Correlates of social status among mainstreamed mentally retarded children.

Abstract

The relative contributions of misbehavior, academic incompetence, and exposure to nonretarded children to the explanation of retarded children's sociometric status were explored. Teachers and peers rated retarded children on the dimensions of misbehavior and academic performance. The results indicated that perceived academic incompetence was associated with educable mentally retarded children's level of social acceptance, whereas perceived misbehavior was associated with retarded children's social rejection by peers. Amount of exposure to nonretarded children did not relate significantly to retarded children's social status. The data were discussed in terms of the assumptions underlying the mainstreaming of retarded children into regular classes.

Relationships with teachers and bonds with school: Social emotional adjustment correlates for children with and without disabilities

“…The findings here support these findings with fifth-and sixth-grade children and suggest that such patterns may develop in elementary school. Numerous investigations have found that students with MMR have poor social status among peers (see Gottlieb, 1975, for a review), and others have found that academic achievement status is related to social status (Gottlieb, Semmel, & Veldman, 1978;La Greca & Stone, 1990;MacMillan & Morrison, 1980). Since both of these groups are likely to have low school achievement, and since achievement patterns among these groups have been linked to social status, it may be that poor peer relationships within the school context cause students in these groups to have higher levels of fear in school settings.…”

Disentangling the Impact of Low Cognitive Ability and Inattention on Social Behavior and Peer Relationships

“…In one noteworthy study of mainstreamed mildly mentally retarded children, J. Gottlieb, Semmel, and Veldman (1978) found that cognitive ability was primarily predictive of peer acceptance, whereas negative behavior was more predictive of peer rejection. This finding suggests that different cognitive processes may be related to delays in positive social behavior and excessive negative social behavior, which, in turn, may differentially affect peer relationships.…”

Dimensions of children's classroom social behavior: A factor analytic investigation

“…This has been demonstrated in learning disabled (Bryan, 1976;La Greca and Mesibov, 1979), mentally retarded (Ballard et al, 1978;Gottlieb et al, 1978;MacMillan and Morrison, 1980), and emotionally disturbed children (Cowen et al, 1973;Morgan, 1977;Weintraub et al, 1978). The literature concerning the social skills of handicapped populations suggests that these children are not well liked, accepted, or chosen as friends and typically they interact at low levels in regular education classrooms (Gresham, 1982).…”