Abstract
In a cross-sectional sample of African-American 2nd–4th grade students (N = 681), we examine the moderating effects of classroom overt and relational aggression norms on peers’ social acceptance of classmates who exhibit overt and relational aggression in urban schools. Extending theory and research on classroom norms, we integrate social network data to adjust aggression norms based on children’s direct and indirect connections in the classroom. Results of multilevel models indicate that network-based classroom aggression norms moderated relations between children’s aggressive behavior and their social preference. Specifically, children benefited socially when their form of aggressive behavior fit with what was normative in the classroom social context. The moderating effect of classroom aggression norms was stronger for the association between overt aggression and social preference than relational aggression and social preference. Relationally aggressive youth were socially preferred by peers regardless of the classroom norm, although this positive association was magnified in classrooms with higher levels of relational aggression. Future research focused on aggression norms within classroom social networks are discussed and implications for school prevention efforts are considered.
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Acknowledgments
These data were collected during an NIMH-funded intervention study (PI: Atkins, R01 MH073749). Additional financial support was provided in a training fellowship to the first author by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305B080019 to New York University (NYU). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the funding organizations. The study was reviewed and approved by Institutional Review Boards at New York University (#6378), Michigan State University (#09-959), and University of Illinois at Chicago (#2005-0133). We appreciate the efforts of the research team and the participation of the students, families, teachers, and schools.
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This paper is dedicated to the memory of Dr. David B. Henry, a friend and colleague, whose impressive body of work has informed and inspired contextually-based research on classroom aggression norms, social networks, and urban schools.
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Jackson, D.R., Cappella, E. & Neal, J.W. Aggression Norms in the Classroom Social Network: Contexts of Aggressive Behavior and Social Preference in Middle Childhood. Am J Community Psychol 56, 293–306 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-015-9757-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-015-9757-4