Minors' attitudes and competence toward participation in psychoeducational decisions.

Abstract

In the context of investigating children's attitudes and competence for participating in treatment decisions, a sample of children with learning and behavior problems was studied. As part of the regular planning process, 81 students were given a choice about participating in deciding about their subsequent placement. They also were offered instruction on how to prepare for participating in the decision process. Findings from the study presented here replicate a previous one in that it shows that a high proportion of students wanted to participate in decision making, perceived themselves as competent to do so, knew what outcomes they wanted, followed through, and judged their involvement as effective. Additional findings show that most are not only ready to join in making decisions but are interested in improving skills related to such participation. Adults involved rated the participation of minors as generally effective. Overall, the findings add support to the policies that encourage including minors in treatment decision making.

Children's Competence to Participate in Divorce Custody Decisionmaking

“…Children's responses to two hypothetical custody situations based on real-life dilemmas were compared to those of 18-year-olds and evaluated by domestic relations judges. The finding that the 14-year-olds performed as well as the 18-year-olds confirms predictions based on cognitive developmental theory (Inhelder & Piaget, 1958;Weithorn, 1984) and prior research in other psycho-legal contexts (e.g., Grisso, 1981;Lewis, 1981;Taylor et al, 1985). The related finding that the 9-and 10-year-olds proved to be as competent as the 14-and 18-year-olds according to the reasonableness of preference or the rationality of reasons standard, respectively, is also consistent with prior research (Weithorn & Campbell, 1982).…”

“…The few published studies examining developmental trends in psycho-legal contexts establish the competence of certain minors to make rational decisions regarding medical or psychological treatment and/or experimentation (Adelman, Kaser-Boyd, & Taylor, 1984;Grisso & Vierling, 1978;Lewis, 1981;Weithorn & Campbell, 1982), special education placement (Taylor, Adelman, & Kaser-Boyd, 1985), and waiver of Miranda rights (Grisso,198 1). Although these studies generally found 14-or 15-year-olds to be competent decisionmakers, the findings of Weithorn and Campbell (1982) also suggested that children as young as 9 years old can render reasonable preferences in the treatment context.…”

Perceptions of Control at School Among Students In Special Education Programs

“…Our initial efforts have assessed the degree to which the youngsters actually went to participate in processes affecting their lives and how this affects their behavior. In this connection, we found that the majority value the opportunity to participate in making decisions about school placement and program, that they capably follow through in participating, and that they are interested in learning how to do so more effectively (Taylor, Adelman, & Kaser-Boyd, 1983, 1985a. In contrast, we found the majority reluctant to participate when they were not involved in the decision-making process, such as referral to therapy (Adelman, Kaser-Boyd, Adelman & Taylor, 1986a;,1985b.…”

“…Their responses also indicate that they value control at school quite highly. Taken as a whole, their responses to the PCSS and PICSS represent another set of data showing that minors, including those in special education programs, can voice clear perceptions about their sense of control in school and clinical settings (e.g., see Taylor et al, 1983Taylor et al, , 1985aTaylor et al, , 1985b.…”

Toward a Procedure for Minimizing and Detecting False Positive Diagnoses of Learning Disability

“…(For a discussion of this work and of the concept of motivation to learn as related to the learning problems, see Adelman & Taylor, 1983a& Taylor, , 1983b& Taylor, , 1984& Taylor, , 1985& Taylor, , 1986a.) Part of this work has been concerned with differential diagnosis (Adelman, 1978(Adelman, , 1979a(Adelman, , 1979bAdelman & Taylor, 1983a, 1986b.…”