John Edward Lochman, Karen C. Wells, Lisa a. Lenhart Coping Power Child Group Program Facilitator Guide 2008

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Coping Power



editor-in-chief

David H. Barlow, PhD

scientific

advisory board

Anne Marie Albano, PhD

Gillian Butler, PhD

David M. Clark, PhD

Edna B. Foa, PhD

Paul J. Frick, PhD

Jack M. Gorman, MD

Kirk Heilbrun, PhD

Robert J. McMahon, PhD

Peter E. Nathan, PhD

Christine Maguth Nezu, PhD

Matthew K. Nock, PhD

Paul Salkovskis, PhD

Bonnie Spring, PhD

Gail Steketee, PhD

John R. Weisz, PhD

G. Terence Wilson, PhD

Programs That Work ™



Coping PowerCHILD GROUP PROGRAM

F a c i l i t a t o r G u i d e

John E. Lochman • Karen C. Wells • Lisa A. Lenhart



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v

About ProgramsThatWork ™

Stunning developments in healthcare have taken place over the last

several years, but many of our widely accepted interventions and strate-

gies in mental health and behavioral medicine have been brought into

question by research evidence as not only lacking benefit, but perhaps,

inducing harm. Other strategies have been proven eff ective using the

best current standards of evidence, resulting in broad-based recommen-

dations to make these practices more available to the public. Several

recent developments are behind this revolution. First, we have arrived

at a much deeper understanding of pathology, both psychologicaland physical, which has led to the development of new, more precisely

targeted interventions. Second, our increased understanding of devel-

opmental issues allows a finer matching of interventions to develop-

mental levels Third, our research methodologies have improved

substantially, such that we have reduced threats to internal and external

validity, making the outcomes more directly applicable to clinical situ-

ations. Third, governments around the world and healthcare systems

and policymakers have decided that the quality of care should improve,

that it should be evidence based, and that it is in the public’s interest to

ensure that this happens (Barlow, ; Institute of Medicine, ).

Of course, the major stumbling block for clinicians everywhere is the

accessibility of newly developed evidence-based psychological interven-

tions. Workshops and books can go only so far in acquainting respon-

sible and conscientious practitioners with the latest behavioral

healthcare practices and their applicability to individual patients. This

new series, Programs ThatWork ™, is devoted to communicating these

exciting new interventions to clinicians on the frontlines of practice.



The manuals and workbooks in this series contain step-by-step detailed

procedures for assessing and treating specific problems and diagnoses.

But this series also goes beyond the books and manuals by providing

ancillary materials that will approximate the supervisory process inassisting practitioners in the implementation of these procedures in

their practice.

In our emerging healthcare system, the growing consensus is that

evidence-based practice off ers the most responsible course of action for

the mental health professional. All behavioral healthcare clinicians

deeply desire to provide the best possible care for their patients. In this

series, our aim is to close the dissemination and information gap and

make that possible.

This facilitator guide is designed to be used by clinicians who are run-

ning a children’s group for the Coping Power Program. Coping Power

is a proven intervention aimed at teaching aggressive children how to

recognize their feelings and display them appropriately without resort-

ing to angry or violent behaviors. Over the course of two school years

and weekly group meetings, middle school students meet and partic-

ipate in activities, exercises, and role-plays that reinforce the themes of

the program. Topics include the importance of setting and achieving

goals, using problem-solving methods to resolve conflicts, and using

self-statements, relaxation, and distraction techniques to cope with

anger arousal.

This comprehensive guide uses an easy to follow session-by-session

format to systematically deliver the intervention to children. It provides

the facilitator or group leader with detailed procedures for working

with children, including sample dialogues, role-play exercises, group

activities, and homework assignments.

David H. Barlow, Editor-in-Chief,

ProgramsThatWork ™

Boston, Massachusetts

vi



vii

Contents

Chapter Introductory Information for Child

Group Facilitators

Chapter Child Group Logistics

Coping Power Child Program: Year 1

Chapter Session : Group Structure and Behavioral

Goal Setting Procedure

Chapter Session : Goal Setting – Part I

Chapter 5 Session : Goal Setting – Part II

Chapter Session : Organizational and Study Skills

Chapter 7 Session : Awareness of Feelings and

Physiological Arousal Related to Anger – Part I

Chapter Session : Awareness of Feelings and

Physiological Arousal Related to Anger – Part II

Chapter Session 7: Anger and Self-Control

Chapter Session : Using Self-Statements for Anger Coping –

Part I

Chapter Session : Using Self-Statements for

Anger Coping – Part II



Chapter Session : Using Self-Statements for

Anger Coping – Part III

Chapter Session : Relaxation and Overcoming Barriers to

Self-Control

Chapter Session : Perspective Taking – Part I

Chapter Session : Perspective Taking – Part II

Chapter Session : Perspective Taking – Part III

Chapter 7 Session : Perspective Taking and Problem Solving

Chapter Session : Social Problem Solving – Part I

Chapter Session 7: Social Problem Solving – Part II

Chapter Session : Social Problem Solving – Part III

Chapter Session : Social Problem Solving – Part IV

Chapter Session : Group Creates Videotape – Part I

Chapter Session : Group Creates Videotape – Part II

Chapter Session : Group Creates Videotape – Part III

Coping Power Program: Year 2

Chapter Session : Review From Previous Year

Chapter Session : Organizational and Study Skills

Review

Chapter 7 Session : Application of Social Problem Solving to

Teacher Conflict

Chapter Session : Application of Social Problem

Solving to Both Making Friends and Being

Friends With Others

viii



Chapter Session 7: Application of Social Problem

Solving to Group Entry and Negotiation

With Peers

Chapter Session : Sibling Conflict and

Problem Solving

Chapter Session : Application of Social Problem Solving

to Peer Pressure

Chapter Session : Refusal Skills

Chapter Session : Problem Solving About NeighborhoodProblems, Deviant Peer Groups, and Centrality of

Group Membership

Chapter Session : Group Creates Peer Pressure Poster

Chapter Session : Positive Quality Development and Peer

Relationships

Chapter Session : Review and Termination of the Coping Power Program

Chapter End of the Year Party

References

About the Authors

ix



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1

Chapter 1 Introductory Information for Child Group

Facilitators

Background Information and Purpose of This Program

The Coping Power Program is based on a contextual social-cognitive

model of childhood aggression (Lochman & Wells, a; Lochman,

Wells, & Murray, ), which is a risk marker for later adolescent

substance use and delinquency and can usefully serve as conceptual

framework for cognitive-behavioral intervention. This model indicates

two relevant sets of potential mediators of adolescent antisocial behav-

ior: () child level factors (e.g., Tremblay & LeMarquand, ), includ-ing children’s poor social-cognitive and decision-making skills, poor

self-regulation, perceived peer context, and poor ability to resist peer

pressure, and () contextual factors, including poor parental caregiver

involvement with, and discipline of, the child (e.g., Wasserman &

Seracini, ). It is assumed that broader contextual risk factors, such

as the level of neighborhood violence (Luthar, ), a ff ect these medi-

ational processes and children’s subsequent behavior. The Coping Power

Program, based on this model, is provided primarily to preadolescent

and early adolescent aggressive children and their parents.

The Coping Power Program includes a child component, consisting of a

-session group intervention, and a coordinated -session parent com-

ponent; both of these are designed to be delivered over a - to -month

period of time. On the basis of outcome research (Lochman & Wells,

), we strongly recommend that the Coping Power parent and child

components be used together , since the best eff ects are achieved through

a combination approach. Nevertheless, the components can be used

alone with appropriate attention to minor adaptation.

The Coping Power Program is often delivered near the time of chil-

dren’s transition to middle school. Intervention can begin in the



2

year prior to the middle-school transition (typically fifth grade) and

continue into the first year in middle school (typically sixth grade),

although the program is generally developmentally appropriate for chil-

dren from the middle elementary school grades through the middleyears of middle school, and can be used to cover grades to . Use with

younger or older children requires further adaptation. The Coping

Power Program has been delivered to target children who have been

identified by teacher and parent ratings of children’s aggressive behavior

as being relatively high in aggressive behavior problems, as well as to

children who meet diagnostic criteria for oppositional defiant disorder

and conduct disorder. The Coping Power child and parent componentshave been developed to be delivered in tandem, with certain topics

designed to come up at common times in the parent and child groups.

However, as previously mentioned, the child and parent groups can be

conducted individually and separately with minor modifications.

This guide provides therapists with an overview of the Coping Power

Program with an emphasis on the child component; a companion guide

provides an overview of the parent component. Child componentgroup sessions can take place at children’s schools (after school, before

school, or during nonacademic homeroom periods) in preventive inter-

ventions or when used by school-based mental health clinicians, or at

mental health outpatient clinics. The program has primarily been

off ered in group session format, although we have used the program in

individual therapy sessions with relatively minor adaptations. Child

group sessions are designed to last for – minutes. The group ses-

sions usually included four to six children. When receiving Coping

Power group sessions, it is recommended that each child also receive a

brief individual session every four to six weeks to encourage generaliza-

tion of intervention eff ects.

The Coping Power child component program addresses the social-

cognitive deficits identified in prior studies, as detailed in the follow-

ing sections. These skills were also the focus of our previously evaluated

-session Anger Coping Program, and the Coping Power child compo-

nent was derived from the earlier Anger Coping Program (Larson &

Lochman, ; Lochman et al., ).



Disorder or Problem Focus

Some children fall outside the normal or typical variations of external-

izing behaviors (Lochman, Barry, Powell, Boxmeyer & Holmes, ). Within this group of disruptive children, aggression is a frequent and

particularly concerning complaint. Aggression is one of the most stable

problem behaviors in childhood with a developmental trajectory

toward negative outcomes in adolescence, such as drug and alcohol use,

truancy and dropout, delinquency, and violence (Lochman & Wayland,

; Lochman, Powell, Whidby, & Fitzgerald, ). Children’s

aggressive behavior patterns may escalate to include a wide range of severe antisocial behaviors in adolescence (Loeber, ), and this neg-

ative antisocial trajectory may even continue into adulthood in the form

of antisocial personality disorder.

Childhood aggressive behavior can thus have serious and negative

implications for a child’s future. The negative eff ects are not limited to

the aggressive individual, however, as aggressive behavior by definition

has the potential to cause harm or injury to others. In today’s schools,aggressive bullying, which may be verbal, physical, or psychological, is

increasingly being recognized as a serious problem (Rigby, ).

Bullying is a deliberate act with the intent of harming the victims

(Farrington, ). Examples of direct bullying include hitting and

kicking, charging interest on goods and stealing, name calling and

intimidation, and sexual harassment. Other forms of bullying that are

more indirect (i.e., relational bullying) include spreading rumors about

peers and gossiping (Ireland & Archer, ).

Children who display high levels of aggressive behavior often exhibit

additional externalizing behaviors and may meet criteria for a disrup-

tive behavior disorder diagnosis such as oppositional defiant disorder

(ODD) or conduct disorder (CD; American Psychiatric Association,

).

Conduct disorder is defined as follows:

■ A repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior that violates the

rights of others or major age-appropriate societal norms or rules.

These behaviors fall into four main groupings: ) aggressive con-

duct that threatens physical harm to other people or animals;

3



) nonaggressive conduct that causes property loss or damage;

) deceitfulness and theft; and ) serious violations of rules. Three

or more characteristic behaviors must have been present during the

past months.

Oppositional de fi ant disorder is defined as follows:

■ A recurrent pattern of negativistic, defiant, disobedient, and

hostile behavior toward authority figures that persists for at least

months and is characterized by the frequent occurrence of at

least four of the following behaviors: losing one’s temper, arguing

with adults, actively defying or refusing to comply with request orrules of adults, deliberately doing things that will annoy other

people, blaming others for one’s own mistakes or misbehavior,

being touchy or easily annoyed by others, being angry and resent-

ful, or being spiteful or vindictive.

Although not an explicit part of the diagnosis, aggression may accompany

the characteristic pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant behavior

associated with a diagnosis of ODD. More severe disruptive behaviorsincluding aggression toward people or animals, destruction of property,

theft, and deceit are associated with CD. Prevalence rates for these diag-

noses are estimated to be from % to % of the general population for

ODD and from % to more than % for CD (American Psychiatric

Association, ). It is noteworthy that some researchers are beginning to

identify psychological features that are linked to subsequent psychopathy

(Barry et al., ; Pardini, Lochman & Frick, ; Pardini, Lochman,

& Powell, ). These youth, who display manipulation, impulsivity, and

remorseless patterns of interpersonal behavior, are usually referred to as

“callous” or “unemotional” and are considered to be conceptually diff erent

from youth diagnosed with CD (Cleckley, ; Hart & Hare, ).

Children who display associated narcissistic features are also at risk for

heightened rates of externalizing behavior problems (Barry, Thompson,

Barry, Lochman, Adler, & Hill, ).

Symptoms associated with ODD are age-inappropriate, usually appearing

prior to years of age and no later than adolescence (American Psychiatric

Association, ). These symptoms include angry, defiant, irritable, and

oppositional behaviors and are usually first manifested in the home envi-

ronment. The diagnosis of ODD should be made only if these behaviors

4



occur more frequently than what would be typically expected of same-aged

peers with a similar developmental level. CD symptoms such as fire

setting, breaking and entering, and running away from home are more

severe and may become evident as early as the preschool years, but thesebehaviors usually occur beginning in middle childhood to middle adoles-

cence. Less severe symptoms (e.g., lying, shoplifting, and physical fighting)

are observed initially, followed by intermediate behaviors such as burglary;

the most severe behaviors (e.g., rape, theft while confronting a victim) usu-

ally emerge last (American Psychiatric Association, ). It is particularly

important for those who provide services to children and adolescents to be

aware of the symptoms of ODD and to provide intervention, becauseODD is a common antecedent to CD. Furthermore, a significant subset

of those individuals diagnosed with CD, particularly those with an early

onset, subsequently develop antisocial personality disorder (ASPD;

American Psychiatric Association, ). See Table . for DSM-IV-TR

diagnostic criteria for ODD and CD.

In terms of gender, ODD is more prevalent in males than in females prior

to puberty, though the rates are fairly equal after puberty. ODD symp-toms are typically similar in males and females, with the exception of

males exhibiting more confrontational behavior and having more persist-

ent symptoms (American Psychiatric Association, ). Rates of CD

diagnoses, particularly the childhood-onset type, are more common in

males than in females. According to the American Psychiatric Association

(), males with CD usually evidence symptoms such as “fighting,

stealing, vandalism, and school discipline problems” and females usually

engage in “lying, truancy, running away, substance use, and prostitution.”

