Profile of an aggressor: childhood bullies evolve into violent youths

Violence in schools and communities is no longer an urban school problem; it is every school's problem (Garbarino, 1999). What factors cause children to interact with increasingly violent and anti-social behaviors? What strategies can teachers and schools use in order to help these childhood bullies who grow up to be violent youths? This paper examines the life of Jeffrey, a fictional young man created to personalize the effects that the environment, both home and school, has on the development of anti-social and violent behaviors. Follow Jeffrey from birth, through the early years, into middle school, and, finally, high school and observe the development of increasingly anti-social and violent behaviors, as well as explore classroom and school interventions that may have helped Jeffrey, and others like him, learn appropriate prosocial skills. Through Jeffrey, I examine the development of anti-social and violent behaviors at four key developmental levels and address intervention strategies and programs that have demonstrated an increase in prosocial behaviors.     

Effects of the Child Development Project on Students' Drug Use and Other Problem Behaviors

The Child Development Project is a comprehensive school reform program that helps elementary schools to become caring communities of learners—environments characterized by supportive interpersonal relationships, shared goals, responsiveness to students' developmental and sociocultural needs, and an emphasis on prosocial values of personal responsibility, concern for others, and fairness, as well as a commitment to learning. The program includes classroom, schoolwide, and family involvement activities that, working synergistically, are expected to foster students' positive development and resilience to risk when confronted with stressful life events and circumstances. Following baseline assessments, the program was introduced in schools from six school districts across the U.S. over a period of three years. Similar schools in these same districts served as a comparison group. Evaluation findings indicated that when the program was implemented widely throughout a school, there were significant reductions in students' use of drugs and involvement in other problem behaviors.     

School functioning and violent behavior among young adolescents: a contextual analysis

This paper examines associations between overall school functioning and frequency of violent behaviors among young adolescents (ages 10-14). The sample included 16 middle schools participating in an unrelated intervention study (on nutrition) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A School Functioning Index, developed to characterize schools' overall stability, performance and demographics, was constructed using data from public archives and school administrator surveys. Data on violent behaviors and other variables were collected in student surveys in fall 1998 and spring 1999. We used multilevel modeling to assess the effect of school functioning on violent behavior after adjusting for known individual-level covariates of violent behaviors. We found an interaction between school functioning (group-level variable) and expectations for future education (individual-level variable). Among students who reported expectations of completing a college degree (71% of the sample), positive school functioning was negatively associated with violent behaviors. Among students that reported expectations of completing less than a college degree, no association was found between school functioning and violent behaviors. These results support earlier work suggesting that objectively measured school characteristics are associated with students' violent behaviors even after accounting for individual-level factors and also identify a subgroup of students for whom school detachment may be an issue.     

The evaluation of school-based violence prevention programs: a meta-analysis

Background: Youth violence and related aggressive behaviors have become serious public health issues with physical, economic, social, and psychological impacts and consequences. This study identified and evaluated the characteristics of successful school‐based violence prevention programs. Methods: Twenty‐six randomized controlled trial (RCT), school‐based studies that were designed to reduce externalizing, aggressive, and violent behavior between the 1st and 11th grades were analyzed for assessing the effects of 5 program characteristics by comparing results of intervention groups to control groups (no intervention) after intervention using a meta‐analysis. Electronic databases and bibliographies were systematically searched, and a standardized mean difference was used for analysis. Results: There was no significant difference between interventions, although programs that used non–theory‐based interventions, focused on at‐risk and older children, and employed intervention specialists had slightly stronger effects in reducing aggression and violence. Interventions using a single approach had a mild positive effect on decreasing aggressive and violent behavior (effect size =?0.15, 95% CI =?0.29 to ?0.02, p = .03). Conclusions: Unlike previous individual study findings, this meta‐analysis did not find any differential effects for 4 of the 5 program characteristics. In addition, the significant effect noted was contrary to expectation, exemplifying the complexity of identifying effective program strategies. This study adds to the current literature by assessing the program characteristics of RCT studies in an effort to determine what factors may affect school‐based violence prevention program success.     

