Preventing and Reducing Adolescent Violence

What is Violence? Arghhhh! Ruff…Ruf Phsttt.. Rarow!!

Common Types of Violence Aggressive and intimidating posturing or bullying Verbal threats of violence Physical fighting, sometimes including weapons Violent outbursts when challenged or confronted Date violence Gang violence

What influences youth violence? Belief that violence is an acceptable problem solving method or reaction Learned violence from family, community and media models Poor impulse control History of abuse or trauma Youth at-risk characteristics Risky Behavior

Assessing Adolescent Violence History of violent and aggressive behavior Poor impulse control Poor anger management and problem solving skills History of other risky or inappropriate behaviors Prior history of abuse, neglect or trauma Family or community violence that results in the belief that violence is acceptable

Adolescent Violence Information Sources U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention, Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention U. S. Surgeon General Center for Disease Control Blueprints for Violence Prevention American Medical Association

Programs Targeting Adolescent Violence Aggression Replacement Training Anger Management & Anger Management Skills Training Cognitive Mediation Training Cognitive-Behavioral Skills Training Moral Reasoning Development Program Positive Adolescent Choices Training (PACT) Anger Management, Problem Solving & Social Skills Training Programs

Programs Targeting Adolescent Violence Bullying and Gangs Bullying Prevention Program Gang Resistance Education & Training (G.R.E.A.T.)

Programs Targeting Adolescent Violence Family Therapy Functional Family Therapy Multi-systemic Family Therapy

Programs Targeting Adolescent Violence Mentoring Programs Big Brothers Big Sisters Quantum Opportunities Program

Programs Targeting Adolescent Violence Out of Home Home Placement Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care Multi-modal Approach Residential Therapeutic Milieu

Anger Management Training Components What is anger? What causes anger? How is anger different from aggression? What triggers anger in you? What are the external and internal cues that tell you that you’re angry?

Addressing Anger Management (Reducing Anger Responses) Stop and think Attend to relevant cues Identify alternative responses and the benefits and consequences of each alternative What are alternatives to violent responses?

Addressing Anger Management (Reducing Anger Responses) Use self control and relaxation skills Use assertive techniques Resist taunts Self evaluation

8 Step Social Problem Solving Model Is there a problem? Stop and think. Why is there a conflict? What do I want? Think of solutions. Look at consequences. Choose what to do and do it. Evaluate the results. Guerra, N. G. & Slaby, R. G. (1990). Cognitive mediators of aggression in adolescent offenders: 2. Intervention. Developmental Psychology, 26, 269-277.

Pro-Social Skills Communication skills Negotiating skills Giving and receiving positive and negative feedback Recognizing and following social norms Controlling angry, surly, or sulking behavior

Pro-Social Skills Using assertiveness to express own needs Using appropriate conversational skills Social networking Avoiding alcohol and drug use Appropriate use of affection and sexual interactions

Bullying… Is repetitive, aggressive behavior that exercises power over the victim Includes behaviors such as teasing, gossiping, social exclusion, extortion, verbal attacks, and physical attacks.

Bullying Prevention Program School-based program developed by Dan Olweus Emphasizes increased supervision of individual students, classrooms, and school “hot spots.” A school-wide conference assesses specific needs

Bullying Prevention Program Consequences for bullying behavior Empowers students to resist bullying Specific rules about bullying Rules are evaluated regularly in the classroom.

The Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program School-based gang prevention program Nine-week curriculum for middle-school students presented by uniformed police officers. Topics presented include: impact of crime on communities and victims conflict management personal responsibility and goal setting meeting basic needs without joining a gang

Confronting Beliefs that Support Violence Violence is not an effective way to solve problems or feel powerful or be in control when confronted. Consequences of violence Alternatives to violence that better solve the problem, Effects of community prejudice and ways to overcome that prejudice.

Family Therapy Programs Individualized treatment plans Focus on strengths and resilience, Use of multiple levels of intervention (e.g., individual, family, community, peers, school) Improve the relationships between youth and parents Improving parental limit setting, monitoring and discipline

Functional Family Therapy Short-term intervention Family and individual counseling Daily telephone or personal contacts with the family Meetings with community resources

Three Phases of Functional Family Therapy Generalization Change of Behavior Engagement and Motivation

Multi-systemic Therapy Home-based treatment Developed by Henggeler & associates Individual and family counseling

Three-step Strategy of Multi-systemic Therapy prevent or block the risk factors from attacking the family use protective factors to increase resilience Identify and neutralize risk factors

MST Intervention Principles Understand the “fit” between problems and systemic context Emphasize the positive and use systemic strengths Promote responsible behavior and decrease irresponsible behavior Present-focused and action-oriented

MST Intervention Principles Target sequences of behavior that maintain the problems Developmentally Appropriate Daily weekly effort by family members. Effectiveness is evaluated continuously Promote treatment generalization

Principles of Structure & Limit Setting Supervise activities Monitor youth whereabouts Make rules or expectations clear Help youth understand the rationale of rules Give youth input into rule formation Outcomes should be predictable

Principles of Structure & Limit Setting Rewards include social reinforcement and tangible reinforcement Natural consequences are more effective Avoid long-term consequences Flexible rules are more effective Following rules is a learning process

Did Parents… Monitor adolescent’s whereabouts? Make rules clear, flexible and predictable? Explain rationale for rules and give teen some input? Use natural, short-term consequences? Include rewards? Remember that following rules is a learning process?

Mentoring Programs

Workers as Mentors What did you do that provided mentoring? What was the response by the individual? Were there ever times when a youth let you know that something you did meant a lot to them? Who did you mentor?

Effective Residential Care Strategies Structure and behavior regulation Consistency and predictability of adaptive demands Autonomy and individuality Emotional support Trustworthiness of staff

Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) Is… a community-based alternative to residential or group home placement adult involvement and mentoring is more effective than peer group interventions in reducing problem behavior.

MTFC Components Individualized, structured foster home placement Clear rules and consequences Focus on adolescent’s strengths Daily telephone contact and weekly meetings Weekly individual counseling Weekly sessions with parents Gradually increasing time for home visitation

Skills Training Components Anger management Problem-solving Pro-social skills Increased awareness of consequences of violence and refuting beliefs supporting violence Effective use of structure, limit-setting, and consequences by parents and other caretakers

Common Characteristics of Treatment Approaches Tailored to meet the individual needs Involve collaboration and coordination Use a strengths and resilience approach Encourage positive relationships with parents and non-parental adults

Primary Change Mechanisms Behavioral changes Cognitive changes Focus on learning Focus on positive Intensive, collaborative, coordinated treatment

Implementing Interventions Fitting components into present treatment plans Some treatment interventions are already part of the treatment plan or are logical extensions of elements already in the plan Collaborating with existing service providers You don’t have to do everything yourself Identifying existing services and referral networks

Implementing Interventions (cont) Accommodating agency structure and policies Identifying barriers to implementing strategies for preventing or reducing adolescent violence Using supportive evidence of intervention effectiveness Using a step by step approach (all items do not have to be implemented at once) Emphasizing linkage with other service providers (unless that is one of the barriers)

The End…