Explicit Instruction of Pro‐Social Skills for Grade 7‐12: A Research/Evidence Based Approach
Preventing Violence through Promotion Of Positive Healthy Relationships
Jean Bacon
Regional CAMH Education Coordinator
jeanbacon@sasktel.net 306‐651‐7304
People and Places
Developers:
David Wolfe, Ph.D.
RBC Investments Chair in Developmental Psychopathology and Children’s Mental Health
CAMH Centre for Prevention Science
Claire Crooks, Ph.D.
Professor, Faculty of Education, Western University
Ray Hughes, M.Ed.
CAMH Centre for Prevention Science Peter Jaffe, Ph.D.
Professor, Faculty of Education, Western University
Academic Director, Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children, Western University
Program Writers: Debbie Townsley, Ray Hughes, Claire Crooks, David Wolfe, Shanna Burns, Andrea Kirkham
The Fourth R
What is the Fourth R?
A comprehensive school‐based relationship‐based approach to prevent adolescent violence and related risk behaviors
– Peer and dating violence
– Substance use & abuse
– Healthy growth and sexuality
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History of the Fourth R
• Research Project
• Writing Lessons
• Pilot Schools
• Thames Valley Implementation
• National Implementation
• International Implementation
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Project Registries
• Canada –
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Ontario Bullying Prevention Data Base
Canadian National Crime Prevention Registry
Curriculum Services Canada
Public Health Agency of Canada Promising and Best Practices Portal
Public Health Agency of Canada Promising and Model Crime Prevention Programs
National School‐Based Mental Health and Substance Abuse Consortium
• United States
– SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence‐Based Programs and Practices
– US Department of Justice Programs Crime Solutions
– Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Model Programs Guide
– Find Youth Info Government Evaluated Program Directory
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What facilitators are saying …
Data collected to date suggests that HRP is enjoyable to implement and valuable for youth … implementing the program was a positive experience and that they would recommend the program to a colleague.
Students were willing to share and discuss concerns related to various topics. They particularly wanted to know how to help their friends, and students demonstrated improved skills in communicating assertively.
It had a powerful influence on students who were regular consumers of drugs and alcohol to reduce or quit.
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What student participants are saying …
I learned to be respectful and assertive when apologizing, ending relationships/friendships, and when not agreeing with peer pressure. I also learned how to be a good listener. (Grade 10 Girl)
I learned that throughout group sharing others have the same stresses as me. (Grade 10 Boy)
The [program] has really made me think about how I treat others. I realize now that I don’t treat people very well, and I’m going to make changes. (Grade 10 Girl)
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‐From a CAMH Information Publication (2015)
Linkage to Aboriginal Perspectives
Aboriginal Perspectives
HRPP
Relationships between students and teachers: Honest, caring, “teachers treat students as members of an extended family
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Teachers recognize students as having valuable contributions to make (“sharing power;” “inquiry‐based and interactive” vs. transmissional “and passive”
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“Patience,” “gentleness,” “with the ability to be firm when necessary” vs. only a “professional orientation to strong instruction and accessibility.”
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Teachers recognize the culture of “non‐
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interference, which is practiced in some Aboriginal homes.”
Pillay, M. (2014‐15) Saskatchewan Bulletin (81‐01, 81‐03, 81‐05
Linkage to Aboriginal Perspectives
Aboriginal Perspectives
HRPP
“Rejection of deficit theorizing” (i.e., the belief that Aboriginal students and their families and communities are to blame for their low achievement,” and that individuals belonging to some racial groups are inferior to the white race in some areas such as intellectual ability and motivation to learn vs. “the education system”). NB: What is your understanding of the effect of “privilege” on world views
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“… ready to meet their students as they are when they arrive” vs. students’ “being ready”
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Pillay, M. (2014‐15) Saskatchewan Bulletin (81‐01, 81‐03, 81‐05
Linkage to Aboriginal Students’ Preferences
Aboriginal Perspectives
HRPP
“Teachers asking their students how they learn best and what supports they would
like.”
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“… ready to meet their students as they are when they arrive” vs. students’ “being ready”
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Many strategies already in place: cooperative learning, inquiry‐based (as in a constructivist approach), graphic organizers, critical thinking activities, and providing formative feedback.