Childhood disorders rarely occur in isolation, so comorbidity issues are

important to consider when treating children within clinical populations

(Hinshaw & Lee, ). ODD and CD are often observed in conjunc-

tion with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), academic

underachievement and learning disabilities, and internalizing disorders

(e.g., depression and anxiety disorders). Among youth with CD and

ODD, % also have a diagnosis of ADHD (Hinshaw & Lee, ).

Furthermore, the hyperactive-impulsive subtype of ADHD is more closely

associated with aggression than the inattentive subtype. ODD in con-

junction with ADHD increases the likelihood for the development of

early-onset CD symptoms (Hinshaw, Lahey, & Hart, ; Loeber, Green,

5



Keenan, & Lahey, ). Children with disruptive behaviors are at a greater

risk for school dropout and thus becoming part of a deviant peer group in

their neighborhood. Moreover, children with both conduct problems and

depressive symptomatology are more likely to engage in substance use asadolescents than those children with conduct problems alone.

Diagnostic Criteria for ODD and CD

In Table . we list the DSM-IV-TR criteria for ODD and CD.

Table 1.1 Diagnostic Criteria for Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder

DSM-IV-TR Diagnostic DSM-IV-TR Diagnostic Criteria for Conduct

Criteria for ODD Disorder

6

A pattern of negativistic, hostile, and

defiant behavior lasting at least months,

during which four (or more) of the

following are present:

. Often loses temper

. Often argues with adults

. Often actively defies or refuses to

comply with adults’ requests or rules

. Often deliberately annoys people

. Often blames others for his or hermistakes or misbehavior

. Is often touchy or easily annoyed

by others

. Is often angry and resentful

. Is often spiteful or vindictive

A repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in which

the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate soci-

etal norms or rules are violated, as manifested by the

presence of three (or more) of the following criteria in

the past months, with at least one criterion present

in the past months:

Aggression to People and Animals

. Often bullies, threatens, or intimidates others

. Often initiates physical fights

. Has used a weapon that can cause serious

physical harm to others (e.g., a bat, brick,

broken bottle, knife, gun)

. Has been physically cruel to people

. Has been physically cruel to animals

. Has stolen while confronting a victim (e.g., mug-

ging, purse snatching, extortion, armed robbery)

. Has forced someone into sexual activity

Destruction of Property

. Has deliberately engaged in fire setting with the

intention of causing serious damage

. Has deliberately destroyed others’ property (other

than by fire setting)



7

There are no separate codes based upon age

of onset for ODD.

There are no specified levels of severity

for ODD.

Deceitfulness or Theft

. Has broken into someone else’s house, building,

or car

. Often lies to obtain goods or favors or to avoid

obligations (i.e., “cons” others)

. Has stolen items of nontrivial value without

confronting a victim (e.g., shoplifting, but

without breaking and entering; forgery)

Serious Violation of Rules

. Often stays out at night despite parental prohi-

bitions, beginning before age years

. Has run away from home overnight at least

twice while living in parental or parental surro-

gate home (or once without returning for a

lengthy period)

. Is often truant from school, beginning before

age years

CD, Childhood-Onset Type: Onset of at least one

criterion characteristic of CD prior to age years

CD, Adolescent-Onset Type: Absence of any criteria

characteristic of CD prior to age years

CD, Unspecified Onset: age of onset is not known

Mild: few if any conduct problems in excess of those

required to make the diagnosis and conduct problemscause only minor harm to others

Moderate: number of conduct problems and eff ect on

others intermediate between “mild” and “severe”

Severe: many conduct problems in excess of those

required to make the diagnosis or conduct problems

cause considerable harm to others

DSM-IV-TR Diagnostic DSM-IV-TR Diagnostic Criteria for Conduct

Criteria for ODD Disorder

Development of This Treatment Program and Evidence Base

A series of research studies have been conducted with the Coping Power

Program, and its predecessor, the Anger Coping Program. In addition to

case studies (Boxmeyer, Lochman, Powell, Yaros, & Wojnaroski, ;



Lochman, Boxmeyer, Powell, Wojnaroski, & Yaros, ) that have indi-

cated how the program can be used and adapted with individual cases,

efficacy, eff ectiveness, and dissemination studies described in this section

have provided the evidence base for the Coping Power Program.

Earlier Outcome Research With the Anger Coping Program

The Coping Power Program was developed from earlier intervention

research conducted by Dr. Lochman and his colleagues with the

Anger Coping Program, starting with initial positive behavioralchanges found in an uncontrolled pilot study (Lochman, Nelson, &

Sims, ). The Anger Coping Program, unlike the later Coping

Power Program, had only an intervention component for children,

with no parent component. In a subsequent controlled study,

aggressive and disruptive fourth- to sixth-grade boys were randomly

assigned to: Anger Coping-Goal Setting (AC-GS), Anger Coping

(AC), Goal Setting (GS), and an Untreated Control (UC) condition

(Lochman, Burch, Curry, & Lampron, ) groups. The boys in

the AC and AC-GS groups reduced their independently observed

disruptive-aggressive classroom behavior and had reduced parent rat-

ings of aggression, while the boys in the GS and UC conditions

became worse on these measures by the -month follow-up. The

improvement on the parents’ ratings indicated that the interventions’

eff ects had generalized out of the school setting. Secondary analyses

indicated that certain subject characteristics significantly predictedintervention outcome. Within the two cognitive-behavioral condi-

tions, the boys who demonstrated most behavior change had the

poorest initial social problem-solving skills (Lochman, Lampron,

Burch, & Curry, ). In another study of child characteristics

that predict child-only intervention outcomes, Lochman, Coie,

Underwood, and Terry () found that a social relations program

that included cognitive-behavioral and social-skill training compo-

nents adapted from the Anger Coping Program had significant impact

at post-intervention and at a -year follow-up only with aggressive-

rejected children and not with rejected-only children.

A long-term, -year follow-up study of the preventive eff ects of the Anger

Coping Program found that, in comparison to the untreated aggressive

8



group, the boys in the Anger Coping Program had significantly lower

rates of marijuana and drug involvement and lower rates of alcohol use,

and they maintained their previously noted improvements in self-esteem

and in social problem-solving skills (Lochman, ). In all these areas,the Anger Coping boys were functioning in the same range as that of the

nonaggressive boys at follow-up. However, there were no longer-term

preventive eff ects on delinquency, and the classroom behavioral improve-

ments faded. Only a subset of Anger Coping boys who had received a

second-year booster intervention maintained their reductions in passive

off -task classroom behavior, a result suggesting that a longer intervention

period might be necessary to enhance the maintenance of overt classroombehavioral change. These findings were encouraging, especially because of

the longer-term reduction in substance use for the Anger Coping chil-

dren, and led to the inclusion of the Anger Coping Program as a promis-

ing, empirically supported intervention for aggressive children in critical

reviews of the intervention literature (e.g., Brestan & Eyberg, ;

Greenberg et al., ; Leff , Power, Manz, Costigan, & Nabors, ).

This series of Anger Coping studies indicated the need for a broader,

multicomponent intervention to have more lasting impact on serious

antisocial outcomes, thus the development of the Coping Power

Program.

Coping Power Program: Efficacy Study

The Coping Power Program described in this chapter includes a childcomponent and a parent component. It was derived from the social-

cognitive contextual model described in greater detail later in the chap-

ter. In an initial efficacy study of the Coping Power Program, Lochman

and Wells (a; ) randomly assigned aggressive boys (%

African-American, % white non-Hispanic) from Durham, NC, to

one of three conditions: a cognitive-behavioral Coping Power child

component, combined Coping Power child and behavioral parent

training components, and an untreated control group. The two inter-

vention conditions took place during fourth and fifth grades or

fifth and sixth grades, and intervention lasted for . school years.

Screening of risk status took place in elementary schools, and was

based on a multiple-gating approach using teacher and parent ratings

9



of children’s aggressive behavior. The at-risk boys were in the top

% of boys according to teachers’ ratings of all the students in their

classrooms.

Analyses of outcomes at -year follow-up indicated that the intervention

cells (child component only; child-plus-parent components) showed

reductions in children’s self-reported delinquent behavior, and in

parent-reported alcohol and marijuana use by the child and improve-

ments in their teacher-rated functioning at school during the follow-up

year, in comparison to the high-risk control condition (Lochman &

Wells, ). The Coping Power intervention eff ects on lower rates of

parent-rated substance use and of delinquent behavior at the -year

follow-up than for the control condition were most apparent for the

children and parents who received the full Coping Power Program with

both child and parent components. In contrast, boys’ teacher-rated

behavioral improvements in school during the follow-up year appeared

to be primarily influenced by the Coping Power child component.

Mediation analyses, using path analytic techniques, indicate that the

intervention eff ect for both of the intervention cells on the delinquency,parent-reported substance use, and teacher-rated improvement

outcomes at -year follow-up were mediated by intervention-produced

improvements in children’s internal locus of control, parents’ consis-

tency in disciplining their children, children’s attributional biases,

children’s person-perception skills, and children’s expectations that

aggression would not work for them (Lochman & Wells, a).

Coping Power Program: Effectiveness Studies

Given these positive findings from the efficacy study, the next research

questions examined whether the Coping Power Program has similar pos-

itive eff ects in other settings and with personnel who are more equiva-

lent to typical school and agency sta ff . Several types of eff ectiveness and

dissemination studies have been conducted with the Coping PowerProgram, including studies described later of intervention eff ects on

children’s aggressive behavior and problem-solving skills among aggres-

sive deaf children (Lochman et al., ) and among children with

CD and ODD in Dutch outpatient clinics (van de Wiel, Matthys,

10



Cohen-Kettenis, Maassen, Lochman, & van Engeland, ; van de

Wiel, Matthys, Cohen-Kettenis, & van Engeland, ; Zonnevylle-

Bender, Matthys, van de Wiel, & Lochman, ).

In a more extensive eff ectiveness study, the eff ects of the Coping Power

Program (the combined child and parent components) as an indicated

preventive intervention directed at high-risk children were compared

with the eff ects of a universal, classroom-level preventive intervention

(Lochman & Wells, b). A total of male and female aggressive

fourth-grade students (% African-American) were randomly assigned

to one of four conditions. Children were selected from elementary

schools in Durham, NC. A greater proportion of these schools were in

the inner-city and in high-poverty areas than was the case for the prior

efficacy study. Intervention began in the fall of the fifth-grade year, and

was delivered by personnel more equivalent to counselors and social

workers in school settings who had higher case loads and less opportu-

nity for home visits. At post-intervention, the three intervention

conditions (Coping Power alone; Coping Power plus classroom inter-

vention; classroom intervention alone) produced lower rates of sub-stance use than in the control cell (Lochman & Wells, b). Children

who received both interventions displayed improvements in their

social competence with peers, and their teachers rated these children as

having the greatest increases in problem-solving and anger-coping skills.

The Coping Power Program also produced reductions in parent-rated

and teacher-rated proactive aggressive behavior, and increases in

teacher-rated behavioral improvement. A -year follow-up of this sam-

ple replicated the findings of the prior efficacy study. Coping Power

children were found to have lower rates of self-reported substance use

and delinquency and lower levels of teacher-rated aggressive social

behavior at school, in comparison to the control children (Lochman &

Wells, ). Recent analyses conducted with growth curve modeling

have found that at -year follow-up after the end of treatment, positive

intervention eff ects on youths’ problem behaviors at school have been

maintained (Lochman, Qu, Chen, Roth, Barth, & Wells, ).

In a second type of eff ectiveness study, an abbreviated form of the

Coping Power Program ( child sessions, parent sessions) was

delivered to children and parents in a rural-to-suburban Southern city.

Two hundred and forty children who had been identified as being in the

11



top % of aggressive children in their schools were randomly assigned

to intervention and control conditions. Children receiving Coping

Power during fifth grade had significant reductions in teachers’ behav-

iors by the end of intervention, in comparison to control children(Lochman, Boxmeyer, Powell, Roth, & Windle, ). This finding

indicates that the intervention could be transported to a diff erent set-

ting in a somewhat abbreviated form.

Coping Power Program: Dissemination Studies

The Coping Power Program, which had produced eff ects with hearing

children in the prior studies, was adapted and disseminated in this study

for use with deaf children (Lochman et al., ). Deaf children in a res-

idential school were screened for aggressive behavior (N ) through

use of teacher ratings, and were randomly assigned by classroom to the

Coping Power Program or to a wait-list control condition. The children

in the Coping Power Program attended group sessions and their teach-

ers and dormitory sta ff received training to influence the context around

the children, but there was no component for parents. The Coping

Power parent component was used as a guide for training of teachers and

dormitory sta ff , and the Coping Power child component was adapted to

meet the needs of the deaf children. According to teacher ratings,

Coping Power children displayed behavioral improvement across the

intervention year in comparison to control children (eff ect size: .), and

the Coping Power children displayed significant improvements in theirsocial problem-solving skills and in their communication skills. This

small-scale dissemination study suggested that the Coping Power

Program could be adapted to meet the needs of specialized populations

in residential settings, such as deaf children who have unique communi-

cation difficulties.

In a Coping Power dissemination study of Dutch children with disrup-

tive behavior disorder, Dr. Walter Matthys and his colleagues developeda briefer Dutch version of the Coping Power Program following train-

ing from Dr. Lochman in the Coping Power Program. Dr. Matthys

examined its eff ects in a treatment study in which ODD and CD

children in a child psychiatry outpatient clinic were randomly assigned

12



to Coping Power or to a care-as-usual (C) condition. Children in both

conditions displayed significant improvements in disruptiveness at the

end of treatment and at -month follow-up, but the Coping Power chil-

dren had significantly greater reduction in overt aggressive behavior by post-treatment (van de Wiel et al., ). These positive treatment out-

comes of the Coping Power Program occurred even though the Coping

Power intervention sta ff had significantly less clinical experience than

the care-as-usual therapists. The Coping Power Program was also found

to be highly cost-eff ective (van de Wiel, et al., ). A -year follow-

up study of this sample found that Coping Power had a preventive

eff ect in producing significantly lower marijuana and tobacco use, incomparison to the control condition, indicating long-lasting eff ects of

the intervention on substance use with a sample of disruptive behavior

disorder children (Zonnevylle-Bender, Matthys, van de Wiel, &

Lochman, ).

What Is Coping Power Based On?

Risk and Causal Factors Within a Contextual Social-Cognitive Model

The contextual social-cognitive model (Lochman & Wells, a), which

is derived from etiological research on childhood aggression, indicates that

certain family and community background factors (neighborhood prob-

lems; maternal depression, low social support, marital conflict, low socio-economic status) have both a direct eff ect on children’s externalizing

behavior problems and an indirect eff ect through their influence on key

mediational processes (parenting practices, children’s social cognition and

emotional regulation, children’s peer relations) (Lochman, Barry, Powell,

Boxmeyer & Holmes, ). A child’s developmental course is set within

the child’s social ecology, and an ecological framework is required

(Lochman, ). Risk factors that are biologically related will be noted

first, followed by contextual factors in the model and, finally, by their

impact on children’s developing social-cognitive and emotional regulation

processes. The malleable child and parent risk factors within this model

serve as the targets for intervention in the Coping Power Program, and this

13



model of risk factors can be used to assess children to adapt the program

to various subtypes and individual children.

