Applied Social Psychology [1 ed.] 9781443857574, 9781443856676

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Applied Social Psychology

Applied Social Psychology

Edited by

Patricia-Luciana Runcan and Georgeta RaĠă

Applied Social Psychology, Edited by Patricia-Luciana Runcan and Georgeta RaĠă This book first published 2014 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2014 by Patricia-Luciana Runcan, Georgeta RaĠă and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-5667-3, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-5667-6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables .............................................................................................. ix List of Illustrations ..................................................................................... xi Foreword .................................................................................................. xiii

Chapter One: Theoretical Approaches to Psychology Psychological Features of Social Response to Austerity Measures in 2010 Romania: A Brief Incursion into the Anatomy of a Historically Configured Mentality Adrian Păcurar and Lia-Lucia Epure ........................................................... 3 Socialization through Values: Goal Values and Performance Values Dumitru BorĠun ........................................................................................... 9 A Criticism of Violence: Between the Force that Makes the Law and the Force that Preserves It Oana-Elena LenĠa ...................................................................................... 19

Chapter Two: School Psychology School Organizational Psychologist Loredana Drobot and Dan-Octavian Rusu................................................. 33 Students’ Attitudes toward a Teaching Career: A Practical Approach Monica-Aneta Turturean and Ciprian-Ionel Turturean.............................. 43 Social Representations of Intelligence among Students Magdalena Petrescu ................................................................................... 51

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Table of Contents

An Empirical Study on the Effects of Children`s Familiarity with the Class Context: The Extrapolation Obstacle in Infants ESL Learning Amador Jiménez-Garrido and Eufrasio Pérez-Navío ................................ 61 The Role of Media in Adolescent Social Relationships and Personal Development Goran Livazoviü ........................................................................................ 69 Influence of Partner Communication of Socialisation Agents on Social Behaviour and Students’ Academic Achievement Bisera Jevtiü .............................................................................................. 85 Interpersonal Communication in Serbian Elementary Schools Teaching Practice Marija Jovanoviü and Vesna Miniü ........................................................... 97

Chapter Three: Recent Debates in Interpersonal Communication Intelligent Communication Is Profession: From Theory to Practice Mihaela-Amalia Petrovici........................................................................ 113 Information Gathering, Social Media and New Media Ethics Lucian-Vasile Szabo ................................................................................ 121 Intersubjectivity from a Social Perspective Alina-Daniela Ciric ................................................................................. 131 Internet Addiction among High School Students from Timiúoara, Romania ùerban Gligor and Ioana Mozoú .............................................................. 137 Sociological Aspects of Public Communication in the Multicultural Town of Osijek, Croatia Ljubica Kordiü ......................................................................................... 145 American Spanish Loanwords in English Georgeta RaĠă, Cornelia Petroman and Ioan Petroman ........................... 157

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Interpersonal Communication: The Various Virtues of Humour in General and Education in Particular Sara Zamir ............................................................................................... 163

Chapter Four: Mental Health Issues The Impact of Mentality on Psychotherapy Virgil Enătescu and Virgil-Radu Enătescu .............................................. 173 Psychosocial Factors Affecting Mothers with Postpartum Depression Virgil-Radu Enătescu and Ileana Enătescu .............................................. 181 Bipolar Disorder: Particularities of Social Cognition Cristina Bredicean, Monica-Lia Ienciu, Ion Papavă, Cătălina Giurgi-Oncu, Radu Romoúan and Anca-Livia Popescu ............ 193 Elderly Living with Alzheimer`s Disease and their Carers/Family: A Case Study (Romania and Germany) Oana-Alexandra Morcan and Loredana-Marcela Simerea-Trancă .......... 201 Schizophrenia: A Twenty-Five Year Follow-up Study Monica-Lia Ienciu, Cristina Bredicean, Cătălina Giurgi-Oncu and CodruĠa Suflea .................................................................................. 213 Validation of the Profile of Emotional Distress in Men with Ejaculation Disorders Questionnaire Cristian Delcea ........................................................................................ 225 Contributors ............................................................................................. 237

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2-1. Students’ distribution depending on “faculty” and “class” ...... 45 Table 2-2. Students’ distribution depending on “environment” ................ 46 Table 2-3. Items and their corresponding median score for which a convergent attitude is found for the students of the 8 faculties ......... 48 Table 2-4. Average performance score per grade and condition groups ... 66 Table 2-5. Structure of interviewees (students and teachers) based on the location of schools ....................................................................... 100 Table 2-6. Structure of subjects based on gender .................................... 101 Table 2-7. Types of communication in the classroom according to the number of participants ............................................................. 104 Table 2-8. Types of communication in the classroom according to the number of participants (based on gender) ................................ 105 Table 2-9. Types of communication in the classroom according to the number of participants (based on school location) ................... 105 Table 2-10. Types of communication in the classroom according to the number of participants (based on students’ age) ...................... 106 Table 2-11. Types of communication in the classroom according to the number of participants (based on students’ accomplishments) ... 106 Table 2-12. Types of communication in the classroom according to the number of participants (based on teachers’ education level) ... 107 Table 2-13. Types of communication in the classroom according to the number of participants (based on teachers’ years of service)... 107 Table 3-1. Medium score achieved by high school students at IAT and SSRI tests .................................................................................... 139 Table 3-2. Correlations between IAT, SSRIs results and students age.... 142 Table 4-1. Demographic parameters (N=34) ........................................... 196 Table 4-2. Clinical characteristics (N=34)............................................... 196 Table 4-3. Reading the Mind in the Eye test scores ................................ 197 Table 4-4. The total score from Reading the Mind in the Eyes ............... 197 Table 4-5. Total score in Reading the Mind in the Eyes test— Primary emotions detailed ................................................................. 197 Table 4-6. Frequency of the types of activity for the patient’s carers/family ....................................................................................... 208 Table 4-7. Socio-demographic data ......................................................... 217

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List of Tables

Table 4-8. Work and family dynamics between the onset of illness and the current state ........................................................................ 218 Table 4-9. Other nosological framing ...................................................... 218 Table 4-10. GAF Scale scores ................................................................. 219 Table 4-11. Total scores on the questionnaire ......................................... 229 Table 4-12. Test-retest Reliability ........................................................... 230 Table 4-13. Scale Statistics ...................................................................... 230 Table 4-14. Reliability Statistics.............................................................. 230 Table 4-15. Reliability Statistics.............................................................. 230 Table 4-16. Reliability Statistics.............................................................. 233

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 2-1. Attribute-values ...................................................................... 55 Figure 2-2. To what extent do you believe that success in life is determined by intelligence? ................................................................. 57 Figure 2-3. Statements associated with the idea of intelligence ................ 57 Figure 2-4. Dialogue sentences ................................................................. 65 Figure 2-5. Structure of interviewees (students and teachers) based on the location of schools ....................................................................... 101 Figure 2-6. Grade structure ...................................................................... 102 Figure 2-7. Structure of student sample based on their accomplishment in the previous semester ..................................................................... 102 Figure 2-8. Structure of teacher sample based on their education level .. 103 Figure 2-9. Structure of teacher sample based on their years of service ................................................................................................ 103 Figure 2-10. Types of communication in the classroom according to the number of participants ................................................................. 104 Figure 3-1. Values of moderate levels of stress between 11th grade students .............................................................................................. 140 Figure 3-2. Values of moderate levels of stress between 12th grade students .............................................................................................. 141 Figure 3-3. Values of high level of stress between high school students .............................................................................................. 141 Figure 3-4. Distribution of American Spanish loanwords in English depending on meaning ....................................................................... 159 Figure 3-5. Distribution of American Spanish loanwords in English depending on etymology .................................................................... 160 Figure 4-1. Auditory feedback of mental experiences ............................. 174 Figure 4-2. Introducing affective states by sound models of the voice ... 175 Figure 4-3. Principial schema verbalization filter.................................... 177 Figure 4-4. Recurrential coincidence of patterns ..................................... 178 Figure 4-5. Women with specific psychiatric disorders depending on the status of the reproductive apparatus during life span and associated psychosocial stressors ....................................................... 187 Figure 4-6. Distribution of raw score frequencies for Romania .............. 206 Figure 4-7. Distribution of raw score frequencies for Germany .............. 207 Figure 4-8. Study sample ......................................................................... 217

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List of Illustrations

Figure 4-9. Average number of admissions per evolutionary period....... 219 Figure 4-10. Component plot................................................................... 231 Figure 4-11. Score plot ............................................................................ 232 Figure 4-12. Histogram............................................................................ 236

FOREWORD

The book “Applied Social Psychology” represents a landmark for the inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary approach of social sciences. Authors, researchers and practitioners have joined through studies approached in the field of applicative research and formulated solutions and proposals to the problems approached. The book has four chapters; it reflects the availability, the interest and the motivation of authors to contribute to the development of social sciences in general, and especially of applied psychology. Chapter One, Theoretical Approaches to Psychology, offers the frame for today’s orientations in psychology, from the failure of ethics in the social domain, socialization through values, the critics of violence until modern stereotypes regarding librarians and readers. The values and the manner in which these ideas are expressed in interpersonal relations represent the expression of our being. A “failure” of value operationalization in human behavior represents the reflection of contact breach with the subjectivity and the world. Chapter Two, Social Psychology, unites unique themes from the eventful school life; the students’ attitudes through career; social representations of intelligence among students; empiric studies in the classroom; the role of media in social relations of teenagers and their personal development; the agents’ role in the students’ communication and socialization and some characteristics of interpersonal communication in cultural context. The themes mentioned have a strong practical and intercultural character. Chapter Three, Recent Debates in Interpersonal Communication, presents a collection of practical studies: intelligent communication; new media; internet addiction; the use of learning strategies in countries that speak English and in other countries; sociologic aspects of public communication in Croatia and interpersonal communication. Communication as field of theoretical and applicative research also represents and exhaustible theme for researches. In essence, we as human beings express communication in all its forms. Chapter Four, Mental Health Issues, leads us to an extremely sensible area and which is hard to be defined at the border between normal and pathologic. In this area, counselors develop their activity, together with

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Foreword

theologians, psychotherapists, social workers and any other person with the necessary dedication and training in order to work with human sufferance. Physical and mental illness underlines once again our vulnerability and puts to the trial our personal limits and of the human kind through modalities of perception and understanding of the illness. The mentalities impact in psychology, the postpartum depression, bipolar disorders, Alzheimer, schizophrenia and disorders of sexual dynamics represent the frame in which authors chose their research themes. The last chapter, through the subjects presented shows the starting point and the final point of every person, illness being the dark side, but also the specific one for every social period In conclusion, the book offers a large frame of interest themes for researchers, for teachers, students and practitioners. Without a desire for exhaustiveness, to offer unique solutions for the problems approached, most of the papers offer and indicate practice intervention direction, and in their turn, starting points for the realization of new research studies, for authors and for other researchers. Loredana-Ileana VÎùCU

APPLIED SOCIAL WORK SERIES: ASA 2013 Dr. Patricia-Luciana RUNCAN ASA Series Coordinator West University, Timiúoara, Romania International Peer-Review of the ASA Series, Members of the ASA Advisory Board: Associate Professor Georgeta RA‫܉‬Ă, USAMVB, Timi‫܈‬oara, Romania Professor Michele MARSONET, University of Genoa, Italy Professor Greg SANDERS, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA Professor Marilen PIRTEA, West University, Timiúoara, Romania Professor Károly BODNÁR, University of Szeged, Hungary Professor ‫܇‬tefan COJOCARU, “Al. I. Cuza” University, Ia‫܈‬i, Romania Professor Pere Amoros MARTI, University of Barcelona, Spain Professor N. Panchanatham PANCHANATHAM, Annamalai University, India Academician Virgil ENĂTESCU, Academy of Medical Sciences, Romania Professor Ali AKDEMIR, University of Trakya, Turkey Professor Elena ZAMFIR, Institute for Research of Life Quality, Bucharest, Romania Professor ‫܇‬tefan BUZĂRNESCU, West University, Timiúoara, Romania Professor Darja ZAVIRŠEK, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Professor Doru BUZDUCEA, University of Bucharest, Romania Associate Professor Cosmin GOIAN, West University, Timi‫܈‬oara, Romania Associate Professor Marciana POPESCU, Fordham University, USA Associate Professor Joel HEKTNER, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA Associate Professor Daniela COJOCARU, “Al. I. Cuza” University, Ia‫܈‬i, Romania Associate Professor Thomas E. HALL, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA Associate Professor Alin GAVRELIUC, West University, Timi‫܈‬oara, Romania Associate Professor Monica IENCIU, “Victor Babeú” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timiúoara, Romania

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Associate Professor Hasan ARSLAN, “Onsekiz Mart” University, Çanakkale, Turkey Associate Professor Emil BARTO‫܇‬, University of Bucharest, Romania Associate Professor Corneliu CONSTANTINEANU, Pentecostal Institute, Bucharest, Romania Associate Professor Levente KOMAREK, University of Szeged, Hungary Associate Professor Brandy RANDALL, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA Associate Professor Vesna BULJUBAŠIû-KUZMANOVIû, “J. J. Strossmayer” University, Osijek, Croatia Dr. Mihai-Bogdan IOVU, “Babeú-Bolyai” University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Dr. Goran LIVAZOVIû, “J. J. Strossmayer” University, Osijek, Croatia Dr. Florin SĂLĂJAN, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA Dr. Svetlana SHPIEGEL, Montclair State University, NJ, SUA

CHAPTER ONE THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO PSYCHOLOGY

PSYCHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF SOCIAL RESPONSE TO AUSTERITY MEASURES IN 2010 ROMANIA: A BRIEF INCURSION INTO THE ANATOMY OF A HISTORICALLY CONFIGURED MENTALITY ADRIAN PĂCURAR AND LIA-LUCIA EPURE

Introduction This chapter is about some social and especially psychological characteristics of Romanian society—characteristics that were important and very disturbing from different points of view—during the austerity measures imposed by the government in 2010. The main purpose of our chapter is to draw a general conceptual frame through which, at least to our belief, the particularity of a very low level of reaction from the population regarding the very tough austerity measures imposed by the Romanian authorities during that crisis can be understood. It is very important to mention the fact that the present chapter does not claim to be an exhaustive sociological, psychological and historical study. All we intend to show is the main set of features regarding the Romanian people’s general cultural mentality in times of historical crisis. We are disclosing the possible causes for this type of mentality, but not from the perspective of a classic empirical sociological approach. Instead, we prefer to capitalize the resources of a long tradition of a well-defined mentality, one, as we will see, which is very specific for the Romanian people. For this reason we are using only a minimal and general set of references. Our chapter starts by considering that, among other possible causes, one of the main ones, for the given situation, was a set of historically inherited characteristics of the Romanian people. The goal of the chapter is to analyze some fundamental aspects of the issue. Firstly, the purpose is to understand, in terms of a general and historically configured mentality, why the situation had become, from our point of view, so peculiar, by which we mean the very low level of social response, with no apparent

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Social Response to Austerity

reasonable explication or serious possible understanding. That peculiar situation determined, once again, a very singular figure for Romania among other European countries that also had to go through that deep economic and financial crisis. This was visible through a very low social response, in terms of opposition and protests, and a very low social and civic response regarding some possible plans and scenarios for recovery or for a different distribution of social costs that austerity measures had determined. Secondly, the goal was to disclose a possible general historical frame of action in order to improve the general capacities of social response and civic actions in the case of Romanian people in the future. Of course, nobody could ever claim that he or she has the fundamental key and understanding through which a general historical frame might be improved. However, we consider that some recommendations, in their most general sense, could indeed be formulated for Romania. This chapter is about what we consider a fundamental element of the social general reality of contemporary Romania, disclosing the specificity of social response in a time of profound economic crisis.

Methods Historical and contextual sociological and economic analysis In this chapter we use a combined historical methodological frame by analyzing some sociological, demographic and economic parameters of the social structure of Romania during the beginning of the crisis in 2010, and also through a historical and hermeneutical approach. This latest method aims to disclose some historical structural characteristics of the Romanian people, characteristics that could ultimately, at least in theory, shed light on the specificity of social reaction to those extreme austerity measures taken by the government in 2010. It is important to mention that our chapter also used a historical analysis by disclosing some fundamental elements regarding the mentality of the Romanian people, which occurred in the past and which were very important, especially during times of profound crisis. In addition to this, many significant authors have indicated a major historical delay in the case of Romania in comparison with the West (Boia 2012, 7–17). From our point of view, this aspect was crucial because it is relevant not only for the subject investigated but also because it could have a major impact on a wider conceptual frame through which the deep mentality of the Romanian people can be understood.

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Regarding the methods used to develop this chapter it is also worth mentioning that we deliberately do not disclose some particular and contextual empirical elements from the 2010 Romanian economic crisis. On the contrary, our subsequent purpose is to use some well-documented elements of history regarding the mentality and symbols of Romanian people, elements which, at least from our point of view, could help us to properly understand the specificity of the social reaction or social response of Romanians during moments of profound historical crisis, regardless of specific content or causality. Regarding this issue we must underline the fact that it is relatively easy to uncover a sort of historical continuity about elements of mentality, even if these elements could be disclosed by different methods of investigation or through different tools of interpreting the historical and sociological context. We do not insist upon them in an extensive manner, at least not from the point of view of a possible methodological frame, but we consider that it was important to talk about this reality in this context. The Historical Background of the 2010 Economic Crisis in terms of Mentality From our point of view this section is of essential relevance to any study that intends to disclose some key element of Romanian mentality regarding the way in which Romanian people have reacted to different forms of crisis. It is also important to use it as a correlative tool in any methodological frame designed to uncover the Romanian general mentality regarding the social space and political leadership, but also regarding cultural values and symbolic bonds. In brief, without going into detail, the vast majority of researchers have underlined the fact that Romanian people have historically had a very specific way of integrating historical traumas and crisis. This has been extensively analyzed as MioriĠa, a deep national symbol and a popular landmark, considered to be a sort of point of guidance for any social researcher who wants to disclose the way in which Romanian people acted throughout history. This is not the place for an extensive coverage of this myth but we must indicate some key elements that are ultimately defining the Romanian way of understanding history and of reacting to it. In short, a passive attitude of Romanian people became visible through MioriĠa, by which Romanians encountered every historical challenge or crisis with contemplation and a strange acceptance of bad luck and failure. This general mentality was inherited and a serious cultural target, so to speak, for some major Romanian intellectuals who considered it as a sort of acceptance of

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Social Response to Austerity

historical misfortune and, even worse, a capitulation and abandonment of the fight for better faith (Cioran 1996, 13–24). Some of them have spoken about a so-called “vegetable people” due to the lack of significant reactions from Romanian people during the time of major historical crises. In addition, they considered that the so-called Romanian “deficiencies” are not the result of history but, on the contrary, that Romanian history is the result of these deficiencies (Cioran 1993, 63). This general frame of mentality was present, of course, during the 2010 economic and financial crisis, even if its signs were not so visible from the beginning. The Contextual Background of the 2010 Economic Crisis in terms of Mentality Regarding the 2010 economic and financial crisis, in Romania there was nothing new in terms of the essence of that historically inherited mentality. The same passivity, with only a few and small exceptions, engulfed the entire civil society, or significant parts of it. Yet we have to admit that something additional was indeed present the whole time which Romanian society itself presented at that historical moment, being the very specific legacy of the communist era, an era that also left its marks on Romanian society. The main ingredient of an already historically configured negative attitude was fear, one which the communist regime knew how to exploit to its own interest. Some authors suggest that this fear produced in the deep psychological structure of Romania, at the individual level, a veritable Stockholm syndrome (Vianu 2012, 152). This is maybe the most profound psychological element, one which the majority of Romanian people is not even aware of today after almost twenty-five years since the fall of communism, but which surely played a major role in the passive attitude of 2010. There are no significant major sociological studies on this particular aspect, but some commentators talked about it in the media during that period. In addition to this, as a general position, we can mention the very low rate of change of the old structures from the communist period to new ones, and many authors also indicated this. What seems to be very disturbing about this is the fact that these old structures managed to successfully put themselves safely on the other bank of history, so to speak. This is important as the higher educational system is a situation that further delays any serious attempt to integrate Romania into the Western set of values (Liiceanu 2010, 203). This also has a major negative impact and directly determined, from many points of view, the

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very low level of social response and civil commitment of the Romanian society after 1989, not only at the moment of financial crisis in 2010.

Results General considerations The findings show that we can indeed speak, in the case of Romanian society, about a historical structural specificity regarding not only that type of social reaction from 2010 but also the general way in which Romanian society responded to different types of crisis from its historical past. This implies that a set of sociological and psychological parameters should be available as precious tools for social researchers. Reactions of the society during the 2010 austerity measures From a strictly empirical point of view, during the 2010 economic and financial crisis we consider that there are three essential elements defining that historical moment in terms of social reaction and civic response from Romanian people to the austerity measures imposed by the government. Firstly, it is important to notice the presence of a very limited general reaction, in terms of street protests or social movements. At least in its incipient phase, at a time when in Europe there were massive social protests with millions of people on the streets, in Romania there was almost complete silence. It would be a completely separate task to develop sociological, economical or psychological investigations into this aspect. We select for our very short analysis only those elements from the Romanian history of mentality about which we have already talked. Thus, we remember in this context the passive attitude, a sort of complete acceptance of the historical faith and, at the same time, the efforts to adapt to the new conditions without any significant opposition to the government or any force that imposed those austerity measures. Secondly, in some exceptional cases in which a social reaction appeared we saw a significant delay in comparison with the moment in which those austerity measures had started to produce massive, financially negative effects for large parts of the population. Thirdly, even this delay looks, at a second deeper analysis, to be something artificial and inertial. Even more than this, there were some voices which considered this fact as something which had been staged by some obscure forces, but this, even if it were true, does not present a significant interest for us in the context of this very short general analysis.

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Social Response to Austerity

What really matters is the passivity and delay in reactions from the society. The Romanian people seem, in that historical moment, to have done once again what they had always done so often in their historical past—the acceptance of a very harsh social and economic context together with the will to resist but not oppose those forces which imposed severe austerity measures for large segments of the Romanian population.

