Misconceptions of Peer Rejection and Problem Behavior

Abstract

This article examines the need to consider social interactional processes in the development of interventions to address the adjustment of aggressive and disruptive youth with mild disabilities. Social interventions for youth with mild disabilities have in some ways ignored the contributions of classroom and school social dynamics in the growth and maintenance of problematic behavior patterns. Misconceptions surrounding peer rejection and problem behavior are identified, and are considered in relation to research on the social relations of youth with mild disabilities. Implications for social interventions for aggressive and disruptive youth with mild disabilities are discussed.