables into "early onset" and "late starters" categories. The early onset variables included difficult child temperament, families with social disadvantages, and inept training in parenting. For the late starters category the variables included two problems in parents' family management skills. These two disruptors were stressors and parent substance abuse. Stressors included factors such as divorce, unemployment, medical problems, and daily hassles. It showed that parents' ineffective family management skills initiate the process of peer, school, and self-esteem problems for children. The author stated that the findings also supported this model. AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS: The author noted that the third model was effective for analysis of single-parent families but not for intact families. He recommended that a new, more complex model be developed to fit intact families. The study suggested that the new model include multiple indicators of support or buffering and family problem-solving skills. The researcher noted that these variables are being considered in current studies. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) Male Behavior Male Aggression Male Antisocial Behavior Model Child Antisocial Behavior Child Aggression Child Behavior Child Male Child Problem Behavior Behavior Causes Family Relations Parent Child Relations Parental Rejection Peer Relations Peer Rejection Child Self-Esteem School Achievement School Performance Parenting Skills Aggression Causes 03-05
1,038 citations
TL;DR: It was concluded that children'sknowledge of their capabilities and children's knowledge of the consequences of their actions are factors that need to be taken into account by cognitive models of aggression.
Abstract: This research explored links between aggression in elementary school children and 2 classes of social cognitions that might influence children's decisions about whether to behave aggressively. Aggressive and nonaggressive children (mean age 11.3 years) responded to 2 questionnaires. One questionnaire measured children's perceptions of their abilities to perform aggression and related behaviors (perceptions of self-efficacy), and the other measured children's beliefs about the reinforcing and punishing consequences of aggression (response-outcome expectancies). Compared to nonaggressive children, aggressive subjects reported that it is easier to perform aggression and more difficult to inhibit aggressive impulses. Aggressive children also were more confident that aggression would produce tangible rewards and would reduce aversive treatment by others. There were negligible sex differences in perceived self-efficacy for aggression but large sex differences in anticipated social and personal consequences for aggression, with girls expecting aggression to cause more suffering in the victim and to be punished more severely by the peer group and by the self. It was concluded that children's knowledge of their capabilities and children's knowledge of the consequences of their actions are factors that need to be taken into account by cognitive models of aggression.
451 citations
TL;DR: The importance of crowd affiliation was not related to the strength of respondents' sense of identity but did vary significantly with their willingness to conform to peers and the centrality of their position in peer groups or the type of crowd to which they belonged.
307 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review several theories advanced to explain adolescent drug use to provide background for describing peer cluster theory, i.e., small subsets of peer groups, including pairs, dictate the shared beliefs, values, and behaviors that determine where, when, and with whom drugs are used.
Abstract: The authors review several theories advanced to explain adolescent drug use to provide background for describing peer cluster theory. Peer clusters, small subsets of peer groups, including pairs, dictate the shared beliefs, values, and behaviors that determine where, when, and with whom drugs are used and the role that drugs play in defining cluster membership. Peer cluster theory incorporates those psychosocial factors that promote or inoculate against drug use in youth.
297 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined gender differences in computer attitudes and experiences of adolescents and found that a sample of students from five Bay Area high schools were surveyed for their uses of computers before and after school.
Abstract: This study examines gender differences in computer attitudes and experiences of adolescents. A sample of students from five Bay Area high schools was surveyed for their uses of computers before and...
292 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the effect of the authoritarian model of assessment in higher education and its disadvantages on learning and personal development of self and peer group assessment procedures, and the possible effects on learning or personal development.
Abstract: Any student assessment procedure should meet a number of criteria It should be -valid, reliable, practicable and fair, and useful to students(1) The prevailing authoritarian model of assessment in higher education is examined and its disadvantages elaborated Results of some previous studies of self assessment are discussed The present study attempts to meet Percival and Ellington's criteria, and addresses itself to a number of important questions concerning the comparability of self and peer group assessment with traditional methods; the extent of over‐ or undermarking by students, the relationships between accuracy of grading and age or overall ability, and the possible effects on learning or personal development of self and peer group assessment procedures Details of the implementation of the scheme are recorded, and results presented and discussed In terms of both product (the correspondences between self or peer and tutor assessment) and process (the evaluation by students of the effect
271 citations
TL;DR: This study obtained correlations between social network variables and social competence indices that were highly suggestive and it is important to keep in mind that the sample under investigation was fairly small and relatively homogeneous with respect to ethnicity, social class, and even values.
