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• What is Making Choices?
• Problem-Solving Steps
• The Staircase Model
• Old Turtle's Secret

Publications

• The Making Choices Book
• Aggressive Behavior
• The MC Program
• The MC Evaluation
• Selected Bibliography

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Staff

Aggressive Behavior

Preventing aggressive behavior and drug use in elementary school: Six family-oriented programs
Mary A. Terzian
Mark W. Fraser
Aggression and Violent Behavior 10/4, May-June 2005, 407-435
     For many youths, aggressive behavior and drug use have roots in conduct problems that begin in early childhood. Many preventive interventions—universal, selective, and indicated—are based on this finding. These programs are designed to interrupt developmental trajectories that lead to delinquency, drug abuse, and other serious social problems. A number of prevention programs have been developed and tested in public schools. Surprisingly, although family risk factors loom large in the etiology of conduct problems, few school-based programs have involved families. This study reviews six family-oriented, school-based programs that have produced promising findings in rigorous evaluations. The purpose of this paper is to describe these programs and distill from them core family-oriented prevention strategies for use in public school settings. Based on our review, these include: (a) strengthening the skills of both children and parents; (b) creating opportunities for parents and teachers to communicate more readily; (c) promoting bonds of attachment between children and parents and between parents and teachers; and (d) involving teachers in training on managing classroom disruptions, understanding peer dynamics, and promoting positive learning environments in their classrooms. Copyright 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords: Aggressive behavior; Antisocial behavior; Drug abuse; Family; Prevention


Aggressive behavior in childhood and early adolescence: An ecological-developmental perspective on youth violence
Mark W. Fraser
Social Work 41/4, July 1996
     This article reviews recent research on the development of aggressive behavior in children and early adolescence using an ecological perspective that focuses on social development in the family, school, peer group, and community. Special emphasis is placed on family processes and early childhood peer relations that appear to tip developmental trajectories toward social rejection at school and use of aggression to achieve social goals in interpersonal relationships. The article discusses implications for preventing youth violence.
Keywords: aggressive behavior; child development; delinquency; ecological theory; violence


Childhood risk and protective factors and late adolescent adjustment in inner city minority youth
Paul R. Smokowski
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Emily A. Mann
Harvard University
Arthur J. Reynolds
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Mark W. Fraser
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Children and Youth Services Review 26 (2004) 63–91
     This investigation examined longitudinal relationships among childhood risk and protective factors and academic, social, and mental health outcomes in late adolescence. Data were drawn from the Chicago Longitudinal Study, a research project that has tracked a cohort of 1539 impoverished inner-city youth from birth to young adulthood. An ecological model containing information on child characteristics, family processes, early childhood intervention program participation, and middle childhood indicators of competence and problems was used to predict depression, juvenile delinquency, and high school or GED completion during late adolescence or young adulthood. Multivariate negative binomial and logistic regression analyses were used to show that cumulative family risk from birth to age 12 significantly predicted increases in juvenile court petitions and decreases in high school or GED completion. Early childhood intervention in preschool had the widest ranging protective effects on all three adolescent outcomes. The probability of high school or GED completion was significantly increased by preschool intervention, by parent(s) participating in the child’s early elementary school experiences, by satisfactory elementary school grades, and by the child’s ability to be task oriented. Being female, participating in preschool intervention, displaying shy or anxious behavior, and having higher grades in middle school predicted lower rates of juvenile court involvement while acting out behavior in middle school increased court involvement rates. Preschool intervention, peer social skills, early classroom adjustment, and shy or anxious behavior in middle school were protective factors against adolescent depression while being female and having higher grades in early elementary school were associated with higher rates of adolescent depression. Implications for social work practice and future research were discussed.
© 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Early childhood intervention; Protective factors; Child development; Childhood risk; Middle school; Poverty; Preschool intervention; Longitudinal research


Risk, protection, and resilience: Toward a conceptual framework for social work practice
Mark W. Fraser
Jack M. Richman
Maeda J. Galinsky
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Social Work Research 23/3, Sept. 1999
     In both the academic and popular press, the related concepts of risk, protection, and resilience have emerged as constructs for conceptualizing social and health problems. The idea of risk is ubiquitous in social work. In everyday use, the term conveys the notion that an individual, family, group, school, neighborhood, or organization is likely to experience a negative outcome. Although the ideas of protection and resilience conjure up images of extraordinary feats in overcoming adversity, they are elusive. In light of the growing salience of what some call the “risk and resilience” perspective, the authors define key terms, discuss methodological issues, and explore implications for the profession of social work.
Keywords: resilience; risk factors; protective factors; social work practice


Urban violence among African-American males: Integrating family, neighborhood, and peer perspectives
M. Daniel Bennett, Jr.
Mark W. Fraser
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare 27/3, September, 2000
     Even though rates have declined in recent years, violence is a serious problem in many American cities. This paper reviews recent perspectives on violence among young, urban African American males. Special attention is afforded the “father absent” hypothesis, the effect of poverty, the character of neighborhoods, the roots of self-efficacy, and peer influence, particularly the influence of street codes. The latter are argued both to regulate some situational behavior and to promote the use of violence in disputes over social status, drugs, and money. The authors discuss implications for policy and community development.