Social information processing and aggression in understanding school violence: An application of crick and dodge's model

Abstract

The current chapter will review a theory of how children interpret and process social situations and how these processes can be biased in a way that leads the child to aggression. Children are in school for 8 h of their day. Most of their social interactions occur there, when they are in classrooms or on the playground with other children. Mistakes and biases in the social information processing steps often manifest at school. By possessing an understanding of these steps, one would be in a better position to prevent aggression from happening. The current examination will consist of a review of a theory of social information processing and research connecting biases in processing to aggression. Finally, we will present a scenario exploring how social information processing theories can be used to treat and prevent school violence. © 2008 Springer New York.