Abstract: This study explored the relationship between friendship social network variables and social competence indices using a sample of 98 young black lower SES adolescents. Analyses indicated that perceived emotional support received from friends and the number of reciprocated best friends in an adolescents' social network were related positively. Multivariate hierarchical regression analyses indicated that perceived friend emotional support and number of reciprocated best friends contributed independently to school competence, peer competence, and perceived self-competence measures. The friendship network's school achievement orientation was related positively to school competence but was unrelated to peer or perceived self-competence. Friendship network density did not add to the variance explained by the other network variables. Methodological contributions of this study include the development of a computer program to map friendship networks and the expansion of network analysis beyond the examination of social support functions.
245 citations
TL;DR: Data revealed more similarities than differences in parenting experiences, marital history, and present living situations of the two groups of mothers, and the postulated compromised parental fitness of lesbian mothers is not supported.
Abstract: Two types of single-parent households and their effects on children ages 3–11 years were compared. One type comprised 50 homosexual mothers and their 56 children, and the other was a group of 40 heterosexual mothers and their 48 children. There were 30 daughters and 26 sons of homosexual mothers and 28 daughters and 20 sons of heterosexual mothers. The sexual identity and social relationships of the children were assessed in relation to the sexual orientation of the mothers. The samples consisted of families from rural and urban areas in 10 American states. All have lived without adult males (18 years or older) in the household for a minimum of 2 years (average 4). Families with heterosexual mothers were matched to families with homosexual mothers on age and race of mother; length of mother and child separation from father; educational level and income of mother; and number, age, and sex of children. Data are reported from childrens' tests designed to provide information on general intelligence, core-morphologic sexual identity, gender-role preferences, family and peer group relationships, and adjustment to the single-parent family. No significant differences were found between the two types of households for boys and few significant differences for girls. Concerns that being raised by a homosexual mother might produce sexual identity conflict and peer group stigmatization were not supported by the research findings. Data also revealed more similarities than differences in parenting experiences, marital history, and present living situations of the two groups of mothers. The postulated compromised parental fitness of lesbian mothers, commonly asserted in child custody cases, is not supported by these data.
233 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the effect of affect on children's explanations of peer behavior and found that positive behaviors were attributed to more stable causes when performed by liked peers than by disliked peers.
Abstract: HYMEL, SHELLEY. Interpretations of Peer Behavior: Affective Bias in Childhood and Adolescence. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1986, 57, 431-445. Based on constructive theories of interpersonal attraction, 2 studies were conducted examining the hypothesis that biases in peer interpretations of social behavior may contribute to the stability of social acceptance and rejection in children. Variations in children's explanations of the behavior of known peers were examined as a function of the valence of the behavior performed (positive, negative) and prior affect toward the actor (liked, disliked) as well as the age and social status of the perceiver. Popular and unpopular secondand fifth-grade children (approximately 7 and 10 years old) (Study 1) or tenth-grade (approximately 15 years) (Study 2) children responded to 4 hypothetical situations in which liked or disliked peers performed behaviors that had either positive or negative outcomes for the subject. Results indicated that children's explanations of peer behavior varied significantly as a function of both affect toward the actor and valence of behavior, although age and status differences were generally nonsignificant. More specifically, positive behaviors were attributed to more stable causes when performed by liked peers than by disliked peers. In contrast, negative behaviors were attributed to more stable causes when performed by disliked peers than by liked peers. In addition, greater responsibility or blame for negative behavior was attributed to disliked peers than to liked peers. Results are discussed in terms of implications for research on children's peer relations.
214 citations
TL;DR: Assessment of specific social problem-solving, perceived competence, and selfesteem characteristics of 20 aggressive and 18 nonaggressive boys indicated that future research should consider the relative distribution of specific kinds of problem situations that children produce, and that situational factors in social problems should be addressed.
Abstract: This study was designed to assess specific social problem-solving, perceived competence, and self-esteem characteristics of 20 aggressive and 18 nonaggressive boys. Significant behavioral differences existed between the groups. The problem-solving measure provided for qualitative assessment of specific problem solutions that children consider, varying according to the interpersonal context of conflicts with peers, teachers, and parents and to the level of others' intent in conflicts (ambiguous frustration and hostile provocation). In univariate analyses, aggressive children had poorer self-esteem, generated fewer verbal assertion solutions in peer conflicts and during hostile frustration, and employed more direct action solutions with teachers and during hostile frustration. Discriminant analyses significantly differentiated the two groups. Findings indicated that future research should consider the relative distribution of specific kinds of problem situations that children produce, and that situational factors in social problem-solving skills should be addressed.