Development of the social ecology model of adolescent interpersonal violence prevention (SEMAIVP)

The Social Ecology Model of Adolescent Interpersonal Violence Prevention (SEMAIVP) was used to examine adolescent beliefs and behaviors about interpersonal violence. Cross-sectional data were collected from middle school students using the Youth Conflict Mediation Survey. Regression models were developed for the total sample, by gender and by race. Factors explaining 48% of the variance in violence avoidance responses include more frequent positive recognition for violence avoidance, possessing a higher sense of nonviolence self-efficacy, and more frequent involvement in violence engagement behaviors. Factors explaining 53% of the variance in violence engagement responses include more exposure to neighborhood fighting, fewer prosocial anger control beliefs, fewer prosocial anger control strategies, more skill development opportunities, and more frequent involvement in violence avoidance behaviors. Findings suggest that prevention approaches need to use a comprehensive social ecology approach that includes intrapersonal, personal, school, and neighborhood environmental components and that provides recognition to adolescents for using violence avoidance skills.     

Mother‐Grandmother Conflict,Negative Parenting,and Young Children's Social Development in Multigenerational Families

Mutigenerational households that include grandmothers and adult mothers caring for grandchildren are increasingly common. The influence, however, of mother‐grandmother relationship quality and grandmothers' parenting on grandchildren's social development remains largely unexplored in these three‐generation households. This study examines linkages among caregiver depressive symptoms, mother‐grandmother verbal conflict, observed parenting, and 36‐month‐old grandchildren's problem and prosocial behaviors among a subsample from the Family Life Project (N = 85) consisting of economically disadvantaged multigenerational families. The findings suggest that mother‐grandmother relationship conflict presents a risk to children's behavior directly and indirectly via mothers' negative parenting behaviors. Mothers seem to be more influenced by the mother‐grandmother relationship than grandmothers. These results highlight the importance of including mother‐grandmother conflict in mutigenerational families in family assessments and interventions.     

Developing a school functioning index for middle schools

Despite widespread recognition of schools' role in the healthy development of youth, surprisingly little research has examined the relationships between schools' overall functioning and the health-related behavior of students. School functioning could become an important predictor of students' health-related behavior and may be amenable to intervention. This paper describes the development and testing of the School Functioning Index (SFI) as a first step in investigating this question. The index was developed for use with middle schools and conceived as a predictor of students' violent behavior, with the potential for extending research applications to additional health and social behaviors. Using social cognitive theory, social ecological theory, and social disorganization theory as guides, three domains were identified to operationalize school functioning and identify candidate SFI items: 1) resources available to the school and students; 2) stability of the school population; and 3) the schools' performance as a socializing agent for students. Data for candidate SFI items were collected from public archives and directly from 16 middle schools participating in a school-based dietary intervention study. Data collection from schools, particularly concerning student aggressive behavior and disciplinary actions, presented challenges. The final SFI comprised nine items and demonstrated good internal consistency and variability. The SFI was modestly correlated in expected directions with violence and other health behaviors. This work supports the feasibility of combining multiple school-level indicators to create a measure of overall school functioning. Further investigation of validity and more acceptable data collection methods are warranted.     

Early Elementary School-Aged Child Attachment to Parents: A Test of Theory and Implications for Intervention

Child attachment to parents has been shown in the literature to reduce the likelihood of problem behaviors through enhancing resiliency. Research examining attachment and its relationship to antisocial behavioral outcomes in adolescents has been shaped largely by social control theorists who have theorized that attachment to prosocial others inhibits the expression of antisocial behavioral outcomes (Hirschi, 1969). This paper seeks to expand the literature by investigating the development of child attachment to parent(s) during the early elementary school years as specified theoretically by the social development model (Catalano & Hawkins, 1996). Using structural equation modeling, the results support the theoretical model as proposed by the social development model. School-aged children's attachment to parents can be successfully predicted by constructs outlined in the social development model. Finally, implications for interventions that enhance child attachment to parent(s) are discussed.     