Biological and Temperament Factors

With regard to biological and temperamental child factors, some pre-

natal factors such as maternal exposure to alcohol, methadone,

cocaine, and cigarette smoke and severe nutritional deficiencies

(Brennan, Grekin, & Mednick, ; Delaney-Black et al., ;

Kelly, Davis, & Henschke, ; Rasanen et al., ) have been foundto have direct eff ects on child aggression. However, in diathesis-stress

models it is more commonly found that aggression is the result of

interactions between child risk factors and environmental factors

(Masten, Best, & Garmezy, ). Thus, risk factors such as birth com-

plications, genes, cortisol reactivity, testosterone, abnormal serotonin

levels, and temperament all contribute to children’s conduct problems,

but only when environmental factors such as harsh parenting or low

socioeconomic status are present (Coon, Carey, Corley, & Fulker, ;

Dabbs & Morris, ; Raine, Brennan, & Mednick, ; Scarpa,

Bowser, Fikretoglu, Romero, & Wilson, ).

Examples of these diathesis-stress models abound in the literature on

child-level risk factors. Birth complications involving preeclampsia,

umbilical cord collapse, forceps delivery, and fetal hypoxia increase the

risk of later violence among children, but only when the infants subse-

quently experience adverse family environments or maternal rejection

(Arseneault, Tremblay, Boulerice, & Saucier, ; Raine et al., ).

Higher levels of testosterone among adolescents and higher cortisol reac-

tivity to provocations are associated with more violent behavior, but only

when the children or adolescents live in families where they experience

high levels of parental abuse or low socioeconomic status (Dabbs &

Morris, ; Scarpa & Raine, ). Children who have a gene that

expresses only low levels of the enzyme monoamine oxidase A (MAOA)have a higher rate of adolescent violent behavior, but only when they have

experienced high levels of parental maltreatment (Caspi et al., ).

Similar patterns of findings have been obtained when children’s tempera-

ment characteristics have been examined as child-level risk factors. Highly

14



active children (Colder, Lochman, & Wells, ), children with high lev-

els of emotional reactivity (Scaramella & Conger, ), and infants with

difficult temperament (Coon et al., ) are at risk for later aggressive

and conduct problem behavior, but only when they have parents whoprovide poor monitoring or harsh discipline. The children’s family con-

text can serve as a key moderator of children’s underlying propensity for

an antisocial outcome.

Contextual Family Factors

There is a wide array of factors in the family that can a ff ect child aggres-

sion and conduct problems, ranging from poverty to more general stress

and discord within the family. Children’s aggression has been linked to

family background factors such as parent criminality, substance use, and

depression (Barry, Dunlap, Cotton, Lochman, & Wells, ; Loeber

& Stouthamer-Loeber, ; McCarty, McMahon, & Conduct

Problems Prevention Research Group, ), low socioeconomic status

and poverty (Sampson & Laub, ), stressful life events (Barry et al.,

; Guerra, Huesmann, Tolan, VanAcker, & Eron, ), single and

teenage parenthood (Nagin, Pogarsky, & Farrington, ), marital

conflict (Erath, Bierman, and Conduct Problems Prevention Research

Group, in press) and insecure, disorganized attachment (Shaw &

Vondra, ). All of these family factors are intercorrelated, especially

with socioeconomic status (Luthar, ), and low socioeconomic sta-

tus assessed as early as preschool has predicted teacher- and peer-ratedbehavior problems at school (Dodge, Petit, & Bates, ). These broad

family risk factors can influence child behavior through their eff ects on

parenting processes.

Starting as early as the preschool years, marital conflict likely causes

disruptions in parenting, which in turn contribute to children’s high

levels of stress and consequent aggression (Dadds & Powell, ). Both

boys and girls from homes in which marital conflict is high are especial-ly vulnerable to externalizing problems like aggression and conduct dis-

order, even after controlling for age and family socioeconomic status

(Dadds & Powell, ).

15



Parenting Practices

Some of these contextual family processes have their eff ect on children’s

behavior by disrupting parenting. Depressed mothers have higher ratesof inconsistent parenting over time, and inconsistent parenting is the

proximal mediator of children’s problem behavior (Barry, Dunlap,

Lochman, & Wells, ). Parenting processes linked to children’s

aggression (e.g., Patterson, Reid, & Dishion, ; Shaw, Keenan, &

Vondra, ) include () nonresponsive parenting at age , with pacing

and consistency of parent responses not meeting children’s needs; ()

coercive, escalating cycles of harsh parental nattering and child noncom-pliance, starting in the toddler years, especially for children with difficult

temperaments; () harsh, inconsistent discipline; () unclear directions

and commands; () lack of warmth and involvement; and () lack of

parental supervision and monitoring as children approach adolescence.

Parental physical aggression, such as spanking and more punitive discipline

styles, have been associated with oppositional and aggressive behavior in

both boys and girls. Low parental warmth and involvement contribute toparents’ use of physically aggressive punishment practices. Weiss, Dodge,

Bates, and Petit () found that ratings of the severity of parental disci-

pline were positively correlated with teacher ratings of aggression and

behavior problems. In addition to higher aggression ratings, children expe-

riencing harsh discipline practices exhibited poorer social information pro-

cessing even when controlling for the possible eff ects of socioeconomic

status, marital discord, and child temperament. It is important to note that

although such parenting factors are associated with childhood aggression,

child behavior also a ff ects parenting behavior in a bidirectional manner

(Fite, Colder, Lochman, & Wells, ). Children’s temperament can

moderate the relation between parenting practices and children’s problem

behaviors (Colder, Lochman, & Wells, ).

Poor parental supervision has also been associated with child aggression.

Haapasalo and Tremblay () found that boys who fought more often

with their peers reported having less supervision and more punishment

than boys who did not fight. Interestingly, the boys who fought reported

having more rules than the boys who did not fight, suggesting the possi-

bility that parents of aggressive boys may have numerous strict rules that

are difficult to follow.

16



Parents’ attributional styles, or the way they think about the causes of

their children’s behavior, and the eff ectiveness of various parenting tech-

niques are related to childhood aggression (Baden & Howe, ;

Dix & Lochman, ). For example, mothers of conduct-disorderedchildren are more likely to see children’s misbehavior as intentional and

to attribute the causes to stable factors within the child that are out-

side of the mother’s control. Research also suggests that poor parental

problem-solving skills in interactions with their children are linked

with their children’s aggression and behavior problems (Pakasiahti,

Asplund-Peltola, & Keltlkangas-Jarvinen, ).

Contextual Peer Factors

Children with disruptive behaviors are at risk for being rejected by their

peers (Cillessen, Van IJzendoorn, Van Lieshout, & Hartup, ),

although other factors including the racial makeup of classrooms also

contribute to children’s peer rejection (Jackson, Barth, Powell, &

Lochman, ). Childhood aggressive behavior and peer rejection inde-

pendently predict delinquency and conduct problems in adolescence

(Lochman & Wayland, ; Miller-Johnson, Coie, Maumary-Gremaud,

Bierman, & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, ).

Aggressive children who are also socially rejected tend to exhibit more

severe behavior problems than children who are either aggressive only or

rejected only. Similar to bidirectional relations evident between the degree

of parental positive involvement with their children and children’s aggres-sive behavior over time (Bry, Catalano, Kumpfer, Lochman, &

Szapocznik, ), children’s aggressive behavior and their rejection by

their peers both reciprocally a ff ect each other (Conduct Problems

Prevention Research Group, a). Children who have overestimated

perceptions of their actual social acceptance can be at particular risk for

aggressive behavior problems in some settings (Pardini, Barry, Barth,

Lochman, & Wells, ).

Despite the compelling nature of these findings, race and gender may

moderate the relation between peer rejection and negative adolescent

outcomes. For example, Lochman and Wayland () found that peer

rejection ratings of African-American children within a mixed-race

17



classroom did not predict subsequent externalizing problems in adoles-

cence, whereas peer rejection ratings of Caucasian children were associ-

ated with future disruptive behaviors. Similarly, whereas peer rejection

can predict serious delinquency in boys, it can fail to do so with girls(Miller-Johnson, Coie, Maumary-Gremaud, Lochman, & Terry, ).

As children with conduct problems enter adolescence they tend to asso-

ciate with deviant peers. It is believed that many of these teens have

been continually rejected from more prosocial peer groups because they

lack appropriate social skills and, as a result, turn to antisocial cliques as

their only means for social support (Miller-Johnson et al., ). The

tendency for aggressive children to associate with one another increases

the probability that their aggressive behaviors will be maintained or will

escalate because of modeling eff ects and reinforcement of deviant

behaviors (e.g., Dishion, Andrews, & Crosby, ). The relation

between childhood conduct problems and adolescent delinquency is at

least partially mediated by deviant peer group a ffiliation (Vitaro,

Brendgen, Pagani, Tremblay, & McDuff , ).

Contextual Community and School Factors

In addition to family interaction problems, peer rejection, and involvement

in deviant peer groups, neighborhood and school environments have also

been found to be risk factors for aggression and delinquency over and above

the variance accounted for by family characteristics (Kupersmidt, Griesler,

DeRosier, Patterson, & Davis, ). Exposure to neighborhood violence

increases children’s aggressive behaviors (e.g., Colder, Mott, Levy, & Flay,

; Guerra, Huesmann, & Spindler, ) and their beliefs about aggres-

sion (Guerra et al., ), and begins to have heightened eff ects on the

development of antisocial behavior during the middle childhood, preado-

lescent years (Ingoldsby & Shaw, ). Neighborhood problems have

eff ects on parenting behaviors (Pinderhughes, Nix, Foster, Jones, &

Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, ) and have a directimpact on children’s aggressive, antisocial behaviors (Greenberg, Lengua,

Coie, Pinderhughes, & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group,

; Schwab-Stone et al., ), above and beyond the eff ects of poor par-

enting practices. Early onset of aggression and violence has been associated

18



with neighborhood disorganization and poverty partly because children

who live in lower socioeconomic status and disorganized neighborhoods are

not well supervised, engage in more risk-taking behaviors, and experience

the deviant social influences that are apparent in problematic crime-riddenneighborhoods.

Schools can further exacerbate children’s conduct problems, as children

experience frustration from academic demands and from peer

influences. The density of aggressive children in classroom settings can

increase the amount of aggressive behavior emitted by individual stu-

dents (Barth, Dunlap, Dane, Lochman, & Wells, ; Kellam, Ling,

Mersica, Brown, & Ialongo, ).

Social Information Processing

Based on children’s temperament and biological dispositions, as well as

children’s contextual experiences from their family, peers, and commu-

nity, they begin to form stable patterns of processing social information(Dodge, Laird, Lochman, Zelli & Conduct Problems Prevention

Research Group, ) and regulating their emotions. Children’s emo-

tional reactions such as anger can contribute to later substance use and

other antisocial behavior, especially when children have not developed

good inhibitory control (Pardini, Lochman, & Wells, ). The con-

textual social-cognitive model (Lochman & Wells, a) stresses the

reciprocal interactive relationships between children’s initial cognitive

appraisal of problem situations, their eff orts to think about solutions to

the perceived problems, children’s physiological arousal, and their

behavioral response. The level of physiological arousal will depend on

the individual’s biological predisposition to become aroused, and will

vary depending on the interpretation of the event (Williams, Lochman,

Phillips, & Barry, ). The level of arousal will further influence the

social problem solving, operating either to intensify the fight-or-flight

response or interfere with the generation of solutions. Because of theongoing and reciprocal nature of interactions, it may be difficult for

children to extricate themselves from aggressive behavior patterns.

Aggressive children have cognitive distortions at the appraisal phases of

social-cognitive processing because of difficulties in encoding incoming

19



social information and in accurately interpreting social events and oth-

ers’ intentions. They also have cognitive deficiencies at the problem-

solving phases of social-cognitive processing shown by their generating

maladaptive solutions for perceived problems and having non-normativeexpectations for the usefulness of aggressive and nonaggressive solutions

to their social problems. In the appraisal phases of information process-

ing, aggressive children have been found to recall fewer relevant cues

about events (Lochman & Dodge, ), base interpretations of events

on fewer cues (Dodge, Pettit, McClaskey, & Brown, ), selectively

attend to hostile rather than neutral cues (Gouze, ), and recall the

most recent cues in a sequence, with selective inattention to earlier pre-sented cues (Milich & Dodge, ). At the interpretation stage

of appraisal processing, aggressive children have been shown to have a

hostile attributional bias, as they tend to excessively infer that others are

acting toward them in a provocative and hostile manner (Dodge et al.,

; Lochman & Dodge, ). These attributional biases tend to be

more prominent in reactively aggressive children than in proactively

aggressive children (Dodge, Lochman, Harnish, Bates, & Pettit, ).

The problem-solving stages of information processing begin with the

child accessing the goal that the individual chooses to pursue, and this

will then a ff ect the responses generated for resolving the conflict, which

occurs in the next processing stage. Aggressive children have been found

to have social goals that are more dominance and revenge oriented and

less a ffiliation oriented, than is the case for nonaggressive children

(Lochman, Wayland, & White, ). The fourth information-processing

stage involves a generative process whereby potential solutions for coping

with a perceived problem are recalled from memory. At this stage, aggres-

sive children demonstrate deficiencies in both the quality and the quan-

tity of their problem-solving solutions. These diff erences are most

pronounced for the quality of the solutions off ered, with aggressive

children off ering fewer verbal-assertion solutions (Joff e, Dobson, Fine,

Marriage, & Haley, ; Lochman & Lampron, ), fewer compro-

mise solutions (Lochman & Dodge, ), more direct-action solutions(Lochman & Lampron, ), a greater number of help-seeking or adult

intervention responses (Rabiner, Lenhart, & Lochman, ), and more

physically aggressive responses (Pepler, Craig, & Roberts, ) to hypo-

thetical vignettes describing interpersonal conflicts. The nature of the

20



social problem-solving deficits for aggressive children can vary depending

on their diagnostic classification. Boys with a diagnosis of CD produce

more aggressive and antisocial solutions in vignettes about conflicts with

parents and teachers, and fewer verbal and nonaggressive solutions in peerconflicts, in comparison to boys with ODD (Dunn, Lochman, & Colder,

). Thus, children with CD have broader problem-solving deficits in

multiple interpersonal contexts, in comparison to children with ODD.

