AGGRESSORS, VICTIMS & BYSTANDERS

OVERVIEW

The Aggressors, Victims & Bystanders (AVB) program is designed for middle school aged children and seeks to prevent violence through learning about how conflict and violence arises and personal reactions to violence.  AVB is a 12 session classroom-based curriculum for middle school students.  A randomized, experimental evaluation of the AVB program found that it had no impacts on social problem-solving skills, beliefs supporting violence, behavioral intent, self-reported antisocial behavior, and only marginal impacts on student self-rated behavior.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: Middle school students who are living in areas at high risk for violence

The AVB program combines classroom instruction with behavioral strategies for controlling aggression and managing conflict.  The school-based curriculum consists of 12 sessions which look at the nature of aggression and violence and the techniques available to control them. Session topics include: looking at conflict in our lives, when conflicts become violence, beliefs about conflict and violence, inner conflict, and visions of a non-violent world.  Additionally, the program promotes the “Think-First” model of conflict resolution.  The model is a four-step method for controlling anger and aggression; the steps are 1) Keep cool, 2) Size up the situation, 3) Think it through, and 4) Do the right thing.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Slaby, R. G., Wilson-Brewer, R., DeVos, E. (1994).  Aggressors, Victims & Bystanders: An assessment-based middle school violence prevention curriculum.  Final Report of Grant # R49/CCR103559 to Education Development Center from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Education Development Center, Newtown, MA.

Evaluated population: 237 middle school students from 23 classrooms in 3 urban schools located in Boston which were at high risk for violence.  Fifty-four percent of the sample was female and 69 percent were African-American, 6 percent were non-Hispanic whites, 5 percent were Latino, 4 percent were Puerto Rican, 4 percent were Asian-American, 4 percent were Haitian, and 8 percent were of some other ethnicity.  Thirty-two percent of children were in 6^th grade, 60 percent were in 7^th grade, and 8 percent were in 8^th grade.

Approach: Randomization was done at the classroom level with 4 classrooms being assigned to the treatment group for each classroom assigned to the control group.  In total, 18 classes (188 students) were assigned to the treatment group and 4 classes (49 students) were assigned to the control group.  Classroom teachers assigned to the treatment group were given a half-day training session in administering the curriculum.  The program’s curriculum was given in a series of 20 sessions provided 3 to 5 times per week.  Sessions lasted from 30-45 minutes in length and were followed by supplemental activities.  Children in the control condition received no intervention and attended normal classes.  Students in each class were assessed at pre- and post-intervention.  Children were assessed using a variety of paper and pencil questionnaires designed to measure bullying, aggression, social problem solving, victimization, conflict resolution, hopelessness, antisocial behavior, and teacher-rated behavior.

Results: Although the researchers used a cluster sampling procedure for this study, there is no evidence that statistical corrections were made to account for the potential errors of cluster-methods.  Results from this study should be interpreted with caution.

At the post-test data collection and across all schools, the program had no impact on social problem-solving skills.  Likewise, the program had no impact on children’s beliefs supporting violence, behavioral intent, and self-reported antisocial behavior.  The program had a marginal impact on student rated behavior such that students in the treatment group had lower support for passive acceptance of violence and lower support for active encouragement of fights.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

Program curriculum available for purchase at: http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/vabp/program_details.asp?id=2

More information about violence prevention programs and the AVB program can be found at: http://www.thtm.org/

References

Slaby, R. G., Wilson-Brewer, R., & DeVos, E. (1994).  Aggressors, Victims & Bystanders: An assessment-based middle school violence prevention curriculum.  Final Report of Grant # R49/CCR103559 to Education Development Center from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Education Development Center, Newtown, MA.

Teenage Health Teaching Modules & Slaby, R. (2000).  Special topic: Violence prevention, a conversation about violence prevention.  Accessed on September 19, 2007 at http://www.thtm.org/special.htm.

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: grades 6-8 / Program age ranges in the Guide: adolescence

Program components: school-based

Measured outcomes: social and emotional health and development; behavioral problems; positive citizenship

Program information last updated 8/13/08