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The influence of selected discrete emotions on socialization-related learning and perception of workplace adaptation was examined in an exploratory study. Data were collected from 233 service workers in 4 small and medium-sized companies in metropolitan Washington, D.C. The sample members' average age was 32.5 years, and the sample's racial makeup reflected that of the surrounding community. The Workplace Adaptation Questionnaire was used to measure perception of workplace adaptation, and the State-Trait Personality Inventory was used to measure curiosity, anxiety, and anger. Basic demographic data (age, gender, and race) were also collected. The study substantiated the hypothesis that emotions contribute meaningfully to socialization-related learning processes and perception of workplace adaptation. Gender, job satisfaction, anger, and curiosity all proved to be positive, independent predictors of socialization-related learning and workplace adaptation. Anxiety was an independent, negative predictor. Age, race, formal orientation, employee status, and rapidly changing workplace were not significant predictors. Job satisfaction was concluded to be not only an outcome of the socialization process but also a significant factor in the socialization process itself. The study results suggested that models of socialization-related learning and workplace adaptation are useful for discerning the relevance of selected demographic, background, emotion, and learning motivation variables in the socialization process and workplace adaptation. (Contains 29 references.) (MN)

This study applied the theoretical frameworks of emotional and social intelligence to the development and implementation of an education program for elementary school children. The key component in strengthening emotional intelligence involves the correct identification and understanding of internal physiologically anchored emotional states and of the situations that elicit them. In contrast, the key component in strengthening social intelligence involves understanding of emotions, and therefore, both emotional and social intelligence are interdependently related. To enhance emotional and social intelligence, a year-long program consisting of five units (Listening, Feelings, Anger Management, Decision-Making, and Perspective-Taking) was devised and implemented in two third-grade classrooms in a suburban elementary school in the northeastern United States. The program was administered on a weekly basis and was under the supervision of a guidance counselor. The effectiveness of the program was assessed through a within-subject analysis of pre- and post-test measures of emotional identification, pro-social and anti-social responding, anger management strategies, and a teacher rating scale. Findings provide partial support the hypothesis that the program would enhance students' capacity to identify emotional states accurately. Findings, however, fail to support the hypothesis that participation would increase pro-social responding and reduce anti-social responding. (Contains 31 references.) (HTH)

This paper describes the preliminary results of a study of In Control, an anger management curriculum offered in the middle school of a therapeutic day school for children with severe emotional and behavioral disorders. Twenty students received the program, while 26 did not. Measures were number of anger logs students completed; institutional reports of severe occurrences of aggressive student behavior; classroom observation data; scores on Aggression, Attention, Social Scales of the Achenbach Teacher Report Form; scores on an anger management knowledge quiz; and monthly teacher and interdisciplinary team ratings of student anger management. During the program, results show significantly more prosocial behavior exhibited by the program than nonprogram students with teachers during structured classroom activity and with peers during unstructured time. At 3-month follow-up, students in the program completed significantly more anger logs and exhibited significantly fewer aggressive incidents than did the nonprogram students. Preliminary findings suggest that students in the program have reduced aggressive behavior, use the anger log as a coping behavior, and increase prosocial behavior with teachers and peers. (JDM)

Research suggests that mothers interacting with disruptive children tend to experience greater negative affect (NA) and less parental confidence. Because children with externalizing disorders can be quite oppositional and rejecting, involvement in the parental role can lead to a sense of learned helplessness that can exacerbate anxious feelings. This study looked at whether high-social anxiety (SA) mothers were more likely to experience greater distress and negative self-appraisals of parenting performance than low-SA mothers, during an experimental interaction with an uncontrollable, deviant child. The experimental task had each parent interact with child confederates such that in one session a child behaved in a cooperative fashion and in a second session, a different child exhibited behaviors characteristic of externalizing disorders. Measures of distress and affect including self-ratings, observer mood ratings, heart rate, and blood pressure were obtained. Results indicated that high-SA parents experienced greater NA, regardless of child behavior, compared to low-SA parents. It appears that high-SA parents have a lower threshold for activated negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and irritability and less positive interpersonal engagement. (Contains 3 tables and 27 references.) (JDM)