The fifth processing step involves a two-step process: first, identifying

the consequences for each of the solutions generated, and second, eval-

uating each solution and consequence in terms of the individual’s

desired outcome. In general, aggressive children evaluate aggressive

behavior as more positive (Crick & Werner, ) than children with-

out aggressive behavior difficulties. Children’s beliefs about the utility of

aggression and about their ability to successfully enact an aggressive

response can operate to increase the likelihood of aggression being dis-

played, as children who hold these beliefs will be more likely to also

believe that this type of behavior will help them to achieve the desired

goals, which then influences response evaluation (Lochman & Dodge,). Deficient beliefs at this stage of information processing are

especially characteristic for children with proactive aggressive behavior

patterns (Dodge et al., ) and for youth who have callous or unemo-

tional traits consistent with early phases of psychopathy (Pardini,

Lochman, & Frick, ). Recent research has found that these beliefs

about the acceptability of aggressive behavior lead to deviant processing

of social cues, which in turn lead to children’s aggressive behavior (Zelli,

Dodge, Lochman, Laird, & Conduct Problems Prevention Research

Group, ), indicating that these information-processing steps have

recursive eff ects rather than strictly linear eff ects on each other.

The final information-processing stage involves behavioral enactment,

or displaying the response that was chosen in the preceding steps.

Aggressive children have been found to be less adept at enacting posi-

tive or prosocial interpersonal behaviors (Dodge et al., ). This inter-

pretation would suggest that improving the ability to enact positive

behaviors may influence aggressive children’s belief about their ability to

engage in these more prosocial behaviors and, thus, functions to change

the response evaluation.

21



Schemas Within the Social-Cognitive Model

Schemas have been proposed to have a significant impact on the infor-

mation-processing steps within the contextual social-cognitive modelunderlying cognitive-behavioral interventions with aggressive children

(Lochman, Magee, & Pardini, ; Lochman & Wells, ). Schemas

can involve children’s expectations and beliefs of others (Lochman et al.,

) and of themselves, including their self-esteem and narcissism

(Barry et al., ). Early in the information-processing sequence, when

the individual is perceiving and interpreting new social cues, schemas

can have a clear, direct eff ect by narrowing the child’s attention to cer-tain aspects of the social cue array (e.g., Lochman, Nelson, & Sims,

). A child who believes it is essential to be in control of others and

who expects that others will try to dominate him or her, often in aver-

sive ways, will attend particularly to verbal and nonverbal signals about

someone else’s control eff orts, easily missing accompanying signs of the

other person’s friendliness or attempts to negotiate. Schemas can also

have indirect eff ects on information processing through the influence of

schemas on children’s expectations for their own behavior and for others’

behavior in specific situations. Lochman and Dodge () found

that aggressive boys’ perceptions of their own aggressive behavior was

22

Community Context

Neighborhood Problem

Family ContextMaternal DepressionLow Social SupportMarital ConflictLow SESParent Aggression

ParentingPracticesContext

Child SocialCognitionand SelfRegulation

Child'sPerceptionof PeerContext

ProximalAggressiveBehavior

Violence andDelinquency

SubstanceAbuse

AcademicFailure

Figure 1.1

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Model of Youth Antisocial Behavior (Lochman, ).



primarily a ff ected by their prior expectations, whereas nonaggressive

boys relied more on their actual behavior to form their perceptions.

Risks and Benefits of This Treatment Program

Across a series of efficacy, eff ectiveness, and dissemination studies, there

has been evidence for the utility of the Coping Power Program in reduc-

ing children’s later delinquency, substance use, and problem behaviors

at school. However, it is evident that not all children improve when

using the program. Analyses of moderating factors have not identifiedsystematic subtypes of children with regard to race, gender, or initial

level of severity of problem behavior who may be less likely to be

responsive to the program (e.g., Lochman & Wells, , ); such

analysis will remain a focus of future research. A particular risk to be

considered when using the program has to do with the aggregation of

aggressive children into groups. Prior research has found that group

interventions with antisocial adolescents sometimes have iatrogenic

eff ects, and can produce worse outcomes for these youth through iatro-

genic eff ects, and can produce worse outcomes for these youth through

iatrogenic eff ects due to deviancy training among the youth (Dodge,

Dishion, & Lansford, ). We have not found overall iatrogenic

eff ects in the Coping Power studies, but undoubtedly in some groups of

youth the impact of the program is limited by negative peer influences.

This risk requires careful attention by the therapist, and will be noted

in Chapter .

Alternative Treatments

A variety of alternative treatments exist at diff erent developmental levels

(Lochman, Pardini, Phillips, & McElroy, ) and are summarized here.

Preschool and Early Elementary School

Several programs developed for the preschool and early elementary

school years have shown positive outcome eff ects, and these include the

23



Incredible Years program, parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT), Early

Risers, and Fast Track. Webster-Stratton’s (, ) Incredible Years

Training Series includes videotape modeling parent training, typically

administered in a therapist-led group. During these groups, parents view and discuss video vignettes demonstrating social learning and child

development principles and how parents can use child-directed interac-

tive play, praise, and incentive programs and nonviolent discipline tech-

niques. An advanced version of the program incorporates video vignettes

promoting parents’ personal self-control, communication skills, prob-

lem-solving skills, social support, and self-care. Webster-Stratton has also

developed a child videotape modeling program and teacher training curriculum, which have been shown to enhance outcome eff ects of the

original Incredible Years parent training program (Webster-Stratton &

Hammond, ; Webster-Stratton & Reid, ).

Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) was specifically designed to tar-

get the parent and child dyad, with the therapist serving as a coach to

improve the parent and child’s interaction patterns in vivo (Brinkmeyer

& Eyberg, ). Operant-conditioning parenting techniques similar tothose described above are taught using this coaching method, including

a specific system for implementing time-out after a child disobeys a com-

mand. PCIT is used most often with families of preschool-age children

(i.e., between the ages of and ). Significant improvements in children’s

behavior, parenting stress, and parents’ perceptions of control have been

found in families receiving PCIT relative to families in a waitlist control

group. Moreover, these gains are maintained following treatment com-

pletion and generalize to children’s classroom behavior.

Early Risers is a multicomponent, competency-enhancement program

that targets elementary school children (ages to ) who are at high

risk for early development of conduct problems, including substance

use (i.e., who display early aggressive, disruptive, or nonconformist

behaviors) (August, Hektner, Egan, Realmuto, & Bloomquist, ).

Intervention components include parent education and skills training,

parent–school consultation, child social skills training and strategic peer

involvement, and reading and math instruction and educational enrich-

ment activities.

The Fast Track Program is a comprehensive, long-lasting, multicompo-

nent intervention which starts with children as they enter elementary

24



school (Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, , ,

b). Fast Track has components for working with children in

social skills groups, in peer-pairing activities, and tutoring. It also has

components for working with parents in parent groups and in homevisits. The program for children targeted at high risk for later negative

outcomes is augmented by a universal prevention program delivered by

teachers.

Preadolescence and Early Adolescence

Problem-solving skills training (PSST) is a program targeted for school-age

antisocial children between and years old. Children attend weekly

sessions lasting approximately minutes each (Kazdin, Siegel, & Bass,

). In PSST the daily interpersonal situations that children face are

emphasized, with specific focus on individual interpersonal deficits. Leaders

teach problem-solving skills such as generating multiple solutions to a

problem and thinking about the consequences. In addition, problem-

solving skills are applied to interpersonal situations with teachers, peers,

siblings, and parents. Techniques such as role-play, reinforcement, model-

ing, and feedback are all used to teach and reward eff ective problem-solv-

ing skills. Children are also given tasks called “super-solvers” which allow

them to practice techniques from the sessions outside of the group with

other people. Parent participation is also an important component of the

training. Parents watch the sessions and serve as a co-leader in addition to

supervising the use of the new skills at home (Kazdin et al., ). Parentsalso learn parent behavioral management skills.

Middle to Late Adolescence

Multisystemic therapy (MST) is an individualized intervention that

focuses on the interaction between adolescents and the multiple environ-

mental systems that influence their antisocial behavior, including their

peers, family, school, and community (Henggler, Melton, & Smith,

). Strategies for changing the adolescent’s behavior are developed in

close collaboration with family members by identifying the major envi-

ronmental drivers that help maintain the adolescent’s deviant behavior.

25



Services are delivered in the family’s natural environment and can include

a variety of treatment approaches including parent training, family ther-

apy, school consultation, marital therapy, and individual therapy.

Although the techniques used within these treatment strategies can vary,many of them are either behavioral or cognitive-behavioral in nature (e.g.,

contingency management, behavioral contracting). Clinicians are guided

by a set of nine MST principles which include concepts like focusing on

systems strengths, delivering developmentally appropriate treatment, and

improving eff ective family functioning. Throughout the intervention, cli-

nician adherence to these treatment principles is closely monitored

through weekly consultation with MST experts.

Functional family therapy (FFT) combines principles from both family

systems theory and cognitive-behavioral approaches to intervene with

antisocial adolescents and their families (Klein, Alexander, & Parsons,

). The clinical practice of FFT has evolved over the past years, and

the most recent version of FFT consists of three intervention phases: ()

engagement and motivation, () behavior change, and () generalization.

During the engagement and motivation phase, the therapist addressesmaladaptive beliefs within the family system in order to increase expecta-

tions for change, reduce negativity and blaming, build respect for individ-

ual diff erences, and develop a strong alliance between the family and the

therapist. The behavior change phase is then used to implement concrete

behavioral interventions designed to improve family functioning by

building relational skills, enhancing positive parenting, improving

conflict management skills, and reducing maladaptive interaction pat-

terns. These behavioral interventions are individualized to fit the charac-

teristics of each family member and the family relational system as a

whole. Finally, the generalization phase of the intervention is used to

improve the family’s ability to competently influence the systems in

which it is embedded (e.g., school, community, juvenile justice system) to

help maintain positive change.

The Adolescents Transition Program (ATP) was designed as a preventative

intervention for middle school youth exhibiting risk factors for the escala-

tion of problem behavior (Dishion & Andrews, ). The program

initially consisted of weekly -minute parent and teen group sessions.

The parent groups consisted of to caregivers and were designed to teach

family management skills such as monitoring, positive reinforcement,

limit setting, and problem solving. Skills taught within the session were

26



reinforced through the use of exercises, role-plays, and discussions about

how the skills can be employed within the home. In addition to these group

sessions, families received three individual consultation sessions.

Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) is an alternative to tra-

ditional group care settings for antisocial youth who are removed from

the care of their parents or guardians. In MTFC, antisocial youth are tem-

porarily placed with a community-based foster family. Contingencies

governing the youth’s behavior are systematically modified through con-

sultation with a comprehensive treatment team (Fisher & Chamberlain,

). As the youth’s behavior improves, a gradual transition is made

from the MTFC setting back to their parent or guardian’s home. Each

foster family is assigned a behavioral support specialist, youth therapist,

family therapist, consulting psychiatrist, parent daily report caller, and

case manager or clinical team manager to assist with program implemen-

tation. Foster parents, who are informally screened for program participa-

tion, engage in a -hour preservice training which provides an overview

of the treatment model and teaches techniques for monitoring and mod-

ifying adolescent behavior. Adolescents are able to earn privileges withinthe foster home by following a daily program of scheduled activities and

fulfilling behavioral expectations. The youth’s biological parents or

guardians assist in the treatment planning, engage in family therapy to

learn eff ective parenting skills, and begin applying newly learned skills

during short home visits. As the family’s functioning improves, the visits

are extended until complete reunification occurs. Family therapists con-

tinue to follow the case for to months following reunification to assist

in the successful resolution of problems that arise.

The Role of Medications

Although we have not had any clinical trials in which we have examined

the adjunctive eff ects of medications with children in our program, we

routinely encourage parents to seek psychiatric evaluation of comorbidconditions that might require medication. Most common is ADHD,

which co-occurs in many of the children with aggressive behavior,

ODD, or CD with whom we intervene. Careful assessment and med-

ical management of ADHD is expected to enhance the Coping Power

intervention eff ects with children who have comorbid ADHD.

27



28

Outline of This Treatment Program

Table 1.2 Topics of Child and Parent or Caregiver Group Sessions

Child Component Parent or Caregiver Component

Session Description Session Description

Year 1

Group Structure and Behavioral

Goal-Setting Procedure

– Goal Setting

Organizational and Study Skills

– Awareness of Feelings and

Physiological Arousal Related

to Anger

Anger Coping and Self-Control

– Using Self-Statements for

Anger Coping

Relaxation and Overcoming

Barriers to Self-Control

– Perspective Taking

Perspective Taking and Problem

Solving

– Social Problem Solving

– Group Creates Videotape

Year 2

Review From Previous Year

Organizational and Study Skills

Review

Application of Social Problem

Solving to Teacher Conflict


Solving to Making Friends

and Being Friends With Others


Solving to Group Entry and

Negotiation With Peers

Introductions, Overview,

and Academic Support

Academic Support in the Home

– Stress Management

Basic Social Learning Theory

and Improving the Parent-Child

Relationship

Ignoring Minor Disruptive

Behavior

Giving Eff ective Instructions toChildren

Establishing Rules and

Expectations

– Discipline and Punishment

Getting Ready for Summer

Academic Support in the

Home – Review Session

Family Cohesion Building

Family Problem Solving

Family Communication

Long-Term Planning,

Termination



The Coping Power child component (Lochman, Lenhart & Wells, )

addresses the social-cognitive deficits identified in prior studies; these

skills were also the focus of our previously evaluated -session Anger

Coping Program (Larson & Lochman, ; Lochman, FitzGerald &

Whidby, ). The Coping Power child component focuses on (a)

establishing group rules and contingent reinforcement, (b) using self-

statements, relaxation, and distraction techniques to cope with angerarousal, (c) identifying problems and social perspective-taking with

pictured and actual social problems situations, (d) generating alternative

solutions and considering the consequences of alternative solutions to

social problems, (e) viewing modeling videotapes of children becoming

aware of physiological arousal when angry, using self-statements (“Stop!

Think! What should I do?”) and using the complete set of problem-

solving skills with social problems, (f) the children planning and making

their own videotape of inhibitory self-statement and social problem solv-

ing with problems of their own choice, (g) enhancing social skills,

involving methods of entering new peer groups and using positive peer

networks (focus on negotiations and cooperation on structured and

unstructured interactions with peer), and (h) coping with peer pressure.

29

Sibling Conflict and ProblemSolving


Solving to Peer Pressure

Refusal Skills

Problem Solving About

Neighborhood Problems, Deviant

Peer Groups, and Centrality of

Group Membership

Group Creates Peer Pressure Poster

Positive Quality Development and

Peer Relationships

Review and Termination of the

Coping Power Program

Child Component Parent or Caregiver Component

Session Description Session Description



The content of the Coping Power parent component is derived from

social learning theory-based parent training programs developed and

evaluated by prominent clinician-researchers in the field of child aggres-

sion (Forehand et al., ; Patterson, Reid, Jones, & Conger, ).Over the course of the sessions, parents learn skills for (a) identifying

prosocial and disruptive behavioral targets in their children using

specific operational terms, (b) rewarding appropriate child behaviors,

(c) giving eff ective instructions and establishing age-appropriate rules

and expectations for their children in the home, (d) applying eff ective

consequences to negative child behaviors, (e) managing child behavior

outside the home, and (f) establishing ongoing family communicationstructures in the home (such as weekly family meetings). In addition to

these basic parent training skills, sessions address stress management for

parents, family cohesion and problem solving, and parents are continu-

ally informed about the skills that children are addressing in their group

sessions so parents can reinforce those skills when they appear.

