Social Norms
Expected or accepted rules for behavior. The Ophelia Project promotes pro-social norms in our work with schools and communities.

Normative Beliefs
Self-regulating beliefs about the appropriateness of social behavior (Huesmann, 1988, Huesmann and Guerra, 1997)

Empathy
Involves three components, must be present for empathy to take place:

• Emotional Component: the ability to identify other's feelings
• Cognitive Component: the ability to understand another person’s perspective
• Application Component: the ability to respond appropriately

Example: Your friend finds out that other girls are talking about her behind her back. You were a part of it. You see that she is hurt and upset. You imagine how you would feel if your friends were trashing you behind your back. You feel her pain, apologize for your role and intervene on her behalf.

Hostile Attribution Bias (HAB)
The tendency to interpret events in a paranoid manner.

Dr. Nicki Crick, Director of the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota, has published an article in "Child Development" (Vol. 73, No. 4) showing that relationally aggressive girls display hostile attribution bias (HAB).

Examples: A relationally aggressive girl may overhear two girls talking about having a party, and assume she has been deliberately excluded. An aggressive child is bumped in the hallway and perceives that bump as intention, while a non-aggressive child would view this as an accident.

Emotional Intelligence
The capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves and for managing emotions well in ourselves and our relationships (Goleman, 1998). (See Daniel Goleman's book "Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ")

Having emotional intelligence means being able to recognize what you are feeling so that it does not interfere with your thinking. It becomes another dimension to draw upon when making decisions or encountering situations. (Susie Orbach, "The Guardian", August 12, 1998)

CASS: Creating A Safe School™

CASS: Creating a Safe School™ is a multifaceted change process that brings together a community of caring adults (administrators, teachers, staff, parents) with students to work together to change the social culture in a school or school district. Its primary goal is to positively impact the social norms in a school community by recognizing and addressing the hurtful, covert behaviors of peer aggression and identifying, teaching and modeling a more positive set of normative behaviors for educators, students and parents.

Mentorship
Mentorship is an important vehicle in The Ophelia Project for promoting positive change. Mentors are carefully trained to understand pro-social behavior, to demonstrate effective communication skills and to serve as role models for peers and younger children. Mentorship experiences build leadership capabilities in students.

Leadership
The ability or capacity to lead (dictionary.com). Participating in CASS™ provides an opportunity to develop leadership skills for both adults and children.

Forgiveness
"To forgive someone" is to let go of the hurt another person has caused you so you can move on without the hurt affecting your life.

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