Some years ago, a graduate student who was a counselor at a group home for troubled teenagers, told his professor, Dr. Bergin, that a serious fight had broken out at the group home one evening over something trivial like who was going to take a shower. The police were called and arrived, fully armed, and “threatened” the kids that they would be taken to jail if their behavior didn’t change.
The kids’ response was “so what, no big deal.” The staff had used their biggest threat, and it didn’t work because the teens were desensitized to threats. The counselor asked Dr. Bergin “how do you de-escalate teens’ expectations of threats and get them to respond to a request without threats or bribes?”
Around the same time, a director of a Head Start program for 3-5 year-olds told Dr. Bergin that they were having to expel preschoolers for disruptive behavior. She asked what strategies would help her staff manage the children’s behavior.
Both groups – teachers/counselors of preschoolers and teenagers – had the same question: “How do you foster prosocial behavior, promote self-control rather than external control, and de-escalate kids’ expectations for coercion?
Drawing upon a 50-year history of research on child development, Dr. Bergin taught both groups four strategies that are practical, or “doable,” in busy classrooms from preschool through high school. While not exhaustive, carefully controlled studies show that these four strategies improve the climate of schools and promote the well-being of both students and teachers.
What Is Prosocial?
The Prosocial Development & Education Research Lab at the University of Missouri conducts research on how adults help children become prosocial.
We partner with other researchers, teachers, and agencies to provide professional development to teachers to implement the strategies that research suggests are effective.
Christi Crosby Bergin (Ph.D. Stanford) is director of the Prosocial Development and Education Research Lab. She is Research Professor emerita at the University of Missouri, a research intensive flagship university. Dr. Bergin is an applied developmental psychologist with emphasis on prosocial development of children and teacher effectiveness. She is a leading expert in Prosocial Education, or how schools can help students become more respectful, caring and cooperative. She is co-founder of the Network for Educator Effectiveness (NEE), with over 285 member school districts. She was chair of the SEL SIG for AERA (2024-2025) and Associate Dean for Research and Innovation at MU (2019-2024). Federal agencies have entrusted her with over $62 million in research funding following competitive, rigorous scientific review. Dr. Bergin is an advocate for students and teachers, focusing on practical, dignity-affirming solutions.
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