Discussion In brief, we want to underline that even if the status of contemporary Romania is, in its official coordinates, one in which the country belongs to the Western nations due to its membership of the European Union, it seems that, at least in terms of civil society training, Romania has a lot to do in the future. Beyond this elementary and formal truth lies the necessity of a sort of structural reform regarding its mentality and deep social psychology. This could not be obtained easily and clearly, but if Romania wants to remain within the Western world then it should consider some medium- and long-term steps in order to change its general social attitudes about a vast range of elements. There are no universal solutions to this but if an already historically configured frame exists, it should start from here, in one way or another. In addition, a strong political will is needed along with the very determined influence of the West, in different cultural forms, in Romania’s future education.

References Boia, L. (2012). De ce este România altfel? [Why Is Romania Different?] Bucureúti: Humanitas. Cioran, E. (1993). Schimbarea la faĠă a României [Romania’s Transfiguration]. Bucureúti: Humanitas. —. (1996). ğara mea [My Country]. Bucureúti: Humanitas. Liiceanu, G. (2010). Intâlnire cu un necunoscut [Encounter with a Stranger]. Bucureúti: Humanitas. Vianu, I. (2012). Nevroza balcanică [The Balkan Neurosis]. Bucureúti: Trei.

SOCIALIZATION THROUGH VALUES: GOAL VALUES AND PERFORMANCE VALUES DUMITRU BORğUN

Socialization The concept of socialization In the sociological and socio-psychological literature, this concept has a double meaning—a hard and a soft one. In the hard meaning, “socialization” means the “transformation of an individual from an asocial being into a social being by instilling certain ways of thinking, feeling and behaving” (Chelcea & IluĠ 2003, 332). This definition applies to children and adults in limited cases (nowadays, it is almost extinct). In the soft meaning, “socialization” can be defined as re-socialization, hence as a process of inculcating certain ways of thinking, feeling and behaving differently from those interiorized by an individual. This is the case of individuals that transgress into a different culture by changing their affiliation group or of sudden social transformations that trigger the modification of norms and values that the individual must internalize, so as to evince a professional behaviour. In the former situation, socialization may define a group phenomenon while in the latter it is a mass phenomenon. The fact that the process of socialization tackles both the psychic particularities of the individual and the psycho-social mechanism of the group or mass phenomena explains why the concept of “socialization” belongs to personal psychology, social psychology and sociology—it is a trans-disciplinary concept. Moreover, socialization aims at integrating the individual into a system of norms and values, social rules (which by definition are peripheral to the individual)1 and at reinforcing the solidarity between the group members. Classical studies dealing with the concept of socialization, initiated by Émile Durkheim (1973; 2009), have highlighted the processes through which an individual internalizes concepts and structures, and have

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Socialization through Values

analyzed the effects of this interiorisation (internalization) on behaviour. One of the main objectives of these studies has been to offer a solution to the problem of permanence, throughout the generations, of the cultures and sub-cultures proper to certain groups, as well as the problem of the behaviour of individuals that have to abide by the same types of linguistic, cognitive, political or moral habits. Although these studies have laid stress on a powerful dimension of continuity—for instance a great resemblance of political behaviour between children and their parents (Campbell et al. 1980)—they have neglected to account for the change of such behaviours. In addition to this, the most renowned studies have tried to understand the way in which the value system held by the social class triggers the fate of the individual that internalizes this value system (for instance, the meaning of collective solidarity portrays the working class while individual accomplishment is more representative for the middle class). A definition of “socialization” serves as the basis for these studies, implying: -

the priority of society over the individual the practice of constraint through an allegedly legitimate authority an objective defined by the social scale.

Furthermore, this definition substantiated a rudimentary theory of learning, understood as simple conditioning. The individual is thought to be a passive being whose behaviour is narrowed to the reproduction of already acquired schemes. A more supple concept might make a stand against this superdeterminist vision which takes into account the relative autonomy of the individual, their capacity to adapt their acquired dispositions to their life situations and even modifying, if necessary, the internalized norms and values depending on the problems that they are compelled to solve. The dialecticized vision of socialization is represented in more recent theoretical approaches and even in empirical researches, some of which expressly deal with political socialization. The cleavage from the coarse sociologist determinism is increasingly obvious in the approach to socialization mechanisms. Mechanisms and forms of socialization One of the important approaches from the social communication perspective is the socio-linguistic approach of socialization undertaken by the British sociologist Bazil Bernstein (1975; 1978). Bernstein states that

Dumitru BorĠun

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one of the most important events in twentieth-century scientific research is the convergence of the natural and social sciences in the study of linguistic aspects of communication. He observes, however, that few sociologists studied language as a social institution (according to the family and religion model). Except for some papers written by the American George Mead (1863–1931), a leading representative of the School of Chicago, in the studies on socialization we find no empirical research examining the role of speech as a process through which the child acquires a specific social identity. Such considerations have been developed in American anthropology (Franz Boas and Edward Sapir) which reached the conclusion that for the individual “language is just a guide to social reality” (Sapir 2000). However, the tradition of American anthropology imposes the thesis that the fashions of speaking are determiners of social relations (Whorf). In other words, the link between language-culture-habitual thought is not mediated through the social structure. Bernstein pleads that, on the contrary, the fashions of speaking (the codes) depend on the form that social relations take. The social structure generates codes which transmit the culture and so constrain behaviour. Inherently, the changes in the social structure determine the formation and transformation of a culture through their effect on the fashions of speaking. Tested by its author in the research of the training processes (education), this hypothesis is very promising for the understanding of the socialization process (resocialization) in Romania. Mainly since it can account for the diverse forms of socialization and identity construction, according to Bernstein, within the same language (as a general code) specific codes appear (fashions of speaking) that induce different types of reporting reality in speakers (to objects and other individuals). How does the form of social relation determine these fashions of speaking? The speakers may choose what they say, the moment they say it, and the way they say it. The form of social relation regulates the speaker’s options both at the syntactic and lexical levels (for example an adult that speaks to a child). As the child learns to speak (and learns the codes of speaking), they learn the requirements of their social structure which become, through the consequences of the linguistic process, the substratum of their experience. Every time the child speaks or listens the social structure that they are part of is reinforced within them, and their social identity is modelled. By shaping their acts of speech, the social structure becomes the child’s psychological reality. Stabilized through time, the fashions of speaking will eventually come to play an important role in the adjustment of their intellectual, social and affective orientations.

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Socialization through Values

Thus, the social structure becomes a referential that the future adult shall carry and perceive as “reality.” Depending upon the probability of predicting the organizing elements of the fashions of speaking, Bernstein divides the fashions of speaking between elaborate codes (when the speaker selects from a vast range of alternatives and the probability is limited) and restricted codes (when the speaker selects from a small range of versions and the probability is increased); the codes included in the latter category appear in prisons, operative military units, groups of children and teenagers, etc. (Bernstein 1978, 53–105) The greatest asset of Bernstein’s theoretical program is the separation from the sociologist reductionism as well as the avoidance of the “linguistic reduction.” He discovers the truth formulated by Helmut Von Humboldt in 1848: “In life, man understands the world following the image that the language offers him.” Thus, Bernstein explains the fact that certain individuals (groups) select certain values, internalize certain norms, rejecting others or just withstanding them. The great drawback of Bernstein‘s theory is that it fails to convincingly account for change.2

Socialization through Values The value crisis after 1989 also develops the systematic ambiguity of value orientation, which denotes the weak cognitive dimension of the attitudinal vector (for instance information regarding the market economy). Thus, in 1994 the dominant opinion trend was in favour of privatization (67% according to an IMAS study in March, and 58% to an IRSOP study in June). However, a large majority of the subjects that encouraged privatization rejected the consequences thereof (i.e. unemployment, social inequality, etc.). This “schizophrenia” of values has antecedents in the period prior to 1989 (characterized by a super-dimensioned sensitivity towards authority and propaganda). To perceive the world through clichés and stereotypes or received ideas, and especially to verbalize it by using verbal clichés borrowed from others, can be termed as “pseudo-thinking” (via Erich Fromm),3 but from a psycho-social point of view we are dealing with a mass phenomenon that we must identify, explain and, eventually, remodel. The gap between the material practice and the educational practice of a collectivity leads to a peculiar configuration of values and affective emotions, and inherently of motivations and behaviours. This gap generates the mass formation of an “agglutinated personality” and, consequently, of

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some incoherent social behaviour, which is more often than not antagonistic. In this challenging context various essential questions are raised for the socialization instances: Which values will be conveyed through education? Is its transmission enough to establish the expected, anticipated social behaviors? What is the optimum ratio between the educational ideal of a society and the current status of its development? To answer these questions it is worthwhile mentioning the theoretical distinction made by psychologist Pierre Janet and further developed by Jean Piaget (1967, 44 and foll.) between values of finality—values of accomplishment. -

The goal (end) values are shared by the individuals depending upon their conception of the world, being acquired through education (culture); they dictate “disinterested” behaviours The performance values shared by the individuals in terms of costs/gains criteria are enforced by coherent life conditions and dictate “interested” behaviours.4

The duality commented on by Piaget helps to explain a lot of social phenomena which are difficult to grasp, from the day-to-day behaviour of the common individual to the behaviours of large social groups: -

participation in revolutionary fighting (from the French Revolution in 1879 to the Romanian Revolution in 1989) of some “danglers” guided by no sacred beliefs performance of the consensus and exceptional solidarity in warfare or acts of God situations (performance values such as “comfort,” “health” and “our own life” are replaced by goal values such as “country,” “people,” “native land,” “future of the nation,” “freedom,” “independence,” “justice,” “dignity” etc.).

The replacement of performance values by goal (end) values eases the mobilization of a large number of people under a single commandment, encouraging collaboration and compassion, tolerance and mutual comprehension—inherently socializing and humanizing behaviours to the highest possible level at a given historical moment. At present, the situations in which performance values give up the leading place in favour of the goal values, as well as the psychic mechanisms through which an individual passes from one state into another, are the object of a very few studies. In “normal” conditions hegemony is held by performance values,

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and the life situations in which the conflict between the two sets of values explicitly gains ground are tragic situations.5 For the majority of individuals, the goal values dwell somewhere in the “sky of tradition” (quoting Habermas) or shimmer in the “horizon of aspirations.” When they underpin the social organization they only tacitly participate in daily life, not being verbalized by all members of society in all life situations. Explicitly, they are invoked only in atypical situations, such as “discussions in principle,” debates organized by institutional entities, or interpersonal conflicts (when we appeal to “humaneness,” “justice,” “honour” or “truth”). If an individual sets their mind to permanently pursuing goal values that they tacitly share, they would either regret the chronic wastefulness of their actions or collide with the social psychology of their affiliation group.6 The use of the distinction between performance values and goal values is compulsory for those who want to set up a theory of educational communication, of educative practice, or of socialization in general. Such a theory would be useful for a possible re-shaping policy of mentalities as a mandatory dimension of transition. No policies—economic, social or educational—can elude this duality without risking bringing about inadvertences. A decision, a norm or a law becomes inoperative if it breaches the performance values recognized by a certain segment of the civil society,7 as it would be equally inoperative if it breaches the goal values inherited by the collectivity.8 In the re-socialization logistics of a larger community (such as a nation), the types of decision must adapt: -

the short-term decisions—to the performance values the long term decisions—to the goal values.

If the two prerequisites are not complied with, we reach the paradox of “forced welfare” (which means doing bad, not good).9 The divergent angle between the goal values and the performance values may be reduced either (a) by changing the moral ideal of the collectivity, or (b) through practical activities, of humanizing real life. In post-communist Romania we have been trying to adapt the goal values (with unimaginable consequences) through (a) while (b) is unachievable in this phase. The first questions we should answer as analysts of Romanian transition are: In which of the two registers are we falling short? How large is the divergence angle? How can this angle be reduced (by changing mentalities or by economic development)?

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Within a research carried out in a representative sample group of students in Brasov within the period 1983–1985 (Madar 1985), the subjects have chosen the following preference criteria for their future jobs: more free time, likelihood of promotion to management positions, opportunity of business trips abroad, possibility of obtaining considerable incomes, and so on. Among the first criteria the students fail to list a series of other criteria suggested by the questionnaire: “high degree of responsibility at work,” “spiritual and behavioural discipline,” “creative nature of the work,” etc., even if they displayed the belief that “work generates human and personal development.” When did they speak the truth? In both cases! The rupture from this “contradiction” (visible in many other studies) happened at the expense of the discovery of a real contradiction—between the performance values and the goal (end) values. The education providers had done their job, and the real social system, the work relations, and the form of organization within Romania society were jeopardized. Today we are facing the same problem, and the mere change of goal values would not be enough (and it is not likely to happen without a real transformation in the social labour environment).

Notes 1

2 3

As a social regulation instrument, socialization allows for the decrease of exterior sanctions. The group doesn’t have to continually remind the individual each of its rules and exercise surveillance over them. The breach of rules gives rise to a powerful sense of guilt. This mechanism works wonderfully in the North-American society where the psychic discomfort of the individual reluctant to the norms of the “American lifestyle” is triggered not only by the sense of guilt stemming from the human need of a favourable response from others, but also by the fear that the breach of the rules would make them a symbolic outcast from the definition of the “true American,” projecting them in the category of the “new-comers,” “fresh immigrants” who would affect the satisfaction of the need for integration and emotional safety. Lately, this set of restrictive social norms has been codified in the phrase: “political correctness,” whose social impact is extremely relevant as regards the socializing force of the need for recognition. As in the expressive theory (Rembell) or instrumental theory (competition) stranded from a rationalist idealism. Fromm draws our attention to the case of “pseudo-thinking,” in which the problem is not whether the subject’s assertions are logical or not, but rather whether the thought is the result of its own throught-process, that is its “own activity.” “Pseudo-thinking” may be perfectly logical and rational. Its pseudo

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4

5

6

7

8

Socialization through Values character does not necessarily appear in its illogical elements. This can be studied in rationalizations which tend to explain an action or a feeling on rational or realistic grounds, although they are actually determined by irrational or subjective factors (Fromm 1983, 297). For a better understanding of the difference between authentic thinking and pseudo-thinking—as proposed by Fromm—we recommend reading the entire third paragraph entitled “Automate compliance” in Chapter V of Escape from Freedom (290– 307). Special attention must be drawn to the heuristic episode invented by Fromm with the fisherman and the tourists (Ibid., 294–296), as well as the description of political thinking in the American society (Ibid., 296). The term “interest” bears two meanings: (a) the general qualitative meaning, in which any conduct is interested “to the extent that it pursues a purpose which has value because it is desired” (Ibid., 6); (b) the strict meaning “energetic regulation that discharges the available forces … and so aims at the performance and, from this perspective, a behavior is interested if it is intended to increase the performances from the subject’s point of view” (Ibid.). The tragic condition of the “moral hero” put forward by all versions of humanism has been conveyed since Antiquity (Socrates from Plato’s “Apology,” of or Antigone of Sophocles) until Modernity (in the Romanian popular literature, i.e. Manole in the “Mesterul Manole” ballad or Gelu Ruscanu in “Jocul ielelor” by Romanian playwright Camil Petrescu). The value crisis peculiar to the teenage years is due to the fact that the young person discovers that life cannot be lived par excellence at the highest level of the goal values assimilated by them through education (through the moralizing discourses offered by the parents or teachers, or by reading books). Subsequently, as teenagers are deemed mature enough to “come to grips with life,” many education providers (usually parents with educational interests) assault them with “rectifying” discourses, trying to “bring them to reason” to re-direct them from goal values to performance values. In Romania before 1989, a cause of the “generation conflict” manifested in almost all normal families was the resistance of teenagers toward the adults’ attempts to inculcate performance values meant to facilitate the adaptation to the actual social environment (the most usual phrases being: “Life is not as you imagine it to be,” “You live in the cloudland,” “You’ll come to your senses eventually,” “You will see we were right, but it will be too late,” etc.). After 1989 a mutation took place that few would have been able to anticipate wherein more and more education providers are struggling to offer teenagers landmarks from the goal values range since more and more teenagers are overwhelmed by performance values. (A style of life research performed in 1998 by the company DATA MEDIA ltd. on a representative group sample of teenagers living in Bucharest shows, however, that they still display loyalty towards the family but it is difficult to say whether in the new social context this still represents a goal value or rather that it grew into a performance value). For instance, the decisions of the Romanian communist regime through which, by virtue of some goal values, the most elementary performance values have

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10

11

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been infringed upon. The so-called “emancipation of women” meant, given the socialism and forced industrialization, the transformation of millions of women into true “slaves” of the socialist society, assaults against their physical and mental health being a mass phenomenon whose aftermath continues to this day. The so-called “social homogenization” meant a promiscuous intertwining between the social-professional categories—from the social recognition of labour to the dwelling conditions—which also led to the infringement of some elementary performance values such as waging and the peace necessary for intellectual work at home. Examples: the unique (Soviet) pattern of “socialism construction” imposed upon the people in the satellite areas under the hegemony of the Soviet Union; the attempts to impose modernization models invented in other historical areas; and more recently, the attempt to amend the legislation regarding homosexual relationships in post-communist Romania. In all these cases, we are dealing with the endeavour to introduce new goal (end) values that come up against the goal values inherited from a community through cultural inheritance or to introduce performance values that are in breach of the goal values shared by the members of a community. Similarly to the “classical” modernization process, the current globalization trend shall come across an obstacle difficult to overcome throughout a single generation, that being the conflict between the goal values inherited by the local communities on the one hand, and the performance values imposed from the outside as well as the alternative goal values that legitimate the new performance values, on the other hand. The conflict between the two sets of values relegates the political elites of the traditional societies (as is the case of the Romanian society) to the practice of a double discourse: an internal discourse (focused on inherited goal values) and an external discourse (focused on the performance values that stemmed from the globalization process itself as well as on the relevant goal values). We shall be able to give up the double discourse only when the political elite from such a country are able to present the new goal (universal) values as performance values, desirable in the daily practice of the respective country. From this perspective, the NATO intervention in Yugoslavia under Milosevic’s rule cannot be “legitimate” or “necessary.” It is not worthwhile to raise the issue of legitimacy because it is a false problem, regarding the NATO intervention aimed at changing the type of legitimacy in international relations (the replacement of the acknowledged one after the Second World War and legitimated through the UN-Charter). As regards the “necessity,” one must be culturally obtuse to imagine that a violent action that comes up against the goal values shared by the overwhelming majority of Serbs shall lead to a change in their behaviour towards the Kosovan Albanians or toward the national problem in general. As a matter of fact, the military intervention did not even suit the elementary expectations of the performance values, which has been proven in the months following the termination of the bombing (the presence of KFOR troops in Kosovo exacerbated the original problems and generated new ones that did not exist before the intervention).

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Socialization through Values It is obvious that the leaders of the North Atlantic Alliance have learned nothing from the lesson of over seven decades of real communism (being the enormous attempt of forced welfare against the dominant goal values in the countries subdued to the experiment and against performance values—mainly the economic ones). This should have served at least in the elaboration of the justification discourse of the intervention and the legitimacy discourse of the Alliance, if not in the elaboration of the new identity subsequent to the Cold War.

References Bernstein, B. (1975). Language and social classes. Paris: Editons du Minuit. —. (1978). Studii de sociologie a educaĠiei [Studies of sociology of education]. Bucureúti: E. D. P. Campbell, A., Converse, E. P, Miller, E. W. & Stokes, E. D. (1980). The American Voter. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chelcea, S. & IluĠ, P. (Eds.) (2003). Enciclopedie de psihosociologie [Encyclopaedia of psychosociology]. Bucureúti: Editura Economică. Durkheim, É. (1973). Moral Education. New York: Macmillan. —. (2009). Sociology and Philosophy. Routledge Revivals, Taylor & Francis e-Libary. Fromm, E. (1983). Texte alese [Selected Texts]. Bucureúti: Editura Politică. Madar, N., BorĠun, D., Poenaru, E., Pop, V., Tatu, C. & Ungurean, ù. (1985). Îmbinarea pregătirii de specialitate cu pregătirea politicoideologică a viitorilor specialiúti. Studiu în Universitatea din Braúov [Combining specialized training and political-ideological training of future specialists. A Study at the University of Brasov]. Braúov: Universitatea “Transilvania”. Piaget, J. (1967). Problema mecanismelor comune în útiinĠele despre om [The problem of common mechanism in the human sciences]. Sociologia contemporană. Al VI-lea Congres mondial de sociologie— Evian. Bucureúti: Editura Politică. Sapir, E. (2000). Lannguage. An Introdiction to the Study of Speech. New York, NY: Bartleby.com. Vlăsceanu, L. (1978). Pentru o teorie a transmiterii mesajului educaĠional [For a Theory of Educational Message Transmission]. In B. Bernstein, Studii de sociologie a educaĠiei. Bucureúti: E. D. P.

A CRITICISM OF VIOLENCE: BETWEEN THE FORCE THAT MAKES THE LAW AND THE FORCE THAT PRESERVES IT OANA-ELENA LENğA

Introduction Globalization produces effects that are difficult to quantify in terms of the individual perception regarding vulnerability towards contemporary violence. Sculpting the new human type, which is more inclined towards consumerism and economic calculation, entails social relational dysfunctions. If violence occurs as a foundation and preservation in semicivilized societies, one should look at the stages of evolution up to the present and a possible shift towards a Society of Consciousness. The transition to such a society—as the third stage of the information era— involves consistent management for understanding the distortions caused by violence in the collective mind. We shall analyze the trans-generational patterns of behaviour that the social actor is tributary to and the cogenerational challenges they have to face. Since violence, along with war, are, according to some researchers, “pragmatic elements of human culture” (Cooper 2004, 26), or “as a phenomenon … multifaceted, socially constructed and highly ambivalent” (de Haan 2008, 28). We should take into account the fact that societies cannot solve the problem of violence by eliminating it completely, but simply by trying to coherently manage it (North, Wallis & Weingast 2009, 13). The present chapter will briefly address certain segments of the broader concept of violence based on the studies and reflections of some researchers in the field—such as Body-Gendrot, North, Wallis & Weingast, Bergesen, Spierenburg, Derrida, de Haan, etc.—for a better understanding of a topic that will always arouse interest. This analysis of several of the many approaches to violence is in preparation for a study of the phenomenon.