Social competence of elementary-school children: relationships to maternal authoritativeness, supportive maternal responses and children's coping strategies

Background Although the influences of parenting on children's development of social competence have been well established, research on the underlying mechanisms of this link is relatively limited. The present study examined children's coping strategies as a mediator of the effects of maternal authoritativeness and maternal inductive responses on their social competence. Method The mothers of 183 Hong Kong Chinese children aged 6 to 8 years (89 girls and 94 boys) reported on their adoption of authoritative parenting and their responses to their children's expressions of emotion, and rated their children's adoption of constructive coping strategies. The children's teachers reported on the children's prosocial behaviour, and rated their level of peer acceptance at school. Results A model of maternal authoritativeness and supportive maternal responses affecting children's social competence is presented. The study results show that the effects of authoritative parenting on children's adoption of constructive coping strategies were mediated by supportive maternal responses to children's expression of emotion, and that the effects of maternal authoritativeness and maternal responses on children's social competence were mediated by children's coping strategies. These results suggest that school personnel should organize training programmes on emotion‐coping strategies for both parents and children. Conclusion The findings imply that positive parenting facilitates children's acquisition of constructive emotion‐coping strategies. Programmes on emotion‐coping strategies should be introduced for both parents and school children.     

The contextual effect of school attachment on young adolescents' alcohol use

BACKGROUND: The school is a primary context for social interaction, cultivation of interpersonal skills, formation of peer groups, self-expression, and development of self. Several studies have demonstrated that the social context of the school has important implications for determining the likelihood that an adolescent will follow a prosocial path through adolescence as opposed to becoming involved in delinquent behavior. METHODS: Using a data set of 4,216 youth in 32 middle schools and junior high schools across the United States, this paper examines the effect of a student's own level of school attachment as well as the contextual level of school attachment (the normative level of school attachment in a school) on 5 alcohol-related measures: recent use of alcohol, intention to use alcohol, normative beliefs about peer use of alcohol, attitudes toward alcohol use, and aspirations consistent with alcohol use. RESULTS: This study demonstrates that regardless of a student's own level of school attachment, students who attend schools where the pupils overall tend to be well attached to school are less likely to use alcohol. In addition, they also have lower intentions to use alcohol, perceive that fewer of their peers at school use alcohol, and more strongly hold aspirations that are inconsistent with alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings, along with the findings of related studies, provide support for the hypothesis that improvement of school climate may result in less substance use among students.     

Work-related violence, lifestyle, and health among special education teachers working in Finnish basic education

BACKGROUND: Studies have reported higher levels of absenteeism due to illness among special education teachers compared to other teachers, but it is not known which factors might contribute to this difference. We examined whether health, health behaviors, and exposure to violence at work differed between special education and general education teachers in Finnish basic education. METHODS: Survey data from 5760 general and special education teachers were analyzed with multilevel logistic models adjusted for individual‐ and school‐level confounding factors. RESULTS: No difference was found between the health behaviors of general and special education teachers. The differences in physical and mental health between the two groups were also relatively small. With regard to work‐related violence, however, male special education teachers were 3 times more likely to be exposed to mental abuse, and 5 times more likely to be exposed to physical violence when compared to their male colleagues in general education. Although female special educators were also at an increased risk of mental abuse and physical violence compared to their female general teacher colleagues, their odds ratios for such an encounter were smaller (2‐ and 3‐fold, respectively) than those of male special education teachers. The school‐level variance of physical violence toward teachers was large, which indicates that while most schools have little physical violence toward teachers, schools do exist in which teachers' exposure to violence is common. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that special education teachers may benefit from training for handling violent situations and interventions to prevent violence at schools.     

Low‐Level Violence in Schools: Is There an Association Between School Safety Measures and Peer Victimization?

BACKGROUND: Low‐level violent behavior, particularly school bullying, remains a critical public health issue that has been associated with negative mental and physical health outcomes. School‐based prevention programs, while a valuable line of defense to stave off bullying, have shown inconsistent results in terms of decreasing bullying. This study explored whether school safety measures (eg, security guards, cameras, ID badges) were associated with student reports of different forms of peer victimization related to bullying. METHODS: Data came from the 2007 School Crime Supplement of the National Crime Victimization Survey. Chi‐square tests of independence were used to examine differences among categorical variables. Logistic regression models were constructed for the peer victimization outcomes. A count variable was constructed among the bullying outcomes (0–7) with which a Poisson regression model was constructed to analyze school safety measures' impacts on degree of victimization. RESULTS: Of the various school safety measures, only having adults in hallways resulted in a significant reduction in odds of being physically bullied, having property vandalized, or having rumors spread. In terms of degree of victimization, having adults and/or staff supervising hallways was associated with an approximate 26% decrease in students experiencing an additional form of peer victimization. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated that school safety measures overall were not associated with decreased reports of low‐level violent behaviors related to bullying. More research is needed to further explore what best promotes comprehensive safety in schools.     

