Compares the family-centeredness of East and West Berliners with primary school-aged children shortly after the breakdown of East Germany by examining parental attitudes regarding friendship among children. Observes that while parents in East Berlin exerted greater control than those in West Berlin, children's integration into their extrafamilial…

A study explored Palestinian teachers' (n=90) opinions on inclusion in primary schools. Fifty-four believed that students with disabilities and special needs should have an opportunity to attend public schools. Eighty-one expressed a need for change in the public schools in order to meet the needs of students with disabilities. (Contains…

A study compared the effects of social integration activities and group friendship activities in enhancing social relations with two preschoolers with disabilities in two inclusive classrooms. Results indicated differential benefits across the two approaches, suggesting a need to tailor the selection of interventions to the individual child's…

This article reviews special needs education history in Great Britain, and the contradiction between society's intention to treat all learners as essentially the same and an equal and opposite intention to treat them as different. The role of inclusion and the emergence of the social inclusion agenda is discussed. (Contains references.) (CR)

Discusses the myths related to inclusive education and offers suggestions for enhancing every child's education. (SR)

Tested whether social comparisons with probably less fortunate others differently affected boys and girls' cognitive performance in circumstances maximizing concerns about social integration and peer acceptance. Results from 64 French 10- to 12-year-old children show boys performed better than girls when adverse social comparison was anticipated,…

Constructs an integrated model to investigate the relations among family relationship, self-concept, and delinquent behavior. Reports that a positive family relationship is critical in facilitating the development of adolescents' self-concept and in restraining them from engaging in delinquent behavior; factors associated with self-concept…

This article reports on part one of a three-part survey of provision for 3,084 pupils aged 14 and older in England and Wales who have profound learning difficulties. Results found the students have few opportunities to participate in community life as adults despite the overlapping legal responsibilities of multiple agencies. (Contains…

A study involving an adult with severe mental retardation and other disabilities found that the addition of a communication device, job coach social facilitation training, and eliciting co-worker support for social integration increased the social interactions of the employee in a supported employment setting. (Contains references.) (CR)

Korean undergraduates living in the United States and in China were administered the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure to assess their ethnic identity. Korean Americans had higher scores on ethnic identity and were more likely to be classified as bicultural, indicating that they were able to retain their cultural heritage while incorporating…

Three focus groups were convened, consisting of 11 mothers of elementary-age students with various disabilities. Mothers viewed friendship as both an important and a worthy end in itself. Nine peer-specific friendship goals for friendship development were identified, along with 3 broader goals to which friendship was perceived to contribute.…

A study of 151 parents of adolescents with severe disabilities found the adolescents primarily participated in family and home activities, with less frequent participation in school and community functions. Child characteristics and family variables influenced an adolescent's level of integration in home and community, with only child…

Describes a cooperative-learning project of the Kansas School for the Deaf and a nearby public high school. Students first participated in a workshop on visual-gestural communication and then met together daily for two weeks to design and build their 4' by 8' miniature golf "greens". Goals of communication, cooperative learning,…

Does volunteer participation reduce depressive symptoms among older people? Does depression influence whether older people will volunteer? Might nonrandom attrition in a longitudinal study bias the relationship between volunteering and depression? This research addresses these questions with three-wave data from the Americans' Changing Lives…

Background: Schizophrenia (SZ) and schizoaffective disorders (SA) are associated with cognitive deficits. Generally, a schizoaffective diagnosis is associated with better prognosis on the level of social integration. It is also well established that cognition is an important factor for good social outcome in schizophrenia. We hypothesized that,…