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors conducted a study comparing only children and siblings in which the children rated each other in matched pairs for 7 behavioral characteristics including independent thinking persistence behavior control frustration cooperation peer prestige and egocentrism (self-direction).
Abstract: 993 children from rural and urban kindergartens aged 4-6 and primary schools aged 9-10 from Beijing and surrounding communes participated in a study comparing only children and siblings in which the children rated each other in matched pairs for 7 behavioral characteristics. The kindergarten children rated photographs of their peers in answer to set questions and the schoolchildren answered 22 questions about their peers by name. The characteristics examined were independent thinking persistence behavior control frustration cooperation peer prestige and egocentrism (self-direction). Both rural and urban siblings had higher scores on cooperation and peer prestige than did only children. Only children were more egocentric considered a negative quality. Urban kindergarten sibling children were more persistent than only children. Urban kindergarten only children showed more independent thinking than sibling children yet urban school siblings were more independent than only children. Urban sibling schoolchildren scored higher on all the positive qualities except behavior control while their only children peers scored higher on the negative quality of egocentrism. Older only children had higher scores for behavior control. Kindergarten teachers often noted that only children had low self-control when frustrated. There were no significant associations between behavior scores and parental education or occupation or type of family by number of generations living together. Cooperation and peer prestige were thought to be related and both were enhanced by siblings in the family.
TL;DR: It is concluded that peer leadership can be an effective vehicle for drug abuse prevention among adolescents, however, increased research is necessary to clarify the conditions under which the impact of peer leaders is enhanced.
Abstract: The results from school-based, peer-led psychosocial smoking prevention programs suggest that this approach is effective in reducing smoking onset rates. This paper provides a theoretical rationale for using peer leaders as a major strategy in school-based drug abuse prevention programs and reviews the available literature assessing the impact of peer leadership in such programs. Furthermore, some of the practical issues involved in selecting and training peer leaders and teachers are discussed, and process evaluation data from studies conducted at the University of Minnesota are presented. The authors conclude that peer leadership can be an effective vehicle for drug abuse prevention among adolescents. However, increased research is necessary to clarify the conditions under which the impact of peer leaders is enhanced.
TL;DR: Results indicated that the time delay was a quick and effective procedure for all the children and peer modeling was unsuccessful in teaching the target behavior.
Abstract: We assessed the efficacy of time delay and peer modeling procedures in increasing autistic children's spontaneous verbalizations of affection. Four autistic children were taught to spontaneously say "I like (love) you" in response to a hug from a familiar person and their mother. Generalization from a free play training setting to free play outdoors and at home was assessed. Ancillary social and affection behaviors were also observed. Results indicated that the time delay was a quick and effective procedure for all the children. Peer modeling was unsuccessful in teaching the target behavior.
TL;DR: The findings indicated that risk factors stemming from the peer group were ameliorated by protective personality and family factors.
Abstract: This study investigated several models for exploring the interrelationships of domains of personality, peer, and family factors and their effect on initiation into alcohol use. Three hundred eighteen black and white high school students were administered questionnaires when they were in the ninth and tenth grades (T1) and again two years later when the students were in the eleventh and twelfth grades (T2). Only those students who had never used alcohol at T1 were included in this study. The results supported an independent model: Each of the domains of T1 personality, peer, and family factors, with control on the other domains, had a direct effect on T2 initiation into alcohol use. The interactions of peer variable with personality and family variables were examined. The findings indicated that risk factors stemming from the peer group were ameliorated by protective personality and family factors.
TL;DR: The effects of reciprocal peer tutoring combined with group reinforcement contingencies on the arithmetic performance of 12 underachieving fifth-grade students indicated that the intervention increased the students' arithmetic performance to a level indistinguishable from their classmates during treatment and 12-week follow-up phases.
Abstract: We evaluated the effects of reciprocal peer tutoring combined with group reinforcement contingencies on the arithmetic performance of 12 underachieving fifth-grade students. Results indicated that the intervention increased the students' arithmetic performance to a level indistinguishable from their classmates during treatment and 12-week follow-up phases. Pre-, post-, and follow-up sociometric data indicated that the students who participated in the treatment groups increased their amount of peer affiliation with other treatment group members.
TL;DR: Children who received social skills training displayed more conversational skills and received more positive peer support during treatment than children who did not receive coaching and both Conversational skills displayed and positive peer responses received during treatment sessions were positively related to treatment outcome.
