Research on social development often attempts to predict social status in children's peer groups using personality features or traits of the individual child. Yet few personality measures consistently predict social acceptance across different groups, and those predictors that are consistent generally account for small proportions of the variance in status. This article proposes that social status is a function of both individual and group characteristics. It is argued that two factors are necessary to predict peer popularity: prosocial interaction and person-group similarity. Prosocial behavior is viewed as a prerequisite for high social status and is predicted to be consistently correlated with status across peer groups. The relation between status and other social behaviors such as aggression is predicted to be mediated by the degree of similarity between the individual and the peer group. The results of two studies, employing both acceptance and rejection measures of status, provide support for the proposed model. This evidence helps to integrate apparently discrepant findings in the sociometric literature and demonstrates the utility of social psychological theories of interpersonal attraction in the study of peer status.Peer relations in childhood play a central role in social and emotional development. Probed initially by Moreno (1934), Northway (1944), and Bonney (1947, social acceptance and rejection have become the focus of renewed research efforts (e.g.,

The research reported in this article uses the concept of a prototype to describe ill-defined terms like depression. A prototype is viewed as a theoretical standard against which real people can be evaluated, and a method is proposed for operationalizing such prototypes. Three prototypes are derived and reported that correspond to three types of "problem child." It is hypothesized that the meaning of a concept changes in a regular way as the user gains clinical experience. Data are presented to illustrate changes of this type for each type of problem child.

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This research examined the independent and interactional contributions of peer experiences and group aggression to youth behavioral adjustment in short-term residential treatment. Participants were 219 youth (M age = 12.70, SD = 2.76; 71 % male) nested in 28 same-age, same-sex treatment groups. Sociometric interviews assessed social preference and victimization. Daily behavioral observations by staff assessed overall levels of treatment group aggression, as well as aggressive, withdrawn, and prosocial responses to specific social events. End-of-summer behavioral responses (to all events; to peers; to adults) were predicted, controlling for initial levels of these responses. Social preference predicted higher end-of-summer prosocial responses, and victimization predicted lower prosocial and higher withdrawn responses. Each interacted with group aggression in some analyses, with more positive peer experiences only predicting more favorable responses in groups that were low or average in aggression. Interactant-specific analyses revealed that some of these associations were broad, whereas others applied only to adults. For example, group aggression moderated the association between social preference and aggressive responses to adults but not peers. Gender differences were also interactant-specific. Results highlight the importance of peer experiences in group treatment and underscore the value of both aggregation and disaggregation over interactants in analyses of behavioral adjustment.

Staff perceptions of activities that may facilitate implementation of individualized counseling programs (ICPs) were surveyed. The activities are named Discussing the ICP, Understanding Concerns, Reinforcing Others' Contributions, Adapting the ICP. Building Positive Expectations, Learning About Obstacles, and Evaluating Implementation and Outcomes (DURABLE). Ninety staff members at a residential facility providing short-term counseling services for children and adolescents with behavior problems were asked to (a) rate the relative importance of each DURABLE activity for facilitating ICP implementation, (b) rate their involvement in each activity, and (c) list any additional activities believed to be important in facilitating ICP implementation. Each DURABLE activity was perceived by respondents to be more than moderately important in facilitating ICP implementation. Of the seven DURABLE activities. Discussing the ICP was perceived to be most important, whereas Building Positive Expectations and Reinforcing Others' Contributions were rated as least important. Two other activities also reported as important in facilitating ICP implementation were (a) developing and maintaining effective communication among staff members, and (b) involving the child in ICP development and implementation. Implications of the results for practitioners and directions for research are discussed.Professional psychologists are frequently employed as directors, supervisors, or direct service providers at residential facilities for children and adolescents with behavior problems. As part of their responsibilities, these psychologists are often confronted with the task of facilitating the implementation of LOUTS J. KRUOER received his PsyD from Rutgers University, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. He is currently assistant professor in the Department of Education, Tufts University. His interests include the professional development of special services providers and the planning and evaluation of counseling and special education services. N. S. FACJLEY. PhD. is assistant professor in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University. Her areas of interest include the cognitive processes of professional psychologists (including decision making under uncertainty and risk), research methodology, and statistical power analysis.