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The Social Actor in the Global Society Modernity has undergone a historical period of great upheavals, affected by multiple economic, financial, political, social, religious and moral crises. The problem-solving time and management response strategies of inherent conflicts are adapted both to the socio-political and economic contexts of each state and the specific cultural heritage of the people. The effects of crises are felt both on interstate relations and at both the national and intra-community levels. The possibilities of perception and understanding of risks and vulnerabilities when facing new social configurations are those mobilizing human resources in the intervention to overcome the difficulty and adapt to new global requirements, or, on the contrary, reducing the social and moral senses of responsibility. According to Axford (2000, 240): … globalization is the historical process whereby the world is being made into a single place with systemic properties.1 Historically, globalizing forces produced global systems which were of limited extent spatially, and in which the density of social relations across borders and time varied enormously.

Global society crises can cause, among other things, not just the marking of new borders and the destruction of others, but especially identity and consciousness reshaping. New social actors are required to report to the global thought and action system, and thus go beyond their primary environmental standards. Why? Because a global consciousness would be required that goes beyond the group appurtenance consciousness, community and even society, and relate to more extensive criteria for evaluation and control, because, as claimed by Bergesen (1990, 70): … for the majority of world’s states, the international system preceded their existence and moreover made that existence possible in the first place. It also continues to reaffirm/reproduce their global position and resultant level of national development.

A global conscience would assume a foreshadowing of the society of conscience. Therefore, individuals’ adaptation would require that basic personality be correlated to the macro-social context elements. In the process of adaptation one cannot ignore ethnic, religious, cultural, economic, political and social factors and even the structure of the human brain, namely biological determination. Consciousness of the world is based on personal beliefs, and the beliefs on which the individual acts

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consist of received and internalized education, cultural environment (social, political, economic), religion, etc. and personal experience based on all kinds of relationships and social interactions in which individuals are involved (North, Wallis & Weingast 2009, 27–29, 260–262). The self may thus be distinguished as “an ‘agent’ of violence and … a ‘site’ of violence” (Hess 1971, 26), based on experienced violence and internalized violence respectively. Perception of the world in general, and relations between people in particular, will suffer distortions when identities are formed in environments legitimizing violence or conflictual social contexts. The professional and social viabilities of the individual are given by effectiveness in thinking-decision-action (thought and actions are determined by the structure of character), competence, the ability to understand the legal system and enforcement of the legal framework, involvement and contribution, and competition according to the standards and requirements of the market. In such situations the first risks of violence may arise on the one hand due to the inability to correlate personal cultural elements with those desirable to the society in which the subject lives, and on the other due to insufficiently coherent image representations at the institutional level because, as North, Wallis & Weingast (2009, 259) mention: “Institutions are the rulers of the game, the patterns of interaction that govern and constrain the relationships of individuals. Institutions include formal rules, written laws, formal social conventions, and informal norms of behaviour.” However, these risks are added—when one reports to the global economy and not just the national economy—to: -

-

the level and method of professional training/education—people well prepared to meet the market demands in the society that formed them may lack the ability to meet standards required by the global economy and culture people educated across borders (i.e. in the West), according to the pattern of global society, cannot use/adapt gained knowledge after returning to their home society.

These results of conflict against the background of tradition are hybrid modernity models, which are difficult to manage, generating frustration and uncertainty. According to Herod (1995, 354): “… one of the greatest contemporary challenges that workers and their institutions now face is the internationalization of production and globalization of the world economy,” arguing (through specific examples) for the need for international solidarity.

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The “Glocalization” concept (Hong & In Han 2010, 656–670), which would represent the inter-connection of local-national-global markets, i.e. the formation of new social actors with a broad vision of the world who should know how to cope with the specific needs of their nation (internationally but adjusted to the cultural, economic, social, etc. national potential), deserves to be analyzed in detail in another study, at least in terms of a social work perspective in some states of the Eastern European area and beyond. Why does the current global stage still produce violence? Fear, frustration, uncertainty generating conflict and interpersonal violence are caused, according to Body-Gendrot (2008, 120), by the transformations undergone by post-industrial societies: “… globalization, immigration flows, the growth of inequalities, the decrease of job security, a more distended solidarity, the enlargement of the European Union, the transformations of the Welfare-States, etc.” However, we are required to distinguish between private violence and state violence because violent actions, namely those socially desirable, treated disparately/individually, are not the most relevant to society as a whole (unless they belong to models in history that influenced the psychology of masses).

Some Considerations on the Control and Monopoly of Violence Starting with the sixteenth century in Europe and Japan, and the nineteenth century in America, one can distinctly analyze two types of violence: power and private (Spierenburg 2008, 24–25).2 The Gewaltmonopol concept, or “monopoly of violence” (Gousblom 1998, in Spierenburg 2008, 21), refers on the long term primarily to the state, through its institutions, as a decision-making factor in establishing the context, timing and entity over which violence is exerted. Gewalt (a notion used by Benjamin within the meaning of legitimate violence), generally translated as “violence,” also represents “dominion or sovereignty of legal power, authorized and empowering authority: the force of the law” (Derrida 2004, 67). In Spierenburg’s opinion (2008, 24), “demarcation of the concept of violence lies between the legalistic and extended poles, but not necessarily in the middle.” Derrida (2004, 74) also demonstrates (through deconstruction) that there is no clear demarcation between violence founding the law—the one that founds the state—and violence conserving the law (perpetuating violence). Thus, he argues that justice must be seen “as the possibility of deconstruction, the structure of right or of the law,” and that the law is not equivalent to justice because it

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is relative, and the interpretation of those who decide (subjectively) what’s correct/incorrect, according to certain rules, may be right or wrong (but far from justice itself). North, Wallis & Weingast (2009, 259) note that the state should not be seen as an individual, coercive actor that has this monopoly, but rather, they suggest, instead of this monopoly of violence, “the governance structures of societies should be described in terms of organizational sophistication” (Ibid., 270). For example, according to Derrida (2004, 79): “… police is the state … It is the force of law, it has force of law.” The logic of the legal use of violence on a global scale, as well as its criticism, should take into account not only political and legal reasons but also moral reasons (Derrida 2004, 67), the “critique of violence” implying, according to Benjamin (2004, 23), “the philosophy of its history.” We cannot look for solutions to understanding and/or controlling violence only in terms of morality, because social learning and mental contagion, along with education level, the development of consciousness, and the level of social responsibility in a particular context, differ from individual to individual. Especially since the struggles for liberation, for instance, the custom of using violence seems to be justified. Noteworthy in such cases, according to the care ethics perspective, is the question raised by Held (2008, 53): “… who has legitimate authority to use violence on their behalf, and how should this be decided?” However, the rules of interaction and the significance of social action catalogued as violence are given in the context of a regulatory framework determined by historical and socio-cultural conditions (de Haan 2008, 28). The moral crisis of the contemporary individual is based on the struggle between transmitted and internalized trans-generational patterns and influences/standards of the society in which they live. Thus, they seek to respond to certain current issues with solutions that the past generations would have proposed as viable. However, what seemed justifiable in a past context has to be understood as such, requiring a rational adaptation to present circumstances. The science of the knowledge-based society was not supposed to consist of fighting, war and terror, but of the capacity and ability to manage conflicts that can escalate into violence. Not only elaborating large-scale social and educational policies but also institutional value capacity should be carefully analyzed in terms of violence control, because a society of individuals that are nonviolent in interactions, education and personal knowledge cannot possibly exist: … control of violence in the larger society occurs through deterrence—the threat of punishment by the state—as well as by depriving nonstate

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A Criticism of Violence organizations that use violent access to the enforcement of organizational supports. (North, Wallis & Weingast 2009, 22)

However, the cycle of violence is due to continue, and democracies will not necessarily be more consolidated with the decreasing of the intensity and number of violent actions, as: “… any phenomenon of violence generates a political process of repression which, sooner or later, fosters frustrations and more cycles of violence” (Body-Gendrot 2008, 134), and individual or group deviations are extremely difficult to manage.

Contemporary Issues Related to Violence One of the major problems faced by the individual in a global society is alienation, and the establishment of sub-culture as a value-normative reference system, because media culture is the global culture of the contemporary world in which “image suffocates imaginary” (Durand 1999, 203) and values are homogenizedǤ According to Appadurai (1990, 305): “States find themselves pressed to stay ‘open’ by the forces of media, technology, and travel which fuelled consumerism throughout the world and have increased the craving, even in the non-Western world, for new commodities and spectacles.” The depersonalization of the individual, their entry into a state of numbness and conversion from a citizen with awareness, with critical senses, into a passive entity who “chooses” to absorb undifferentiated information may represent a form of totalitarianism of the present age. Information loses its qualitative value because of the abuse exercised by suppliers and the struggle between them for broad-scale monopolization. This depersonalization of the individual can produce regression in moral development, and Marcuse (1996, 105) stresses: “… with the decline of conscience, with the control of information, with the absorption of the individual in the mass communication means, knowledge is managed and limited. The individual does not really know what is going on.” In order to manipulate a mass of people as much as possible, the specific industries vulgarize the news and exacerbate realities on the one hand, and on the other create new recreational and entertainment forms (movies, games, computer programs, etc.) that draw the consumer into addiction, leading to the blunting of thought and action and alienation: This imaginary creativity anaesthesia, this levelling of values to a spectacular indifference, is further enhanced by the ultimate danger. It is the danger of this anonymity of images’ “manufacturing.” These, so generously distributed, escape any responsible “magister,” be it religious

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or political, thereby prohibiting any demarcation, any warning, and allowing numerous ethical manipulations, “misinformation” performed by unidentified producers … Stealthy, traditional powers (ethical, political, judicial, legislative …) seem to become tributary only to “mediatic” images broadcasting. (Durand 1999, 202)

The young generation is the most exposed to the risk represented by the new forms of mass manipulation, the sub-cultures propagated through the media tending to influence personal actions, namely the very thing that culture essentially is. By power of attorney, individuals live publicized violence as a substitute for the confiscated exercise of private violence, contemporary society being, as Baudrillard (2008, 114) stated, a society of “signs consumers,” and of “violence of consumption.” The population’s requests to see, hear and “feel” the sensational or spectacular arise due to the need to relieve themselves from the accumulation of nervous tension, frustration, deprivation from the possibility of natural manifestation. Sports, for example, are only one of the areas that conserve the force of violence (as socializing, ritualized violence): The future of violent sports seems assured. Games will grow harder and bloodier to feed the rising appetite of an audience which will grow increasingly more jaded and satiated with violence, and increasingly more violent itself … (Atyeo 1979, 377)

This media culture, which gives the individual the impression that they have control over violence (by changing the channels), that gives them the chance to choose whom to support in violent confrontations (they often seek to identify with the winner by finding excuses and arguments for the purposes of certain actions), decreases the natural ability of reaction in the involvement in social life. There cannot be a universal value referential framework, such as legal frameworks, social policies, etc.; at most, it could be designed to include a geographic (and strategic) area. Thus, against the background of “the right of interpretation” of global interest, and that of the struggle for resources, manifestations of the desire to authorize authority occur. In the cyclicity of violence, through which forms of manifestation are being refined by using the easy access to new technologies and scientific inventions, “archaic violence” appears under a new face of postmodern terrorism. This is another problem for the contemporary world, closely related to media culture. This “new archaic violence” is based on the thirst for power/recognition, but we should not ignore the fact that, psychologically, according to

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Fromm (1998, 141), the “thirst for power is not rooted in strength, but in weakness.” Considering that during historical times the great wars were held in the name of the conquest of territories and the fight between Islam and Christianity (for the last 1,500 years the religious criterion was the main reason for large-scale violence), in contemporary times religious fanaticism is the one that embodies the motivational element, namely the poor interpretation of religion. Religion, used as a motivation in terrorist attacks (with the related symbolism), may be eloquently exemplified by the 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers in Manhattan: Hatred of the city, symbolized as Babylon, is considered necessary to ensure the purity and virtue of rural peasant piety. In both the Bible (Gen. 11:4–6) and the Koran (16:23) God takes deep offense at the famous urban monument, the Tower. (Cooper 2004, 8)

It is not only through the maintenance of terror but also the enhancement of threat perception, occurring through continuous mediatisation on a global scale, that anxiety is caused by re-living traumatic events. Besides the strengths of the contemporary media industry, which include access to information in real time, perverse effects appear, of which, in this case, the perpetrators of terrorist attacks take advantage by terror propagation and by finding new followers in the global society (including the development of networks via the internet). Thus, besides the new terrorist motivation in the global society we have to analyze its organization and operation mechanisms, which are different from year to year because of scientific and technological innovations, and the space in which they are exerted. Contemporary terrorism would, according to Cooper (2004, 14), be “one kind of modern, ideological and revolutionary sectarianism,” in which certain ideas can gain a huge force in a particular social contexts, provided that they respond to specific needs which those minorities (ethnic, religious, etc.) want to highlight. Who has such a duty in times of specific needs of certain communities or the trends of conflict outbreak? The political power. It is known, however, that political power—by means of political games and the media—manipulates individuals by imposing representations which somewhat hamper perception of the reality and the reasonable management of conflicts. Media culture seems to take from the contemporary person the right to actively participate in social life and the decision-making process, even if the decisions concern both the individual and the community, and respectively society as a whole. The permanent coverage/mediatisation of crime, terrorist attacks and abuses of the integrity of the person make them watch passively, and insecurity and a state of terror state are subtly

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induced as they wait for someone else to take an attitude against this, i.e. those elected to represent them. It is normal to ask those responsible to protect their interests, integrity (through the development of coherent legislation and social policy) and not least their image (by representing national interests at the international level), but it is not normal for the individual to not take a part of the blame for their state of loneliness and alienation. Even in a society suffering from political, economic and spiritual violence, a society that is consumerist and dehumanizing for some people, one cannot take away the right to revolt against abuse and struggle to promote values, which deserve to be cultivated/developed and reproduced over time.

Conclusions Nowadays, it may seem utopian to think that there will be an easy transition from the knowledge-based society to the society of consciousness. The most serious problem in the global society is the human’s struggle with themself, the search for their own identity, and suffering and anxiety occur because they have “become a small wheel of a big machine, an automatic machine, [their] life has become empty and lost its meaning” (Fromm 1998, 230). They do not know which normative value standards to relate to during their evolution, namely the traditional models according to which they were raised, or postmodernity models. Conflicts between groups and communities are reactivated during periods of social and political uncertainty, becoming destructive when they degenerate into violence that cannot be handled in time, affecting the social life of the society. In understanding and defusing conflicts generating violence, one should take the reconciliation of cultures into consideration, revalorizing religions by harmonization of their common points—Orthodoxy, Judaism, Buddhism, Western Christianity, Islam, etc.—practicing religious and racial tolerance, re-evaluating relations with the Other (individual, group and nation), accepting multiculturalism and human diversity on the one hand, and on the other discouraging and not tolerating fanaticism and extremism that destabilize the law, and abuse of power (economic, political, etc.). The decrease in the power of law at a global level and the weakening of institutions create a niche through which violence seeks to legitimize itself. Consumerism, the disease of the century, has put its mark on the individual in such a manner that it generates new social identities, amorphous, dehumanized, indifferent, lacking solidarity, social responsibility, creative imagination, and vision.

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A Criticism of Violence

Consciousness as inner authority is formed according to the ethical norms of the social environment, but the contemporary actor is no longer much influenced by inner or outer authority (provided that this authority is confusing, inconsistent and misleading), subjecting themself to what Fromm (1998, 145–146, 213) calls “anonymous” authority. Guidance becomes more aesthetic than ethical, a guidance of fashion, public opinion, social needs and advertisements—all instruments of conformism— because psychic structure is in a constant adaptation to the environment. The social actor could be aroused from the state of numbness and made responsible for the duty they have to themself (i.e. to fight moral regression) and to humanity by appealing to willpower to look beyond personal and group interests, to be open to new learning models in managing conflicts that may arise between cultures, to rationally choose intellectual, political, spiritual leaders, and to encourage human diversity and cultural interactions. We should first understand violence in order to manage it, and understand its generating causes, without believing that it will ever be completely eradicated. That is because the existence of a society with nonviolent actors is highly unlikely, being conditioned by, among other things, the existence of a higher level of individual consciousness, the existence of rational individuals who share similar ideals, education, responsible individuals that are mentally healthy, intellectually and emotionally mature, reconciled with themselves and with the world, etc., and who manage to see the other not as a potential enemy (because of accumulated frustrations, trauma suffered or deficient social learning). A number of individuals will always exist who will be (or will feel) discriminated, marginalized and excluded because of social inequalities and cultural, ethnic, religious and racial differences, etc. We will see if the next stage of the knowledge-based society is the society of conscience. Until then we should call for responsibility and balance. Regardless of the level of development of scientific innovations, only the human has the ability to think and become aware of their own state. Consequently, they have to decide between fighting for humane values and moral progress, and accepting being used as a tool in contemporary fighting or passively assisting it.

References Appadurai, A. (1990). Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy. Theory, Culture & Society 7: 295-310. London—New Delhi: Sage.

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Atyeo, D. (1979). Blood and Guts: Violence in Sports. London: Paddington. Axford, B. (2000). Globalization. In G. Browning, A. Halcli & F. Webster (Eds.), Understanding Contemporary Society: Theories and the Present. London: Sage. 238-252. Baudrillard, J. (2008). Societatea de consum. Mituri úi structuri [The consume society. Myths and structures]. Bucureúti: Comunicare.ro. Benjamin, W. (2004). Critica violenĠei [Criticism of Violence]. In W. Benjamin & J. Derrida, On Violence. Cluj-Napoca: Idea Design & Print Publishing. 7-23. Bergesen, A. (1990). Turning World-System Theory on its Head. In M. Feathrstone (Ed.), Global Culture. Nationalism, globalization and modernity. London: Sage. 67-82. Body-Gendrot, S. (2008). From Old Threats to Enigmatic Enemies: The Evolution of European Policies from Low Intensity Violence to Homegrown Terrorism. In S. Body-Gendrot & P. Spierenburg (Eds.), Violence in Europe. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media, LLC. 115-140. Cooper, B. (2004). New Political Religious, or An Analysis of Modern Terrorism. Kansas City, KA: University of Missouri Press. Derrida, J. (2004). ForĠa legii. Fundamentul mistic al autorităĠii [Force of Law. The mysthical foundation of authority]. In W. Benjamin & J. Derrida, On Violence. Cluj: Idea Design & Print Publishing. 25-97. Durand, G. (1999). Aventurile imaginii. ImaginaĠia simbolică. Imaginarul [The adventures of image. Symbolic imagination. Imagery]. Bucureúti: Nemira. Fromm, E. (1998). Frica de libertate [The Fear of Freedom]. Bucureúti: Teora. de Haan, W. (2008). Violence as an Essentially Contested Concept. In S. Body-Gendrot & P. Spierenburg (Eds.), Violence in Europe. New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media, LLC. 27-40. Held, V. (2008). How terrorism is wrong: morality and political violence. New York, NY: Oxford University Press Herod, A. (1995). The Practice of International Labour Solidarity and the Geography of the Global Economy. Economic Geography 71 (4): 341363. Hess, C. (1971). Sites of Violence, Sites of Grace: Christian Non-violence and the Traumatized Self. Lanham—Boulder—New York—Toronto— Plymouth, UK: Lexington Books.

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Hong, P. Y. P & In Han, S. (2010). Glocalization of social work practice: Global and local response to globalization. International Social Work 53 (5): 656-670 Marcuse, H. (1996). Eros úi civilizaĠie [Eros and Civilisation]. Bucureúti: Trei. North, D. C., Wallis, J. J. & Weingast, B. R. (2009). Violence and Social Orders. A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Spierenburg, P. (2008). Violence: Reflections about a word. In S. BodyGendrot & P. Spierenburg (Eds.), Violence in Europe. New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media, LLC. 13-26.

CHAPTER TWO SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY

SCHOOL ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST LOREDANA DROBOT AND DAN-OCTAVIAN RUSU

Introduction The job title of school organizational psychologist has not so far been used in the education domain. Through the school organizational psychologist we can look at the school as an organization different from all others, with its own characteristics which make it different from others. Emil Păun (1997) mentions the school as an organization that helps us to better delimit the study object of the organizational psychology: “the school is an organization that teaches and produces learning” (a learning organisation). Its specificity results mainly from the fact that it is invested with the function of producing learning and it structures all other organizational and functional aspects in this direction. We may say that, in a large measure, the entire “organizational architecture” of the school is subject to logical pedagogical processes (as learning products). This does not mean that schools do not have characteristics common to other organizations— the thing that brings the school close to other organizations is its characteristic of an organization that teaches. The difference is given by the fact that is produces learning. From this double organization feature— the teaching and production of learning—a series of particularities that configure “the school specific as organization” (Păun 1997) occurs. Thus, in the school organization there are two types of “logic” (Ibid.): -

-

institutional logic, which regulates the administrative managerial activity (with its particularities, bureaucratic characteristics and the characteristics of institutional development). Formal regulations predominate, but with a sufficient openness and flexibility towards the informal, behavioural and expressive structures of the actors of the school organization. pedagogical logic, which regulates processes of teaching and learning and has the psychopedagogical premises as its source. The psychopedagogical premises are determined by the cognitive and

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School Organisational Psychologist

psychological particularities of pupils, the pupils’ learning characteristics and affective and motivational resources involved in the learning process. The pedagogical premises have in mind curricular contents, pedagogical characteristics of the teacher-pupil relation and the didactic communication. The socio-pedagogical considerations result from “socialization processes” in school and from the social logic of the pupils’ class. If we consider the school as an organization (that teaches and produces learning) and the two logics that govern school activities (institutional and pedagogical logics), than the school organizational psychology is at the intersection between educational psychology (pedagogical logics with psychological premises) and organizational psychology (institutional logic). Pedagogical logic determines the interactions of school organizational psychology with general psychology, child psychology, the stages of human development, personology, psychopedagogy, deficiencies psychology, etc., and institutional logic determines the interactions of school organizational psychology with sociology, management, educational management, and educational sociology (Drobot 2009). I have tried to delimit the study problem of the school organizational psychology, keeping in mind pedagogical logics and institutional logics which configure the school as an organization. In a school organization the organizational psychologist develops their activity as a specialist according to the following possible directions, these not being the only ones: -

school organizational diagnosis organizational development, interventions at the school organization level professional development of didactic staff, management of the didactic career development of motivational politics in school culture diagnosis and school organizational climate.