When the child and parent components of Coping Power are imple-

mented together, certain parent skills are introduced at the same time thatthe respective child skills are introduced, so that parents and children can

work together at home on what they are learning. For example, parents

learn to set up homework support structures and to reinforce organiza-

tional skills around homework completion as children are learning orga-

nizational skills in the Coping Power child component. Likewise, parents

learn the PICC model of problem solving around the same time that their

child learns the model in the child component. Then parent and child are

encouraged to use the PICC model together at home.

Use of the Child Workbook

Because the Coping Power Program is a group intervention, workbooks

have been made available for purchase in sets of eight. Each child in the

group should receive a workbook and be instructed to bring it to every session. Designed specifically for children, the workbook incorporates

an engaging and user-friendly design. It contains all the forms, activity

sheets, and homework assignments essential to the program.

30



31

Chapter 2 Child Group Logistics

Forming a Group

Assessment for Inclusion in Group Therapy

Children are identified for inclusion in this program through parent and

teacher reports of their aggressive behavior. These reports can consist

either of teacher nominations, teacher and parent behavioral ratings, or,

in clinic settings, identification of children with ODD or CD diagnoses.

Once these children are identified, parents will be expected to provideconsent for their children’s involvement in the program, although the

way this will be done will vary widely of course depending on whether

Coping Power is part of an outreach program in the schools or a treat-

ment program in a clinic.

As noted in the introductory chapter, we recommend that the full

Coping Power Program with the child and the parent components be

used. In this chapter, we will describe logistics issues for the childcomponent.

Many factors are believed to contribute to the development and mainte-

nance of aggressive behavior (Lochman, Powell, Whidby & FitzGerald,

). While innate characteristics and contextual factors are outside of

the influence of therapeutic intervention, such programs can address

social competence and social-cognitive skills. These factors are believed to

mediate the negative outcomes of aggressive behavior (Lochman & Wells,a). The social-cognitive model of children’s aggression suggests that

aggressive children demonstrate cognitive distortions when interpreting

incoming social information and evaluating social problems and have

deficiencies in formulating appropriate responses to these problems



32

(Lochman & Wells, a). Consequently, the assessment of a child’s

social-cognitive skills and functioning is central to understanding the

child’s therapeutic needs and likelihood of benefiting from group inter-

vention.

The Coping Power Program for children with conduct problems is an

example of a dual-component (i.e., child component and parent com-

ponent) group intervention for which inclusion is assessment-based.

For school-based preventive interventions, Lochman and Wells have

used a multiple-gating approach to assess children’s behavior for elevat-

ed levels of aggression appropriate for inclusion in the program. First,

teachers rate each of their students on severity of verbal aggression,

physical aggression, and disruptiveness. The –% most aggressive

children are then contacted for inclusion in Gate of the program

screening. For Gate , parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist

(CBCL). Children with T scores below to on these measures have

typically been excluded from the program (Lochman & Wells, ). If

parent ratings are not available, teacher ratings for children’s aggression

have proved to be eff ective screeners for later child maladjustment (Hill,Lochman, Coie, Greenberg, & Conduct Problems Prevention Research

Group, ; Lochman & Conduct Problems Prevention Research

Group, ).

Group Size

The optimal size of the Coping Power child component groups is four

to six children, and two group leaders. However, groups can be

eff ectively led by one therapist if sufficiently prepared and organized for

the session. In our dissemination research, we have had therapists who

have led groups with eight to twelve children. Although not recom-

mended, certain therapists who are highly experienced in handling

group process issues, are able to closely monitor children’s behavior, and

are adept at providing consistent feedback and consequences to youths’behavior can lead larger groups of this size. It is easier to work with

smaller than average groups. The group content can readily be used

with small groups of two or three children, as children can still partici-

pate in role-plays and other activities.



Group Meetings and Program Duration

The Coping Power child component has sessions. Sessions are typi-

cally conducted on a weekly basis, although they can be used for two orthree sessions per week if the program is being implemented in a residen-

tial or after-school setting where that is possible. Sessions are designed to

last for – minutes, although we have used the program in school set-

tings where only -minute sessions were possible, and in clinic settings

where -minute sessions were feasible. The program is designed to be

used in a closed group format, because session content builds on prior

sessions. However, the program can be used in a modified closed form, where some children are added up through the halfway point of the

group as long as the new children are provided individual sessions to

present them with condensed content for the sessions they missed and

the existing group members are able to provide review of prior sessions.

Children are expected to have brief individual sessions every four to six

weeks while they are in the group. The individual sessions are meant to

provide opportunities to reinforce generalization of skills that are being practiced in the group, to individualize group-delivered skills to address

children’s particular social problems, and to promote the development of

strong positive bonds with the group leader. The latter is important in

reducing the likelihood of peer deviancy training occurring in the group.

Maintenance or Follow-Up Sessions

Follow-up and maintenance sessions can be provided but they are not

a part of the basic intervention as reported in the efficacy and eff ectiveness

studies of the Coping Power Program. However, a brief six-session booster

program was found to maintain some of the long-term -year follow-up

eff ects of the Anger Coping Program on externalizing behavior outcomes

(Lochman, ). Because of the stability and chronicity of children’s con-

duct problems and the powerful risk-producing eff ects that may be presentin their family, community, and peer environments, there is a natural ten-

dency for intervention-produced improvements to decay for some chil-

dren. Booster or follow-up sessions could potentially help to prevent some

of these relapses.

33



Preparing for Group Meetings

Prior to the first meeting, therapists should identify the space for their

child group session, and determine whether it is spacious enough for a group that will be engaging in role-plays and group activities. Therapists

should also meet with children’s teachers and parents to identify relevant

behavioral goals that the children can address, and should have them cat-

egorize the goals as being relatively easy, moderately hard, or very hard

for the child. Teachers and parents are informed that the therapist and

child will begin with goals that are relatively easy and likely to be achiev-

able before proceeding to more diffi

cult goals.

Before each session, the therapist should assemble the materials needed

for that session, and prepare for the various session activities. In the

sessions on problem solving when children will create their own video-

tape, videotape equipment (or audiotape equipment if videotape is not

available) should be prepared for use.

Group Rules

Children assist in creating group rules during the first group session.

The group should have between six to eight rules. Although chil-

dren’s input is encouraged, rules should include prohibition against

physical contact and fighting, and prohibition against interrupting

others. Confi

dentiality should always be included as one of the grouprules.

Special Issues

Building Group Cohesion

It is important to convey the purpose of the group and to develop

a group structure and format. Taking time up front to form a cohesive

working group will help to establish a solid foundation. This will help

facilitate the process of team building, which is an integral component

of the child intervention.

34



In the initial session (if time permits, or no later than the second session),

engage the students in a discussion pertaining to goal setting. (Given

that some sessions have more content than others, there may be times

when you may need to carry over content from one session to the next.It is important to limit the frequency of doing this in order to avoid get-

ting too far behind.)

Group Needs

While adherence to the objectives outlined in the curriculum is very important for treatment integrity, it is equally important to attend to

the needs of the individual groups. An example may be that as group

members enter the room to begin the meeting, two of the students are

arguing about an incident that took place in the hall while coming

from the classroom. If possible, incorporate this “real life” experience

into the session planned for that day. Sometimes students will bring

problems directly to the group; other times group leaders need to be

actively observing the group to find valuable examples of situations

that occur both inside and outside of the group sessions. Encouraging

students to deal with problem situations that arise can assist them in

overcoming barriers that are getting in their way and allow them the

opportunity to practice problem solving within the context of the

group setting. The more creative and flexible group leaders can be in

the process of implementing the curriculum, the more likely students

will be open and willing participants.

Weekly Goals

The primary purpose of goal setting is to monitor children’s behaviors

and provide daily feedback to children about their classroom behavior

and to provide weekly feedback to group leaders concerning the chil-

dren’s behavior. Having children identify and work on weekly goals, with

the teacher monitoring progress on these goals, enhances the transfer of

the treatment eff ects into the classroom. Goal setting and monitoring

help provide the real-life experiences of focusing and dealing with prob-

lems within the classroom, with these goals generating discussions and

35



role-plays during group sessions. It also involves teachers more closely

with the program and provides one concrete indication of progress being

made by individual group members. This objective is carried on

throughout the course of the intervention. Standard weekly goal sheetsare included in each child’s workbook. Children should have their

teacher initial the goal sheet once each day of the week to indicate

whether or not the goal was achieved. Find a time to talk with each

teacher who will be monitoring goals to explain the goal setting and

monitoring process, and to explain how the goal sheet is to be filled out.

It would also be useful at this time to request a list of possible goals (–)

for the child. Once the goal-setting process is in place (by the end offi

rstor second session), and goals have been selected (in consultation with

group leader and teachers), progress towards goal attainment is moni-

tored and reviewed (at the beginning of each group session), for

the duration of the program. Goals will vary depending on individual

needs. The length of time a child may keep his or her goal may vary as

well. Some students may need to spend several weeks or even months

working on the same goal while other students will change goals more

readily. Again it is based on how well the student is progressing on their

personal goals.

Common problems in the goal setting and monitoring process occur

at the child level and at the teacher and parent levels. Children can for-

get to bring their workbooks with their completed goal sheets to group

even though they have been completed, they may not take responsibil-

ity for getting the goals sheets signed daily, they may appear to lack

motivation to work on their goals, or their sense of social anxiety or

fear of failure may reduce their compliance with the task. The adult

responsible for monitoring the goal completion (either the teacher or

parent depending on whether the goal is school- or home-related) also

can have difficulties with the task. The teacher or parent may believe

that the goals are inappropriate or are too easy, they may feel that

although children meet a specific behavioral goal they may be feeling

they are getting reinforced for other problem behaviors they displayedthat day, and they may feel that the child’s requests to have the goal

form signed may be occurring at awkward times and may be disruptive

to them.

36



Methods for coping with these problems with goal setting include

sending cards to the children reminding them about their goals during

the middle of the week, setting up a “buddy system” so children can

remind each other about their goals and their goal sheets during the week, setting less challenging and more realistic goals if needed, and

encouraging teachers to comment on their concerns about children’s

general non-goal-related behaviors on the back of the goal sheet.

Common Elements of Every Session

Review of Session Content

In addition to reviewing the weekly goal sheets, it is important to spend

a few minutes at the beginning of each session to review the main points

from the previous session. Begin each session by asking each child to recall

one point from the previous group meeting, using reminders as needed.Because each session in the child component builds on the previous one,

the process of review enhances the opportunity for students to retain the

material being covered from one week to the next. Recapping the primary

message from each group meeting is one way of meeting this objective.

Positive Feedback

Toward the end of each session, group leaders will ask all group mem-

bers to identify one positive thing about themselves and/or one positive

thing about another group member. Try to have the children avoid

complimenting one another on their clothing or other nonbehavioral or

status-oriented matters. Group leaders can model appropriate compli-

ments or positive feedback to assist in this process. Work toward having

group members provide positive feedback to peers on group-related

behaviors or positive examples outside of group that they observed at

school during the week. If time permits, ask each child to identify one

thing that they learned during group. Praise the group for any positive

achievements they may have made during the group session.

37



Prize Box

During group meetings, students can earn points for following group

rules, participating in a positive manner, and achieving their set goals(see Chapter ). In addition, children can earn points for homework

completion (when homework is assigned). These points can either be

saved or traded in for various prizes. At the end of every session, tally

the points each child has earned and award prizes. Children can use

their points immediately or save their points in order to “buy” specific

prizes. If a child wants to purchase a big prize, he or she will have to save

up points. Be sure to keep an ongoing tally of all points earned by eachchild in the group for the duration of the program.

Prior to the first group session, create a prize box menu that lists the

various prizes available. Examples include stickers, erasers, coloring

books, small toys, etc. A sample prize menu is shown in Table ..

38

Table 2.1 Sample Prize Box Menu

Item Cost

Pencils (set of ) points

Pen points

Eraser ( small or large) points

Folder points

Hair clip points

Nail polish points

Lip gloss points

Yo-yo points

Gloves points

Deck of playing cards points

Jewelry points

Nerf ball points

Trading cards points

Softball points

Frisbee points

Wallet pointsFootball/Soccer ball/Basketball points

CD wallet points

Disposable camera points

Clock radio points



Free Time

This is an optional (time-permitting) free play period (– minutes).

Each student who has earned at least one point during group is eligiblefor free time. Group leaders should be aware of any potential problems

that arise between group members during this free play time and use it

as an opportunity to practice “problem solving in action.” Attempt to

have each person involved in the situation discuss the problem and try

to come to a resolution. Try to develop a plan to prevent this type of

problem from occurring again. It is helpful to follow up with these

issues individually and/or at the beginning of the next group session.

The leaders should view this problem-solving opportunity as a process

to be worked on over the course of the entire group. When possible, the

first step would be to have each child discuss the problem individually

with the group leader and then to work toward having the children dis-

cuss the problem situation with each other. During the discussion, lead-

ers should have children accurately identify the problem, talk about

possible misinterpretations, generate several solutions for the problem,

discuss the consequences of these solutions, and determine which solu-tion would best achieve the goal of getting along with the peer.

It is important to remember that each child may be at a diff erent level

in terms of ability to tolerate this form of problem solving. Group lead-

ers should be sensitive to the child’s ability to process and discuss the

conflict and must modulate the problem-solving process accordingly.

This task will be difficult for some of the children to accomplish and

may require shaping by the leaders in order to reach the goal of media-tion. Taking time to process conflicts that occur during the free time

period is very important and may sometimes result in running over the

allotted time for the group meeting. The goal of free time is to end the

meeting on a positive note. Therefore, group leaders should assess if any

child is angry or upset by the situation and, if applicable, determine the

level of this anger before sending the child back to class. If the child is

very angry or upset, the group leaders may decide to retain the child

after the group in order to talk with him or her and reduce the level of

arousal before the child returns to the classroom.

If a child has not earned free time, group leaders should determine how

capable the child is of processing the reason for not earning free time at

the end of group. Group leaders should talk with the child about the

39



rules that were broken, why this happened and how the child can earn

free time the following week. If the child is too angry or upset about not

earning free time and cannot discuss the situation at hand, the leaders

may choose to process the conflict either in an individual meeting priorto the next group or at the beginning of the next session.