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Pillay, M. (2014‐15) Saskatchewan Bulletin (81‐01, 81‐03, 81‐05
Many strategies already in place: • Cooperative learning
• Inquiry‐based (as in a constructivist approach) • Graphic organizers • Critical thinking activities
• Formative feedback
• Experiential learning
• Integration of technology
• Differentiated instruction
• Land‐based experiences
• Portfolios for assessment
• Action research
• Specific instructions and guidance that are clear and concise
• Stories and anecdotes
Pillay, M. (2014‐15) Saskatchewan Bulletin (81‐01, 81‐03, 81‐05
What does it mean to be “mentally well”? Having good supports Knowing how to access help when needed
Mental wellness
Knowing how to deal with stress
Having a positive outlook/ self esteem
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What kinds of issues can get in the way of good emotional health?
Lack of opportunities
Feeling disconnecte
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Unhealthy /violent relationships Risk Factors
Racism and discrimination
Lacking good coping strategies
Poverty
Poor self esteem
Intergenerational trauma
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What can trigger a mental health issue or mental illness?
• Genetic factors
• Psychological factors (low self esteem, inability to deal with anger or stress)
• Hormonal/chemical imbalance
• Traumatic or stressful life events (An assault, being bullied, abusive situations, a death of a loved one, etc.)
• Unhealthy or abusive relationships
• Drug and alcohol abuse
Any of these factors, alone or in combination, can cause or trigger a mental health issue.
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1 in 4 people will experience a mental health issue in their lives
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Why are we discussing mental health?
This program is supposed to be about healthy relationships.
Why are we talking about mental health?
* information from CAMH.net, mindyourmind.ca, and CMHA.ca
*Consider this:
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Many mental health issues surface during adolescence or young adulthood.
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Depression and anxiety are common among high school aged youth. •
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people in Canada, second only to car accidents.
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More than half the people struggling with depression and anxiety do not seek help from a professional.
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Most mental health issues are diagnosable, treatable illnesses. People can and do recover from mental health issues when they seek help.
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Why don’t more people get help?
People will think I’m weird, weak, or “crazy”. There’s nothing wrong with me. I don’t think I need help. I’ll snap out of it.
Everyone feels like this... right?
I don’t know where to go to get help.
Relationships and Mental Health:
What’s the connection?
• Healthy relationships can contribute to a person’s mental wellbeing. A young person who feels meaningfully connected and who has healthy relationships with others is in a much better position to access help when needed.
• Unhealthy relationships can contribute to mental health issues and challenges.
• A person’s mental health can affect how they interact with the people in their life: Parents, peers, partners, teachers, co‐workers, etc.
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Links Between Substance Use and Emotional Well‐being
Adolescents use substances for a range of reasons, including as a response to emotional distress:
Depression
Trauma
Anxiety
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Substance Use and Relationships
• Substance use can emerge in the context of peer and dating relationships
• It can also be used to cope with relationship‐
based difficulties:
– Loneliness
– Peer pressure
– Family violence
– Bullying
– Dating violence
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Young people, armed with the right information, can be in a great position to help themselves or a friend in trouble.
• Young people often turn to their friends first when they are struggling.
• 8 out of 10 young people who attempt suicide mention their plans to someone before the attempt. Often this person is a friend.
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Our Job: What We Are Trying To Do…
1. Promote discussion about mental health challenges in a safe, accepting environment.
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Our Job: What We Are Trying To Do…
2. Get youth to think about how they manage their stress level and emotional wellbeing.
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Our Job: What We Are Trying To Do…
3. Get youth to think about how their relationships contribute to their emotional wellbeing.
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Our Job: What We Are Trying To Do…
4. Arm them with information about how they might help themselves or a friend who is struggling.
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Our Job: What We Are Trying To Do…
5. Help students to know when they need to seek professional assistance, either for themselves or a friend, and how to do that.
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How We Do It…
6. Model nonjudgmental, calm communication around difficult mental health topics such as suicide.
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How We Do It…
7. Be familiar with the different procedures and policies of our organizations as they relate to disclosure and risk of harm.
