The Social Behavior And Peer Relations Of Emotionally And Behaviorally Disturbed Students In Residential Treatment

This study investigated the social relationships formed in two self-contained classrooms of a residential school by examining students' social network centrality, sociometric status, playmate associations, and peer assessments of behavioral characteristics and personal attributes. The results of the social network centrality analyses indicated that all students were integrated into their classrooms' social structure. Students who affiliated in peer clusters tended to be similar on certain personal attributes such as gender, age, or interests in specific recreational and leisure activities. Students who had the highest levels of social network centrality generally were older and had higher levels of peer-assessed prosocial behavior, athletic ability, and sociometric status than students with lower levels of social network centrality. Implications concerning social interventions for children with emotional and behavioral disorders are discussed.