Pathways to Prevention: Improving Nonresident African American Fathers' Parenting Skills and Behaviors to Reduce Sons' Aggression

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102680/1/cdev12127.pd

Why Adolescents Fight: A Qualitative Study of Youth Perspectives on Fighting and Its Prevention

OBJECTIVE: Identify risk factors for fighting, factors that protect against fighting, and strategies to prevent fighting, among adolescents who fight and those uninvolved in fighting. METHODS: Focus groups were conducted with middle and high-school students, stratified by fighting (fighter/non-fighter) status, race/ethnicity, and gender. Groups were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using margin coding and thematic content analysis. Themes were independently identified by three coders; disagreements were resolved by consensus. RESULTS: The 65 participants in the 12 focus groups were 13–17 years old. Reasons for fighting include self-defense, to gain/maintain respect, or due to anger; having goals for the future is protective. Non-fighters state that their parents condone fighting only when physically attacked, and teach adolescents strategies to avoid fighting. Fighters describe mixed messages from parents, and pro-fighting attitudes and modeling of aggressive behavior among some family members. Non-fighters avoid fighting by ignoring insults or walking away. Fighters feel unable to use nonviolent conflict-resolution methods effectively. Peers may instigate or encourage fights. Suggested prevention strategies include anger-management and conflict-resolution programs, relationships with caring adults, and physicians counseling youth about the consequences of fighting. CONCLUSIONS: Non-fighters use various strategies to avoid fighting, whereas fighters are aware of few alternatives to fighting. Conflicting parental messages about fighting may enhance the likelihood of fighting. Physicians can counsel youth about the negative consequences of fighting. Interventions that teach anger management and conflict resolution, promote adolescent self-efficacy for using non-violent strategies, and address parental attitudes about fighting may be effective in preventing fighting

Teaching Behavioral Practices: Relations to Student Risk Behaviors, Learning Barriers, and School Climate

Student behavioral problems pose a myriad of challenges for schools. In this study, we examine the relations among teacher and school-level constructs (i.e., teacher collaboration, supervision/discipline, instructional management), and student-related outcomes (i.e., high-risk behaviors, barriers to learning, student social–behavioral climate). Teachers across 29 high schools, in a large urban school district serving primarily low-income students, completed self-report surveys. Multilevel regression was used to test both individual- and school-level predictors of student outcomes. Findings suggest that teacher practices at the individual and school levels are linked to student high-risk behaviors, barriers to student learning, and school climate. More specifically, findings indicate that better supervision/discipline and instructional management are associated with fewer high-risk behaviors and barriers to learning. More instructional management is also linked to positive social–behavioral climate. Results from this study highlight the association between teacher practices and a range of student-related problem behaviors, and suggest that system-level interventions in the school may have positive effects