Methods and Techniques As an example of practical application we will offer the frame for the realization of a school organizational diagnosis by a school organizational psychologist. The school organizational psychologist is a person specialized in organizational psychology, with attributions that exceed the action area of the counsellor psychologist. The two specialists may work

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together or in a team with other specialists in order to solve problems raised in a school organization. In order to better understand the school organizational psychologist’s place we will analyse the work specific of the school counsellor in parallel to the presentation of the school organizational psychologist’s activity (Bogathy 2005): -

-

-

the school counsellor is a teacher specialized in pedagogy, psychology and sociology and develops their activity in centres and offices of psychopedagogical assistance. The school counsellor is a specialist in education who plans and develops activities of educational counselling individually or in a group to adapt the pupil to the problems of the school environment; they implement programs of career education, organize extra-curricular programs for vocational orientation and promote educational programs for health. The school organizational psychologist is a specialist that can develop their activity in centres of psychopedagogical assistance. The ideal situation would be for every school to have such a specialist. the school counsellor combines activities of the psychopedagogical assistance of teachers, pupils and parents with the teaching-learningevaluation norm in this specialty; the school organizational psychologist realizes, without having a teaching norm, the activities from the study object of school organizational psychology. the school counsellor has as their basic activity the psychopedagogical and social assistance of educational actors, and the school organizational psychologist has as their basic activity the support and realization of the school functions, counselling, the support of didactic staff in personal and professional development and the school organizational development. The activities mentioned are realized through an ensemble of specific actions.

The actions specific to the school counsellor versus the school organizational psychologist are: -

the school counsellor insures a continuous development with an accumulation of a certain number of transferable credits, from the development programs of the ministry of education, and the school organizational psychologist may participate in continuous development courses accredited by specialty commissions, for example, in Romania we have the Psychologists Council (The Commission of work psychology and organization and the Commission of education psychology, school counselling and vocational orientation).

36

-

-

-

School Organisational Psychologist

the school counsellor insures specialty consulting referring to the formation and cultivation of transversal competencies in pupils, and the school organizational psychologist may offer a school organizational diagnosis, the analysis of school needs and the school organizational development. the school counsellor insures the pupils’ psychological expression and of all persons in that school through tests especially realized for this purpose, using only licenced tests, and the school organizational psychologist uses proper instruments to diagnose the school organization, the needs for a professional development of didactic personnel, climate, school organizational culture, etc. the school counsellor realizes research studies demanded by county centres of psychopedagogical assistance, of Educational Science Institutes, of the ministry, etc., and the school organizational psychologist may realize research studies to support change and organizational development, organizational learning, the appreciation of didactic staff performances, the management of a didactic career, of school stress, culture and organizational climate, etc.

Discussions and Results Difficulties of Implementing an Organizational Psychologist in Schools The existence of an organizational psychologist in a school meets many difficulties, but we consider that the following determine a deeper analysis: -

-

There have not been psychologists in schools who could develop an activity strictly centred on the school organization. The accreditation of such a psychologist is through Psychological College competences, but only for two commissions (for example, the commission of work psychology and organizational psychology, but also the commission of educational psychology). The school organizational psychologist has the personnel politics necessary in a school as their task (the homologous of the psychologist from the human resources domain) by respecting the school as an organization. The salary of the organizational psychologist may represent a serious problem in education. The start of their activity may be realized on the basis of programs with national or international financing (European non-refundable funding). After the end of the program, the school

Loredana Drobot and Dan-Octavian Rusu

-

-

37

organizational psychologist must prove their utility and find other sources of funding to further continue their activity. Another possibility would be financing them from the budget of local public administration. The development of the organizational psychologist may be realized with the help of formation trainings (organizational psychology courses), workshops, participation in courses of continuous development realized through Didactic Staff Houses, universities, school inspectorates and other courses of accrediting. The initial education offered by universities represents a basis for the school organizational psychologist through courses of organizational sociology, education psychology, education sociology, work and organizational psychology, pedagogy, educational management, etc. Pedagogical practice in pilot schools, a practice realized by students, may have the knowledge of school organization as its objective (climate, culture, relation with internal and external agents, management style applied in school, school organization health, etc.). Master programs with an education profile taught by universities may represent the concept of the school organizational psychologist development, being recognized only by the ministry of education and by psychological colleges or superior forums of psychology in that country. The resistance of the managerial team regarding the school organizational psychologist, regarding their activities as “intrusive.” The managerial team must manifest “a rational breathing” towards the school organizational psychologist, who does not have the role of impeding management, but helping it. The school director is the first beneficiary of the activity of the school organization psychologist, and the information obtained by the psychologist should ease their activity and finalize the development of the institutional project proposed. On the other hand, didactic staff may perceive the school organizational psychologist as a person that doesn’t have a well-defined activity, but, as this is the place where the psychologist’s ability may be valued, and along with their role of support for the adoption of a new didactic frame of the collective, support the continuous professional development of all didactic personnel and the development of the didactic career.

Difficulties may by numerous, but we have presented those considered as being hard to solve. Just because these difficulties are numerous, it is important for schools to find a place for the school organizational psychologist.

School Organisational Psychologist

38

Examples of the School Organizational Psychologist in the Diagnosis of the School Organization To offer an example for the realization of the role of school diagnosis we will adopt two possible intervention models, one of which is based on the framework offered by Vârgă in “Manualul de tehnici úi metode în psihologia muncii úi organizaĠională” (“Manual of Techniques and Methods in Labour and Organizational Psychology”) (Bogathy 2005). There are several stages in the realization of a school organizational diagnosis (Drobot 2009). The first stage of a proper school diagnosis is the exploration and the contracting phase: -

During the exploration phase the school organizational psychologist discusses the project of realizing a school organizational diagnosis with the school managerial team, didactic personnel and even pupils, with reference to: • • • •

problems in school (organizational problems) school strong points school weak points availability of the managerial team, didactic staff, pupils, parents and other educational partners to participate in the obtaining of data, which may represent their reception to this feedback.

If a favourable answer is obtained, the school organizational psychologist participates in the second stage: -

The contracting phase, in which the school organizational psychologist and the managerial team (school director and didactic personnel) reach an agreement regarding the purposes and nature of the diagnosis. In such a contract we can specify: • • • • • •

the time needed for the realization of the diagnosis the type of resources needed for the diagnosis the form in which feedback is obtained criteria of diagnosis evaluation modalities in which school actors get involved modalities in which the results of the diagnosis will be realized.

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After realizing the first stages of school diagnosis we can turn towards the proper stages of realizing the diagnosis: -

the realization of a design of data production procedures and the collection of data necessary. For the school organization the procedures are selected according to the school as organization and to the nature of the problems existent in that school. We propose the use of questionnaires, investigations, tests and the realizations of tests adapted to schools. The use of instruments is especially important together with discussions realized with the school organizational actors. The instruments needed in the school diagnosis are: • • • •

-

the personalized professional project the biograme the genograme the standard mixed evaluation scale (SMES) conceived especially for the evaluation of the school director’s managerial behaviour.

the use of some theoretical models to organize the data referring to the problems and important challenges, and in order to correlate them with organizational characteristics. During this state, the consultants, in our situation the school organizational psychologist, concentrate on the selection of a strategy centred on: • • • •

inefficiency, that is, on the analysis of source inefficiencies. the solving of problems of inefficiency is important in taking decisions, for the organizational surviving and a short term success. the improvement of efficient processes, with the examining of general aspects and the characteristics of the school organization. the developing of certain models that describe the nature of problems, the important challenges for the organization and the inefficiency causes, models that synthesize factors that determine problems centred on organization.

Models are centred on factors that produce problems centred on organization, more exactly on those factors and tendencies that have the greatest impact on the production of inefficient results.

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School Organisational Psychologist

Conclusions and Proposals The school organizational psychologist is the specialist focused on the problems of the school organization. The objectives of their work interact with the objectives of the school counsellor, but through their activity may relieve the school counsellor from other tasks, each of the two specialists centring on the specific problems of school organization and psychopedagogical counselling. The school organizational psychologist, in the school as organization (that teaches and produces learning), is thus different from an organizational psychologist while still having common activities, because the school in the first place is an organization. The basic education of the school organizational psychologist is recommended to be psychology. It would be interesting if some pilot schools had such a psychologist hired, for example, on European funding. Their activity developed in these schools may represent an example of good practice in education, with the possibility of stimulating employment for other school organizational psychologists in the future. Difficulties may be solved if the result of the school organizational psychologist’s work is constructive for the school in which they work. From a Personal Perspective, the Answer Is a Favourable One for Both Specialists in a School Organization Evidence-based practice is an attempt to bridge the gap between research and practice. Therefore, we believe that designing a reliable instrument that measures social workers’ attitudes toward, knowledge of, and use of EBP is essential to increase the use of evidences in Romanian social work settings. The present study is limited for several reasons, such as its exploratory rather than in-depth nature, the non-random sample selected, the number of respondents that agreed to participate in the survey (62), and the use of self-reported data. However, and given that, to our knowledge, no empirical study has previously been conducted on this topic, this survey may still be useful for future analyses. In this study, the EBPQ-Ro demonstrates adequate psychometric properties and holds promise for future usage among social workers. Under the current economic pressures of budgetary cuts, the Romanian social service system needs to maintain its efficiency with less funding and personnel. Some international analyses show that, compared with other health problems, the burden of child maltreatment is substantial, indicating the importance of prevention efforts to address the high prevalence of

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child maltreatment. Therefore, it is important to make Romanian social care services less dependent on opinion-based interventions and more dependent on evidence-based interventions. Integrating evidence-based practice into everyday practice is a necessity if effective client care is a goal of the service providers. This is an effort associated with both opportunities and challenges that the new socio-economical context possesses regarding social services in general. The social work profession needs to not lag behind these competencies. Therefore, higher education institutions have the first responsibility to encourage students to promote and deliver evidence-based practice from the onset of training. Consistent partnerships among academic researchers, service administrators, social policy advocates and service providers are all necessary if more evidencebased models are to be developed and disseminated. This study started from the premise that, in order to enhance the use of EBP among social workers, it is necessary to evaluate their current attitudes toward and knowledge of EBP. Therefore, we need to develop reliable and valid measures. We adapted such an instrument and presented the associated descriptive data.

References Bogathy, Z. (Ed.). (2005). Manual de tehnici úi metode în psihologia muncii úi organizaĠională [Techniques and Methods in Labour and Organisational Psychology]. Iaúi: Polirom. Drobot, L. (2009). Psihologie organizaĠională úcolară [School Organisational Psychology]. ReúiĠa: Eftimie Murgu. Păun, E. (1997). ùcoala: abordare sociopedagogică [School: A SocioPedagogical Approach]. Iaúi: Polirom.

STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD A TEACHING CAREER: A PRACTICAL APPROACH MONICA-ANETA TURTUREAN AND CIPRIAN-IONEL TURTUREAN

Problem Statement Attitude is a way of relating to reality, of interacting with things, peoples, abstract values and so on. Myers considers that attitude is a favourable or unfavourable evaluative reaction toward something or someone exhibited in one’s beliefs, feelings or intended behaviour (Myers, in Kahn, Donnerstein & Donnerstein 1984). It can be seen as a social orientation, as a tendency to respond to something/someone favourable or unfavourable The attitudes may be implicit or explicit, and developed with or without someone’s awareness. The attitudes have three components: -

Cognitive—thoughts, beliefs and ideas about something Affective—feelings or emotions that something evokes, i.e. fear, sympathy, hate Behavioural—tendency or disposition to act in certain ways toward something.

Daniel Katz (1960) classified attitudes into four different groups based on their functions: -

Utilitarian: provides us with general approach or avoidance tendencies Knowledge: helps people organize and interpret new information Ego-defensive: attitudes can help people protect their self-esteem Value-expressive: used to express central values or beliefs.

44

Students’ Attitudes toward a Teaching Career

The attitudes regarding a teaching career are extremely complex, involving many dimensions (according to the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory —[Cook, Leeds & Callis 1951]): -

moral status of children classroom engagement child development and behaviour philosophy and curriculum teacher’s reactions.

Bunting (1981, 559–565) proposed four subscales to assess teachers’ attitudes toward teaching: -

commitment to emotional development inductive learning attitudes toward authority and control in the classroom learning relevancy.

Many studies have focused on the attitudes, motives, beliefs and perceptions concerning a teaching career, which may affect early career development and determine the future choice of a teaching profession (Eren & Tezel 2010; Hildebrandt & Eom 2011; Ceylan & Turhan 2010). In Romania the SATC (Students’ Attitudes toward a Teaching Career) questionnaire was drawn up. The aim of this model is to evaluate the object, not the functional aspects, of attitude—i.e., the affective, cognitive, or behavioural evaluative responses developed. The statements of the questionnaire were arranged on a five-point scale: strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), neither agree nor disagree (3), agree (4), strongly agree (5). The final form had a twenty-one item scale. The three SATC dimensions were: -

the attitude toward the self as a prospective teacher the attitude toward others as teaching partners the attitude toward teaching as an activity.

The students come from eight faculties: FEFS—Faculty of Physical Education and Sports; FIA—Faculty of Food Engineering; FIESC— Faculty of Computer Science and Electronics; FIMMM—Mechanical Engineering Faculty; FIG—Faculty of History and Geography; FLSC— Faculty of Foreign Languages and Communication; FSEAP—Faculty of Economics and Public Administration; and FS—Faculty of Forestry.

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The total population was 2,169 students from the ùtefan cel Mare University of Suceava and were categorized according to the type of faculty over three generations as follows: 322 (14.8%) students from the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport (FEFS), 232 (10.7%) students from the Faculty of Food Engineering (FIA), 228 (10.5%) students from the Faculty of Electronic Informatics and Computer Science (FIESC); 100 (4.6%) students from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FIM), 382 (17.6%) students from the Faculty of History and Geography (FIG), 389 (17.9%) students from the Faculty of Letters and Communication Sciences (FLSC), 455 (21.0%) students from the Faculty of Economics and Public Administration (FSEAP) and 61 (2.8%) students from the Faculty of Forestry (FS) (see Tables 2-1 and 2-2 below). Table 2-1. Students’ distribution depending on “faculty” and “class” Faculty FEFS –Faculty of Physical Education and Sports FIA—Faculty of Food Engineering FIE—Faculty of Computer Science and Electronics FIMMM—Faculty of Mechanical Engineering FIG—Faculty of History and Geography FLSC—Faculty of Foreign Languages and Communication FSEAP—Faculty of Economics and Public Administration FS—Faculty of Forestry Total

Class code 2008- 20092009 2010 69 129

20102011 124

Total 322

59 65

100 83

73 80

232 228

23

36

41

100

123

114

145

382

103

118

168

389

142

179

134

455

11 595

11 770

39 804

61 2169

In this study we neglect differences in attitudes from one generation to another and focus on the differences in attitudes of students from different faculties. The statistical analysis of data was performed using SPSS 21 soft.

Students’ Attitudes toward a Teaching Career

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Table 2-2. Students’ distribution depending on “environment” Faculty

Environment Rural Urban FEFS—Faculty of Physical Education and Sports 229 93 FIA—Faculty of Food Engineering 43 189 FIE—Faculty of Computer Science and 190 38 Electronics FIMMM—Faculty of Mechanical Engineering 70 30 FIG—Faculty of History and Geography 121 261 FLSC—Faculty of Foreign Languages and 36 353 Communication FSEAP—Faculty of Economics and Public 80 375 Administration FS—Faculty of Forestry 32 29 Total 801 1368

Total 322 232 228 100 382 389 455 61 2169

Research Objective The objective of the research is to identify, based on the questionnaire of attitudes, the items for which no significant differences (convergence) in the attitudes towards teaching career, to the self and to others displayed by the students coming from the eight universities, were established.

Research Methodology The analysis will be performed on items in order to identify the converging components (items) of students’ attitudes regardless of the faculty attended. During the first phase we will standardize the answers to the twentyone items grouped into three dimensions of attitude: -

items 1–7 focus on the attitude towards the teaching career items 8–14 focus on the attitude towards self items 15–21 focus on the attitude towards others.

The second phase is an intermediate one, which will test if the corresponding distributions of answers to the twenty-one items are normally distributed. This step is necessary in order to select the appropriate type of test in view of comparing the students’ attitudes according to the faculty attended. If the answers to items follow a normal

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distribution then we can use parametric tests to measure attitudes; otherwise we will have to use non-parametric tests. The third phase is selecting and applying the appropriate test in view of measuring the difference between the components of attitudes displayed by students from different faculties. In case the items show a normal distribution of answers we will use Fisher’s test as part of the ANOVA, otherwise we will use the Kruskal-Wallis test as a non-parametric alternative to ANOVA. The fourth phase involves selecting items which do not show significant differences between the answers given by students, regardless of faculty attended.

Research Results The distributions of answers to the twenty-one items tested using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test are significantly different from normal distributions (Sig. Reject the Null Hypothesis: The distribution of Zscore or Item from 1 to 21 is normal with mean 0.00 and 1.00 standard deviation). Therefore, in order to test the difference in scores obtained for the twenty-one items according to the faculties attended by students, we use a non-parametric test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, similar to the F-test, associated to ANOVA. The null hypothesis tested by means of this test is that the distributions of scores per item do not differ significantly for the students of the eight faculties. The drawback of this test, as in the case of ANOVA, is that if there were at least a significant distribution, which is different from the others, then the null hypothesis would be rejected. Considering that there are no post-hoc tests, as in the case of ANOVA, showing which of the distributions differ significantly from other distributions, we will use a less rigorous method—namely, we will resort to a descriptive analysis, which consists in the comparative analysis of the distributions corresponding to the same items grouped on faculties. Table 2-3 sets out the nine items, out of the twenty-one, for which we will accept the null hypothesis following the Kruskal-Wallis test, based on comparing the sig values to the critical values 0.05 (Sig.>0.05=> Accept the Null Hypothesis).

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Students’ Attitudes toward a Teaching Career

Table 2-3. Items and their corresponding median score for which a convergent attitude is found for the students of the eight faculties Attitude construct Attitude towards teaching career Attitude towards self

Attitude towards others

Item

Median

I.07. Teaching involves assuming great responsibilities I.08. A teaching career will provide the opportunity of making good use of professional skills I.09. I should develop new skills in order to face the challenges of a teaching career I. 11. I am more suitable for teaching than most people I have known I.13. Own interpersonal skills are an advantage in teaching I.14. Appearance is very useful in teaching I.18. Being able to listen to others in most situations is a clear advantage in teaching I.19. Being able to understand others in most situations is a clear advantage in teaching I.21. The other colleagues/teachers represent a work resource in teaching (team work)

5.0 4.0 4.0 3.0 4.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 4.0

It was found that most of the answers to the items belonging to the construct Attitude towards self (5 out of 7 items), followed by the construct Attitude towards others (3 of 7 items), do not show different distributions according to the faculty attended by students. From a statistical point of view these items represent constants of USV students, regardless of faculty attended, and the average scores obtained on these items create a common profile of all USV students regardless of the faculty attended. Therefore, 50% of students who chose USV psychopedagogical module: -

strongly agree that teaching involves assuming great responsibilities. agree that a teaching career will provide the opportunity of making good use of professional skills; I should develop new skills in order to respond to the challenges of teaching career; Own interpersonal skills are an advantage in teaching; Being able to listen to and understand

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others in most situations is a clear advantage in teaching and The other colleagues/teachers represent a work resource in teaching (team work). are undecided whether I am more suitable for teaching than most people I have known, and appearance is very useful in teaching.

For the other items it was found that there is a difference in attitudes for students from different USV faculties. Given the fact that the items in Table 2-1 do not hold discriminatory power for the students of the eight faculties, we deemed it unnecessary to include them in the allotted constructs.

Conclusions Identifying converging attitudes of students from the eight USV faculties can be an important tool in their training and personal development. Applications within psycho-pedagogical courses can be developed, setting as a goal improving attitudes towards teaching careers, improving attitudes towards the self and improving attitudes towards others, outlining the particular aspects identified by means of the items for which the distribution of answers is different for students from different faculties. This can also represent a criterion for grouping them in different working groups resulting in the achievement of homogeneous groups in terms of attitude.

References Bunting, C. E. (1981). The Development and Validation of the Educational Attitudes Inventory. Educational and Psychological Measurement 41 (2): 559-565. Ceylan, M. & Turhan, E. (2010). Student teachers’ opinions about education and teaching profession example of Anadolu University. Procedia Social and Behavioural Sciences 2 (2010): 2287-2299. Cook, W., Leeds, C. H. & Callis, R. (1951). Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory. New York, NY: The Psychological Corporation. Eren, A. & Tezel, K. V. (2010). Factors influencing teaching choice, professional plans about teaching, and future time perspective: A mediational analysis. Teaching and Teacher Education 26: 1416-1428. Hildebrandt, S. A. & Eom, M. (2011). Teacher professionalization: Motivational factors and the influence of age. Teaching and Teacher Education 27: 416-423.

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Kahn, A. S., Donnerstein, M. V. & Donnerstein, E. I. (1984). Social psychology. Dubuque, IO: W.C. Brown Publishers. Katz, D. (1960). The Functional Approach to the Study of Attitudes. Public Opinion Quarterly 24 (2): 163. Online: http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/content/24/2/163.abstract.

SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE AMONG STUDENTS MAGDALENA PETRESCU

Social Intelligence—Ways of Perception The concept of social intelligence seems to have a major role in the way of perception of people. Several researchers have attempted to encompass and value the social representation of individuals on intelligence, at a given time. In a study, Sternberg and his colleagues asked the involved subjects to compile a list of behaviours that they associated with: general intelligence, academic intelligence, daily intelligence, and lack of intelligence. Other groups of participants selected behaviours from the proposed list, mentioning the extent to which they represent the characteristics of an ideal person. After the analysis, researchers considered a factor called social competence. The behaviours of a person who reflects this competence are: -

Accepts peers as they are Does not condemn mistakes Shows interest in what happens in the world Is on time to all meetings Has a social conscience Thinks before saying or doing something Is curious Does not judge in haste Makes correct judgments Knows to evaluate the relevance of information needed to solve a current problem Does not neglect the needs and wishes of others Is sincere and honest with themself and others Is interested in proximity (Kihlstrom & Cantor 2000, 368).