Affect, curiosity, and socialization-relation were explored as potential mediators of the relationship between both state and trait affect and job performance. The cross-sectional sample consisted of 81 women and 152 men between the ages of 17 and 50 or older. The typical participant was a male Caucasian under the age of 40 with some college education and an annual salary of less than $30,000 per year. The participants were obtained from four well-established service industry companies in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The data collection measures included the State-Trait Personality Inventory, a modified version of the Workplace Adaptation Questionnaire, a self-reported measure of job performance, and demographic survey. Two a priori determined "recursive" path models suggesting the causal influence of anger, anxiety, and curiosity on socialization-related learning and (ultimately) job performance were tested. The study provided empirical support for the notion that anger and anxiety, which are two types of emotion that are often overlooked by organizational researchers, can either foster or deter workplace job performance through their influence on individual learning. The study also yielded evidence suggesting that curiosity might be an important mediator between emotion and job performance. (Contains 26 references.) (MN)

This qualitative study explored the effects of the Second Step Curriculum, designed to teach the social skills necessary for children to peacefully solve problems and resolve conflicts through empathy training, impulse control, and anger management. The study focused on teachers' perceptions of the program: what they perceived to be the program benefits, how the program influenced their own interactions, and the program's impact on creating a safer school environment for learning. Participating in the study were the teachers and 419 children in kindergarten through fourth grade at an inner-city school serving low-income families. Data collection included teacher self-evaluations, interviews of one teacher from each grade level completed midway through the third year of program implementation, and observation of some lessons. Findings gleaned from teacher interviews and lesson evaluations indicated that teachers believed the program benefits included the opportunity to discuss feelings and the enhancement of other positive school programs. Teachers also suggested that the program had a positive influence on their interactions with other teachers. Teachers expressed concerns related to the transfer of training to other situations and to children at great risk because of lack of impulse control and anger management. Although teachers believed that the curriculum was effective for the majority of their students, additional measures were needed for learners highly at risk. Recommendations for taking skill development to a higher level and for meeting the challenge presented by students highly at risk include additional training for teachers, addition of the family component to the curriculum, and intensive social skills training for the at-risk students. (Contains 17 references.) (KB)

Children's bodies are created by the surrounding culture and their bodies, in turn, reproduce the culture. From birth, children are separated from others in the name of scientific rigor, safety, and cultural assimilation. Children move from feeling (trusting their own touching, smelling, and tasting) to seeing, where they recognize that they belong to the world but, at the same time, are not comfortable in it. In many cases, violence to a child's natural curiosity and desire to explore begins with admonitions about and physical reinforcement of acceptable social behavior in the home by the mother. This constraint continues in primary and secondary schools with exhortations, in many cases coming from female teachers, to not fidget and to not talk. Young male adolescents congregate and re-enforce their individual but mutual anger and often direct it toward females. To counter this violence, helpers must both listen attentively and intervene respectfully; helpers and those being helped work together to develop a course of action. Fundamental change of this situation is possible by developing early childhood programs (such as the Servol Parent Outreach Program) which are based in the community, oriented to the parents, and administered by trained teachers. The incorporation of heroes--those women who take total responsibility for their children and those men who are acknowledged, although unofficial, leaders of their communities--as paraprofessionals in the education system could also have a positive influence on young children. (DLH)

Middle Tennessee State University recently developed a satellite-linked, interactive distance learning system with six rural K-12 schools. Faculty were then invited to make a single presentation over this system. The social work department, recognizing both the opportunities and the limitations presented by this new system, elected to be one of the presenters. However, instead of simply broadcasting one presentation, faculty proposed that a comprehensive program be developed for high school students, using the distance learning system as one component. The comprehensive program included: (1) a satellite broadcast to teachers at the six schools to discuss student needs; (2) follow-up contacts by phone and in person with key personnel at the schools; (3) provision of six videotapes dealing with drugs, alcohol, and violence to help prepare the students for the broadcasts; (4) administration of student questionnaires to determine problems and needs; (5) visits to the schools by senior social work students to examine student behavior; and (6) three satellite-linked, interactive, television broadcasts entitled "Anger Management: How To Prevent Violence in Our Schools I, II, and III." This paper reviews and evaluates the results of this effort. (MES)

