The central premise of attachment theory is that the security of the early child-parent bond is reflected in the child's interpersonal relationships across the life span. This meta-analysis was based on 63 studies that reported correlations between child-parent attachment and children's peer relations. The overall effect size (ES) for child-mother attachment was in the small-to-moderate range and was quite homogeneous. ESs were similar in studies that featured the Strange Situation and Q-sort methods. The effects were larger for peer relations in middle childhood and adolescence than for peer relations in early childhood. ESs were also higher for studies that focused on children's close friendships rather than on relations with other peers. Gender and cultural differences in ESs were minimal. The results for the few studies on father-child attachment were inconclusive.

Children with learning disabilities in four types of special education settings were compared in terms of social acceptance, number of friends, quality of relationship with best friends, selfconcept, loneliness, depression, social skills, and problem behaviors. Two of the placements (In-Class Support and Resource Room) were for children with mild to moderate learning disabilities and involved between 30 and 90 minutes of special education per school day. The other two placements (Inclusion Class and Self-Contained Special Education Class) were designated for children with severe learning disabilities and involved at least a half-day of special education. Children in the more inclusive placements had more positive social and emotional functioning. Children receiving In-Class Support were more accepted by peers, had higher self-perceptions of mathematics competence, and fewer problem behaviors than children receiving Resource Room Support. Children in Inclusion Classes had more satisfying relationships with their best school friends, were less lonely, and had fewer problem behaviors than children in Self-Contained Special Education Classes.

This study explores the assumption that acculturation disparity can disrupt the quality of parent-adolescent relationships among immigrant families. Participants included 113 Chinese Canadian immigrant and 30 Anglo-Canadian mothers and their children living in Toronto, Canada. Self-reports of mothers' and adolescents' acculturation and perceptions of conflict in the mother-adolescent relationship and mothers' responses to vignettes depicting adolescent misbehavior were obtained. Acculturation disparity was associated with reports of a greater number of conflicts, particularly regarding interpersonal issues, but not with reports of the emotional intensity of these conflicts nor with mothers' use of more negative responses to hypothetical depictions of adolescent misbehavior. Some interesting cross-cultural differences were also found. The importance of exploring the construct of acculturation disparity as a useful tool both methodologically and clinically is discussed.

Persons with intellectual disabilities are more likely to experience victimization and have their rights infringed upon than are people without such disabilities. While legislative and policy interventions have afforded a certain degree of protection against such rights violations, people with intellectual disabilities continue to experience restrictions of their basic human rights. This article describes the development of a Human Rights Project being developed in Canada and aimed at promoting human rights awareness in individuals with intellectual disabilities. Following a brief history of the project, we focus on its current phase: the development of a multimedia human rights training CD. We address the empirical and pedagogical foundations for the use of simulated instruction, aspects of the project that reflect its participative orientation, and the use of dramaturgical methods for training persons with intellectual disabilities to be actors in the video scenarios that appear on the training CD. We conclude by highlighting the importance of a systemic approach to human rights training, as well as the implications of such an approach for understanding the relationally and situationally emergent nature of human rights knowledge.