Abstract: Videotaped excerpts of treatment sessions from a recent intervention study were examined to explore the changes occurring during social skills training and their relation to treatment outcome. 27 unpopular preadolescents who showed few conversational skills during pretreatment observations engaged in cooperative activities with 2 socially accepted classmates for 10 half-hour sessions. Half of these triads received coaching in conversational skills, while the others received nonspecific adult support during these activities. The quality of social interactions among triad members was evaluated during the sixth and tenth sessions. Children who received social skills training displayed more conversational skills and received more positive peer support during treatment than children who did not receive coaching. Coached children increased skill performance over time while noncoached children did not change. Furthermore, both conversational skills displayed and positive peer responses received during treatment sessions were positively related to treatment outcome.
TL;DR: The findings suggest that prevention programs incorporate strategies to maximize peer support for healthful behavior and to counteract the effects of unhealthful behavior modeled by peers.
TL;DR: Although being liked by peers was not related to either conflict or aggression, being disliked was: Postsession dislike scores were primarily related to rate of conflict participation, not to the incidence of aggressive behavior.
Abstract: Children's conflicts with one another during free play were observed to determine the relation between a child's rate of conflict participation and his or her rate of aggressive behavior during conflict episodes, and between these variables and the degree to which the child was liked or disliked by peers. 4 ad hoc play groups of 12 boys and 4 groups of 12 girls were formed. Each group included an equal number of first and second graders, and was observed for 10 1-hour play sessions. Sociometric interviews were conducted both before and after the set of 10 play sessions. Rate of conflict participation was positively related both to the percentage of physical (but not verbal) aggression exhibited per conflict episode and to the frequency of both types of aggression over the entire session. Although being liked by peers was not related to either conflict or aggression, being disliked was: Postsession dislike scores were primarily related to rate of conflict participation, not to the incidence of aggressive behavior. These patterns were characteristic of both boys and girls.
TL;DR: A structural model based upon data from a random sample of 1,000 U.S. drivers accounted for 56% of the variation in alcohol-impaired driving, with total monthly alcohol consumption as the strongest predictor.
Abstract: A structural model based upon data from a random sample of 1,000 U.S. drivers accounted for 56% of the variation in alcohol-impaired driving, with total monthly alcohol consumption as the strongest predictor. Significant contributions of age, sex, peer group values, and preference for beer suggested the operation of socialization to group norms. There was a substantial contribution of personal moral commitment against drinking and driving. However, there was no significant inhibitory influence of legal knowledge and perceived arrest risk. These findings are consistent with Andenaes's view that general deterrence should be more broadly construed to include the moral component as well as the fear component of the law
TL;DR: In this article, the degree to which gender effects on both aggressive and property delinquency are mediated by peer group experiences is examined with data on 588 adolescents in two types of urban communities.
Abstract: The degree to which gender effects on both aggressive and property delinquency are mediated by peer group experiences is examined with data on 588 adolescents in two types of urban communities. The data best support an explanation in which gender has its major effect on the type of peer group to which an adolescent belongs. More specifically, girls belong to less delinquent groups, and this is a salient factor in accounting for their lower levels of delinquency. The findings point to the need to delineate specific gender differences that lead girls to be in less delinquent groups, and in so doing to reorient research on the etiology of delinquency to an examination of the individual predispositions and the environmental circumstances that result in youths joining peer groups that are supportive of illegal behavior.
TL;DR: Drug use by adolescents can be a way of affirming independence from parents, signalling commonality with the peer group, expressing opposition to the norms and values of the larger society, coping with stress and with apprehensions about personal inadequacy and social role failure, and establishing a sense of personal identity.
Abstract: The multiple functions that the use of drugs can serve for adolescents is by now well established (Jessor, 1984). Drug use by adolescents can be a way of affirming independence from parents, signalling commonality with the peer group, expressing opposition to the norms and values of the larger society, coping with stress and with apprehensions about personal inadequacy and social role failure, and establishing a sense of personal identity. In addition, drug use can serve an important developmental function; it can constitute a claim on transition from a less mature to a more mature status and represent, symbolically, the passage out of adolescence and entrance into the stage of youth or young adulthood. Since all of these functions are central to the adaptations of adolescent life, it is not surprising that the use of drugs has become a salient issue for young people.
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of family and peer resources on adaptation to teenage motherhood was explored, and the results suggest that race and education are also important in explaining variations in psychological well-being of teenage mothers.
