Effects of nonverbal-oriented social awareness training program on social interaction ability of learning disabled children

Educator-researchers have proposed that the learning disabled child's lower peer sociometric ratings could be influenced by the learning disabled child's reduced sensitivity to the nonverbal components of communication. The present study used a posttest-only control group design to test the relationship between a nonverbal-oriented social acceptance training method and social ratings. Thirty-three elementary learning disabled children were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups. Before the treatment began, all subjects were tested on their nonverbal decoding ability. Results indicated that the subjects receiving the nonverbal-oriented social affect training were rated significantly higher on both the peer acceptance scale and the social interaction rating scale. There was no significance interaction between treatment condition and pre-experimental nonverbal sensitivity aptitude.     

COMPETING PERSPECTIVES ON CROSS-NATIONAL CRIME: AN EVALUATION OF THEORY AND EVIDENCE

Cross-national studies of crime are dominated by a Durkheimian-Modernization theoretical perspective. We evaluate this perspective and present two alternatives, the Marxian-World System and Ecological-Opportunity perspectives. Each is for its theory of social change, causal explanation of criminal behavior, conceptualization of law and crime rates, and view of the relation between collective political behavior and crime. The empirical evidence is assessed and weak support is found for the dominant perspective. The article concludes by reconsidering the concepts of economic development and crime rates.     

Family Therapy: A Client-Centered Perspective

>This article first critiques therapist-directed approaches to family therapy in the light of research findings on therapist variables (empathy, warmth, genuineness) associated with positive outcomes in psychotherapy. Second, two polar opposite positions in family therapy — psychodynamic and family systems — are examined and found to have much in common. The two approaches are based on a pessimistic view of the family, which is seen as an intractable unit, resistant to its own growth. Third, an alternative, phenomenological view of the family is developed, which more optimistically assumes the family to be motivated for enhancement and growth. Finally, a client-centered approach to family therapy is described.