Free time can also be used to reinforce the children who exhibit prosocial

behaviors (e.g., sharing, resolving conflict appropriately, etc.).

Homework

Similar to the rationale for implementing the weekly goal sheet,

homework has been shown to be an eff ective exercise that enhances

the student’s ability to retain the information learned from one group

session to the next. Giving students an opportunity to practice what

they learn outside the group setting can help them gain the confidence

needed to eff ectively use these newly learned skills in coping with

diffi

cult situations encountered during day-to-day interactions withpeers. This curriculum recommends the use of “bonus points” to be

given to those students who complete the assigned homework. Bonus

points are given to encourage students to practice what they are learn-

ing and reward them for the eff ort they put forth.

Videotaping Group Meetings

In addition to creating a problem-solving video (Sessions –),

videotaping can be used throughout the course of the curriculum,

especially during role-play activities. Students generally engage readily

to tasks involving work with videotaping. Sometimes students are

given the opportunity to be the camera person, while others generate

scripts and take on acting roles to demonstrate various skills being

presented in the sessions. Once the videotaping segment has beencompleted, giving the students a chance to review their work off ers a

unique opportunity for them to discuss and explore the choices they

made and resulting consequences.

40



When videotape equipment is not available, there are a couple of

alternative activities that may be substituted to meet this objective: ()

have the group members develop and design a problem-solving

pamphlet or cartoon-book that can be copied and viewed by otherstudents and/or parents, () audiotape problem-solving role-plays and

play the tapes back in the group for group discussion of the problem-

solving steps, and () have group members develop a problem-solving

role-play to be performed and presented to another class or to the

parents of the group members.

Throughout the text of the curriculum you will find activities that are

listed as “optional.” These activities have been added to provide group

leaders with a range of choices to select from in meeting the various

objectives in the manual. An example of this might be creating a teacher

newsletter in the session on perspective taking with teachers. This

optional activity involves having the group leaders compile information

to create a newsletter that describes diff erent interviews between mem-

bers of the Coping Power Program and their teachers. This newsletter

then can be copied and handed out to the teachers and students thatparticipated in this activity.

Implementation Issues in the Schools With Teachers

Teachers’ primary roles in the Coping Power Program are to assist with

setting realistic, attainable, and observable behavioral goals for each child,

to monitor their daily progress on these goals, and to provide social rein-

forcement to children for their initial, often fragile, eff orts to implement

new social-cognitive skills (Lochman & Wells, ). To maximize the

likelihood that teachers will be actively supportive of the program and

will successfully monitor students’ behavior daily, we have found it useful

to include school counselors as co-leaders of the children’s groups.

Teachers are less likely to perceive the intervention as being implemented

by “outsiders” if a member of the school sta ff is actively involved in theimplementation of the program. Other procedures that enhance teachers’

positive involvement are the inclusion of periodic “lab” exercises

between children and their teachers on perspective taking and problem

solving, and frequent informal meetings between the group co-leaders

41



and the teachers about the children’s progress. We have also found it to be

useful to assess for “slow responders” about halfway into the intervention

period. If we perceive that some children are beginning to make eff orts to

acquire skills in the group but they are unable to transfer those skills totheir real-world classroom settings, then we provide focused case consul-

tation to the teachers.

Implementation Issues in the Schools With Peers

The primary concern with children’s peers has to do with the tendency of some groups to be reactive in their behavior to each other, to be dis-

ruptive, and to provide deviancy training for each other. To off set these

possibilities, group co-leaders start by enhancing structural control of

children’s behavior in the group as detailed in the following section of

this chapter. Leaders’ careful attention to seating arrangements, provi-

sion of clearly stated expectations for children’s behavior at times of

transitions between activities, and use of direct eye contact and firm

voice tone can be highly useful. The program has evolved over time to

also include more programmatic enhancements designed to create a

positive peer climate in the group. Such enhancements include the use

of positive feedback time at the end of sessions, use of group-based con-

tingencies, use of buddy systems to assist children in remembering their

behavioral goals and the group rules, and use of periodic one-to-one

contacts between intervention sta ff and children. When children do not

respond to these structural and programmatic eff orts, major structuralchanges can be made. These include removing a chronically disruptive

child from the group and instead implementing the program individu-

ally with that child, or dividing the group into more manageable sub-

groups for at least several sessions (Lochman & Wells, ).

When implementing group interventions with angry and aggressive

youth, there is a set of potential obstacles that can interfere with the

optimal functioning of the group and can detract from the eff ectivenessof the intervention (Lochman, Powell, Boxmeyer, Deming, & Young,

). Four primary issues involve children’s reactive behavior in the

group, deviancy training and deviant norms, singletons, and the inclusion

of highly impulsive ADHD youth. These four issues will be briefly

42



described, and then relevant methods for overcoming these obstacles will

be discussed (Lochman & Wells, ).

Reactive Behavior in Groups

Children who are chosen for a CBT group because of their aggressive

behavior with peers can be noncompliant and challenging with adult

group leaders, and they can readily respond to perceived provocations

from other children in the group with flashes of reactive, angry aggres-

sion. Reactive aggressive children have difficulty regulating their angerand arousal, causing their “hot” angry cognitions to interfere with their

information processing. Children may perceive that other group mem-

bers are receiving more favorable treatment from group leaders, they may

feel that they are being blamed for some problem in the group, or they

may feel victimized by a peer’s eff orts to dominate and control others.

Children’s emotional reactions to each other in these situations can be

highly contagious, and can lead to bursts of aversive, conflictual interper-

sonal behavior between group members.

Deviancy Training and Deviant Norms

Group members may reinforce each others’ antisocial behavior and

antisocial attitudes and create potentially iatrogenic eff ects (Dishion &

Andrews, ). The two most prominent explanations for the eff ectthat deviant peer groups have on individuals’ behavior are the influence

of social norms and the influence of deviancy training (Lavallee,

Bierman, Nix, & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, ;

Patterson, Dishion, & Yoerger, ). From a social norm perspective,

Wright, Giammarino, and Parad () used the person-group similar-

ity model and found that a high density of aggressive youth in a group

may cause the social norms for aggression to shift to a higher level for

individuals in the group, making aggressive and antisocial behavior

appear to be more socially acceptable.

In addition to being exposed to a number of children with high levels

of aggressive behavior in a deviant peer group, the members of the

43



deviant peer group may directly reinforce each other for their antisocial

attitudes and behaviors. Delinquent adolescent dyads have been found

to provide high rates of positive reinforcement for their partners’

deviant talk, while nondeviant dyads provide reinforcement for eachothers’ normative, nondeviant discussions (Patterson et al., ). This

pattern of reinforcement of rule-breaking talk among deviant dyads

directly a ff ects these youths’ subsequent substance use and delinquency

(Dishion, Eddy, Haas, Li, & Spracklen, ). In a key study that

demonstrated how deviancy training could be a primary mechanism

accounting for the negative eff ect of aggregating antisocial youth,

Patterson and colleagues () found that deviancy training in dyadicinteractions partially mediated the eff ect of boys’ involvement with

deviant peers in 4th grade and their substance use, police arrests, and

number of intercourse partners in th grade.

Dishion and Andrews () found that deviancy training led

young adolescents who were in a group intervention program to have

higher rates of tobacco use and more delinquent behaviors at a one-

year follow-up than did control children. These iatrogenic eff ectsremained even at later three-year follow-ups, especially for youth

with more moderate levels of antisocial behavior at baseline (Poulin,

Dishion, & Burraston, ). The results for social norm explana-

tions for deviant group eff ects are less clear than deviancy training

eff ects (Lavallee et al., ).

These deviant group eff ects can also be apparent in children’s power

struggles with group leaders. If a group member is often involved inchallenging group leaders, and if that child is relatively well accepted by

his or her peers in the group, this can stimulate broad oppositional

power struggles between the group and the leaders, and can reduce chil-

dren’s group involvement and motivation for change.

Singletons

The presence of a child who is clearly diff erent from his or her peers in

the group on important dimensions may contribute to that individual

being ostracized from the group and victimized by peers. Examples of

such “singletons” are having one girl in a group of preadolescent boys,

44



having one minority race child in a group, and having a child with low

cognitive functioning in a group of children with average intellectual

functioning. The singleton child can thus be socially rejected by peers

in the group, and can feel distressed and socially incompetent.

Impulsive ADHD Children

Some children can create serious disruptions in group functioning

because of their ADHD characteristics, which lead them to impulsively

interrupt others and to be in constant physical contact with othersbecause of their uncontrolled hyperactive behaviors. These disruptions

can be distinguished from the reactive aggressive behaviors and the

deviant group eff ects described above because they are not intentional

disruptions or emotionally charged responses to perceived threats.

However, the disruptions caused by ADHD children can seriously

disturb the group’s ability to work on focused tasks. In addition, an

uncontrolled ADHD child can be relatively unable to attend to informa-

tion presented in the group, and thus will be less likely to remember and

incorporate new social cognitive skills.

Ways to Overcome Obstacles With Intervention Groups for Children

Intervention Structure

The two primary ways to address problems with children’s reactive aggres-

sive behavior and with deviancy training eff ects are to closely address cer-

tain structural issues in the intervention and to provide enhanced

behavioral management strategies, as needed. An initial planning issue

has to do with the age of the youth in the group. Iatrogenic deviancy

training eff ects seem to be more evident in adolescent-age groups than inpreadolescent groups. In addition, the inclusion of two group leaders can

increase leaders’ ability to scan children’s behavior continually, and detect

subtle signs of peers’ reinforcement of deviant behaviors.

45



Once the group is formed, it is useful to carefully follow aspects of the

intervention that involve monitoring and providing consequences for

children’s behavior. Thus, in our Coping Power groups we place

emphasis on having clear group rules, starting in the first session, andon providing points for children’s adherence to these rules and for

their positive participation in group sessions. Other program elements

that alert children to how their behavior can lead to consistent conse-

quences include the use of weekly goal setting procedures for each

group member, having group-contingent rewards for the entire group

successfully attaining a certain number of points over several months,

and working with the parents in the parent group sessions on theirability to provide clearer instructions to the children and to provide

consistent consequences for children’s positive and negative behaviors.

Ongoing contact by the group leaders with the teachers can be criti-

cally important in facilitating teachers’ abilities to monitor children’s

social behavior and to provide logical consequences within the

school setting.

Group Behavioral Management Strategies

Minor structural changes in the group can be helpful in providing

stimulus control to prevent behavioral escalation in the group. Such

minor structural changes include changing seating arrangements so

that a group leader is between two particularly reactive children.Group leaders’ use of nonverbal cues (e.g., eye contact; physical

proximity; animated voice tone) can also be an important means for

gaining children’s optimal attention. Eff ective group leaders also are

able to assist children with making smooth transitions from one group

activity to another or from the group back to the class or the waiting

room by verbally preparing them several minutes prior to the change

of activity, and guiding them through the transition. If some group

members are demonstrating high levels of positive involvement in the

group, they can also be used to serve as a “buddy” for reactive peers,

reminding the peer of group rules.

46



Major structural changes can also be implemented in the relatively

rare occasions when these minor structural changes and usual

program structural elements are insufficient to reduce individual

children’s serious problem behaviors in the group. When a centralconcern is intense rivalry between two children, leading them to fre-

quently initiate conflict with each other, or when two children are

actively involved in deviancy training with each other, the group can

be temporarily split into two subgroups. If there were two group

leaders, each leader can then work with a subgroup in a more con-

tained way until group members’ functioning improves and the sub-

groups can be reintegrated. In cases with a severely and chronically disruptive individual in the group, the individual can be seen indi-

vidually rather than in the group for a period of time. If this latter

child begins to demonstrate a stronger therapeutic alliance after sev-

eral individual sessions, then he or she may be carefully reintegrated

into the group.

Adjusting the Concreteness of Group Material

In response to having a “singleton” child with lower cognitive functioning

in the group, group leaders can adapt intervention content to make it more

concrete and less abstractly meta-cognitive. The group leaders can spend

more time in role-playing and hands-on activities rather than in group

discussion. In general, it is easier to make the problem-solving training

more concrete than the attribution-retraining and perspective-taking

sessions in our groups.

Adjustments for ADHD Children

When a highly unregulated hyperactive child is in the group, it is usefulto consult with the parents and to encourage an evaluation for ADHD

and for potential medication management. In group sessions, leaders

typically have to provide more frequent and more individually tailored

monitoring and feedback for the child’s behavior. For example, a group

47



leader can sit next to an ADHD child and use a simple time-sampling

chart to indicate when the child has had good on-task behavior in five-

minute blocks during the session.

Role of Group Leaders

Group leaders serve as coach in a collaborative way with children, but

also must firmly set expectations, monitor children’s behavior in the

group, and provide consequences. Therapists should actively and

frequently socially reinforce positive participation and cooperativebehavior in the group. It is imperative that therapists should prepare

clear transitions between activities and inform children about the agen-

da for the day. When it is possible to have two therapists, they should

prepare together prior to each session for how they will divide up lead-

ership for session activities, and for anticipated problems they might

have with particular children in the group. After the session, it is impor-

tant for the two therapists to have a debriefing period to identify group

process problems that will need to be addressed in the next session.

Training Group Leaders

With regard to therapist skills and attributes (Lochman, Powell,

Jackson, & Czopp, ), intervention sta ff for the Coping Power

Program has consisted of clinicians at the master’s level of professionaltraining (e.g., school counselors, master’s degree in social work) and

psychologists at the early PhD level. These individuals conduct both

the child component within the school or clinic settings and the par-

ent component, generally at the child’s school, at an accessible commu-

nity center, or at a clinic, during a convenient time for parents. An

interest and prior experience in working with children and families

within a cognitive-behavioral framework are essential for a clinician

who chooses to implement this program.

Adequate training and consultation are also critical for successful imple-

mentation of the Coping Power Program (Lochman, Wells, & Murray,

). Clinicians should begin their training by reading the two

48



Facilitator Guides (child group program and parent group program),

which contain session-by-session outlines for all group meeting and the

process of each of the major components of the program. Attendance at

a Coping Power training workshop is the second stage recommendedfor any clinician using this program. Information on Coping Power

training and workshops can be obtained at: www.copingpower.com.

During the workshop, clinicians will become familiar with the back-

ground and rationale of the Coping Power Program and will review

individual sessions to discuss the relevance of the session objectives to

the overall objectives of the program. Once the clinician begins imple-

menting the program, it is essential that he or she have access to anexperienced Coping Power Program interventionist, or another super-

visor with cognitive-behavioral specialty training with children and par-

ents for regular consultation throughout the process.