As a component of a consulting engagement with a Midwestern comprehensive mental health center, an Outpatient Assessment Questionnaire (OAQ) was administered pre-post to 124 outpatient clients in a three month time series design. These comparisons yielded significant changes on thirteen of the twenty dimensions, including general affect, positive affect, negative affect, anger, depression, coping via escape methods, level of functioning, mental coping methods, mental health, psychosis, seek professional help, spouse perception, and stress perception. Results show the greatest amount of improvement on the scales that measure emotional dimensions (affect, negative and positive affect, anger, and depression). Since most of the clients had presented complaints of depression and stress-related emotional problems, it appears that therapy over the course of six weeks had its greatest effect on the kinds of problems these clients were experiencing. In addition, clients showed improvement in the use of mental methods of coping with stress and tended not to escape as much as a means of coping. Their level of daily functioning improved slightly and they reported fewer symptoms of mental health distress, personal stress, and psychotic symptoms. There was a slight improvement in perception of their spouses. At the end of therapy, they were more likely to seek professional help. No changes were observed on the seven psycho-social dimensions. (MKA)

This document focuses on anger management programs utilized within and outside of school systems. Eleven programs are reviewed and delineated into the following categories: age/grade level, group size, target population, theoretical basis, techniques utilized, and skills acquired. Practical knowledge of the programs is presented in order to provide the user with resources necessary to design and begin an anger management program. Programs reviewed are: (1) "The Anger Workbook" (Carter and Minirth); (2) "The Anger Coping Program" (Lockman, Dunn, Klimes-Dougan); (3) "Anger Control Training for Adolescents in Residential Treatment" (Dangel, Deschner, Rasp); (4) "Aggression Replacement Training" (Goldstein, Glick, Reiner, Zimmerman, Coultry); (5) "Anger Management for Youth: Stemming Aggression and Violence" (Eggert); (6) "Anger Management Program" (Panaccione); (7) "Anger Control Training for Children and Teens" (Taylor) ; (8) "25 Ways to Help Children Control Their Anger" (Shapiro); (9) "The Anger Control Kit" (Shapiro); (10) "How I Learned to Control My Temper" (Pincus); (11) "Think First Curriculum" (Larson, McBride). Well-known programs and less common programs are included; contact addresses and program prices are provided where available. (MKA)

Through the Jail to Job Phase II project, the Erie Adult Learning Center provided inmates of the Erie County Prison with employability skills, decision making, problem solving, survival skills, and anger management education. Forty soon-to-be-released inmates participated in 37 hours of class. Prison staff, in concert with the instructor, selected students suitable for the program. Students ranged from having an employment history to never working. The instructor evaluated each group and structured classes to respond to their needs. Often, prison personnel would sit in on the classes to familiarize themselves with the inmates' concerns. Attendance was mandatory to receive a certificate of employability. Students would be given preference for admission to the work-release program upon course completion. This motivator improved attendance and completion rates compared to phase I of the project. In a survey, the program received excellent reviews from both the inmates and the prison staff. Students' evaluation of the program indicated that the class was rated as one of the best in the prison. A waiting list of inmates showed an interest in program participation and continuation. One barrier was students' inability to attend due to lock up or early release. Most students (90 percent) completed the course. Of the students completing the course, 83 percent found employment. (The report contains 21 references. Appended are curriculum materials on anger management and self-assessment, the certificate of employability, and three student evaluation forms.) (YLB)