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How We Do It…
8. Know how to respond to a disclosure or help‐seeking attempt by a youth
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4As ‐ Response to Disclosures
Affirm
Ask
Assess
Action
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AFFIRM
• Affirm the student’s feelings
• Support the student for coming forward (e.g., “You did the right thing”, “I’m really glad you came to talk about this”)
• Reflect their emotions (e.g., “I can tell this is scary for you”)
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ASK
• Ask questions
• Aim for a non‐
judgmental tone
• Gather information about who, what, when and where
• How long a situation has been going on
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ASSESS
• Assess the youth’s safety – find out about supports
• If it is a disclosure about bullying ‐‐ safety may differ depending on role
• If it is a disclosure about potential harm, get a sense of thoughts versus plans
• Pay special attention to threats
• Help create a safety plan
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ACT
• No quick fix, but a step by step plan
• Most important is the next step (e.g., speak with principal, parents, students involved)
• Tell the student what will happen next
• Follow your protocol for reporting or consulting with others
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How We Do It…
9. Engage in self‐
reflection to examine our own beliefs and attitudes about mental health challenges and suicide.
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How We Do It…
10. Be aware of the need for self‐care and develop a plan to help maintain balance.
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Adolescent Risk Behaviours: The Relationship Connection
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Positive Youth Development
• Want to help teens go beyond not drinking, not being violent. etc. • What do they WANT their relationships to look like, not merely what to avoid
• Build resilience for future stressful situations
NB: Universal intervention
– No stigma for being involved
– All teens will end up in difficult interpersonal situations – Increase capacity of bystanders
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Skill Development
• Focus on helping teens keep themselves safe in potentially dangerous situations.
• Recognize that some of these behaviours are normative.
NB: Criminalization has not been an effective way to reduce problems and can exacerbate problems.
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Findings
Compared to students receiving the usual health class in their schools, students in the Fourth R:
• Learned more than their counterparts about violence, substance use, and sexual health
• Had healthier attitudes about violence
• Enjoyed the class more and found it more useful
• Reported experiencing less relationship aggression (both as perpetrators and victims)
•Program for Aboriginal youth increased youth engagement
Wolfe, D.A., Crooks. C., Jaffe, P., Chiodo, D., Hughes, R., Ellis, W., Stitt, L., & Donner, A.(2009) . A School‐Based Program to Prevent Adolescent Dating Violence: A Cluster Randomized Trial. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, 163(8), 692‐699. The Fourth R
Findings
Results: Skill Acquisition
• Negotiation Skills
– Fourth R students were 2.2 times more likely than controls students to show at least one negotiation skill during role‐play interaction • Delay Skills
– Fourth R female students were 4.8 times more likely to show at least one delay skill during role‐play interaction • Yielding to Pressure
– Control students were 2.0 times more likely than Fourth R students to yield to pressure
Wolfe, D.A., Crooks. C., Jaffe, P., Chiodo, D., Hughes, R., Ellis, W., Stitt, L., & Donner, A.(2009) . A School‐Based Program to Prevent Adolescent Dating Violence: A Cluster Randomized Trial. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, 163(8), 692‐699. The Fourth R
The Importance of Fidelity
• Fidelity is the extent to which a program or set of procedures is implemented as it was supposed to have been.
• Fidelity is usually comprised of:
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Adherence to implementation guidelines
Completeness and dosage of implementation
Quality of program delivery
Degree of participant engagement
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Fidelity criteria are used to ensure programs are implemented with quality •
Higher fidelity is associated with better outcomes
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Programs that monitor implementation can obtain much better outcomes for their participants than programs that are not monitored
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Cultural Influences: A Closer Look at the Fishbowl
• Concerns with violence in media
• New forms of technology  new opportunities for relationship violence
• Pervasiveness of media
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Overview: Healthy Relationships Plus (HRP)
• Principles and Participants
– Designed to be taught by community professionals in a small group setting
• Implementing the Program
– Skills‐based activities to promote healthy relationships and target a wide range of abuse and violence
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Overview: Healthy Relationships Plus (HRP)
Three key themes emerged from the youth:
– Creating a safe space;
– Communicating feelings; and,
– Unpacking the power of language.
‐Ryan Jimmy (research assistant with the Saskatchewan Hub of the Canadian Prevention Science Cluster; 2014)
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Overview: Healthy Relationships Plus (HRP)
Comment from a participant in the program:
What I learned today was that you don’t have to stay in an abusive relationship and it is important to find people who will help you get through the pain … When someone is using their power to put you down that isn’t love so you shouldn’t stay thinking that things will change.
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Overview: Healthy Relationships Plus (HRP)
…. students’ voices need to be heard:
For me, the real teachers were the student participants … youth who are Aboriginal or marginalized due to poverty and are struggling with being young and disempowered … As adults, we have a duty to open up … spaces for such conversations to take place between our indigenous youth. We need to be able to make ourselves vulnerable and open, patient with our interactions with the youth, support[ting] their learning to see the world as safe, supportive, and filled with opportunities.