The clinician’s ability to identify social problems or negative group

process issues and treatment flexibility are essential in implementing the

Coping Power Program. For example, when a child or any group mem-

ber (if using a group format) begins discussing a current social problemthat has recently happened, clinicians should respond by immediately

shifting the agenda for the session to the presented problem, rather than

rigidly sticking to the pre-planned group activities. The clinician can

thus take advantage of the naturally presented opportunity to model

and reinforce problem-solving skills. It is critical that clinicians are

mindful of the overall objectives of the program so that their flexible

responses to children’s problems and to group process issues can still

have a direct impact on the targeted social-cognitive difficulties of

aggressive children.

Basic skills essential to all practicing clinicians should also be noted

because of the impact these skills have on treatment compliance and

discontinuation of treatment (i.e., by caregivers). The clinician’s ability

to build therapeutic alliances with the patient, relevant school person-

nel, and caregivers is an important element of the Coping Power

Program. Failure to build rapport with pertinent people may interfere

with eff ectual implementation of the program. Also, a clinician’s ability

to empathize with the child and the parents of the child is essential to

treating children with externalizing problems.

49

http://www.copingpower.com/

http://www.copingpower.com/



Strict adherence to ethics should be practiced by the clinician, which can

become somewhat complicated with the diff erent therapeutic alliances

that may potentially be created, particularly if the clinician chooses

to use a school-based group format for the sessions (i.e., clinician-child,clinician-teacher, clinician-caregiver). Some potential conflicts that may

arise that should be considered by clinicians from an ethics standpoint

are a parent having concerns of confidentiality and fears about his or her

child attending a group and possibly being “labeled” at school; a parent

(with a strained relationship with a teacher) sharing information in

confidence that the clinician knows would be helpful for the teacher; or

the child sharing information with the clinician during an individualsession that the clinician feels would be useful for group discussion.

Clinicians with multiple, intertwined therapeutic relationships must

inform all parties of the limits of confidentiality and clinicians should

not violate these rules of confidentiality set within the clinician-

group, clinician-child, clinician-school personnel, or clinician-caregiver

relationships. Also, proper documentation of group sessions, individual

sessions, and other related contacts (i.e., individualized education plan

[IEP] meetings) is essential and should be practiced.

50



Coping Power Child Program

Year 1






53

Chapter 3 Session : Group Structure and Behavioral Goal

Setting Procedure

Materials Needed

■ Dry erase board or flipchart and markers

■ Three-Strike System poster

■ Point System poster

■ Ball for group activity

■

Prize box

Outline

■ Discuss group purpose and structure

■ Outline group rules

■ Discuss the Point System and the Three-Strike System

■ Engage children in an activity to build group cohesion

■ Begin discussion of behavioral goal setting

General Purpose and Structure of the Program

Introduce yourself and your co-leader to group members and provide

a brief overview of what the children can expect to experience over the

course of the year (e.g., talk about the general purpose of the group,



54

provide details about length and frequency of meetings, and the

expectations that will be placed on them).

For example, you may say something like the following:

Group meetings will last for approximately hour, and will occur

once each week this year for approximately weeks. You will also

meet with a group in th grade once per week for approximately

weeks. We will not meet on holidays or days on which you will

attend meetings, assemblies, or fi eld trips. One of us will meet with

each of you individually once a month to discuss how things are

going. These individual meetings let us spend time with each of youhelping you to brainstorm about ways that you can make positive

changes in your life. When you are in the group, we hope that you

will feel comfortable talking among yourselves and with us. During

each group you will be provided the opportunity to earn points, all of

which are based on your level of participation. We will talk more

about this later.

The following paragraph is an example of how you or your co-leadermay introduce the purpose of the group:

We will be working with you in this group to improve your ability

to cope with strong feelings and with di ffi cult situations (such as

peer pressure, tough schoolwork, and hard-to-get-along-with

teachers). One of the goals of the group is to provide you with

enough information so that you are better equipped to make a

smooth and successful transition to middle school next year. As part of the group you will learn new ways to handle your anger

and how to solve problems that come up at school, in your neigh-

borhood, and at home. Have any of you heard the term coping

before?

If the answer is yes ask, “What does coping mean to you?” Elicit or shape

a response from group members for the definition of the term coping . For

example, assist children in stating that coping may mean being able tomanage or handle stressful situations when they arise without becoming

too angry or upset. Ask children, “Why do you think this is called the

Coping Power Program?” Elicit or shape a response that would indicate

that they could increase or strengthen their coping skills in this group.



Explain that over the course of the next few weeks, the group will work

on helping members recognize when they are angry and develop skills

to handle their angry feelings in a positive way.

We are not going to teach you to stop being angry, but we will teach

you new ways to respond so you can make smarter choices.

Identify situations that make you (leaders) feel angry and convey the

idea that feeling angry is a natural experience that everybody has.

Emphasize that choosing eff ective responses to anger-provoking situa-

tions is what is important, not the emotion itself.

Have group members discuss situations that are difficult for them or

ones that trigger an angry response. Try to have each member talk about

what makes them angry and how they respond. If the child has

difficulty generating answers, ask them to tell you what his or her par-

ent or teacher might suggest. Be sure to record children’s responses for

use in the goal setting section of today’s session.

Group Rules

Next, talk to children about the need for group rules. Ask them for their

ideas of what some of the rules should be. Have one child go to the dry

erase board or flipchart and ask him or her to record the rules that the

group generates. If possible, select a child who does not have writing

difficulties. You may choose to select a particularly quiet child or one

whom you are concerned may not become involved in the group

process. This may facilitate positive group interaction. Leaders can also

have the group members take turns recording the rules that are gener-

ated. Try to make sure that all group members participate in generating

rules. If a child off ers a “strange,” unclear, or silly rule, try to reframe

this into a useful rule. General rules for the group should include:

■ No physical contact

■ No name-calling

■ No swearing

■ Arriving on time

55



■ Having a positive attitude

■ Not interrupting each other

■ Keeping everything private (confidential)

■ Following directions

If these general group rules have not been generated, you and your

co-leader should suggest them. Define the confidentiality rule for

group members as: “What we say in here, stays in here.” Let children

know that this rule applies to both the group leaders and other group

members. Note that the children can talk to their parents aboutgroup discussions but should not talk to other children.

Refer children to the group rules page in the workbook and ask them to

record the rules in the space provided so they can each have their own copy.

Point System

Discuss the point system and describe the procedure for earning points.

Group members can earn one point for:

■ Following rules

■ Positive participation

Group members can earn two points for:

■ Completing homework assignments

Group members can earn up to fi ve points for:

■ Meeting their weekly goal

Create a poster outlining the point system to be displayed in a visible

space at every group meeting.

Following Rules and the Three-Strike System

This system should be used for dealing with problem behavior dis-

played during the meetings or, if appropriate, outside of the meetings

56





Rewards for Earning Points

After discussing the specifics of the point system, let children know

that they can use their points for certain rewards. There are two thingsthat points can earn. First, children can trade in some of their points

for items from the prize box (see Chapter ). Explain to the group that

you and your co-leader will let each member know his or her point

total at the end of every session. It is important that you also keep

track of each member’s total number of points throughout the dura-

tion of the program. Children can use their points immediately or

save their points in order to “buy” specific prizes. If a child wants topurchase a big prize, he or she will have to save up points. As outlined

in Chapter , prior to today’s meeting you should have created a prize

box menu that lists all the various prizes children can choose from.

You may wish to incorporate children’s suggestions when creating this

menu.

You may also wish to have the students work together to earn a pizza

party or other group reward at the end of the group sessions. Thereward should be based on reaching a certain percentage (e.g., %) of

the total possible points possible for the group (calculated by summing

the total possible points for each individual). This will also encourage

group cohesion and cooperation.

Getting Acquainted/Achieving Group Cohesion

The following activities can help the children get to know one another

and build group cohesion.

Pass the ball: Have group members throw a ball to each other. Ask them

to identify the person (by name) to whom they threw the ball, identify

one thing that is the same about the two of them, and identify one

thing that is diff erent about the two of them.

Group naming task: Have group members decide on a name for their

group (e.g., using a combination of their first initials to form a word).

Have group members generate several alternative names and vote on the

name they would like to use.

58



Goal Setting

Discuss with children the idea of setting goals. Ask them for their

ideas about what goals are and the purpose of setting goals. Elicit a response indicating that a goal is something you work toward meet-

ing. Explain to children that people set goals in order to improve

something in themselves or so that they have a better idea about

what they would like to achieve in the future. A goal provides a per-

son with structure for the future and allows him or her to plan

ahead.

Inform members that each of them will be choosing weekly goals based

on input obtained from their teacher, counselor, or parent. Be sure to

tell them that, at times, more than one person may be working on the

same goal (e.g., being quiet during class), but that meeting this goal

may be easy for one person but difficult for another. Introduce the idea

that the group will be using goal sheets to keep track of their success

with meeting their goals. Refer children to the goal sheets in the work-

book and discuss how points are earned.

You can earn 1 point a day for each day that you meet your goal.

If you meet your goal for the entire week you will earn points.

Positive Feedback

As outlined in Chapter , at the end of each session you and your co-leader

will ask all group members to identify one positive thing about themselves

and/or one positive thing about another group member.

Prize Box

Remember, children can earn points during group (see Chapter for

more details). Tally the points earned for each child and award prizes, if

applicable.

59



Free Time

If time permits, allow children a free-play period of – minutes at the

end of the session (see Chapter for more details). Remember to keep aneye out for any potential problems that may arise between group mem-

bers during this time and use it as an opportunity to practice problem

solving.

60



61

Chapter 4 Session : Goal Setting – Part I

Materials Needed


■ Paper and pencils

■ Example of one potential group goal that is broken down into smaller

steps

■ Prize box

Outline

■ Review previous session

■ Illustrate the diff erence between long and short-term goals and the

importance of both types

■ Illustrate the process of personal goal setting

Review Previous Session

Begin the group session by asking each child to recall one point from

the previous group session. The review section of each meeting should

be used to have group members recall the primary message from the

previous week.



Setting and Realizing Goals

Engage the group members in a general discussion about goal setting.

For example, ask someone to answer the question, “What is a goal?” Youmay review the ideas generated in the previous session. Then, initiate a

more general discussion of goal setting. For example, ask: “What other

kinds of goals have you set for yourself ?” Discuss setting diff erent kinds of

goals, such as finishing homework by a certain time so they can play,

beating their best time in a video game, earning a patch in Girl

Scouts/Boy Scouts, or achieving a certain number of baskets during a

basketball game. Convey to the children that they set goals for them-selves all the time, even though they may not realize it.

Long-Term Goals vs. Short-Term Goals

Elicit a definition of a long-term goal as being one that sets a goal for

the future or something that a person works on for an extended period

of time (e.g., career goal, goal for losing weight by next year, making the

basketball team next season, etc). Short-term goals can be defined in

terms of discrete goals (e.g., staying quiet for minutes), or as steps

that need to happen in order to reach a long-term goal (e.g., passing

each grade in order to get to college). List the long-term and short-term

goals generated by group members on the dry erase board or flipchart.

Creating Long-Term Goals

Inform group members that each of them will develop a long-term goal

during today’s session. They may work on one long-term goal over the

course of the year, or if they meet that goal they may develop a second.

Explain the goal setting process in detail before asking the group members

to complete their long-term goal sheets in the workbook. An eff ective way to do this is to bring an example of a long-term goal to the group. The goal

should be one that requires that an individual meet many short-term goals

in order to meet the long-term goal. Following is an example of a long-

term goal and the associated short-term goals:

62





each group member to choose one of the steps from their list and use it

as their weekly goal. Instruct children to record this weekly goal on a new

goal sheet in the workbook (see Chapter ).

Help the group members describe their goals in terms of observable

behavior in order to help minimize their use of subjective statements as

goals. For example, “being good in class” is very subjective. This goal

can be behaviorally defined in terms of “not talking back to the

teacher,” “no physical contact with other kids,” and so on. It is impor-

tant to select a goal that is relevant and is not too difficult to preclude

success. Based on student’s performance, it may be necessary to increase

or decrease the level of difficulty of the chosen goals.

Rules for the Goal-Setting Procedure

The following rules should be followed by each child:

■ Each child is responsible for his goal sheet

■ Each child must keep track of his own goal sheet

■ Each child is responsible for getting his goal sheet signed by the

teacher

■ Each child is responsible for returning the goal sheet to group

each week

Remind children of the point system and the fact that points will notbe earned if they do not return their completed goal sheets at the start

of every group meeting. Reiterate the benefits and rewards for meeting

goals (e.g., prize box, pizza party). Problem-solve with group members

about how they can remember to have their goal sheet signed and to

bring it back to the group the following week. Some ideas may include

the following:

■ Putting a sticker on their desk that will serve as a reminder

■ Asking each other to remind one another

■ Keeping their workbooks in their backpacks at all times

64



Positive Feedback

As outlined in Chapter , at the end of each session you and your co-

leader will ask all group members to identify one positive thing aboutthemselves and/or one positive thing about another group member.

Prize Box


more details). Tally the points earned for each child and award prizes, if applicable.

Free Time


end of the session (see Chapter for more details). Remember to keep an

eye out for any potential problems that may arise between group mem-


solving.

65






67

Chapter 5 Session : Goal Setting – Part II

Materials Needed


■ Prize box

Outline


■ Review weekly goal sheets and set goals for coming week

■ Reinforce goal setting as an ongoing process

■ Review progress in achieving goals

■ Identify barriers to goals and how to overcome them

■ Introduce the “buddy system”




be used to have group members recall the primary message from theprevious week.



Review Weekly Goal Sheets and Set Goals for Coming Week

Engage the students in a discussion about goal setting. Review the goal

that had been set the previous week. Ask children, “What goal did eachof you set for yourself for the classroom? How did you do with meeting this

goal? What made it easy/di ffi cult to reach the goal you set for yourself? How

about other goals you have set in the past?”

Remember to award points to children who successfully achieved their

goal.

After reviewing progress in goal setting, work with the group to set next week’s goals. If some children had difficulty in achieving their goals, their

goals may be broken down into smaller, more manageable steps. If some

children found their goals easy to meet, assess the need for setting more

challenging goals. Share with children the idea that goal setting is a process.

Reinforce Understanding of the Process of Goal Setting

Ask group members how they know if they have met a goal they set for

themselves. You may use the following questions.

■ How do you feel if you met your goal?

■ How do you feel if you did not meet your goal?

■ What do you do if you have met your goal?

Elicit the types of rewards or reinforcements that each student uses and

determine whether they make attempts to change or increase the goals

they have set by asking, “What do you do if you do not meet your goal?”

Elicit a response that indicates goal setting is a process that involves eval-

uating goals that have been set for oneself, rewarding the self if goal was

met, reevaluating the goals that have not been met, determining ways to

meet the goal the next time you try, and potentially decreasing the crite-ria for meeting the goal or breaking the goal down into smaller, more

achievable steps.