This study examined the effects of exposure to violence on young children. A random sample of 236 Massachusetts 6th graders living in urban communities completed a quantitative survey on violence and its effects, including the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children-A (Briere, 1996). It was found that almost 60 percent of the children reported that they had been the victims of a violent event, and that over half had actually heard gunshots at least once in the past year. Boys reported experiencing hearsay and victimization episodes of violence at higher frequencies than did girls, and reported a greater total number of episodes of violence per year than did girls. It was also found that Hispanics had slightly higher exposure rates to all forms of violent events, and Caucasians had slightly lower rates, than did Blacks. Exposure to violence influenced the reported distress and worry scores of the children, in that children exposed to higher numbers of violent episodes scored higher on measures of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, dissociation, anger, and community safety than those with lower exposure. (MDM)

Social Skills Training (SST) has become a popular and effective means of prevention and intervention with adolescent populations exhibiting behavioral difficulties. Early in their development many African-American youth are exposed to homicide, crime, and interpersonal violence. The acquisition of social skills is critical to the development of mediational techniques in combating these stressors. Standard SST programs, which are not culturally specific, are thought to be less effective in producing durable gains with African-American youth. This study examines the effects of an Afrocentric SST curriculum, in comparison to a standard SST curriculum, in promoting social skills development with 89 inner-city African-American youth (ages 10-15). Each 12-session curriculum teaches these skills as part of a community-based summer youth program involving problem solving, anger management, and conflict resolution. In addition, the Afrocentric curriculum incorporates discussion of relevant cultural experiences as they relate to the ancient and recent history of African Americans based on the Nguzo Saba cultural value system principles of: Umoja (unity); Kujichagulia (self-determination); Ujima (collective work and responsibility); Ujamma (cooperative economics); Nia (purpose); Kuumba (creativity); and Imani (father). Both curricula use manuals with intervention protocols that feature didactic and process-based training in a small group format. Monitoring and evaluation procedures are used to ensure treatment integrity. Results support the hypothesis that social skills training can produce significant gains in interpersonal skills and anger management for inner-city African American adolescents. (Contains 3 tables and 36 references.) (Author/SLD)

Helping disruptive students successfully complete high school and learn how to develop self-control is a challenge for the school, parents, and society. Some of the specific family characteristics associated with disruptive behavior in the classroom and school are examined here. Parents of 105 adolescent males, who ranged in age from 15 to 17, completed various surveys. Analysis revealed that the family variables of cohesion, conflict, organization, and expression of anger were all significant in being able to predict membership in one of the study's three groups: emotionally disturbed, "late starters" (i.e. those who had only recently manifested disruptive behavior), and the control group. Results indicate that the families of the emotionally disturbed subjects had more conflict, less cohesion, and less organization than both the late starters and the control group subjects. Both the emotionally disturbed and the late starters had more expression of anger within the family than did the control families. There appears to be a significant relationship between the male adolescent and his father. It is recommended that intervention strategies for disruptive adolescent students need to take into account family variables and that paternal anger be given strong consideration. Implications for future research are discussed. Contains 11 references. (RJM)

Teachers at an urban high school in New Brunswick (Canada) were reluctant to begin an intervention program directed at student anger and violence until they had gained input from the students themselves. A survey was conducted of the students' experience with violence and their opinions about how to address the problem. Participants were 769 (395 males and 374 females) 10th, 11th, and 12th graders, approximately 77% of the school population. Approximately 10% of the respondents reported experiencing either physical or emotional violence on a daily basis, and a further 10% reported weekly encounters. An additional 25% indicated that they had experienced violence at least once in the last 6 months. Similar responses were given when students were asked how often they were perpetrators of violence. Students reported that the sources of their outbursts were feelings of being threatened, anger at being reprimanded, or responses to drugs or alcohol. Perpetrators of violence against these students were primarily intimates, such as siblings, dating partners, or the same-sex friends of males. Most respondents considered the school a safe place and thought school personnel were supportive. The majority of students endorsed anger management training as a strategy the schools could teach to improve the situation. (SLD)

