Aggression Replacement Training

Karrie Miller Cynthia L. Lloyd Indiana University of Pennsylvania Fall 2004

Overview  Anger  Aggression Replacement Training

Desired Learner Outcomes  The teacher will be able to list the 3 components of ART and write a brief description of each component.

 The teacher will be able to list the 5 key strategies of ACT.

Anger

Source: Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools Project, (2001).

Anger…  Is not bad.  Has a function.

 Can be expressed in two ways: internal and external.

Anger…  Responses are learned from others.

 Is one of the early indicators of violent behavior.

Things That Make Children Angry  Conflict over possessions.

 Physical assault.

 Verbal assault.

 Rejection.

 Issues of compliance.

 Who knows?

If children do not receive help with managing their anger…  Poor school performance.

 Interpersonal conflicts.

 Verbal or physical assaults.

Aggression Replacement Training

Sources: Goldstein (1988), Goldstein, Glick, & Gibbs (1998)

3 Components

 Skillstreaming  Anger Control Training  Moral Reasoning Mnemonic: SAM

Intervention Levels  Primary Intervention:  Skillstreaming  Secondary/Tertiary Intervention:  Anger Control Training  Moral Reasoning

Skillstreaming

Skillstreaming Families       Beginning Social Skills Advanced Social Skills Skills for Dealing with Feelings Skill Alternatives to Aggression Skills for Dealing with Stress Planning Skills

Anger Control Training

Overview of the Anger Control Training Program (ACT)    Primarily directed toward aggressive youth, ages 12-18.

Small group (maximum 6-8 participants) meets once a week.

Goals of ACT  Improve social skills  Reduce incidents of rearrest  Enhance community functioning.

Source: Childrens Mental Health Ontario, 2001.

ACT Weekly Topics

Basic Lesson Structure  Review of previous week's lesson.

 Introduce new skill.

 Discuss the new skill.

 Role-play using new skill and the other previously learned skills.

 Review the new learning.

Key Components of Instruction  Modeling  Role-Playing  Performance Feedback  Homework

Week 1: A-B-Cs of Aggressive Behavior (A) What led up to it? (B) What did you do? (C) What were the consequences?

Week 2: Introduce the Hassle Log

Week 2: Triggers Triggers can be external or internal.

 External: things done by one person to make another person angry.

 Internal: what you think or say to yourself when faced with an external trigger.

Week 2: Role Play Hassle Log and Triggers

Week 3: Cues Physical signs that you are angry.

 Muscle tension.

 Pounding heart.

 Knot in stomach.

 Clenched fist.

Week 3: Anger Reducers  Reducer 1: Deep breathing.

 Reducer 2: Backward counting.

 Reducer 3: Pleasant imagery.

Week 3: Role Play Triggers + Cues + Anger Reducers

Week 4: Reminders  Reminders are statements that can be used to help increase success in provocative situations of all types.

 During role play, reminders can be said aloud but the goal is to be able to say it silently.

Week 4: Reminders  Preparing for the confrontation  Impact and confrontation  Coping with arousal  Reflecting on the Provocation

Week 4: Role Play Triggers + Cues + Reminders + Anger Reducers

Week 5: Self-Evaluation  A way for students to:  Judge for themselves how well they have handled a conflict.

 Reward themselves.

 Help themselves find out how they could have handled it better.

Week 5: Role Play Triggers + Cues + Reminders + Anger Reducers + Self-evaluation Mnemonic:

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Week 6: Thinking Ahead  Students begin to think about the consequences of their actions.

 Short-term consequences.

 Long-term consequences.

 Students start thinking in “if-then” terms. (Anger reducer 4).

Week 6: Role Play Triggers + Cues + Reminders + Anger Reducers + Self-evaluation  Students are beginning to think about the consequences.

Week 7: Anger Behavior Cycle  What students do to make other people angry.

 Students list 3 things that they do to make others angry.

Week 7: Role Play Triggers + Cues + Reminders + Anger Reducers + Self-evaluation  Students are thinking about the consequences.

 Students are beginning to think about what they do to make others angry.

Week 8: Skillstreaming Skills  Students incorporate some of what they have learned from Skillstreaming sessions.

Week 8: Role Play Triggers + Cues + Reminders + Anger Reducers + Skillstreaming skill + Self evaluation  Students are thinking about the consequences.

 Students are thinking about what they do to make others angry.

Skill #26: Using Self-Control Home You have been invited to a party and you are really looking forward to it. After school, you go home to get ready for the party, which will be held that night. When you enter your home, your mother says she wants you to baby sit.

Skill #26: Using Self-Control School or Neighborhood You are walking through the schoolyard one day, and a boy you don’t know very well calls you over to him. He smiles and says, “Hey man, I’ve got five dollars. Your ma doing anything tonight.”

Week 9: Role Play Triggers + Cues + Reminders + Anger Reducers + Skillstreaming skill + Self evaluation  Students are thinking about the consequences.

 Students are thinking about what they do to make others angry.

Week 10: Role Play Triggers + Cues + Reminders + Anger Reducers + Skillstreaming skill + Self evaluation  Students are thinking about the consequences.

 Students are thinking about what they do to make others angry.

Moral Reasoning

Moral Reasoning  Set of procedures designed to raise a young person’s level of fairness, justice, and concerns, with the needs and rights of others.

Program Effectiveness

Research-Based  Based on:  Social learning theory.

 Structured learning.

 Systems theory.

Schools “ Researchers noted mixed evaluation results, but cited some positive effects on decreasing anger levels in response to minor anger-provoking situations and increasing pro-social skills and social skills knowledge.” USED Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools Expert Panel, 2001

Incarcerated Youth  When competently delivered, ART has positive outcomes in 18-month felony recidivism of 24% and a benefit to cost ratio of $11.66. Washington State Institute on Public Policy

Bibliography Children’s Mental Health Ontario. (2001). Selected evidence based practices for children and adolescents with conduct disorder: Parent training and peer group interventions. Retrieved September 18, 2004 from http://www.cmho.org/pdf_files/CD_W3_Peer%20Group%20Interventions.pdf Goldstein, A. P. (1988). The prepare curriculum: Teaching prosocial competencies. Champaign, Illinois: Research Press.

Goldstein, A. P., Glick, B. & Gibbs, J. C. (1998). Aggression replacement training: A comprehensive intervention for youth. Champaign, Illinois: Research Press.

Roth, B. & Striepling-Goldstein, S. (2003). School-based aggression replacement training.

Reclaiming children and youth

, 12 (3), 138-141. Retrieved September 30, 2004 from EBSCO database.

Bibliography (cont.) Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools Project. (2001).

SDDFS Notes, 4 (3).

Retrieved September 18, 2004 from University of North Florida, Florida Institute of Education web site: http://www.unf.edu/dept/fie/sdfs/notes/anger.pdf United States Department of Education Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools Expert Panel. (2001). Exemplary and promising safe, disciplines, and drug-free schools programs 2001. Retrieved October 15, 2004 from http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/exemplary01/exemplary01.pdf

Washington State Institute for Public Policy. (2004).

Outcome evaluation of Washington state’s research-based programs for juvenile offenders.

Retrieved October 15, 2004 from http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/