Affiliation:
1. School of Social Work and Community Planning University of Maryland
2. George Warren Brown School of Social Work Washington University (St. Louis)
3. Catholic Social Services Grand Rapids, Michigan
Abstract
Male children (n = 155) between the ages of 8 and 16 who were referred by various professionals, i.e., teachers, school counselors, psychiatrists, and social workers, and were defined as being anti-social and 221 children defined as pro-social were observed for two hours a week at a community center. Behavioral ratings were secured for 30 weeks. Children were pretested and posttested on self-inventories to measure anti-social behavior. In addition, significant adults, such as group counselors, filled out pre- and posttest inventories to measure anti-social behavior. The behavioral data revealed that the two categories of children did not significantly differ in incidence of pro-social and anti-social behavior. However, data provided by self-inventories were not consistent with the behavioral data. The results are discussed in terms of relevance for labeling theory.