Stereotypically, anger is associated more with males than females, yet self-report and observational measures have not unequivocally revealed gender-related differences in anger expression. To explore this contradiction, male (n=21)and female (n=23) college students were asked to describe anger incidents they had witnessed that involved either a known person or a stranger. Students recalled situations in which someone became angry and were then asked a series of questions regarding the incident. The gender of the person described was noted and participants were then asked to describe anger incidents involving someone of the other gender. Findings with respect to gender were mixed. When describing an incident involving a stranger, participants were more likely to recall a male than a female expressing anger. When participants described an episode involving a person known to them, a pattern more consistent with findings based on self-report and observational measures, which usually yield no gender-related differences in anger expression, was apparent. Participants were as likely to describe a male as they were to describe a female expressing anger when recalling an incident involving a known person. Findings indicate that anger may be gender-typed as masculine because men are more likely than women to express anger in public settings. Contains 13 references. (RJM)

As any parent knows, anger towards children is a natural occurrence of parenting. Since it is important to identify and address some of the emotional issues that underlie child abuse, the role of anger in parenting and in child maltreatment is covered in this paper. An ecological analysis of parental anger is presented, with special emphasis on environmental determinants, such as employment and financial situations, the family environment, and individual factors. The link between parental anger and child physical abuse is presented next, along with a discussion of the parallels between frustration and anger. Since parental anger responses may follow or be intensified by child behavior problems, anger specifically related to child behavior should be an assessment priority. Several assessment instruments are profiled. It is suggested that researchers and clinicians should look more at social cognition and its interplay with emotional arousal, regulation, and interpretation of situations in order to lessen the incidence of physical abuse. Contains 23 references. (RJM)

Sociologists and psychologists have shown increasing interest in moral emotions such as pride, shame, and guilt, including their developmental role. While these emotions have an important part in normal development, the chronically shame-prone person has feelings of worthlessness, incompetence, and helplessness; a guilt-prone person dwells on imagined wrongs to be undone; and a pride-prone person risks social rejection. This study examined the extent to which various measures of guilt- and shame-proneness in children were differentially related to symptoms thought to be associated with development of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The study involved both child and adult samples. The child sample consisted of 104 children from 5 to 12 years old, along with their parents. The children were tested, including completion of the Child Attribution and Reaction Survey-Child Version (C-CARS), Children's Interpretations of Interpersonal Distress and Conflict (CIIDC), and the Semi-Structured Clinical Interview for Children (SCIC). Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The adult sample consisted of 102 college students in a psychology course. They completed the MMPI-2 and measures dealing with guilt- and shame-proneness. Results showed few indications that non-ruminative forms of guilt-proneness were related to psychological symptoms in either adults or children, but that it is premature to conclude that guilt is primarily adaptive in nature. Projective indicators of guilt were related strongly to shame-proneness, which itself was a salient variable in predicting externalizing symptoms in both children and adults. (Contains 20 references.) (BGC)

The Jail to Job program was developed to prepare soon-to-be released inmates of the Erie County Prison to seek employment and/or vocational/educational training. Forty-five inmates were assessed to determine their educational and ability levels, interests, and values. The inmates attended an 8-week (32-hour) course on the following topics: decision making; problem solving; career interests; success at work; job search techniques; job interview techniques; and resume writing. Discussion of inmates' attitudes, anger, and survival in and upon release from prison was incorporated into nearly every class session. According to follow-up surveys completed by the inmates after their release from prison, 75% of course participants found employment. The program sessions on interviewing and resume writing generated the most interest. (The bibliography lists 18 references. Also included are a detailed curriculum outline and an appendix consisting of the following: curriculum topic list; individualized educational program form; sample certificate of achievement; sample publicity flyer; blank and sample completed program evaluation forms; and sample resume for program completers.) (MN)

