• Decrease in anxiety and withdrawal
SOURCES: Conduct Problems Research Group, "A Developmental and Clinical Model for the Prevention of Conduct Disorder: The Fast Track Program," Development and Psychopathology 4 (1992).
M. T. Greenberg and C. A. Kusche, Promoting Social and Emotional Development in Deaf Children: The PATHS Project (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993).
M. T. Greenberg, C. A. Kusche, E. T. Cook, and J. P. Quamma, "Promoting Emotional Competence in School-Aged Children: The Effects of the PATHS Curriculum," Development and Psychopathology 7 (1995).
Seattle Social Development Project
J. David Hawkins, Social Development Research Group, University of Washington
Evaluated in Seattle elementary and middle schools by independent testing and objective standards, in comparison to nonprogram schools.
RESULTS:
• More positive attachment to family and school
• Boys less aggressive, girls less self-destructive
• Fewer suspensions and expulsions among low-achieving students
• Less drug-use initiation
• Less delinquency
• Better scores on standardized achievement tests
SOURCES: E. Schaps and V. Battistich, "Promoting Health Development Through School-Based Prevention: New Approaches," OSAP Prevention Monograph, no. 8: Preventing Adolescent Drug Use: From Theory to Practice. Eric Gopelrud (ed.), Rockville, MD: Office of Substance Abuse Prevention, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 1991.
J. D. Hawkins et al., "The Seattle Social Development Project," in J. McCord and R. Tremblay, eds., The Prevention of Antisocial Behavior in Children (New York: Guil-ford, 1992).
J. D. Hawkins, E. Von Cleve, and R. F. Catalano, "Reducing Early Childhood Aggression: Results of a Primary Prevention Program, "Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 30, 2 (1991), pp. 208-17.
J. A. O'Donnell, J. D. Hawkins, R. F. Catalano, R. D. Abbott, and L. E. Day, "Preventing School Failure, Drug Use, and Delinquency Among Low-Income Children: Effects of a Long-Term Prevention Project in Elementary Schools," American Journal of Ortho-psychiatry 65 (1994).
Yale-New Haven Social Competence Promotion Program
Roger Weissberg, University of Illinois at Chicago
Evaluated in New Haven Public Schools, grades 5-8, by independent observations and student and teacher reports, compared with control group.
RESULTS:
• Improved problem-solving skills
• More involvement with peers
• Better impulse control
• Improved behavior
• Improved interpersonal effectiveness and popularity
• Enhanced coping skills
• More skill in handling interpersonal problems
• Better coping with anxiety
• Less delinquent behaviors
• Better conflict-resolution skills
SOURCES: M. J. Elias and R. P. Weissberg, "School-Based Social Competence Promotion as a Primary Prevention Strategy: A Tale of Two Projects," Prevention in Human Services 7, 1 (1990), pp. 177-200.
M. Caplan, R. P. Weissberg, J. S. Grober, P. J. Sivo, K. Grady, and C. Jacoby, "Social Competence Promotion with Inner-City and Suburban Young Adolescents: Effects of Social Adjustment and Alcohol Use," Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 60, 1 (1992), pp. 56-63.
Resolving Conflict Creatively Program
Linda Lantieri, National Center for Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (an initiative of Educators for Social Responsibility), New York City
Evaluated in New York City schools, grades K-12, by teachers' ratings, pre- and post-program.
RESULTS:
• Less violence in class
• Fewer verbal put-downs in class
• More-caring atmosphere
• More willingness to cooperate
• More empathy
• Improved communication skills
SOURCE: Metis Associates, Inc., The Resolving Conflict Creatively Program: 1988-1989. Summary of Significant Findings of RCCP New York Site (New York: Metis Associates, May 1990).
The Improving Social Awareness-Social Problem Solving Project
Maurice Elias, Rutgers University
Evaluated in New Jersey schools, grades K-6, by teacher ratings, peer assessments, and school records, compared to nonparticipants.
RESULTS:
• More sensitive to others' feelings
• Better understanding of the consequences of their behavior
• Increased ability to "size up" interpersonal situations and plan appropriate actions
• Higher self-esteem
• More prosocial behavior
• Sought out by peers for help
• Better handled the transition to middle school
• Less antisocial, self-destructive, and socially disordered behavior, even when followed up into high school
• Improved learning-to-learn skills
• Better self-control, social awareness, and social decision-making in and out of the classroom
SOURCES: M. J. Elias, M. A. Gara, T. R Schuyler, L. R. Branden-Muller, and M. A. Sayette, "The Promotion of Social Competence: Longitudinal Study of a Preventive School-Based Program," American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 61 (1991), pp. 409-17.
M. J. Elias and J. Clabby, Building Social Problem Solving Skills: Guidelines From a School-Based Program (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992).
Notes
PART ONE: THE EMOTIONAL BRAIN
Chapter 1. What Are Emotions For?
1. Associated Press, September 15, 1993.
2. The timelessness of this theme of selfless love is suggested by how pervasive it is in world myth: The Jataka tales, told throughout much of Asia for millennia, all narrate variations on such parables of self-sacrifice.
3. Altruistic love and human survivaclass="underline" The evolutionary theories that posit the adaptive advantages of altruism are well-summarized in Malcolm Slavin and Daniel Kriegman, The Adaptive Design of the Human Psyche (New York: Guilford Press, 1992).
4. Much of this discussion is based on Paul Ekman's key essay, "An Argument for Basic Emotions," Cognition and Emotion, 6, 1992, pp. 169-200. This point is from P. N. Johnson-Laird and K. Oatley's essay in the same issue of the journal.
5. The shooting of Matilda Crabtree: The New York Times, Nov. 11, 1994.
6. Only in adults: An observation by Paul Ekman, University of California at San Francisco.
7. Body changes in emotions and their evolutionary reasons: Some of the changes are documented in Robert W. Levenson, Paul Ekman, and Wallace V. Friesen, "Voluntary Facial Action Generates Emotion-Specific Autonomous Nervous System Activity," Psychophysiology, 27, 1990. This list is culled from there and other sources. At this point such a list remains speculative to a degree; there is scientific debate over the precise biological signature of each emotion, with some researchers taking the position that there is far more overlap than difference among emotions, or that our present ability to measure the biological correlates of emotion is too immature to distinguish among them reliably. For this debate see: Paul Ekman and Richard Davidson, eds., Fundamental Questions About Emotions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994).
8. As Paul Ekman puts it, "Anger is the most dangerous emotion; some of the main problems destroying society these days involve anger run amok. It's the least adaptive emotion now because it mobilizes us to fight. Our emotions evolved when we didn't have the technology to act so powerfully on them. In prehistoric times, when you had an instantaneous rage and for a second wanted to kill someone, you couldn't do it very easily—but now you can."
9. Erasmus of Rotterdam, In Praise of Folly, trans. Eddie Radice (London: Penguin, 1971), p. 87.