Abstract: Little is known about how family members respond to teenage childbearing and mothering. This paper explores the influence of family and peer resources on adaptation to teenage motherhood. Several sources of support are considered separately in order to determine whether they all contribute similarly to psychological wellbeing. Data from a survey of young mothers support the hypothesis that personal relations differ in their influence. Supports from friends and relatives, in particular female siblings, are associated with higher levels of stress and distress, while support from a male partner is associated with low levels of distress. The empirical analysis controls for the effects on psychological well-being of race, education, age, household composition, marital status, and poverty status. The results suggest that race and education are also important in explaining variations in psychological well-being of teenage mothers. Although family and community supports are assumed to help teenage mothers cope with the stress of mothering, few studies have explored how family support affects maternal adjustment (for the exceptions see Furstenberg and Crawford; Zuckerman et al.). The limited studies which have examined social supports of teenage mothers have relied on broad indicators of social support such as household composition and marital status. These broad indicators do not allow investigation of the complexities of family relationships. This paper examines the impact of family and peer resources on
TL;DR: Vorrath and Brendtro as discussed by the authors proposed the Positive Peer Culture (2nd ed.) as a strong contribution to youth service providers, based on the notion that the peer group ca
Abstract: Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1986, Vol 31(4), 306. Reviews the book, Positive Peer Culture (2nd ed.) by Harry H. Vorrath and Larry K. Brendtro (1985). This book is a strong contribution to youth service providers. Building on the notion that the peer group ca
TL;DR: The discrepancy between societal and older individuals' views of aging suggests that the social breakdown syndrome itself may be breaking down: Older adults are moving away from a characterization of themselves as ineffective and dependent and more attention paid to assertions of elderly adults rather than to societally induced stereotypes.
Abstract: Thirty adolescent, middle-aged, and elderly people participated in a study exploring (a) their self-, inter- and intra-cohort perceptions; (b) ascribed social distance; (c) knowledge of aging; and (d) the relationships among these phenomena. Data were gathered using a Social Distance Scale, Goals of Life Index, Facts on Aging Quiz, and Aging Semantic Differentials. In general, elderly adults were the most devalued and middle-aged adults the most favored cohort. Unfavorable attitudes toward elderly people were predicted more by age-related social distance and societally induced biases than differential investments in psychosocial life tasks. Appraising one's member cohort more favorably than those outside it was paralleled by a tendency to view the self more favorably than peers. The discrepancy between societal and older individuals' views of aging suggests that the social breakdown syndrome itself may be breaking down: Older adults are moving away from a characterization of themselves as ineffective and dependent. A similar view might be engendered in younger cohorts if social distance were reduced and more attention paid to assertions of elderly adults rather than to societally induced stereotypes.
TL;DR: Sex differences were found in participants' receptivity to suicidal individuals, beliefs about the behavior of suicidal peers, attitudes concerning the worth of suicidal people, incidence of adolescent suicide, and morality of suicide.
Abstract: Two surveys assessing attitudes toward and beliefs about suicide were conducted with undergraduates. There were 473 participants in Survey I and 692 participants in Survey II. Sex differences were found in participants' receptivity to suicidal individuals, beliefs about the behavior of suicidal peers, attitudes concerning the worth of suicidal people, incidence of adolescent suicide, and morality of suicide. There was no sex difference in participants' own frequency or seriousness of suicide ideation or suicide attempts. Results are discussed in terms of hypotheses concerning traditional socialization of males and females, resulting in sex-role differentiation that may influence attitudes toward and beliefs about suicide.
TL;DR: For example, this article examined the influence of parents peers and partners on teenage women's contraceptive-seeking behavior and identified sources of variation in the amount and direction of influence of influence.
Abstract: This study examines the influence of parents peers and partners on teenage womens contraceptive-seeking behavior and identifies sources of variation in the amount and direction of influence. Data are based on a survey of 2884 unmarried US women under 20 who were making their 1st visit to a family planning clinic. All family planning clinic sites in 21 of Marylands 23 counties were included in the study. The majority of these young women report active participation in and support for the clinic visit by significant others. However the involvement of parents or peers seems to reflect alternative support strategies: girls who involve parents tend not to involve peers and vice versa. Parental involvement is most likely to be reported by black girls and is least likely among white girls with relatively well-educated mothers. An interpretation of these findings is based on structural and normative differences between American black and white families. The data suggest that a critical factor in determining the particular support strategy to be adopted is perceived parental approval of the adolescent daughters action in seeking a method of contraception. Parental approval for contraception was markedly higher among black than among white parents and was least likely if the young womans mother is white and relatively well-educated. The data imply that contraception has different meanings in different social contexts.
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study of the way in which a group of children tacitly used ostracism to control and suppress the aggressive behavior of one member of the group was presented.