Physical activity and positive youth development: impact of a school-based program

BACKGROUND: Protective factors associated with positive youth development predict health and education outcomes. This study explored trends in these protective factors and in physical activity among low‐income students, and determined the impact of a school‐based youth development program on these trends. METHODS: This study used a quasi‐experimental time series design including data from 158 low‐income schools from 2001 to 2007. Ninety‐four schools had exposure to a school‐based program promoting physical activity and youth development through structured play; 64 schools served as controls. Primary outcomes were 5th‐grade student scores (n = 13,109) on a California statewide survey for physical activity (1–6 scale) and measures of protective factors including problem solving skills, meaningful participation in school, and caring adults (1–4 scales). Predictors were time (year) and school's number of years of exposure to the program. RESULTS: Overall, significant annual declines were seen in protective factors, including students' report of feeling safe (?0.03, 95% CI [?0.03, ?0.01]), caring adults at school (?0.03 [?0.05, ?0.02]), and problem solving skills (?0.03 [?0.04, ?0.02]). Cumulative declines over 6 years were equivalent to a drop of 1 school‐level SD. Each additional year of exposure to the program predicted greater meaningful participation (0.02 [0.001, 0.5]), problem‐solving skills (0.03 [0.0001, 0.06]), and increased physical activity (0.06 [0.01, 0.10]); exposure throughout elementary school (6 years) increased scores by 1 school‐level SD. CONCLUSIONS: Low‐income students reported a significant decline in protective factors since 2001. School partnerships with youth development programs promoting physical activity may ameliorate declines in emotional well‐being and increase physical activity.     

A Dynamical Systems Perspective on Mediating Violence in Schools: Emergent Roles of Child and Youth Care Workers

In recent years, violence has been a major concern for human service professionals and increasingly, to child and youth care workers particularly as they have served in schools where major violent events have occurred. Most often violence prevention and intervention efforts ignore the systemic aspects of violence and are too narrowly focused. This article proposes that a consideration of violence in schools be based on dynamical systems theory. This theory offers rich possibilities for generating a useful model for mediating school violence and for suggesting ways in which child and youth care workers can use their competencies to address the multiple factors related to school violence. The article includes an overview to the concepts of dynamical systems theory, offers the dynamical systems model for mediating school violence and presents implications for the roles and functions of child and youth workers particularly in the emerging area of school based child and youth care work.     

Prosocial norms as a positive youth development construct: conceptual bases and implications for curriculum development

Prosocial norms are clear, healthy, ethical standards, beliefs, and behavior guidelines that promote prosocial behavior and minimize health risks. The promotion of prosocial norms like altruism, solidarity, and volunteerism is an important aspect of positive youth development programs. From the literature, it is evident that a prosocial orientation is encouraged in traditional Chinese philosophy. Longitudinal studies have shown that prosocial behavior increases gradually over adolescence, and that the development of prosocial behavior is closely linked to the development of moral reasoning, perspective taking, and regulation of personal distress. It is noteworthy that females have a higher prosocial orientation than males, and peer influence could be a major mediating factor of interventions to foster prosocial norms and behavior during adolescence. This review also analyzes the mechanism underlying prosocial behavior using the cost-reward model, social cognitive theory, and stages of moral development. Role modeling, social reinforcements and evaluations, discussion of moral dilemmas, empathy skills training, and foot-in-the-door procedures are identified as useful strategies for fostering prosocial norms and behavior.     

Effectiveness of early intervention for children prenatally exposed to cocaine: moderating effects of low birth weight on behavioral outcomes

This study examined the moderating effect of low birth weight on the effectiveness of an early intervention program to improve cognitive, language and behavioral outcomes for children prenatally exposed to cocaine. Participants included 293 primarily minority, low SES children who were enrolled in the intervention during their first year and assessed at 36 months. Main effects for intervention and birth weight in the hypothesized direction were found for cognitive, receptive and expressive language ability, and for problem behaviors. There were also significant interaction effects between intervention and birth weight on problem behaviors and prosocial behavior, such that there was an intervention effect on problem behaviors and prosocial behavior for children with low birth weight, but not for children with normal birth weight. These results suggest that, among prenatally cocaine‐exposed children, those who have low birth weight may benefit more from intervention than those with normal birth weight.     

