A comparison of the verbal social behavior of adolescents with behavioral disorders and regular class peers.
Placing behavior-disordered teens in regular classes quickly cuts their negative talk to near-peer levels.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Mazur et al. (1992) watched how teens with behavior disorders talk to peers in two places.
They compared their words to regular-class peers during class time.
The study used simple note-taking, not an intervention.
What they found
In special-ed rooms, the BD teens used more put-downs and rude words.
When they joined mainstream classes, their negative talk dropped close to peer levels.
No extra training was needed; just being with typical peers helped.
How this fits with other research
Renne et al. (1976) first showed that kids' behavior after treatment should match peer norms before sending them back to regular class.
Koegel et al. (1992) tested a video-feedback package that also cut negative peer talk in BD students, proving you can speed the process up with teaching.
Wagemaker et al. (2022) found that teens with mild ID give more when peers watch, showing the power of peer presence extends beyond just words.
Why it matters
You can use mainstream class time as a low-cost intervention. Start with one period a day, track negative comments with simple tallies, and fade adult support as the teen's words match peer levels. Pair this with brief video review or peer-monitor roles if you need faster change.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Improved social functioning of adolescents with behavioral disorders (BD) is of critical importance for the successful integration of these students in school, domestic, vocational, and community settings. Three comparisons were addressed in the study; overall verbal responding of BD adolescents was compared to verbal responding of their regular class peers, verbal responding of the same BD adolescents was compared across their self-contained and mainstreamed settings, and responding of the BD adolescents when in mainstreamed settings was compared to responding of regular class peers. Portable microcomputers were used to collect data across 10 categories of verbal responding for 14 BD adolescents and 14 regular class peers. Results supported several general conclusions: (a) Adolescents with behavioral disorders engaged in more negative verbal responding than their regular class peers; (b) BD adolescents exhibited less inappropriate verbal behavior when in the mainstream than when self-contained; and (c) when in the mainstream, the verbal behavior of BD students was similar to that of their regular class peers. Implications of the general and specific differences that emerged from the comparisons were presented and discussed.
Behavior modification, 1992 · doi:10.1177/01454455920164004