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Other researchers (Kosmitzki & John, in Kihlstrom & Cantor 2000), studying the social representation of intelligence, have compiled a list of eighteen traits that shape perception. Subjects were asked to indicate the importance of each feature from their point of view and, finally, the following essential characteristics of a person with social intelligence were selected: -

Correctly understands the thoughts, feelings and insights of others Knows how to behave with others Knows the rules and norms of interpersonal relations Understands other people’s point of view Adapts to any social situation Proves generosity Is open to experiences, ideas and new values (Kihlstrom & Cantor 2000, 369).

In the same study, researchers found a relationship between these features of social intelligence and assessments made by subjects on a person known by every participant and considered as pleasant. Professor IluĠ from Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, retook in 1997 a study applied in 1982 on students from the social and human profiles referring to the establishment of a hierarchy of values according to their importance for each respondent: getting along well with their parents, having many friends, being beautiful, being honest and sincere, being modern, being clever, being religious, trying to understand others, etc. The author noted the existence of a time constancy of the answers given by students. So, attributes of the values “”Being smart” and “Being cultivated” were placed, in both social contexts, on top: “… which shows taking high responsibility of essential role requirements, claimed by the role of student and future intellectual” (IluĠ 2001, 110). Regardless of the social changes that occurred between the applications of the two studies, young people showed intellectual maturity generally appropriate for the academic environment. A superior rank was obtained by the attribute value “Getting along well with your parents,” which shows that—in the student’s perception— the so-called rift between generations is not felt and this value is particularly important. In another research (Schneider, Ackerman & Kanfer 1996, in Kihlstrom & Cantor 2000), it was intended for subjects to describe the behaviour of a socially competent person. Based on the obtained information, researchers elaborated a common questionnaire of skills in which participants later mentioned how much each descriptor fits

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their social behaviours. The analysis suggested the existence of seven facets of social competence: extroversion, social influence, warmth, openness to new insights, perspicacity, ability to smoothly adapt to different situations, and social judgment. It can be noted that these studies try to explain the intuitive concept of social intelligence that belongs to the individual and captures the meanings that people understand by intelligence, in general. Field studies increasingly show that social intelligence has the special role of solving social problems that a person may be concerned with at present, but also in terms of future plans. It was even claimed that social intelligence could not be analyzed as an abstract concept, only by taking into account the real situations in which it appears. Moreover, when students were asked about their expectations they mostly made reference to the social environment (making many friends, becoming independent, building a future career). Scientific research on intelligence has proved its social importance and provoked intense socio-political debates. The results of most studies have shown the positive association of intelligence with the following social events: acquisition of motivational altruism, creativity, emotional sensitivity, health, income, the ability to be a manager, morality, occupational level, socio-economic level, and other values and attitudes. The negative outcomes associated with a low level of intelligence were related to social phenomena, such as the tendency towards accidents, alcoholism, authoritarianism, conservatism, dogmatic behaviour, dishonesty, impulsivity, and poor health. The strategies each person chooses can lead to the accomplishment of the proposed ideals. According to their life experience, people can become more aware of these strategies through a deeper understanding of the problems they face, thinking of the consequences in relation to previous life experiences. Generally, people who demonstrate a high level of social intelligence make their action plans follow, step by step, meaningful events towards their goal, trying to eliminate certain obstacles that may affect the desired result. They also always imagine alternative ways to proceed by redirecting the initial plan in case they are forced to find other solutions to arrive at the desired result.

Social Representations of Intelligence Any attempt to define intelligence must take into account the involvement of cultural relativism: “What in a certain culture is considered intelligent behaviour, in another culture may be less or not at all appreciated” (Birch

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& Hayward 1999, 10); “… social representations designate an assessment device, a scale reading of reality, an excellent location in the world of values and one’s own interpretation given to this world” (Neculau 1997, 9). In order to define the descriptive reality, in the accomplishment of the practical study, we opted for a fundamental method in sociology— sociological inquiry. In this context, although a quantitative approach, we considered it adequate to also maintain a qualitative trend, both in designing the tools as well as processing and interpreting results. We prepared the sociological survey by employing both quantitative and qualitative components, a fact that enhanced the collection of a considerable and consistent volume of information (data field). Based on these data (and their statistical processing), we analyzed and interpreted the involvement of social factors in conditioning the manifestation of intelligence. The issue of social representation of intelligence was highlighted in the questionnaire survey by applying an anonymous questionnaire on a representative group of 1,111 students from the West University of Timiúoara. The overall objective was to determine the perception of intelligence as a whole as a result of biological, psychological and sociocultural factors, by realizing the following objectives: 1. To identify the most valued contents of social intelligence. Due to the explorative profile of our research, the questionnaire was developed on the basis of the following objectives: 1.1. To establish the representations of intelligence, for various social categories of students. 1.2. To establish a value hierarchy of representations on intelligence for various social categories of students. During the study and through the primary statistical analysis (integrated in the interpretative approach) we sought answers to the following interrogations: 1. How are social intelligence contents valued in terms of the group of students? 2. What is the place of intelligence in the hierarchy of some attributevalues? Thus, after statistical processing and analysis, we obtained a set of social representations of intelligence from the perspective of different investigated categories and a hierarchical distribution of attribute-values, based on the valorisation recorded at the level of the categories we have addressed. A first sequence of the tool aimed at establishing the place and value of the concept of intelligence in relation to other given attributevalues.

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The analysis of the results regarding attribute-value rankings made by students in the above-mentioned categories has enabled the relevant interpretations. Regardless of the category to which they belong, students placed intelligence at the first place with the largest weight/share (14.95%), indicating that students—as future intellectuals in various fields—have realized the high responsibility they will assume further on, and also the role requirements involved by the status of student (see Figure 2-1).

Figure 2-1. Attribute-values

It is interesting to note that the percentage (by ranking it the first place) obtained in the case of students from humanities (mainly the female population) is a few percent higher (38.9%) compared to the science profile (32.2%). This observation could be correlated with the idea that the female population gives more importance to intelligence in terms of social networking. It is worth noticing that, while recognizing that success in one’s chosen path is influenced largely by the strength of will (13.53%) to overcoming obstacles, students grant little importance to external influences on success in life; they have placed luck at the penultimate place. In this context, we have encountered comments like “come on!” with reference to the importance of luck in succeeding in life. Since the ages of the surveyed population are mostly between 18–24 years, the results confirm that, over

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the years, due to experiences (successes or failures), people grant more importance to luck or fate, a fact confirmed by the field trials. Noteworthy is the placement of the attribute beauty at one of the last places, among the three studied groups, maintaining a slight valorisation among men (3.2%) compared to the female population (1.6%), and stating in many cases that “intelligence is more important than beauty.” In the ranking according to the importance given to each attribute value, pride is placed at the last place (3.96%) by more than half of the respondents, compared with modesty which scored more than double (8.94%). It can be emphasize that the ranking of such attribute values bears the print of cultural modelling of certain social values conveyed through education. The unanimous tendency of students was to categorize—after intelligence and will—the remaining attribute-values as follows: honesty (11.71%), courage (11.33%), perseverance (11.13%), and diligence (10.28%). These choices illustrate the internalization of axiological principles and the valorisation of positive attributes of personality development and education. Students considered intelligence an undisputed human value, realizing with maturity its cultural, axiological and education elements. Success in life is ensured, in the student’s opinions, heavily (41.6%) and largely (33.6%) by intelligence. Taking into account the percentages for the variant not at all (0.4%), to a small extent (1.6%), and to a very small extent (0.3%), it is clear that intelligence overwhelmingly determines success in life (77.2%). The differences of percentages for the three categories are insignificant, keeping the same trend; only in the case of the variant “totally” do male population consider with a slightly higher percentage than the female population (4.1% versus 2.4%) that success in life is determined by intelligence (Figure 2-2). For identifying the most valued contents of intelligence, a sequence of our tool focused on capturing the most important associations made by students with the concept of intelligence. The elements related to their affirmations have emerged in some significant categories.

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Figure 2-2. To what extent do you believe that success in life is determined by intelligence?

Figure 2-3. Statements associated with the idea of intelligence

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Conclusion Consistent with the importance given to intelligence and its close relationship with success in life (resulting from the analysis of the first part of the questionnaire), intelligence is viewed through the prism of welldefined and determined utility. “Advantage in life,” “chance of success,” “required to make your way in society” and “one of the keys to success” are some of the aspects captured by students in this regard. Situated at a significant distance from other elements (27.07%), intelligence regarded as a relationship ability (14.78%), for example, shows that young people are aware of the pragmatism of contemporary society and adapt to this trend. Represented in different forms by most students, from the “art of winning,” “the one that leads to the development of society,” “ace in the hole,” “satisfaction,” “amount of assets” and “the way that a person can fulfil dreams,” to “the weapon of modern man,” “power” and “a moneymaking machine,” intelligence is valued primarily for an end which brings wealth and prestige. Given that intelligence is seen through statements aiming primarily at utility and, implicitly, at purpose, the male population gave more value to this category (31.1%) than the female population (26.4%). This slight difference may be related to the social shaping of gender roles. Such stereotypes and prejudices associated with masculinity/femininity consider intelligence as being a particularly masculine prerogative. The responses with negative connotations, in terms of utility of intelligence, translate a slight disappointment of young people who feel that they cannot, in their view, manifest themselves at the intellectual level: “intelligence is sometimes a burden,” “useless nowadays,” “a danger.” At a significant distance from the first category, occupying the second and the third places, are situated—with very close values—elements of personality associated with intelligence (14.38%) and the ability to make certain judgments (13.78%). Statements, focusing primarily on elements of personality, were given greater importance by the female population (17.0%) than the male (10.5%), leading to the conclusion that girls are more sensitive to intelligence seen as a potential and quality of each human being. Thus, intelligence was represented as a series of personality characteristics related to “complacence,” “spontaneity,” “courage,” “knowing your limits,” “agreement with yourself” and “mirroring what you are,” but also as a warning to those who possess it as “something that should not be revealed anytime,” that “may lead to excessive lucidity” or even that can “sometimes generate a sense of futility.” The statements associated with the superior capacity of processing information scored approximately the

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same values in the case of all three categories of subjects (male-female, science profile—humanistic profile, urban-rural), even if girls gave more importance (19.0%) then the boys (15.2%) to this aspect. “Cleverness,” “a high IQ,” “ability to value judgments,” “the height of thinking,” “a mechanism based on reason rather than on emotion” or “a multipurpose tool” are some of the statements attributed by students to intelligence as rationality. With particular emphasis on the utility and purpose of intelligence, and then on intelligence and personality elements, students connect intelligence, in the first place, with success in society that also depends on the personality structure and the way we effectively reason and think. The following elements have emerged from the analysis of statements issued by students: biological conditionings (8.15%), training by education (8.00%), and cultural elements (7.52%). Regarded as a gift from parents, a genetic inheritance, intelligence is internalized differently by the categories involved in our study. Thus, according to the statements referring in the first place to biological conditionings, female students have opted in more cases (12.1%) for this variant than male students (9.8%); students from urban areas consider biological conditionings more important (12.3%) than those from rural areas (8.1%); students from science faculties gave a significantly higher place to biological conditionings (16.3%) than students from humanities (9.3%). The influence of the educational environment on intelligence was addressed mainly from the perspective of modelling through education, which was equally important for all categories of students. Thus, student’s representations encompass aspects such as “all accumulated knowledge,” “science” and “life experience,” “lifelong learning from others’ mistakes” and “intelligence depends on education.” It is noteworthy that intelligence, in terms of cultural and axiological elements, was represented by students to a greater extent than intelligence in terms on relational skills and intelligence as social etiquette. On this dimension, intelligence is represented by most students as a rare gift, “a rare bird in a corrupt society,” “an ideal that many aspire to” or “a pragmatic way to achieve happiness.” The valorisation of axiological intelligence is expressed through statements like “intelligence is culture,” “intelligent beauty is different from good looks,” “magnetism and morality (not rigid),” “it is neutral towards good and evil,” “something admirable,” “the polar star of every man,” “the ray of light of life,” but it also can become “evil if it is not well directed.” Intelligence in terms of relational skills (4.20%) and intelligence as social etiquette (2.98%) were given less importance by students compared to the other categories above. According to the survey participants, the abilities to relate with others are, to a lesser extent,

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attributes of intelligent people, and in this context intelligence being seen as “a shield against others.” The idea that intelligence is also a social label was specified in the answers of the participants as “a way to make yourself known,” “man’s best ambassador” or otherwise “the element which determines who is a ‘hunter’ and who is the ‘chased’ in today’s society.” A special place in student’s representation was occupied by statements referring to the spiritual aspect (1.92%), with an equal balance on the three categories of study. Intelligence is now regarded as a “gift from God,” “contemplation and perception of the universe and God in their wonder,” “the most expensive gift from fate,” “beauty of spirit,” and “soul freedom,” with being itself seen as “spirituality.” Unspecified or abstract statements related to intelligence were placed, as expected, in last place (1.87%), but there are some notable ideas about intelligence, being seen as “a step toward the absolute,” “expansion,” “the second heart of man,” “clarity, brilliance,” “butterflies flying into the abyss,” “the cherry/icing on the cake,” “the tinfoil of the chocolate” or “the sun with teeth.” The weighted value (10.05) of non-response is due to the fact that participants, did not fill—to a greater extent—the “third” and “second” statements associated with the concept of intelligence. The analysis of the results of our sociological survey highlights the social valuing of intelligence, the main dimensions of existence in which it is involved, and the main advantages and disadvantages it implies. The investigation found that intelligence is especially associated with success in life, the pragmatic dimension and also with aspects of social networking and superior processing of information. The study involved not only an assessment of intelligence in the social context, but also from the point of view of integrating it in the overall personal dimensions.

References Birch, A. & Hayward, S. (1999). DiferenĠe interindividuale [Interindividual differences]. Bucure‫܈‬ti: Ed. Tehnică. IluĠ, P. (2001). Sinele úi cunoaúterea lui [The Self and Its Knowledge]. Iaúi: Polirom. Kihlstrom, J. & Cantor, N. (2000). Social intelligence. The Handbook of Intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Online: www.sage.co.uk. Neculau, A. (1997). Reprezentările sociale [Social Representations]. Ia‫܈‬i: Polirom.

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF CHILDREN’S FAMILIARITY WITH THE CLASS CONTEXT: THE EXTRAPOLATION OBSTACLE IN INFANT ESL LEARNING AMADOR JIMÉNEZ-GARRIDO AND EUFRASIO PÉREZ-NAVÍO

Introduction Foreign language instructors around the world struggle to make their young students connect the validity of the concepts learnt and practiced in class with the outside world. Extrapolating everything they are able to do in the class context, usually with the same set-up, same partner and under the direction and assistance of the same teacher, to other situations with different variables has become a continuous challenge for language educators, especially those of infants. Numerous tests have measured the suitability of several methodologies that could aid children to generalize ideas outside the classroom setting, but most of them focus on autistic children (Charlop, Schreibman & Tryon 1983; Handleman & Harris 1980). Perhaps the most used technique to foment the transfer of learning is to broaden the number of settings in which activities are run. As the number of contexts increases, the number of references or contextual clues students can rely on reduces and they learn to live with them. Although this could be seen as counterproductive at first, studies like that of Handleman (1979) show the benefits of providing instruction in multiple environments, some of which could resemble home or street conditions. Smith’s (1982) study reveals that children learning a list of words in multiple settings performed better than children learning in just one. Retractors argue that teaching continuously in familiar settings and familiar methodologies considerably accelerates learning (e.g. Hepburn, Egan & Flynn 2010).

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Context Based Learning When learners are unable to execute a task in a new context that they were able to perform in a familiar context, this is considered context dependent learning. Vlach & Sandhofer (2010, 395) claim: “The context that frames a stimulus or an event has been shown to produce pervasive effects on human behaviour across multiple domains.” To these authors, findings systematically support the benefits of familiar setting for the retrieval of learnt concepts and the drawbacks of testing in an unfamiliar context to any learning activity; in other words, memory trace aids similarities between learning and testing environments. As said above, the speed of learning in analogous settings contrasts with the lack of extrapolation capacity provoked by this technique. In order to counteract context dependent learning it is necessary to teach in different settings. Smith (1982) provides educators with two ideas to counteract the deleterious effects of context based learning. In the first place, when the learner is unable to recall information in a new context, this can recall the traits of the environment in which learning took place, or simply use a recognition test instead of a free recall one.

Transferring of Knowledge Pea (1987) recapitulates the impressions of many instructors, most of which coincide with the fact that learned wisdom is not applied outside the initial learning context. To this author, school curriculums need to add an extra synergy in order to commensurate the demands of real life problemsolving situations. The interest in recognizing the source of this difficulty has captivated researchers for many years. The laboratory of Human Cognition (1983) reported that although formal instruction fomented operational thinking among students, they were later unable to generalize concepts. The connectionist or common elements theory by Thorndike (1901) (in Vlach & Sandhofer 2011) had a great impact on education. This thinking pleads for the necessity of physical and symbolic resemblance between two tasks, or performance will be meagre. As discussed elsewhere (Gelman & Markman 1987), a child’s mind houses richer structures and connections than one would think, but in order to extract deeper information we have to work with familiar materials and settings. This study does not quantify the amount of information children can access in familiar settings, but to what extent expanding the scope of material and setting, without missing key aspects of resemblance, benefits transfer of knowledge.

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Role-play as a Physical Game The fact that “children learn through play” is a long-established idea and remains in the classrooms of early education up to the present day. For RP, also known as simulations or social games, we understand as children acting out the part of somebody else and imagining expressions and aspects. Alexandere & LeBaron (2010) state that RP activities engage students to give their most competitive versions. Batista & Carvalho (2008, 1) explain that: “learning depends upon actions such as experimenting, visualizing and demonstrating through which the learner succeeds in constructing his own knowledge.” Inside the language classroom, RP helps students develop their communication skills, giving them the chance to put listening and speaking into practice, probably the most difficult skills to practice and test with large classrooms. Ladousse (2004) points at the interaction between students and rise of motivation as pivotal characteristics of RP. Furthermore, he also defends that the responsibility of the learning process acquires another dimension in which the learners themselves take a more active and crucial role. Stern (1983) avers that RP must be flexible and should avoid restricting the vocabulary and sentences used through the game, thus giving free reign to the negotiation of meaning among the participants. In fact, if one of the key aspects of role-play is experimenting, teachers must allow children to use alternative vocabulary and expressions, the wider the lexical scenario the better, as the children must cope with more situations. Total physical response (TPR) is a technique used worldwide developed by Asher in 1969, which is valid for any kind of learner, from the very beginner to advanced and from child to adult. In general terms, this movement claims that linking physical activity to comprehensive input leads to solid consolidation of knowledge on the basis of relaxed and healthy activities. One of the RP components is physical by means of the moment involved in the performing. Schilling et al. (2006) defend that physical games, including role-playing, stimulate visual, verbal and kinaesthetic learners.

Aim of the Study The goal of the present study is to provide more empirical help that supports the pertinence of numerous settings in role-play activities that foment learning in contrast to a unique one. Secondly, we are interested in finding to what extent the age of the children strengthens or softens the transfer of knowledge outside the practice field.

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Method Participants. All ninety-eight children taking part in the experiment were Spanish learners of English from the same elementary school and shared the same ESL instructor and language class. Half of the sample, forty-nine children, were enrolled in the first grade by the time of the test, whereas the other group was in the third grade. This educational centre, randomly chosen from a list of centres in the area, is a regular elementary school that shares curriculum with the rest of the system, using the same methodologies, course books and end of year objectives as the vast majority of other similar schools. In the case of the first grade infants this was their first year of ESL as a subject, whereas the third grade children had had ESL for three consecutive years. Each grade completed a small proficiency test in order to acknowledge groups of proficiency and this way create parallel experiments and comparison groups. The socioeconomic situation of the children of this school, another variable often thought to have implications for study outcomes, is very homogeneous and we expect it not to affect results. Materials. Role-play blueprint: Ordering food in a restaurant was agreed, between the researcher and the children’s English instructor, to be an entertaining enough activity for the kids to be engaged during the preparation and the actual real context test. Children of both condition groups and grades had a practice time of four sessions with a total of two hundred minutes. During that time, the components of the role-play were introduced and explained. New vocabulary and expressions were properly given and translated to L1, performing of the role-play was first done by researcher and instructor in the students’ mother tongue and then in L2 (English), materials such as fake money and meals were shown, and timing and steps of the activity were thoroughly described. The vast amount of time, around 160 minutes, was given to the infants to practice and the research team to invert mistakes. Four different scenarios, emulating a restaurant, were designed for this activity, including tables, chairs, waiters & customers (the children themselves), a kitchen and fake food plates and coins. The distribution of the materials and, hence, the aspect of the “restaurant,” was slightly different in each case. The language lab, regular classroom, library and school yard were the spaces used to perform the training sessions, the language lab being the only space used by the control groups. The following sentences were part of the dialogue that took place in the RP between a waiter (W) and their customer(s) (C), including a brief indication of the timing of the conversation (Figure 2-4).

Amador Jiménez-Garrido and Eufrasio Pérez-Navío 1. Arriving at the restaurant

2. Ordering the food

W: Hello!

W: What would you like to have?

Cs: Hello!

C: I would like to have …

W: How are you? C: Fine, thank you.

3. Bringing the plates from the kitchen W: Here you go … C: Excellent, thank you very much.

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4. Paying for the food C: The food was excellent. We are ready for the check. W: It’s … Euros. Cutomer: Here you go … W: Thank you very much. Good-bye! Cs: Good-bye.