Coping Power Adapted as Universal Prevention Program: Mid Term Effects on Children’s Behavioral Difficulties and Academic Grades

Aggressive behaviors in schools have the potential to cause serious harm to students’ emotional and social well-being and to limit their ability to achieve their full academic potential. Prevention programs developed to reduce children’s aggressive behaviors in school settings can provide interventions at a universal or targeted level. The main aim of our randomized control study was to examine the efficacy of Coping Power, adapted as a universal prevention program, in reducing children’s behavioral problems and improving school grades. Nine classes participated (184 students, mean age 91 months) from two elementary state schools in Tuscany, Italy. Study findings showed a significant reduction in behavioral problems and an improvement in school grades for the intervention classes relative to the control classes. This study suggests the Coping Power program can be delivered in school settings at both universal and targeted prevention levels, and that in this multi-tiered prevention model, teachers, educators and school psychologists can learn a set of intervention skills which can be delivered with flexibility, thus reducing some of the complexity and costs of schools using multiple interventions.     

Considering a Decision-Making Approach to Youth Violence Prevention Programs

ABSTRACT: The unfortunate exception to a general downturn in violent crime involves an upsurge in violence among youth. Violence often results when minor confrontations escalate. As school violence increasingly has become widespread, schools have become the location of many violence prevention efforts, few of which have been evaluated adequately. This paper focuses on enhancing decision-making skills as one approach to increase adolescents' ability to manage interpersonal violence. Adolescents can be considered fairly skilled decision-makers and their unique perspective must be considered in development of effective intervention programs. Data from a pilot study were examined for insights about adolescents' ability to make decisions in situations of interpersonal conflict.     

Social and emotional learning: a framework for promoting mental health and reducing risk behavior in children and youth

ABSTRACT: Many programs have been developed to help schools enhance students' health and reduce the prevalence of drug use, violence, and high‐risk sexual behaviors. How should educators choose among these? This article describes selection criteria based on theory, research, and best educational practice that identify key social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies and program features. The SEL competencies for students include 17 skills and attitudes organized into four groups: awareness of self and others; positive attitudes and values; responsible decision making; and social interaction skills. The 11 program features critical to the success of school‐based SEL programs emphasize curriculum design, coordination with larger systems, educator preparation and support, and program evaluation. Developed by the Collaborative to Advance Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the SEL framework can be used to guide selection of research‐based prevention programs that address health, substance abuse, violence prevention, sexuality, character, and social skills.     

A qualitative study of teacher's perceptions of an intervention to prevent conduct problems in Jamaican pre-schools

Background There is a growing evidence base showing the efficacy of school‐based interventions to prevent conduct problems but few evaluations have addressed teachers' perceptions of these programmes. Teachers' views on the acceptability, feasibility and usefulness of an intervention will influence implementation fidelity and programme sustainability and can help further our understanding of how the intervention works and how it may be improved. Methods A pilot study of the Incredible Years Teacher Training Programme supplemented by a curriculum unit on social and emotional skills was conducted in inner‐city pre‐schools in Kingston, Jamaica. Three pre‐schools comprising 15 classrooms participated in the intervention which involved seven monthly teacher workshops and 14 weekly child lessons in each class. At the end of the intervention in‐depth individual interviews were conducted with each intervention teacher. Results Teachers reported benefits to their own teaching skills and professional development, to their relationships with children and to the behaviour, social‐emotional competence and school readiness skills of the children in their class. Teachers also reported benefits to teacher–parent relationships and to children's behaviour at home. A hypothesis representing the teachers' perceptions of how the intervention achieved these benefits was developed. The hypothesis suggests that intervention effects were due to teachers' gains in skills and knowledge in three main areas: (1) a deeper understanding of young children's needs and abilities; (2) increased use of positive and proactive strategies; and (3) explicitly teaching social and emotional skills. These changes then led to the variety of benefits reported for teachers, children and parents. Teachers reported few difficulties in implementing the majority of strategies and strongly recommended wider dissemination of the intervention. Conclusions The intervention was valued by Jamaican pre‐school teachers and teachers felt they were able to successfully integrate the strategies learned into their regular practice.