This paper describes experiences from a summer internship in a North Carolina wilderness program for youth 8-18 years of age with a diagnosed learning disability or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Children with ADD are trial and error learners, which makes them excellent candidates for experiential learning. Children with ADD are seekers of stimulation. They are biologically driven to look for the novel and interesting. The greater the perceived risk, the greater the sense of accomplishment. To provide students with a positive intervention, this wilderness program features success-oriented, high adventure activities with an emphasis on developing self-confidence, social skills, and problem-solving skills. The 12-day sessions include rock climbing, backpacking, and whitewater rafting, all of which are incorporated into individual treatment plans. Children with ADD have behavior problems, experience poor peer relationships, and have trouble in school. Over 80 percent are on some kind of medication. The wilderness program is set up to address problem behaviors, particularly those related to self-esteem, anger management, attention problems, noncompliance and failure to complete tasks, and motivation. Anecdotes illustrate program interventions in each of these areas. (SV)

The situations in which young adolescents identify anger and the strategies they use in response to anger were studied with students from a midwestern urban middle school health class. The sample included 53 sixth graders, 41 seventh graders, and 41 eighth graders. Responses to a one-page survey indicated that students reported more anger situations in the family than in any other setting. White students were somewhat more likely to report family conflict, especially with siblings, than were teens of other racial backgrounds. Anger with parents remained relatively stable over the three years, but anger with siblings decreased. Unhealthy responses to anger, such as hitting, swearing, revenge or even the silent treatment, are the more common responses from middle schoolers, but about 15 percent reported responding in a nonviolent way. Students reported the most violence with siblings and the least with adults. With friends they are most likely to try to work it out using a number of strategies. Some students reported the strategies they used to prevent angry reaction, such as taking a time out or reacting with humor. Two tables summarize some responses. (Contains four references.) (SLD)

A survey was developed to study anger in elementary school students drawing on the experience of school counselors and teachers. The final survey was distributed to elementary school counselors, school administrators, and teachers to use with children referred for anger control issues. In 7 elementary schools, 1 female and 36 male students in kindergarten through grade 5 were interviewed. Most of these children had not been identified as having any learning difficulties, and most were not being given any type of medication to control behavior. Periods of time when children were allowed to interact socially were catalysts for runaway emotions. Children did not appear to be reacting to academic stressors, and there appeared to be as many different reasons for the anger as there were children. Twenty of the 37 did not believe that the teacher disliked them. The role of diet was not clear, but most students reported having eaten a fast-food type breakfast high in fat and sugar. The relationship between males and aggressiveness was readily apparent, as all but one of the referred students were male. Implications for elementary school counselors and teachers are discussed. Since most students referred had not been identified as having problems in spite of a history of chronic anger, schools should consider ways to meet the needs of these students. (SLD)

Verbal interactions between adolescents and their parents may affect adolescents' self-esteem and self-concept. The current development of an instrument, the Verbal Interaction Questionnaire (VIQ), was designed to measure adolescents' perceptions of their parents verbal interactions with them. Noting that the relationship between adolescents' perceptions and their parents' perceptions of verbal interactions remains unavailable in the VIQ, the VIQ was modified to assess more thoroughly the familial dynamics of the verbal interaction process. Directions and items on the VIQ were reworded to assess parents' perceptions of their verbal interactions with their adolescent children and to assess parents' perceptions of how they believed their adolescent children perceived their interactions with them. Questions dealing with conflict, anger, depression, and parenting style were added. The modifications of the VIQ should provide counselors with a tool to assist them in better dealing with adolescents experiencing family conflicts. Six references and the questionnaires are included. (AP)

Teachers often spend more time in the classroom dealing with disruptions and conflict than they do teaching. This report describes a study (n=18) that was conducted to assess the effects of a school-based group treatment program on social skills development and anger management for students with behavior problems in an urban Saskatchewan (Canada) setting. The 10-session treatment program was based on a cognitive-behavioral skills deficit approach from Goldstein's Anger Control program for adolescents. The study explores the obstacles that occur when conducting research involving students with behavior problems and identifies the difficulties in the delivery and implementation of anger management programs. The students' perceptions of the program effectiveness and the need to develop their own skills in controlling anger is described. Support is provided for the students' need to develop social skills and ways of managing anger, and for the teachers' ongoing efforts to teach these skills. The survey instrument with responses is included. Contains 27 references. (JBJ)