Figure 2-4. Dialogue sentences

Proficiency test: In order to measure the ability of the children with English as a second language, a small test consisting of ten flashcards was given to the individual participants. Children were asked to call out the English word for the objects they were shown in the pictures. These objects were taken from the coursebooks used throughout the year. A mark equal or below 5 out of 8 would place them at level 1, and anything between 6 and 10 at level 2. Different sets of words were used for second and fourth graders. Goodreader 3.5 for iPad and an external projector were used to show the pictures to the students. Object words not pronounced in an articulated way were reflected on as wrong. Sixty-seven students out of the total ninety-eight were included at level 1, and this number in turn segmented in half to sort them evenly between experimental and comparison groups. Stimuli: The research team designed a fifth scenario for the actual situation to prove the ability (or lack of it) to generalize concepts, regarding the facilities of another school canteen. Students, without prior warning, were separately asked to enter the dining hall and order a meal just as they would do in their own centre. The first grade group took the test before the second grade group. A language assistant—an English native speaker—surprised them by leading the conversation in English, just as they had practiced. A recording device, placed near the “waiter” and the student, helped the researchers analyze the course of the conversation without somehow influencing it. The experiment assistant was instructed to use only the vocabulary and sentences the children exercised before trying to use a standard accent. Furthermore, in the case of no response from the children, the assistants were able to repeat once

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per turn or sentence. Each child’s performance was evaluated from 1 to 5. Graders would compute an overall average resulting from four factors: -

Fluency—The flow of the conversation, its speed and number of pauses. Self-confidence—Expressed by a constant intonation and volume of the voice Recognition speed—Time between the assistant’s command and the children’s turn in the conversation Accuracy—The closeness to the dialog practiced. Correct use of alternative words.

-

Data analysis: Third graders pondered the recordings without being told much about the purpose of the study or identity and origin of the group of participants. A transcript of the dialog was distributed among them; likewise, they were informed about the age and sequence of participation in the test. A number was given to each recording to label the participants for the posterior placement in the proper group. The data gathered was computed on the grounds of descriptive analyses. Results: With the aim of finding out whether the multiple scenery condition obtained better overall results, descriptive analyses were conducted using grade and condition groups, in that order, as the independent variables and performance as the dependents. Different settings, as shown in the table below, obtain better results than one condition. Mean distance is slightly larger in the case of the first graders (0.85 vs. 0.69). Table 2-4. Average performance score per grade and condition groups Grade 1 3 Total

Condition One setting Different settings Total One setting Different settings Total One setting Different settings Total

Mean 2.0560 2.9000 2.4694 2.2160 2.9000 2.5510 2.1360 2.9000 2.5102

N 25 24 49 25 24 49 50 48 98

Standard Deviation .35833 .39563 .56650 .41199 .40000 .52999 .39058 .39357 .54725

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Conclusions Performance changed notably between conditions and the difference between one and multiple context groups is emphasized by lower ages. This being said, this study contributes to the literature providing empirical proof that teaching (or learning if seen from the opposite angle) in several settings can, as has been the case here, improve the capacity of reacting in an unknown context. Furthermore, this is unlike past studies which predominantly focused on word learning or recall (Smith 1982; Vlach & Sandhofer 2011). If the reasons for the alleviations of the counterproductive effects of context-based learning in this group of participants were to be given, one would inevitably point to the lack of fixed references. Nevertheless, this could be a much more deeper cognitive process in which children unconsciously identify the utility of the contents outside the class frontiers. In any case, the goal of this study was not to analyze the reasons or gathered data in this regard. As the cognitive processes in the children develop so does the capacity to recognize new opportunities to put their school achievements in practice. This seems to be a feasible theory to explain why earlier ages are less contextually bound due to the development of their reasoning. Second language instructors must be aware of the implication of using multiple contexts. On one hand, they lead to time, space and material constraints and, moreover, children’s learning pace slows down considerably. On the other hand, they generate solid learning which, in turn, has repeatedly proved to work in new set ups. This endorses a great value to this methodology since the ultimate goal of school is to prepare children for the outside world. Nevertheless, it is pivotal not to belie transfer of knowledge with learning. We might be tempted to measure the knowledge of a student in terms of his or her ability to transfer, but how can one be sure that the lack of transfer signifies that there has not been any fruitful learning? What the present study has shown is not that our participants lack knowledge but that they have no easy extrapolation of it. Context dependency must be seen as a gradual element in which the impact of the dissimilitude or distance of two settings can preclude learners to recall knowledge. Variables such as practice time, number of settings or background clues are expected to have a sound influence in the generalization of knowledge. Willingness to go through the process of trial and error is a property unmeasured by this study and that, perhaps, could have slightly conditioned results of some students who hypothetically did not perform well, or transferred due to shyness or introversion. Future studies might consider performing a

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background check in order to observe subjects potentially reluctant to interact with someone unfamiliar to them.

References Alexander, N. & M. LeBaron. (2009). Death of the role-play. In C. Honeyman, J. Coben & G. De Palo (Eds.), Rethinking negotiation teaching. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. 179-197. Asher, J. (1969). The total physical response approach to second language learning. The Modern Language Journal 53(1): 3-17. Batista, R. & Carvalho, C. (2010). Work in progress: Learning Through Role Play Games. Proceedings of FIE 2008, 38th IEEE Annual Frontiers in Education Conference—Saratoga Springs, USA, 2008. Charlop, H., Schreibman, L. & Tryon, S. (1983). Learning through observation: The effects of peer modelling on acquisition and generalization in autistic children. Journal of abnormal child psychology 11(3): 355-366. Gelman, S. & Markman, E. (1987). Young children’s inductions from natural kinds: the role of categories and appearances. Child Dev. 58: 1532-1541. Handleman, J. (1979). Generalization by autistic-type children of verbal responses across settings. Journal of Applied Behaviour Analysis 12 (2): 273-282. Handleman, J. & Harris, S. (1980). Generalization from school to home with autistic children. Journal of autism and developmental disorders 10 (3): 323-333. Hepburn, E., Egan, B. & Flynn, N (2010). Vocabulary acquisition in young children: The Role of the Story. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 10 (2): 159-182. Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition. (1983). Culture and intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of human intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 642-719. Ladousse, G. (2004). Role Play. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pea, R. (1987). Socializing the knowledge transfer problem. International Journal of Educational Research 11(6): 639-663. Smith, S. (1982). Enhancement of recall using multiple environmental contexts during learning. Memory & Cognition 10 (5): 405-412. Vlach, H. & Sandhofer, C. (2011). Developmental differences in children’s context-dependent word learning. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 108: 394-401.

THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN ADOLESCENT SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT GORAN LIVAZOVIû

Introduction The social, scientific and cultural concern of hypermodern civilization about the role of media on its everyday lives lays heavily in the fact that the average media experience has changed dramatically. Unlike the fragmented and selective media that generations of children and adolescents grew up with in the last century, the hypermodern individual of the new millennium is born, raised and lives as a digital or media native, growing up with media as an everyday and intuitive experience. Nevertheless, there is a persistent atmosphere of public concern around the issue of media effects—a concern that in turn seems to reflect broader fears about the future direction of society. Postmodernity and deconstruction have made the creation of truths an impossible construction. “Supermodernity” acts amid the chatter and excess of signification in order to escape the nihilistic tautology of postmodernity. The searchable internet and the construction of interconnected blogs are excellent metaphors for the action of the supermodern subject. The processes of supermodern upbringing, socialization and enculturation have a profound relation with the level of media pervasiveness in our everyday lives as a direct consequence of their miniaturization, consistent with the perennial process of technologizing our homes and living areas, especially children’s rooms, and it raises important questions for educators and parents.

Mass Media and Society When it comes to media effects, research has explored many different types of effects. For example, while some of these relate to specific areas of media content, others relate to media use in general; while some are

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short-term and direct, others are longer-term and/or indirect; and while some relate to behaviour, others emphasize attitudes or emotional responses. The media can also affect and shape norms, expectations and patterns of behaviour of our families and communities. Although this makes it likely that everyone will be affected by violent media in some way, it also makes it likely that the effects may not be identical for all people (Gentile & Sesma 2003). The potential positive aspects relate to learning and education, as well as processes such as social interaction, identity formation and cultural experience. Apparently, “inappropriate” content may also provide valuable opportunities for learning. Still, the results are evident as more children become media addicts, develop and live through virtual identities, and become increasingly dependent on the great collective consciousness of the information age we all know as the internet. In this perspective, the modern media realm, apart from becoming the new public, political, economic, cultural and social arena in which new battles are always one click away, also represents a social mirror in which we can observe, reflect and learn about the basic values, achievements and aspirations of the hypermodern human. The fact that media competence, as a prerequisite for a functional and safe social and personal development, is still relatively unknown to parents, teachers and children raises questions of whether new generations are given a tool—some would even say a weapon—that they are neither trained nor capable to use responsibly. However, media competence should not be seen merely as an alternative to media regulation, but as part of a broader strategy involving government, parents, teachers and the media themselves. Millwood Hargrave & Livingstone (2007) define media competence as “the ability to access, understand and create communications,” which suggests that it is more than simply a matter of technical “know-how,” but that it also involves the critical analysis and the creative production of media, as well as their cognitive, emotional, psychosocial, moral, practical and practical impacts and aspects.

Theory and Research on Media Impacts As Reeves & Wartella (1985) suggest, the history of research on children and the media has not been one of steady and consistent development, but rather of “perpetual recurrence.” Thus, we address some common beliefs regarding media effects, and how these beliefs—though simple, persuasive and sometimes only partly true—may actually hamper a fuller comprehension of how various media influence youth (Gentile & Sesma 2003).The bulk of empirical findings define the major negative media

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effects on diverse levels of recipient-media content-exposure interaction. Looking across the research literature one can see that a very wide range of potentially negative media effects have been identified and discussed. These would include effects relating to (Buckingham et al. 2007, 9): (a) violent content, desensitisation and fear; (b) sexual content—including promiscuous or unsafe practices; (c) advertising—in relation to misleading claims; (d) inappropriate or unwanted contact with others—for example, “stranger danger” or bullying; (e) health issues; (f) eating behaviour—in relation to eating disorders; (g) general personality disorders, such as low self-esteem, “identity confusion” or alienation; (h) physical effects of excessive use—for example, RSI-type conditions and eyesight problems relating to computers; (i) the undermining of children’s imagination and free play, as well as passivisation; (j) the physical development of the brain, and disorders; (k) sleeping problems; (l) reduced time for family and peer interactions; (m) reduced levels of educational achievement; (n) mistaken values, attitudes or beliefs—for example, in relation to gender or ethnic stereotyping. All of these aspects might be seen as risks to children, or indeed as potentially harmful, although only some of them relate to “inappropriate” material (Buckingham et al. 2007, 13). Following this discussion, Gentile & Sesma (2003) describe two general approaches to development—one based on normative developmental theory (the developmental tasks approach) and the other focused on individual differences among children (the risk and resilience approach). Researchers in this field have explored a range of potential effects of media violence and generated diverse theories to explain how these occur. A short list of such theories would include (Buckingham et al. 2007, 14): (a) imitation of attractive “role models” in the media; (b) emotional or psychological arousal; (c) desensitization; (d) catharsis through the reduction of aggressive tendencies; and (e) cultivation, which leads to distorted beliefs about the real world. As Gentile & Sesma (2003) emphasise, there are several myths that need to be addressed when discussing the diverse impacts media have on recipients. The first is that media effects are simple and direct—many everyday people describe examples that appear to be the simple and direct effects of children imitating what they have seen. Yet, media effects are not simple, and neither are they usually direct. Most media effects are cumulative and subtle, even when they are designed to influence behaviour (Woodward & Denton 2000). The second important issue is the relation between violence and media—watching violent media can have many effects, and we should not expect that exposure to such violence will cause people to begin killing each other. In fact, the largest effect of media violence is probably not

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illustrated by individual examples of violent behaviour, but by the “culture of disrespect” it has fostered and nurtured (Walsh 2004). Further, there is popular belief that media effects are obvious—because the effects of violent media are usually indirect, subtle, and cumulative (and thus not obvious), many people then argue that researchers and policymakers are trying to find an easy scapegoat to explain risk behaviours. One of the most interesting media related issues is that violent media affect everyone in the same way; many people assume that, to be considered valid, media violence effects must be one-dimensional—that is, that everyone must be affected by becoming more aggressive and violent. Meta-analyses have shown that there are at least four main effects of watching many violent media. These effects have been defined as the aggressor effect, the victim effect, the bystander effect, and the appetite effect (Donnerstein, Slaby & Eron 1994). The aggressor effect describes how children and adults who watch a lot of violent entertainment tend to become meaner, more aggressive, and more violent. The victim effect (Gerbner’s mean world syndrome) describes how children and adults who watch a lot of violent entertainment tend to see the world as a scarier place, become more scared, and initiate more self-protective behaviours. The bystander effect describes how children and adults who watch a lot of violent entertainment tend to habituate to gradually increasing amounts of violence, thereby becoming desensitized, more callous, and less sympathetic to victims of violence (both in the media and in real life). The appetite effect (catalyst theory) describes how children and adults who watch a lot of violent entertainment tend to want to see entertainment that is more violent. Simply put, the more one watches, the more one wants to watch. Determining if and when something “causes” something else is a problem that has plagued philosophers and scientists for centuries. Ferguson (2002, 446), in response to Anderson & Bushman’s (2001) meta-analyses of media violence and aggression, stated that: (a) because humans have evolutionary always been violent, “violent media, then, are not a necessary precursor to violent behaviour”; and (b) because many people who are exposed to media violence never commit violent behaviour, “violent media, then, are not sufficient to cause violent behaviour.” The issue, then, is whether causality means immediacy, i.e. the “direct” cause that seems to be the relationship between the amount of media violence and the incidence of violence in society. From the 1950s until about 1993, both the amount of media violence and the number of aggravated assaults rose in the United States (Grossman 1996). On a related issue, Catharsis theory was the first to suggest that rather than be

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harmful, violence in the media actually has a positive effect on society. The central assumption of the Catharsis theory is that people, in the course of daily life, build up frustrations, and the vicarious participation in others’ aggressions helps release those tensions. In other words, every day we experience causes frustrations in us to build up. Without a release valve we risk the chance of becoming violent, or at least aggressive. Probably most prevalent of these theories is the aggressive cues theory, claiming that exposure to aggressive stimuli will increase physiological and emotional arousal, which will increase the probability of violence. The observational learning theorist takes the aggressive cues theory a step further, claiming that people can learn by observing aggression in media portrayals and, under some conditions, model its behaviour (Bandura 1977). Watching violent media portrayals teaches us new ways to be violent, so the observational learning theorists emphasize that not only would the media violence increase the probability of the viewer committing an aggression or violence, it teaches the viewer how to do it. Do media mirror society or do they influence it—the answer is both. Further, the observational theorist hedges their bets by pointing out that you will not automatically go out and mimic the violent act, but store the information away in your brain (script theory, priming theory). Reinforcement theory is the one that says media violence decreases the probability of violence by the viewer. The central assumption of this theory is that media portrayals reinforce established behaviours viewers bring with them to the media situation. Cultivation theory represents the final theory on the effects of violence in the media that evolved out of more recent studies. Rather than predict that we will turn to or from violence, it looks at how we will react to the violence. The central assumption of the theory is that in the symbolic world of media, particularly TV, shapes and maintains audience’s conceptions of the real world. In other words, the media, especially TV, creates a fantasy world that is mean spirited and dangerous. In broad terms, we need to distinguish here between three potential types of negative effects. We could illustrate these with examples relating to the effects of sexual content (Buckingham et al. 2007, 17). The first are behavioural and consist of exposure to sexual content that might lead people to copy what they see, to seek out situations in which they might be able to copy it, or alternatively to avoid it. The second are attitudinal, as such exposure might lead people to develop particular beliefs, for example, about the situations in which sexual activity is appropriate or morally acceptable, or about the desirable behaviour of men and women. The third are emotional, because people might obviously become aroused

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(appropriately or not) by sexual content, but they might equally be shocked, disgusted or even traumatised. In addition, Buckingham et al. (2007, 23) claim it is important to make other types of distinctions among potential media effects. These would include short-term and long-term types of effects that might build up over a long period, last a long time, and be hard to displace, while others might be more immediately intense, but might fade more quickly. Lastly is the distinction between direct or indirect effects—some might be direct and of a “stimulus-response” variety, while others might work through other factors (such as the family) rather than immediately on the individual. The third general issue that needs to be addressed here is to do with the potentially positive effects of media on children. While few would deny the need to protect children from negative or harmful effects, it is possible that in doing so one may also prevent them from experiencing a range of positive consequences. A range of potentially positive effects can also be proposed as follows (Buckingham et al. 2007, 21): (a) learning—in relation to specific educational content or health messages; (b) language—language acquisition, and the development of skills in reading and written communication; (c) development of cognitive skills—for example, skills in spatial awareness, hypothesis testing or strategic thinking; (d) development of pro-social behaviour and moral values; (e) awareness of social issues—for example, knowledge of current affairs, social problems or other cultures; (f) social interaction—the role of the media as a basis for discussion within the peer group or family; (g) civic participation—the media as a means of promoting social awareness; (h) creativity and self-expression—the use of the media as a means of creating; (i) cultural value—the media offer the satisfaction of narrative and meaningful representations of the real world; (j) identity development—the media may help to develop imagination, empathy and one’s personal values; (k) entertainment and relaxation; (l) developing the ability to sustain attention; and (m) the encouragement of creative activities—play, “make and do” activities, hobbies, reading, and so on.

Media and Social Development The effects that violent (or other) media may have on children and youth may be very different depending on the age of the child in question. As children face different developmental tasks, media are likely to have a greater or lesser effect depending on the specific issues the children are facing at that time. The developmental tasks have been adapted from Masten & Braswell (1991), Sroufe, Cooper & DeHart (1996), Sroufe,

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Egeland & Carlson (2005), and Aber & Jones (1997). During toddlerhood, children develop a number of capacities that could be affected by media. Social gestures begin to emerge, including conventional social gestures and symbolic gestures. Children also begin to understand themselves as distinct from others and begin to acquire the rules, norms and values of society through socialization processes. Children at this age begin to learn “scripts” for types of behaviours, such as what happens in restaurants or what happens when getting ready for bed. Related to this, pre-schoolers begin to explore adult roles in their play, including identifying with adults and mimicking adult attitudes and behaviours (Huston & Wright 1998). However, probably the most important developmental task for early childhood is learning self-control and self-regulation, including reflecting on one’s actions, delaying gratification, tolerating frustration and adjusting or inhibiting one’s behaviours to suit particular situational demands. In emotional development, pre-schoolers begin to regulate their own emotions, including learning to be aware of the standards for behaviour and using those standards to guide their words and actions. Early childhood (i.e. age two to five) may be an especially salient developmental period for understanding how young children begin to attend, store, recall and reproduce simple and complex behavioural patterns acquired from television, video and other media sources (Barr & Hayne 1999; Gentile & Sesma 2003). This is particularly timely as eyes are on Hollywood and the violent, manipulative and hypersexualised movies it makes. Past research has documented media effects on both aggressive and prosocial behaviours with young children (Wiegman, Kuttschreuter & Baarda 1992, in Ostrov, Gentile & Crick 2006). It is well documented that during the early preschool years children may have meaningful and stable interpersonal relationships (Denham & McKinley 1993). It is likely that young children may acquire coercive and aggressive behaviours (Patterson 1982, in Ostrov, Gentile & Crick 2006) and specifically relationally aggressive behaviour patterns from these significant relationships, e.g. older siblings and friends (Johnson & Foster 2005; Stauffacher & DeHart 2005, in Ostrov, Gentile & Crick 2006). It is also likely that they could learn, model and be reinforced for using relationally aggressive tactics via media exposure during the early childhood years. The converse is also predicted —that children who are exposed to prosocial models and educational media content will be more likely to model prosocial behaviours during interactions with peers concurrently and prospectively (Bandura 1977; Fisch et al., in Ostrov, Gentile & Crick 2006). Specifically, scholars have documented that during early childhood a common form of prosocial behaviour, especially salient for girls, is defined as relational inclusion (i.e.

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including others in games, activities, play, and interactions; see Greener & Crick 1999). Educational media content may transfer not only the traditional features of prosocial behaviour, which include helping, cooperating and sharing, but they may also improve children’s relationally inclusive skills by teaching them how to approach groups and individuals to ensure that all children are invited and included in play. In adolescence, cognitive development in adolescents enables them to gain the ability to think about abstract concepts and relationships among abstract concepts. Attention skills also make major gains during adolescence. In social development, the main developmental task is probably learning how to achieve deep levels of trust and closeness with both same-sex and opposite-sex peers (Huston & Wright 1998). Personal identity makes additional gains during adolescence, in which adolescents begin to find a fit for themselves within the larger social context as well as defining themselves as unique and independent of their peer groups. Body image also begins to become important as children adjust to pubertal changes. In moral development, adolescents continue through Kohlberg’s conventional moral reasoning (stage 4, in which actions are defined as good to the extent that they perform one’s duties as prescribed by the laws of society), and may begin to develop into Kohlberg’s post conventional moral reasoning stages. Programs that show violence as the solution to interpersonal conflict, as well as the “normality” of verbal and physical abuse toward women (especially scantily clad or nude women), enable the onset of habituation and desensitization processes (Huston & Wright 1998). In middle childhood, social rules and norms take on increased importance, and they are likely to learn lessons about the importance of physical domination and humiliation of others as an acceptable method of conflict resolution; that is, if they have not already habituated to this level of physical and verbal abuse and therefore do not see it at all. In adolescence, the major developmental task is learning how to have intimate and committed relationships. The dominance type portrays relationships between men and women very stereotypically, where the male has the power and the females are submissive. Furthermore, it portrays physical aggression between the sexes as acceptable (and sexual). By this developmental stage, physical and verbal violence in the media will likely appear unremarkable— a natural part of our culture and only a mirror of our society.