‐Ryan Jimmy (2014)
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Lesson Overview & Strategies
• Warm‐Up (Journal Response)
• Game (Activities)
• Cool Down (Journal Topic)
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Fold
the
Line
Move to the Music
• What does it LOOK like when people are in a healthy
relationship? What do you actually SEE? • What does it LOOK like when people are in an unhealthy
relationship? What do you actually SEE? Face the person: Body language speaks volumes! Make sure you face the person you are listening to, otherwise, they may feel like you don’t really care or that you aren’t listening at all. It is polite to smile genuinely, nod or show appropriate facial expressions.
Seek Clarification: If the person says something you don’t understand, don’t be afraid to ask questions for clarification of details. However, don’t interrupt the person! Just show interest by waiting until they are finished, and then by asking questions for clarification.
Ignore distractions: When someone is speaking to you, try to focus on that person in that particular moment. Don’t let your mind wonder about other things going on in your life. Try not to look at your watch, the clock in the room, your cell phone, etc. Summarize: When the person finishes talking, it is appropriate to summarize what they have said in some type of empathic response. Listen to what they are saying; try to decide what the person is feeling. Respond by summarizing how you think they feel in the situation (e.g., if a friend tells you how he just got great concert tickets for an amazing band, your empathic response might be, “Wow, it sounds like you are so excited! That’s great!”) RESPECT
Looks Like…
Sounds Like…
Feels Like…
Using Role Plays
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Background Information for Using Role Plays
• Role‐play opportunities in the program
• Reason for in‐service on role plays
• Importance of role plays
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Assertive Communication
Step 1 – Present a written model
Step 2 – Practice written responses
Step 3 – Demonstrate a verbal response
Step 4 – Practice verbal responses
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Apologies
– Be sincere
– Tell the person why you are sorry
– Tell the person how you will correct the situation (if possible)
– Use a serious tone of voice
Step 1 – Present a written model
Step 2 – Practice written responses
Step 3 – Demonstrate a verbal response
Step 4 – Practice verbal responses
Also ‐ Delay / Negotiation / Refusal Skills
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Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Exploring what emotional wellness “looks” like‐
having support, self esteem, positive outlook, knowledge etc.
• Key messages about mental health issues‐ They are common, nobody’s fault, and usually treatable.
• Identifying supports‐ Giving students resources they can access should they need them.
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Think/Pair/Share Scenarios
Key Messages:
‐ Mental health issues are complicated. If you friends are showing signs it may or may not be indicative that there is a serious problem.
‐ Regardless, it is important to make yourself available to a friend, even by just listening, if they are having a tough time
‐ Some scenarios are out of your control, and it may be necessary to access professional help if someone is at risk of harming themselves.
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Conclusion
STR8 UP members have relayed both their gratitude and shared benefits of the program for themselves. They have …
• Identified areas where they felt they needed to improve, such as relationships with family and others, developing their own voice and inner power to refuse high risk activity;
• Had the opportunity to humbly share their life experience with others; this has helped them and had a positive impact on the youth they were sharing with.
• Increased their self‐confidence and facilitation skills.
• Come to new understandings about their own experiences and personal healing in their sharing with the youth; and,
• Had the opportunity to return to the community what they had previously taken.
‐Stan Tu’Inukuafe (Counsellor at Oskayak High School; 2014)
AERC Newsletter (2014; 5‐6)
Conclusion
My experience in supporting and mentoring the STR8 UP members during the last 4 years has given me the appreciation that instead of waiting for these individuals to be the future leaders of tomorrow, they can be leaders today.
‐Stan Tu’Inukuafe (2014)
AERC Newsletter (2014; 5‐6)
Facilitator Training
Free online training in SK for:
• Grades 7‐9 Fourth R Programs
• Healthy Relationships Plus Program
If participants will agree to be in a research project to determine the effectiveness of the facilitator training online training approach
www.youthrelationships.org
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Facilitator Training
Contact information:
Suzanne Zwarych
Director of Health Youth Relationships
Shift: The Program to End Domestic Violence
University of Calgary, Calgary AB
CAMH Coordinator for Fourth R Programs
Canada4thR@gmail.com ‐ 587‐832‐0630
www.youthrelationships.org
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QUESTIONS?
www.youthrelationships.org
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