Suchergebnisse

Both self‐compassion and empathy have been theorized to promote prosociality in youth, but there is little longitudinal data examining this possibility. We assessed self‐compassion, empathy, and peer‐rated prosociality yearly, in a cohort of 2,078 youth across 17 schools (M age at T1 = 14.65 years; 49.2% female), as they progressed from Grade 9–12. We utilized multi‐level modeling to predict prosocial behavior, nested within students, classes, and schools. We found that self‐compassion and empathy uniquely predicted peer‐rated prosocial behavior. However, only empathy predicted increases in prosocial behavior across time. While self‐compassion is not selfish, it does not appear to facilitate the development of kindness toward adolescent peers. Self‐compassion may help to buffer against possible negative effects of empathic distress.

BackgroundPublic perceptions of juveniles involved in commercial sexual activity are heavily shaped by media and communication frames, and these perceptions influence the direction of public policy priorities.ObjectiveA systematic critical analysis of trends in the literature was conducted to evaluate the framing of this population as either deserving of policy aid or undeserving of policy aid.MethodsThe language of professionals in medical, legal, and social science peer-reviewed journals was assessed, encompassing the years 1985–2015.FindingsFindings suggest that the framing of these juveniles is slowly shifting away from a perspective of juvenile culpability and toward a perspective of juvenile exploitation.ConclusionsCurrent research efforts are imperative and should be focused on the reconceptualization of these juveniles as victims of abuse and exploitation.