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The Media in Social Development Another approach to viewing development is via a risk and resilience perspective (Catalano et al. 1996; Glantz & Johnson 1999; Masten & Coatsworth 1998). The Social Development Model (SDM) is a theory of human behaviour that, by taking into account risk factors as well as protective influences, predicts whether children will develop prosocial or antisocial behavioural patterns as they age. The SDM hypothesizes that children adopt the beliefs and behavioural patterns of the social unit—such as family, peers, or neighbourhood—to which they are most firmly bonded. If the social unit has prosocial attitudes, then the child adopts a prosocial orientation—if the social unit is antisocial then the child often manifests problem behaviour (Catalano et al. 1996). As opposed to the normative approach of the developmental tasks framework—every child is presumed to go through these phases, each with varying degrees of ease— a risk and resilience approach focuses on differential life experiences among children that may put them at risk for future maladaptation (risk factors), and those factors that serve to “protect” children from this risk exposure (protective factors). This approach is likely to be useful to help explain why we may see greater effects of media violence on some children than on others. Exposure to media violence is likely to be a “risk factor” for all children. However, some children may have additional risk factors that enhance the effects of media violence exposure, whereas other children may have protective factors that attenuate the effects of exposure to media violence. One of the strongest and most robust findings in the risk and resilience field is that of the risk gradient, also called a cumulative risk model (Masten 2001). The premise behind a cumulative risk model is simple: the more risks encountered by a child, the greater the likelihood of problematic functioning (Masten & Wright 1998; Rutter 2000; Sameroff & Fiese 2000). Though simple in premise, the strength in such an approach lies in its acknowledgment that a true challenge to the developmental system comes from the interaction of multiple risk factors, and that this cumulative risk process is greater than any one single risk factor in derailing development (Belsky & Fearon 2002). Typical risk factors studied include marital discord, low socioeconomic status (SES), maternal psychological distress, single parent status/divorce, low maternal education, and exposure to violence (Masten 2001; Masten et al. 1993; Rutter 2000), as well as genetic risk factors for psychopathology or aggression (Rutter et al. 1997). Seldom do these risk factors occur in isolation; children experiencing one risk factor are likely also to experience a variety of other risk factors (Masten 2001). These studies

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have also found that there are individuals who are not as vulnerable to risk factors as other individuals are. This phenomenon, termed resilience, refers to the observation that despite experiencing severe adversity, some children display normal or above normal levels of competence across an array of domains (Catalano et al. 1996; Masten et al. 1999). Early perspectives on resilience erroneously labelled such children as stressresistant or invulnerable, such labels incorrectly implying that there was something special about them, such as hardy constitutions that rendered them impervious to stress and adversity. Current thinking regarding resilience assumes that successful outcomes despite stress exposure arise out of dynamic interactions between the child and the environment (Masten 2001). That is, resilience occurs as a result of multiple protective factors—genetic, interpersonal, contextual and societal—that impinge on the child as well as interact with the child to counteract the negative effects of stress (Sameroff, Seifer & Bartko 1997). With regard to media violence, our view is that exposure to entertainment media violence is a risk factor for aggressive behaviour and other negative outcomes.

Media Competence—Preventing Negative Media Impact We define media competence as “the ability to access, understand and create communications in a variety of contexts.” While media literacy is partly about being able to access and use technology, media competence is about critical understanding, evaluation and judgment, and about creating media for the purpose of responsible communication and self-expression. Promoting media literacy is therefore about addressing basic inequalities in people’s access to media—not only the so-called “digital divide,” but also gaps in relation to other media as well. Ultimately, however, these divides are not simply about access to equipment; they are also about “cultural and social capital”—about the skills and understanding that people need in order to use and interpret what they see and hear, and to create their own communications, as well their positive interdependence. Media educators have a well-established conceptual framework, and a developed set of classroom strategies, that are increasingly being extended to digital media such as computer games and the internet (Buckingham 2003; 2007; Burn & Durran 2007). Media competence also involves reflecting on cultural experiences and the benefits that they entail. Here again, addressing the risks that may be at stake in young people’s use of media must involve an understanding of the reasons why they often deliberately choose to take them. Parents can clearly play a key role in developing media competence. However, we should be wary of assuming

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that parents necessarily possess such skills and knowledge themselves, particularly when it comes to new media. Media competencies are an issue for adults too, as Ofcom’s report on this issue makes clear (Livingstone et al. 2005). Research suggests that parental monitoring and involvement can make a difference to children’s awareness of issues such as online safety (Ibid.), but this needs to be handled sensitively, in a way that respects young people’s right to privacy and does not place an undue burden on parents themselves. Parents can raise their children’s media competence levels through limiting and balancing the amount of time kids use media, monitoring their use, setting clear limits and explaining why too much time in front of a screen is harmful. Methods such as talking with kids about their media interests, discussing positive and negative media messages and images, as well as watching, listening and going online with them are very effective. Finally, parents can choose appropriate media or check ratings and reviews to make sure the media they use are appropriate for their age and level of development. The primary aim of media competence education is to enable children in making informed decisions on their own behalf, and thereby make the most of the opportunities that the media can provide.

Review of Media Impact Research Several systematic reviews have investigated the relationship between media and violent behaviour, but there has not been a comprehensive evaluation of the many studies examining other ways that the media affects children’s health. Common Sense Media reviewed the best research on the impact of media exposure (both the amount consumed and the content) on children’s health and development. This review was designed to compare the relations between media and seven health outcomes such as childhood obesity, tobacco use, sexual behaviour, drug use, alcohol use, low academic achievement and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In addition to summarizing the evidence from 173 of the best studies in the field, this review evaluated the relative strength of those studies and outlined areas where more research is still needed (The Impact of Media on Child and Adolescent Health 2008, 3). For example, all 73 of the studies evaluating media and weight assessed the quantity of media (rather than media content) in terms of daily or weekly hours of exposure. Eightysix percent of these studies found a statistically significant relationship between increased media exposure and an increase in childhood obesity. In addition, of the 22 longitudinal studies, 18 (82%) concluded that more hours of media predicted increased weight over time (Ibid., 4). Twenty-

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four studies examined media and tobacco use, and 88% reported a statistically significant relationship between increased media exposure and an increase in smoking, usually defined as children trying smoking or beginning to smoke at an earlier age. Nineteen of the 24 studies assessed media content. Of these, 16 (84%) reported that viewing tobacco use in media had a significant association with an increase in tobacco use. Of the five studies analyzing the number of hours spent watching television, four (80%) reported a significant relationship between greater media exposure and increased tobacco use (Ibid.). Fourteen articles evaluated media and sexual behaviour, and 13 (93%) found a statistically significant association between media exposure and a more rapid progression of initiation of sexual behaviour. Eight studies examined media content (defined as exposure to sexual content on television, film, or the internet), while six measured media quantity. A longitudinal study by Yale University of 1,792 children in the U.S. aged twelve to seventeen found that more exposure to sexual content on TV was significantly associated with initiating intercourse and other sexual activities in the subsequent year (Ibid., 5). Eight studies evaluated media and drug use—seven examined media content, and one examined media quantity—and 75% reported a statistically significant relationship between media exposure and drug use, usually defined as past or current use of specific recreational drugs, including cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamines and ecstasy. Ten studies examined media and alcohol use—four examined media content and six examined media quantity—and eight studies (80%) reported a statistically significant association between media exposure and an increase in alcohol use (usually defined as children trying alcohol or the number of alcoholic beverages they consumed over a certain period). One study by Yale University that followed 2,406 children for up to two years found that more exposure to scenes with alcohol use in movies was associated with early-onset teen drinking (Ibid.). Thirty-one studies evaluated media and academic achievement, and 65% reported a statistically significant association between increased media exposure and poor academic outcomes (measured through standardized test scores or school grades). Of the 26 studies analyzing the number of hours spent watching TV, 62% reported a significant relationship between greater media exposure and low academic achievement. Five of the studies looked at media content (either the type of TV show viewed or musical genre preference). Four (80%) found an association between media content and lower school performance. One

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study of internet use showed that increased access to certain types of websites was associated with better school performance (Ibid., 6). Thirteen articles assessed media and ADHD (identified by clinical assessment or use of a validated numerical scale). Three studies examined media content, and 10 examined media quantity. Nine studies (69%) found an association between media exposure and increased attention problems (Ibid., 7). While there are many factors that contribute to negative social and health outcomes for children, media is a crucial one. Research on the relation between media interests and risk behaviours on 735 adolescents showed adolescent media addiction to be the single most important positive predictor for eight out of nine examined antisocial behaviours, such as aggression, drug addiction, risky sexual behaviour, absenteeism, eating disorders, mean world syndrome and cyber bullying. Adolescent interest for negative media contents predicted aggressive (r=.32, p< .001) and risky sexual behaviour (r=.19, p< .001), opiate addiction (r=.27, p< .001), absenteeism (r=.19, p< .001) and cyber bullying (r=.11, p< .05). Interest for educational media contents negatively predicted media addiction (r=-.08, p< .05), while interest for fun media contents predicted risky sexual behaviour (r=.08, p< .05), media addiction (r=.10, p< .01) and mean world syndrome (r=.12, p< .05). Media use negatively predicted risky sexual behaviour and exposure to cyber bullying, but also positively predicted media addiction (r=.29, p< .001) (Livazoviü 2012).

Towards a Conclusion There are several steps in reducing the negative impact of media, and encouraging positive growth and learning. While the research is clear that media violence can have a negative impact on children, it has been less clear on why some children may show a larger effect than others, or why some children may be affected in different ways. To begin to come to a deeper understanding of the effects of media violence on children we have provided a brief discussion of two developmental frameworks that can help us to understand how the processes of media effects and development interact. The developmental tasks approach helps to describe why children at different developmental stages would be expected to be affected differently. Still, as the question of long-term cumulative effects and the dilemma on the media content/behaviour causality remains open, the role of media in education and socialization will remain an important social and scientific issue.

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References Aber, J. L. & Jones, S. (1997). Indicators of positive development in early childhood: Improving concepts and measures. In R. M. Hauser, B. V. Brown & W. R. Prosser (Eds.), Indicators of children’s well-being (395-408). New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Anderson, C. A. & Bushman, B. J. (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive behaviour, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behaviour: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. Psychological Science 12: 353-359. Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Oxford: Prentice-Hall. Barr, R. & Hayne, H. (1999). Developmental changes in imitation from television during infancy. Child Development 70: 1067-1081. Belsky, J. & Fearon, R. M. (2002). Infant–mother attachment security, contextual risk, and early development: A moderational analysis. Development and Psychopathology 14: 293-310. Buckingham, D. (2003). Media Education: Literacy, Learning and Contemporary Culture. Cambridge: Polity. —. (2007). Beyond Technology: Children’s Learning in the Age of Digital Culture. Cambridge: Polity. Buckingham, D., Whiteman, N., Willet, R. & Burn, A. (2007). The Impact of the Media on Children and Young People with a particular focus on computer games and the Internet; Prepared for the Byron Review on Children and New Technology Commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media, Institute of Education, University of London. Burn, A. & Durran, J (2007). Media Literacy in Schools: practice, production, progression. London: Paul Chapman Catalano, R., Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J. D., Newcomb, M. & Abbott, R. (1996). Modelling the aetiology of adolescent substance use: A test of the social development model. Journal of Drug Issues 26 (2): 429-455. Online:http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph& AN=9607110982&site=ehost-live. Denham, S. A. & McKinley, M. (1993). Sociometric nominations of preschoolers: A Psychometric analysis. Early Education and Development 4: 109-122. Donnerstein, E., Slaby, R. G. & Eron, L. D. (1994). The mass media and youth aggression. In L. D. Eron, J. H. Gentry & P. Schlegel (Eds.), Reason to hope: A psychosocial perspective on violence and youth (219-250). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

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Ferguson, C. J. (2002). Media violence: Miscast causality. American Psychologist 57(6-7): 446-447. Gentile, D. A. & Sesma, A. (2003). Developmental approaches to understanding media effects on individuals. In D. A. Gentile (Ed.), Media violence and children. Westport, CT: Ablex. Glantz, M. & Johnson, J. (1999). (Eds.), Resilience and Development: Positive Life Adaptations. Berlin—Heidelberg: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. Grossman, D. (1996). On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society. New York: Little, Brown, and Company. Huston, A. C. and Wright, J. C. Mass media and children’s development. (1998). In W. Damon, I. E. Sigel & K. A. Renninger (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Child psychology in practice. (999-1058). New York: John Wiley and Sons. Livazoviü, G. (2012). Povezanost medija i riziþnih ponašanja adolescenata [The relation between media and adolescent risk behaviours]. Kriminologija i socijalna integracija 20 (1): 1- 22. Livingstone, S., Bober, M. & Helsper, E. (2005). Internet literacy among children and young people: findings from the UK Children Go Online project. Online: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/397/. Masten, A. S. & Wright, M. O. (1998). Cumulative risk and protection models of child maltreatment. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma 2: 7-30. Masten, A. S. (2001). Resilienz in der Entwicklung: Wunder des Alltags [Ordinary magic: Resilience in development]. In G. Ropert, G. Noam, & C. V. Essen (Eds.), Entwicklung und risiko. (192-219). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. Masten, A. S., Miliotis, D., Graham-Bermann, S., Ramirez, M. & Neemann, J. (1993). Children in homeless families: Risks to mental health and development. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 61: 335-343. Masten, A. & Braswell, L. (1991). Developmental psychopathology: An integrative framework. In P. R. Martin (Ed.), Handbook of behaviour therapy and psychological science: An integrative approach (35-56). New York: Pergamon. Masten, A. S. & J. D. Coatsworth. (1998). The development of competence in favourable and unfavourable environments: lessons from research on successful children. Am. Psychol. 53: 205-220. Millwood Hargrave, A. & Livingstone, S. (2007). Harm and Offence in Media Content: Updating the 2005 Review. London: Ofcom.

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Ostrov, J. M., Gentile, D. A. & Crick, N. R. (2006). Media exposure, aggression and prosocial behaviour during early childhood: A longitudinal study. Social Development 15: 612-627. Rutter M. (2000). Resilience reconsidered: Conceptual considerations, empirical findings, and policy implications. In J. P. Shonkoff & S. J. Meisels (Eds.), Handbook of early childhood intervention. (651-682). New York: Cambridge University Press. Rutter, M., Silberg, J., O’Connor, T. & Simonoff, E. (1999). Genetics and child psychiatry: Empirical research findings. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 40: 19-55. Sameroff, A. J. & Fiese, B. H. (2000). Transactional regulation: The developmental ecology of early intervention. In J. P. Schonkoff & S. J. Meisels (Eds.), Handbook of early childhood intervention (135-159). New York: Cambridge University Press. Sameroff, A. J., Seifer, R. & Bartko, W. T. (1997). Environmental perspectives on adaptation during childhood and adolescence. In S.S. Luthar, A. Burack, D. Cicchetti & J. R. Weisz (Eds.), Developmental Psychopathology. Perspectives on adjustment risk, and disorder (507526). New York: Cambridge University Press. Sroufe, L. A., Cooper, R. G. & DeHart, G. (1996). Child development: Its nature and course. New York: McGraw Hill. Sroufe, L. A., Egeland, B., Carlson, E. & Collins, W. A. (2005). The development of the person: The Minnesota Study of Risk and Adaptation from Birth to Adulthood. New York: Guilford Press. The Impact of Media on Child and Adolescent Health: Executive Summary of a Systematic Review. (2008). Online: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/media_child_he alth_exec_summary_0.pdf. Walsh, D. (2004). Why Do They Act That Way?: A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen. New York, NY: Free Press. Wartella, E. & Reeves, B. Historical trends in research on children and the media: 1900–1960. Journal of Communication 35: 118-33. Wiegman, O., & Kuttschreuter, M. & Baarda, B. (1992). A longitudinal study of the effects of television viewing on aggressive and prosocial behaviours. British Journal of Social Psychology 31: 147-164. Woodward, G. C. & Denton, R. E. (2000). Persuasion & influence in American life. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.

INFLUENCE OF PARTNER COMMUNICATION OF SOCIALISATION AGENTS ON SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT BISERA JEVTIû

Introduction The family as a basic social environment, which develops and forms personality, and the school as a representative of institutional education and upbringing, are important factors in the development of every individual and the whole society. Therefore, it is not unusual that in Romania and throughout the world the family and the school are the subjects of continuous study. Partner communication is usually considered a fundamental part in the improvement of social behaviour of students, and the inclusion of parents in their learning process is one of the leading ideas of the modern education reform. A partnership of family and school in the field of improvement of social behaviour and academic success of students requires a reciprocal interaction between parents and teachers, coordination of activities, building up positive attitudes in both directions, securing the complementarity of roles and such distribution of influences that both a parent and a teacher have control of within their domain of activity. The success of family-school cooperation depends to a large extent on the personality of a teacher and the way they communicate with parents. Channels of communication must be constantly open; otherwise, effective efforts can become ineffective. Mutual planning and accomplishing decisions, an existence of the same mutual norms of behaviour and mutually accepted goals, are necessary prerequisites for the optimal development of a child. The development of all aspects of self-concept, which starts in the family, continues systematically within school. School attendance helps a student to not only acquire knowledge and skills, and build desirable forms

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of behaviour, habits and abilities, but also prove themself, to achieve selfrealisation and to develop a feeling of competence. Experiences, which a student gets during schooling, affect their self-image, level of aspiration, plans and life goals. A positive attitude towards oneself, i.e. a positive image and a positive experience of oneself, are positive influences on academic success and the achievement of a student. The grades which the student gets in school are very important for the development of their selfconcept because they become the measure by which they evaluate and value their abilities, values and personality traits. On the other hand, selfconcept affects the further efforts of a student, their work, motivation and development of a feeling of competence and self-confidence, which further affect better results and greater success (Sakaþ 2008).

Partner Communication between Socialisation Agents and Academic Success The educational process successfully develops and nurtures those features of personality which at the same time have high frequency and high instrumental value in social life. Lickona (1992) states that cooperation with parents is usually considered a fundamental part in the improvement of the social behaviour of students and that the inclusion of parents in the learning process of their children is one of the leading ideas of the modern reform of education. Most authors agree that the modes and domains of family influence are numerous and various and that they depend on the characteristics of a wider social and cultural community in which a child grows, and on the abilities and preparedness of parents. Surely, parents differ according to their ability to notice problems, and their motivation and willingness to cooperate, but only parents have a continuous influence on a child’s life, as well as a legal, moral and social responsibility for a child. Therefore, parents cannot be ignored in solving school problems. Activities of parents and school, as primary socialisation environments, are different but also complementary because they represent a part of an integral system. The connection between the family and school provides coverage and permanence of educational influences on an individual. Within the cooperation of school and family there is a possibility of solving problems that students are facing, considering interpersonal relations and academic achievements. The creators of programmes which are designed to improve the social status of unpopular children would have to pay attention to one of the most powerful primary groups—the family— because, to a greater or lesser extent, a child generalises the experiences

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about mutual relationships within the family to the relationships they will encounter during their lifetime (Allen 1984). Preventive work which is directed towards the improvement of the social status of unpopular children demands intervention as early as possible, the additional education of teachers and an effort to motivate parents to cooperate, the latter representing a very delicate area when the circumstances are such that the relations within a family are dysfunctional and a child is not “a model” student. Adequate work with unpopular children is essential because a low level of acceptance by peers merged with academic failures are prerequisites of bad socio-emotional adjustment and asocial behaviour. When we discuss low academic success, we have to bear in mind that it does not necessarily include a lack of abilities, but that it is often a consequence of the inadequate support of the environment. Therefore, the cooperation between the school and the family regarding the improvement of social behaviour and academic success of a student demands a reciprocal interaction between parents and teachers, coordination of activities, building positive attitudes in both directions, and securing the complementarity of roles and such distribution of influences that both parent and teacher have control over their domain of an activity (Miloševiü 2002). Edwards & Knight (1997) think that the involvement of parents in the educational process of their children should be regarded as a developmental process. The absence of an appropriate report about school results is a source of many misunderstandings and difficulties, which results in an enormous loss of efficacy of the educational process and adds indirectly to the formation of negative attitudes of students towards education. Parents should be systematically introduced to aims, the programme, the organisation and the conditions of realisation and the results of the educational process within school. It is considered that the activities of teachers should not be reduced only to presenting study material and reporting about the progress of students. It is essential to establish a system of permanent feedback for a teacher, as well as a student and their parents, to follow the progress of the educational process. The academic success of students is surely under the influence of numerous factors, which mutually interact. The important thing for success in general is early childhood experience. If the content of early experience has been enriched with activities within a stimulating environment, and if a child has formed a positive self-image and has developed a high level of motivation for success as well as techniques of control, and has formed working habits, it can be expected that their achievements will be certain and high. The feeling of one’s own control

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over the results of studying increases a child’s self-confidence and adds to their self-efficacy. In the same manner, the feeling of success or failure has a significant effect on a child’s evaluation of their own abilities and their anticipation of success in the future. Self-confidence and a desire for success are directly and indirectly exposed to the influence of parents, school, teachers and peers. Success is a product of many years of hard work, and all factors from a child’s surroundings are more or less involved in it. However, the final outcome is mostly determined by personality, relationships and support within the family, as well as the quality of the entire educational work (Sakaþ 2008). On the higher age level, students with high academic success are usually those who are accepted by peers and who have a positive interaction with them. Successful students, in comparison with unsuccessful ones, are considered by teachers to be less deviant, less introverted and more popular among others. Popular students spend more time on the activities connected with learning and acquiring knowledge during class; they are considered to be more academically successful and teachers think that they are more helpful to others than students of average status (Wɟntzel & Ⱥsher 1995). A positive attitude towards oneself, that is, a positive image and a positive experience of oneself, has a positive effect on the academic success and achievement of students. Research projects show that most children start school with a belief in their own abilities and a belief that they will be great students. At the end of the first grade of primary school, the differences between successful and less successful students, regarding the self-evaluation of their own abilities, are the smallest. However, with age these differences grow and are the largest at the end of the eighth grade of primary school. That means that a continuous experience of success or failure during schooling affects the self-evaluation of student’s abilities. The central aim of socialisation is for children to acquire and internalise the values and aims of adults, which will in turn motivate them to accept socially acceptable forms of behaviour. Two aspects of children’s school life are particularly significant for the process of socialisation. The first refers to the fact that teachers who combine “affective” (directed towards interpersonal relationships) and “cognitive” (directed towards acquiring cognitive skills) orientations within their work, are more successful in achieving educational goals than teachers who rely on one orientation only. The second aspect of school experience refers to a possibility of cooperative interaction with peers. A teacher’s assignment is to provide students with the necessary prerequisites for the establishment of social contacts, because students primarily learn about interpersonal relationships by entering them. Peer interaction provides

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children with the possibility to practice social skills and in that way speeds up their socio-cognitive development. A teacher’s personality, behaviour and choice of strategies they apply will determine the quality of social climate within the class, which represents the context in which a child’s development occurs. Teacher’s conducting and modelling of behaviour in different situations and dealing with children’s conflicts and other problems, which appear during class activities, are supposed to help students improve their skills in solving problems within a social environment, and increase their motivation for pro-social forms of behaviour, and on the other hand discourage them from behaving antisocially (Jevtiü & Kneževiü-Floriü 2011).

Methodology of Empirical Research The cooperation between family and school offers the possibility of solving problems that students are facing through an academic achievement and social behaviour plan. The aim of the research is to determine whether there are statistically significant indicators of differences in the importance of partner communication between agents of socialisation and its influence on the social behaviour and academic achievement of students, with regard to socio-demographic marks of gender and the age of teachers. The following problems are shaped: -

To determine the factorial structure of a questionnaire about the influence of teachers on social behaviour and academic achievement of students. To examine correlational relations of the previously determined factorial structure. To examine the existence of significant differences in the quality of the influence of agents of socialisation on the social behaviour and academic achievement of students.

The research sample consisted of 560 teachers from high schools in Rasina County in Serbia. The method applied in this research was chosen in accordance with the subject, aim, research assignments, nature of problems and proposed hypotheses. The research used a method of theoretical analysis, which will enable a theoretical overview of different methodological approaches in studying the problems about the role that pedagogues have in achieving cooperation between family and school, and a descriptive scientific research method in accordance with the proposed

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research problem. The statistical parameters applied are descriptive statistics, t-test for independent samples, Spearman’s correlation coefficient for determining the statistical significance of occurrences, X2 test and a factor analysis of obtained results. Data processing was done through the SPSS Statistic 17.0 programme.

Results and Discussion A teacher’s personality, their attitude towards educational work and their actions towards students will affect the development of the self-concept of students and, therefore, their academic achievement. The influence of a teacher on the development and formation of a student’s personality is especially significant at the beginning of schooling, but it is also not to be ignored later. A teacher affects the formation of the personality of a student in several ways through their actions and activities, as well as their many personality traits. The appropriate attitude of a teacher towards a student should be a warm and hearty relationship; not of extreme emotional commitment, but of objectivity. A teacher should nurture a democratic attitude towards students and try to keep a democratic atmosphere in the class, with full appreciation of students’ personalities. In the same way, they should try to give equal attention to all students and to base their system of rewards and punishment on the achievement and personality traits of students. Besides the fact that a teacher represents a significant model, their role in the realisation of an effective teaching is reflected in the way the class is organised and the application of specific working methods. If a teacher makes such class organisation where the students work individually, independent from others, while competing with their peers, a competitive atmosphere is created in which there is no cooperation among students. While studying in such an atmosphere, students get the impression that their progress reflects in their being better than their peers, that is, in their “victory” over others; therefore, helping and other kinds of pro-social actions are not considered adequate and necessary forms of behaviour. On the other hand, if a teacher encourages cooperation and helpfulness in class, and solidarity and tolerance towards different opinions and if they encourage students to ask questions and express their thoughts, favourable conditions for achieving cognitive, social and emotional outcomes of educational work are created. Cooperative studying, as a teaching method which encourages cooperation and helpfulness among students, is particularly suitable for the development of pro-social behaviour, as well as mechanisms which are the base of pro-social orientation (an ability to

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“put oneself in another’s shoes,” an awareness of consequences of one’s behaviour towards others, self-respect and the like); and even more importantly, it has a positive effect on the academic achievement of students. Using the factor analysis of main components, two factors that have the biggest influence, i.e. factor loading, were noted as containing the largest part of data variability. The first factor explains 81.682% of variance and is concerned with securing an appropriate level of autonomy and clear expectations regarding children’s behaviour by the teacher. This factor shows that when teachers secure an appropriate level of autonomy and clear expectations regarding children’s behaviour, students develop a stronger feeling of fellowship and exhibit socially competent behaviours. Adolescents more often mention parents and peers as the persons who are the most important in their life, and next mention teachers as their source of support and help. The second factor explains 18.318% of variance and refers to the way a teacher handles conflicts among children and other problems which occur during class activities. The quality of social climate in class, which represents the context of the development of children, depends on the personality of a teacher, their behaviour and the strategy which will be applied. The way in which a teacher conducts and models behaviour in different situations, and the way they deal with the conflicts among children and other problems which occur during class activities, should help students improve their problem-solving skills within the social environment, increase their motivation for pro-social forms of behaviour, and discourage anti-social behaviour. The largest loadings of the first component are: securing an appropriate level of autonomy (I secure an appropriate level of autonomy and clear expectations regarding children’s behaviour)—0.988; dealing with conflicts among children (I deal with conflicts among children and other problems which occur during class activities)—0.988; teachers motivate students by their own example—0.988; (I try to be objective while grading students)—0.988, (I emphasise positive examples in class and I see that it has a positive influence on the academic achievements of children). The largest loadings of the second component refer to the claims: “Using group and workshop forms of work, I tend to develop the social competence of children”—0.520, “I try to pay equal attention to all students”—0.846. Responsible parenthood means that parents are mature enough to accept their child, to respect and acknowledge them and support them optimally in their development.

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Unfortunately, some children are often not wanted by one or both parents. The problem of unwanted children is often connected to the socalled “hostile style of parenthood,” where the parent treats their child as an obstacle and a burden and ascribes attributes which blame them for all that such a parent wants and expects from them. An interesting fact is that teachers are very good at evaluating parents when it comes to the valuation of school and school studying. Some parents highly value the academic success of their children, and some do not pay much attention to it. This significantly affects the success of a child. A research has shown that the children of those parents whom teachers evaluate as positively oriented towards school and academic success have better marks. The same goes for parents who give instructions about schoolwork to their children. The research about the development of the cognitive competence of children indicates that there is a strong connection between the quality of parent-child interaction and academic achievement. The results of the research show a positive connection between the lifestyle of a family, parents’ attitudes and actions towards a child, and attitudes of parents towards other agents of socialisation. An authoritative style of interaction is positively connected with the cognitive competence of children, while the critical, directive and authoritarian interactions are connected with the smaller progress of cognitive development. Based on the obtained results we can see that peer relationships are very important for the academic achievement of students. For example, socially accepted children who exhibit pro-social, cooperative and responsible forms of behaviour in school most often achieve high academic success as well. On the other hand, children who are rejected by peers often achieve lower academic success and represent a risk group prone to delinquency, school absenteeism and school abandonment. These behavioural and interpersonal forms of competence are often more reliable predicators of academic achievement than intellectual abilities. The influence of peers adds significantly to the motivation to study, that is to the increase of effort and interest in schoolwork. The effects of peer influence depend, to a large extent, on the attitudes and value orientations of peers with whom students spend the most time. If peers have a low level of motivation for academic achievement, the motivation of a student will, most likely, decrease over time; and vice versa, if a peer group has a high level of motivation for studying and achievement, the motivation of a student will, most likely, increase over time. A positive connection between peer acceptance and academic achievement is pronounced at the age of adolescents. Teachers evaluated

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their working habits and their behaviour in class more positively in comparison to unpopular peers.

Conclusion The conclusion we could make would, without doubt, be in favour of the necessity of partner communication between family and school on the plan of improving the social behaviour and academic achievement of students. The problems of bringing up children in the modern circumstances are more and more complex, and that is why school and family together, and each in their own separate ways, stand in front of newer and newer challenges to which they cannot competently respond if they are isolated from one another, but only with productive cooperation, complementation and mutual permeation. All other ways would be more difficult and represent greater risk of success. After all, perhaps no other area of human activity demands so much mutual work and understanding as much as this is needed in the process of educating humans. Mutual cooperation between family and school can be used to continually observe the work and the achievements of students, while both institutions have a clear overview of the progress of students. Cooperation adds to the removal of causes which have led to failure; students are given all the necessary help with their work and their eventual mistakes and oversights in their work are pointed out to them. In order for everything to run without major difficulties and problems, and in order to prevent the failures of students, the occurrence of undisciplined behaviour and, in the worst case, the occurrence of delinquent behaviour, the cooperation between family and school should be reciprocal. The removal of causes and the prevention of the reappearance and reoccurrence of failure is not a subject everyone is willing to approach. No matter what the cause of failure is, the kind of attitude that parents, teachers, other professional school organs and students themselves have is very important. A family represents a model of society. A child, more or less, generalises their experiences with the first people among whom they find themself concerning their mutual relationships and actions; that is, a child transfers those experiences on other people, communities and relationships which will surround them during their lifetime. A child is not an object which passively absorbs influences from certain agents of socialisation, but instead actively affect the outcomes of their own socialisation through interaction with other people. The highlight is, therefore, on the processes of self-regulation; that is, on the abilities of a child to influence their own behaviour instead of reacting mechanically to influences from the outside.

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The key question, posted here, is: How does a child experience the influences from the family environment considering the fact that the same influences do not have the same meaning for every child? It is known that relationships within a family have different effects on children depending on the way they are seen from the perspective of a child. The experience of the actions of parents towards a child reflects on the way a child experiences themself, and that, in turn, affects the way their following actions are interpreted. Therefore, it is about “a chain” of interpersonal influences, the importance of the subjective interpretation of parents’ behaviour towards a child and the fact that the same actions are experienced differently by parents and children. This creates the question of synchronisation of mutual interpretations, which implies establishing a dialogue between parents and children with the aim to mutually comprehend personal, i.e. specific, interpretations with which a parent and a child engage in interaction. For a child, their parents, brothers, sisters and other members of the family comprise a model of society and relations within it. A child, more or less, generalises their experiences with the first people among whom they find themself, and more precisely their actions and interpersonal relations; that is, they transfer those experiences onto other people as well. A personality trait of a teacher, which is particularly important for the social climate within a class, is sensitivity to the internal experiences of other people. An insight into behaviour motives, sensitivity to other people’s emotions and support for their self-confidence are major forms of that complex personality trait. It determines, to a great extent, whether a general attitude of a teacher towards students will be an appreciation of their personality and whether the attitude towards students will be individualised. Research findings show that those students whose teachers express interest in their emotional problems and needs have better social relations with their peers, exhibit less asocial behaviour and are less absent from school (Withall & Lewis 1964). An important question, which is included in the evaluation of the significance of peer relations during childhood, is on the status of an individual within a peer group; that is, it seems that interpersonal relationships among members of a certain group are characterised by an occurrence of favour or disfavour towards other members of the group. Certain members of the group are accepted, i.e. popular, while others are rejected or ignored. Acceptance, in fact, refers to the degree in which other members of a peer group want to establish a certain form of socialisation with a certain child; that is, to be involved in joint activities. When children describe someone as “good,” it is assumed that this refers to their

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friendly actions, empathy and other pro-social behaviour. Popular children are skilful when it comes to interaction with other children; they easily become members of a group, and they make friends in a subtle, unobtrusive and confident way. They support other children, they show sensitivity to the needs and desires of others, and therefore their communication skills are very good; they can handle equally well the role of a speaker as well as the role of a listener. They skilfully resolve conflicts, and handle sensitive situations in a way that suits all who are involved; they use reason, not force. Popular children are seen by peers as leaders, as being cooperative and as those who share with others. Teachers value them more positively than those children who are rejected. Acceptance or rejection by peers is connected to academic achievement. There is a confirmed connection between academic achievement and sociometric status and a connection between social behaviour and academic success. The children who were more positively evaluated by peers in the preschool period were evaluated by teachers as a group with a lower risk of achieving failure in school. Acceptance by peers during the earliest years of schooling represents a “buffer” zone or a protection factor in relation to academic difficulties. Teachers see more successful students as less deviant, less introverted and more popular among their peers. Unlike them, there are rejected students who have a greater chance, in relation to other status groups, of experiencing academic difficulties and achieving academic failure. Studies about the connection between agents of socialisation and academic achievement are traditionally focused on the development of the cognitive skills of children and their motivation, but they do not consider the influence of the involvement of parents and teachers in school activities. The involvement of parents in the educational process is considered a significant factor in the academic achievements of students. Research results show that those children whose parents are more involved in school activities achieve better success in studying than the children whose parents are less involved in school activities. Different forms of the involvement of parents in school life are proposed, such as engaging parents in class activities and school organisations (parent-teacher association), tracking the work and results of students, engaging parents in solving school problems, and organising joint actions. This kind of parental involvement is connected with positive educational expectations, and interest in and support of a student. All these forms of cooperation between family and school provide a better way of informing parents, and transferring the necessary professional knowledge for a proper upbringing of children, which are most certainly reflected in the academic

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achievement of students and the more successful communication between family and school regarding the improvement of the social behaviour and the academic achievements of students.

Acknowledgement This chapter was written within the project br. 179074 financed by the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of Serbia, which is part of the Centre for Sociological Research, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Niš, Serbia.

References Allen, V. L. (1984). Self, social group and social structure: surmises about the study of children’s friendships. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Edwards, A. & Knight, P. (1997). Parents and professionals: Education and social differences. London: Routledge. Jevtiü, B. & Kneževiü-Floriü, O. (2011). Challenges of social-pedagogical activity. Niš: Faculty of Philosophy. Lickona, T. (1992). Educating for character. New York, NY: Bantam Books. Miloševiü, N. (2002). Influence of family and school cooperation in social behaviour and academic achievement. Institute for Educational Research 34: 193-212. Sakaþ, M. (2008). Some psychological factors of school achievement. Norma 13 (3): 29-36. Wentzel, K. R. & Asher, S. R. (1995). The academic lives of neglected, rejected, popular, and controversial. Child Development 66 (3): 754763. Withall, J. & Lewis, W. W. (1964). Social interaction in the classroom. In N. L. Gage (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching. Chicago: Rand McNally & Company. 683-714.

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION IN SERBIAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS’ TEACHING PRACTICE MARIJA JOVANOVIû AND VESNA MINIû

Theoretical Background Successful planning, organizing, implementing and improvement of the teaching process is directly related to the characteristics and quality of the educational communication that it achieves. As the most systematic and effective form of education, teaching is based on different and often very complex communication models and types of communication. From the perspective of the quality and efficiency of the teaching process, interpersonal communication is one of the most popular forms of communication in the classroom. Its didactic value is reflected in the fact that it provides the conditions for the realization of an interactive approach to teaching and provides a high level of student activities in the learning process. In didactic and communication literature, classifications are numerous and depend on the preference of certain criteria from which the classification process starts. The names of these types of communication mostly speak for themselves about what the criterion of classification is. Given the number of participants in communication, we have interpersonal, intrapersonal and mass communication. Interpersonal communication in teaching involves communication between two or more people “face to face,” or communication between two persons through any apersonal media (by letter, phone, etc.). In terms of didactics, interpersonal communication is an interaction in which one person presents a particular subject in order to influence the personality of the person who is communicating. It is also determined as “intentionally or unintentionally, consciously or unconsciously, whether planned or not planned sending, receiving messages and activities within the immediate [face to face] relationships between people” (Brajša 1994, 22). Rudenauer (1982, 114) defines interpersonal communication as “making contact, causing attention, providing information and securing information sent to the recipient.” Interpersonal communication is furthermore defined as the

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“organization, transmission and reception of messages, and the primary means of interpersonal relationships, which is used for collecting information and potentially influencing all conversation participants” (Day 1976, 159). In striving to overcome the weaknesses of previous definitions of interpersonal communication, Kathleen K. Raerdon lists seven characteristics of interpersonal communication: .

(a) Interpersonal communication involves verbal and nonverbal behavior; (b) Interpersonal communication involves spontaneous, rehearsed and planned behavior, or a combination of these; (c) Interpersonal communication is not static but developmental; (d) Interpersonal communication involves personal feedback , interaction and coherence; (e) Interpersonal communication is carried out in accordance with certain internal and external policies; (f) Interpersonal communication is an activity; (g) Interpersonal communication can involve beliefs or persuasion. (Reardon 1998, 20)

Interpersonal communication involves both verbal and non-verbal behaviour “that is done with others, and not to others.” By including both verbal and nonverbal behaviour, interpersonal communication provides opportunities to these two types of communication to complement, build and enhance the effects of one another but also to oppose each other and even cancel one another out. Thanks to this feature of interpersonal communication it is possible to continue the realization of the unity of words and nonverbal signs that accompany them, which significantly increases the intensity and extensity of educational influence. Given the level of consciousness and rational participation, we can observe three basic types of behaviour in communication in the classroom: spontaneous, rehearsed and planned. All three forms are variants of interpersonal communication and are important for the learning process. We are talking about spontaneous communication when the communication is achieved without affecting the rational (conscious) control. It is usually caused by uncontrolled emotions and reflects spontaneous, impulsive and unconscious reactions to certain stimuli. Trained or formal communication is communication due to the exceptional skills taking place without the participation of consciousness. It differs from spontaneous communication in that it becomes automatic after a period of study and repetition, and it is not created unconsciously and without thinking. Planned communication requires more intellectual effort and can be determined as a reflection of behaviour. As the name implies, it takes place after the established plan that was previously designed and constituted for the purpose. The third characteristic of interpersonal communication is also important for the

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learning process. It points out the development, i.e. dynamics, which means it is conditioned by the nature of the relationships among those taking part in it. As we can see, it allows us in the educational process to better meet interlocutors and to make the process of communication in accordance with individual personality traits, needs, interests and desires. In this way, interpersonal communication allows the individualization of teaching, to some extent, and its adaption to the specific circumstances in which it takes place. Interpersonal communication involves personal feedback, interaction and coherence, or compatibility. As the interpersonal communication is always achieved between at least two people under the personal feedback, we mean all the answers of one person (verbal and nonverbal) to the verbal or non-verbal activity of another. Interaction means “the interdependence of verbal and nonverbal behavior” (Brataniü 1990, 85) between two persons. In teaching, the level of actual interaction is of great importance and may vary depending on the extent to which the actions of one person affect the actions of others. Given that teaching involves mutual influence, it is important to achieve a higher level of interaction. Interpersonal communication is carried out in accordance with certain internal and external rules that depend on the realized characteristics of interpersonal relations. If the teaching process involves a close relationship between people who communicate, their communication will primarily be determined by some internal rules that are related to these people. Communication among people who know each other less is conditioned by external rules, such as social and cultural norms, and the like. Interpersonal communication is a shared activity of people who participate in it, wherein people communicate with one another, not against one another. Interpersonal communication can involve beliefs or persuasion because it often wants to influence the thinking, behaviour and emotions of the person being communicated with, in connection with the content being talked about. Intrapersonal communication is the internal, personal communication of a person with themselves, their “talking to themselves.” It is also called “inner speech” and is an introspection of their own attitudes, skills and behaviour. This communication is denoted as “mono action,” in contrast to the interaction where we have communication between students, or between students and inanimate media (Bognar & Ɇatijeviü 2002, 362). The characteristic of this type of communication is, therefore, that “the action begins with the individual, takes place within himself and therein ends” (Vilotijeviü 1997, 14). This form of communication is vividly explained by a proverb that says: “first think, and then tell me.” With its characteristics of intrapersonal communication, that kind of inner speech

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precedes any human communication and is of particular importance for the process of self-evaluation. In didactics, this type of communication is referred to as incentive silence and is given great importance because it precedes other types of communication, improving them. Mass communication is a specific form of educational communication created as a result of the achievements of modern education and information technology, primarily the mass media. Mass communication is directed at a broad and heterogeneous group of students, and because of its being so public it often includes a population that is outside the organized forms of teaching. The implementation of mass communication in the classroom is very important and is carried out by recording radio and TV shows that have particular educational value and are played to students at the appropriate time. In addition to the content broadcast within the scientific, cultural and educational programs, an important role is played by VHS recordings of various historical, artistic, social and natural events. The advantage of this type of communication in the classroom is that the students learn about certain events at the same time they acquire theoretical knowledge about them; that is, this type of communication is substantiated with proofs and examples from life.

Methodological Framework The subject of this research is to investigate the characteristics of communication in the teaching process in higher elementary school grades in Serbia from the aspect of dominant types of communication based on number of participants. The task of this research is to examine, analyze and compare the attitudes of students and teachers about the dominant types of communication in the classroom, according to the number of communication participants. Characteristics of Selected Sample Table 2-5. Structure of interviewees (students and teachers) based on the location of schools School Students Teachers Total

Urban N 261 80 341

% 47.45 50.00 48.03

Suburban N 289 80 369

Total % 52.55 50.00 51.97

550 160 710

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Figure 2-5. Structure of interviewees (students and teachers) based on the location of schools

The sample included an approximate number of subjects per school location, so half of subjects are from urban areas, and the other half from suburban areas (F2=0,322, p=0,590, df=1, C=0,021). Ɍɚble 2-6. Structure of subjects based on gender Gender Students Teachers Total

male N 261 64 325

% 47.45 40.00 45.77

female N 289 96 385

Total % 52.55 60.00 54.23

550 160 710

The sample included 261 (47.45%) boys and 289 (52.55%) girls, and included 64 teachers: 40% male and 60% female. Comparing the group of students with the teachers it can be determined that there are more females in the group of teachers, but no statistically significant differences between groups of students and teachers (F2=2.775, p=0.096, df=1, C=0.062), which tells us that the total sample has equal amounts of both genders. Based on the values from Figure 2-6 you can see that the subjects include 296 students of the seventh grade (53.82%) and 254 students of the eighth grade (46.18%), so they are equally represented.

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Figure 2-6. Grade structure

Figure 2-7. Structure of student sample based on their accomplishment in the previous semester

Based on their accomplishment in the previous semester, the sample included 202 (36.73%) excellent, 194 (35.27%) very good, 82 (14.91%) good, 11 (2%) sufficient and 61 (11.09%) insufficient students.

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Figure 2-8. Structure of teacher sample based on their education level

Two thirds of teachers have university degrees (111; 69.38%), which is a statistically much higher number when compared with teachers with higher education (49; 30.63%), (F2=12.48, p30 (high capacity of understanding from a look what a person is thinking)

Nr. subject 28

% 82.36

6

17.64

0

0.00

Table 4-4. The total score from Reading the Mind in the Eyes Bipolar group Score

Average 17.058

Left deviation 4.92

The emotion most identified by the subjects was “dreaming.” Table 4-5. Total score in Reading the Mind in the Eyes test—Primary emotions detailed Bipolar Group Joy Love Dreaming Anger Sadness Distrust

Average 2.47 (49.4%) 1.23 (41.0%) 3.26 (65.2%) 2.09 (41.8%) 3.29 (47.0%) 4.70 (42.7%)

Left deviation 1.24 1.07 1.26 1.21 1.57 1.73

Based on the influence played by socio-demographic data such as gender, onset age and educational level, the Spearman R correlation test showed: -

The lower the onset age the more the subjects recognized “joy” (Spearman R=-0.349, p