You may wish to further illustrate the process of goal setting by describ-

ing to the group how you worked your way to your current profession.

68





of the goal they are working on in group and to help them overcome any

potential barriers.

Positive Feedback




Prize Box



applicable.

Free Time


end of the session (see Chapter for more details). Remember to keep

an eye out for any potential problems that may arise between group

members during this time and use it as an opportunity to practice

problem solving.

70



71

Chapter 6 Session : Organizational and Study Skills

Materials Needed


■ Stopwatch

■ Sets of words on diff erent colors of paper

■ Index cards listing positive and negative study skills

■ Book bags (students bring their own to group)

■ Prize box

Outline


■ Review weekly goal sheets

■ Improve academic organization skills

■ Review study skills for school and homework skills at home

■ Set new weekly goals

■ Assign homework





the previous group session. The review section of each meeting shouldbe used to have group members recall the primary message from the

previous week.

Review Weekly Goal Sheets

Check that children completed their weekly goal sheets. Remember,goals will vary depending on individual needs. The length of time a

child may keep his or her goal may vary as well. Some students may

need to spend several weeks or even months working on the same goal

while other students will change goals more readily.

Remember to award points to children who successfully achieved

their goal.

Strategies for Achieving School Success

Introduce the topic for today by discussing the transition to a new grade

and the concomitant increase in homework and study demands that

teachers may make on students. You may use the following sample

dialogue.

Since this is the beginning of the school year, we wanted to spend

some time talking about the need to set goals for ourselves this year.

As you are entering this new grade, you may have noticed that teach-

ers are asking you to do more work or asking you to assume more

responsibility in terms of completing assignments or homework on

your own. This means that you may need to develop new skills in

order to meet these new demands. One of the goals we would like for

all of you to set is to do as well as you can in school this year. What

do you think is the most important skill for doing well in school?

Shape/elicit a response that indicates the importance of organizational

skills. Also point out at this stage that sometimes problems with teachers

72



arise when students do not always complete their homework, or do not

keep up with the assignments they are asked to do. Inform group mem-

bers that they may have better relationships with their teachers if they

start off by completing all work. Also talk with group members about theidea that sometimes kids feel frustrated with their schoolwork, which

makes them feel more irritable at school and then more likely to feel

angry with others or get into fights at school. Indicate that taking greater

responsibility in terms of completing assignments and doing schoolwork

can decrease frustration and therefore help kids to feel less angry in

general at school.

Book Bag Organization Activity

Students should have arranged to have their book bags brought to

today’s session. Inform members that you are going to have a contest to

see who can organize their book bag the best. You may use the follow-

ing sample dialogue:

Kids who organize their book bags will know where all of their fold-

ers and books are, and they can easily fi nd their assignment books

and sheets. You know that we asked you to bring your book bags to

group today. The fi rst thing we want to do is to see who can fi nd

their assignment sheet (or math/English notebook, pencil, ruler,

etc.—the particular item to have members look for can vary, just

make sure that all the students will have one of what you ask them to fi nd) the fastest. We will time you to see how quickly you are able to

fi nd this item. Ready? Go!

Following this exercise, announce how long it took for the quickest

person to find the item and then say: “We want to play a game with

your bags and see who can organize their book bag the best. We will ask

each of you to tell us how you organized your bag, starting with the per-

son who fi nished fi rst.” Use the stopwatch to time the children as they organize their book bags. Ask the winner to explain how he organized

his bag. Let the children know that there are probably several “best”

ways to organize their book bags, and each child needs to pick the way

that works best for him. Give the students awards or stickers for

73



improved book bags. Once all the students have organized their bags,

ask them to once again find their assignment sheet (or whatever item

you asked them to look for earlier). Use the stopwatch once more to

time the students. Announce how long it took for the first person tofind the particular item. Now that their book bags are organized, the

children should find that locating the item takes less time than it did

earlier.

Next, ask the children whether they believe it is important to do home-

work and if so, why? You can tie this discussion into goal setting and

long-term goals. Focus on the idea that it is more likely that children

will keep their bags organized and will do their homework if they

believe it is important.

Book Bag Check Activity

If not all the students have brought their book bags, you can ask one

child who does have a bag to go through it and tell the other groupmembers how the bag is organized. Make the point that there are many

diff erent ways to organize book bags, but the idea is to have some

organization so that children can find the materials they need. After this

discussion, engage students in the next activity.

Organizational Skills Activity

After engaging students in one of the previous book bag activities, have

them play a group game designed to help them learn more eff ective

organizational skills. In order to facilitate this activity, you will need a

set of papers for each child to organize in some manner. Each piece of

paper can contain one of the following words (or any other combina-

tion of words):

cat car apple football dog plane orange baseball

bike pear soccer elephant boat lemon basketball bear

These words should be presented on diff erent colors of paper, with each

word within a certain category being on a diff erent color of paper.

74



Provide each child with a set of these words (make sure to scramble the

words up so they are not in order) and off er the following instructions:

We are giving each of you some words listed on these papers. What we

want you to do is to take a few minutes and put these pieces of paper

into some kind of order.

Allow the children to organize the papers in any way they want (they can

sort them by color of paper, alphabetical order of words, by category,

etc.). After all children have organized their papers, let them know that

you are going to ask each of them to find a particular word and that you

will time them to see how long it takes. Have each group member try tofind one of the words from the list and use the stopwatch to time them.

After all the students have had an opportunity to find a word, determine

who was the quickest and ask the child to talk about how he organized

the papers so that he was able to find the word so quickly. Ask all group

members to talk about how they organized the words and whether their

strategy was useful or not when they went to find the word during the

game.

Review Study Skills for Home and School

Explain to the group that part of doing well in school is learning how

to study and how to be organized so that schoolwork is easier. There are

some things that kids can do at school that will help them to do better

in their classes, while there are diff erent things that kids can do at hometo do better on their homework.

Prior to the group session you should have created a set of index cards

listing positive and negative study skills. Each index card should list

either a positive (e.g., study in a quiet place, take notes in class, double

check your answers, ask questions in class, focus while reading, etc.) or

negative (e.g., do homework in the living room while watching TV,

answer the phone while you’re studying, do your homework in a rushin the morning before school, etc.) study habit or skill.

Provide the group with the stack of cards and ask them to decide

whether each idea would be useful for studying or not, and have them

75



sort the ideas into two piles. Ask them to suggest any additional skills

that have not been provided. Next, go through the useful skill pile and

ask group members to decide why/how each skill or habit would help

them learn more eff ectively.

Optional Role-Play

An optional exercise you can conduct is a leader-modeled role-play. In

this exercise, either you or your co-leader portrays a teacher assigning

homework. The “teacher” should say, “Class, next month you need to turnin a report on the reading from this book.” Then, ask group members

what the assignment is, and whether the “teacher” provided enough

information for the students to know exactly what the assignment was

or if the students in the class need more information. Once members

have identified that there are some additional pieces of information to

attain (i.e., how long should the report be, what day of the month is it

due, how much reading is required, is the report based on the whole

book or just a couple chapters, etc.), ask children how they would go

about gathering this information. The group can then role-play this sit-

uation once more with the leader playing the role of the teacher repeat-

ing the same instruction while group members ask for the additional

information.

Set Weekly Goals

Remind each student to set a new weekly goal (or continue with their

current goal if it has yet to be achieved) and complete the goal sheet in

the workbook. Remind the children to bring their signed goal sheets to

next week’s session.

Positive Feedback


leader will ask all group members to identify one positive thing about

themselves and/or one positive thing about another group member.

76



Prize Box



Free Time


end of the session (see Chapter for more details). Remember to keepan eye out for any potential problems that may arise between group


problem solving.

Homework

✎ Ask the children to review the Study Skills at School handout in the

workbook.

✎ Have each student complete and return the Homework Contract in

the workbook (signed by both the student and parent) to the next

group session. Remind group members that they can earn extra points

for returning their homework. The homework handout can be

reviewed with children in an individual session so that each child has

an individualized plan for themselves in terms of homework

achievement.

77






79

Chapter 7 Session : Awareness of Feelings and Physiological

Arousal Related to Anger – Part I

Materials Needed


■ Cartoon faces, feelings poster, or photos from a magazine depicting

diff erent emotional states

■ Prize box

Outline

■ Review previous session and homework


■ Identify the behavioral, cognitive, and physiological components of

various emotional states

■ Identify situational triggers for various emotional states

■ Recognize that expression of feelings may be diff icult


Review Previous Session and Homework

Begin the group session by asking each child to recall one point from the

previous group session. The review section of each meeting should be used

to have group members recall the primary message from the previous week.



Also check that children signed, and had their parents sign, the Homework

Contract in the workbook. Remember to award points for doing home-

work.


Check that the children completed their weekly goal sheets. Remember

to award points to children who successfully achieved their goal.

Identification of Different Feeling States

You have the option of using either the cartoon faces from the work-

book, or pictures of real faces from magazines to explain the concept of

feeling states. You may also wish to create a feelings poster to display

during today’s session by gluing the magazine pictures to a large piece

of poster board.

Ask children how they can tell when they or someone else is happy or

sad or nervous or scared or angry. The goal of this exercise is for group

members to learn to identify diff erent physiological and physical cues of

emotion (including facial expression, body posture, tone of voice, and

internal body cues) and to understand that experiencing any feeling is

acceptable. Emphasize that it is the behaviors that are associated with

some emotions that need to be changed.

Refer children to the cartoon faces in their workbooks (or direct their

attention to the feelings poster or magazine photos) and ask them to

discuss and identify the various feelings depicted. Ask each child to

identify how they are feeling at this time. Remember to convey the atti-

tude that all feelings are acceptable but that some behaviors are not.

Group Leader Tip:

■ Periodically during this session, you and your co-leader can refer to the

cartoon faces (or feelings poster or magazine photos) and identify how

you are feeling at that point, using di ff erent feelings to model

identi fi cation of various feeling states (i.e., frustration, hopeful,

satis fi ed) and then ask each child to identify how they are feeling at

80



that point. Convey to children that our feelings change periodically

and it may be useful to monitor our feelings at di ff erent times and to

become more aware of what we are feeling.

Next, conduct an exercise in which group members identify what feel-

ing is being expressed nonverbally by others in the group. This will allow

children to integrate the diff erent cues of a ff ect states noted earlier.

There are several exercise options. For each, have the child act out the

feeling nonverbally, while the other group members try to decide the

feeling being portrayed. Ask other members, “What cues did you use?”

Options for selecting feelings to portray include:

■ Option : Have group members identify various feeling states,

write these down on pieces of paper, and place them in a hat or

box for selection.

■ Option : Place the magazine pictures depicting diff erent faces and

feelings in a hat or box for selection.

■ Option : Use diff erent pictures of feeling states or a diff erent set

of feeling cards and have children choose one to enact.

■ Option : Use a “feeling-cube,” which depicts diff erent feeling

states. Have each child roll the cube and enact the feeling that

comes up on the cube.

Identification of Emotional Triggers

Further the discussion of feeling states by discussing “triggers” that lead

to diff erent emotions. Ask the group to tell you some things that make

them happy. Allow one or more children to respond. Ask the group to

tell you some things that make them scared. Again, allow one or more

children to respond. Explain that the things that happen that lead to a

person feeling an emotion are called triggers. Ask the children if they

have ever heard of the term. Explain that a trigger is something that

happens to us or around us that sets off an emotion inside of us. Do

NOT use a gun analogy or anything else related to violence when

explaining this term.

81



Next, discuss how we realize that we are experiencing an emotion. Write

the following on the dry erase board or flipchart:

EMOTION HAPPY

“What people can see” “What you feel inside “The thoughts inside

your body” your head”

Ask group members to provide you with examples of each category for

“emotion happy.” Repeat the process for “emotion scared.” Write

the examples on the dry erase board or flipchart.

The next section focuses solely on anger; erase or remove the informa-tion related to happy and scared before moving on.

Direct children’s attention to the “What people can see” column on the

flipchart and ask them to list behaviors people show when they are angry.

Obvious behaviors include shouting, jumping up and down, and hitting.

Less obvious behaviors include talking calmly about the problem, becom-

ing silent, and withdrawing from others. Inform the group that many of

these behaviors can lead to problems in relationships because they do nothelp deal with the problem at hand. The only response mentioned in the

aforementioned list that is positive (i.e., solution-focused) is “talking

calmly about the problem” (although other eff ective responses can be dis-

cussed as they come up). The remaining behaviors on the list are not gen-

erally eff ective ways of handling anger. After this discussion, ask each

child to talk about the behavior that they are most likely to show when

they are angry: “What behaviors do each of you show when you are angry?”

Move to the column titled, “What you feel inside your body” and ask

children to name one thing they each feel inside their body when they are

angry. Try to elicit at least one response from each group member, and

more if possible. Examples of internal experiences include but are not

limited to tightened muscles, faster heart rate, harder breathing, feeling

hot, and feeling sick to the stomach. You can then discuss how to use a

physiological cue as a signal for impending anger, and how to use this sig-

nal as a way to help them control their response.

Then, move to the “The thoughts inside your head” column and ask

children to list some of the thoughts they have when they are feeling

angry. Try to elicit at least one response from each group member and

82



more if possible. Examples of thoughts include but are not limited to,

“I just want to punch that guy,” “I’ll get you back for that,” “Just wait.

. . . just wait. . . . You’ll see who is tougher now,” or “I’m just not going

to do anything that you say. See how you like that.” You can then dis-cuss how to use automatic thoughts as a signal for anger, and how to use

this signal as a way to help children control their responses.

Discuss Difficulty Expressing Feelings and Normalize Feelings

Review with children the cues that can be used to decide how they orother people are feeling. Discuss the idea that some feelings may be

diff icult to express and that you cannot always tell what other people

are feeling because they may be concealing their true emotions. Open

the discussion with one of the following statements/questions and

allow the meeting to naturally progress, taking initiative as needed:

■ Can you always tell what someone is feeling by how they look or what

they do?

■ Are you always able to express your feelings?

■ Are there some feelings that are easier for you to express than others?

■ Sometimes you cannot tell how someone else is feeling or how you are

feeling.

If you wish, you may direct children to the Feelings Bottle worksheet

in their workbooks and ask them each to list the various feelings they

experience in the spaces provided. Then ask each member to circle the

feelings that are easy for him or her to express, and to put a square

around the feelings that are harder to express.

Ask group members to identify the situations that cause them to feel

certain emotions (angry, sad, happy, nervous, excited, afraid, etc.).

Convey the idea that everyone experiences all feelings at diff erent times

and it is acceptable to feel all the diff erent feelings. Restate that all

feelings are acceptable, but some behaviors are not.

Use the situations identified by the group, or other relevant situations (e.g.,

you are about to ride a roller coaster, your mother becomes sick, your

83



goldfish dies, you have a big test and you want to do well on it, etc.) to

conduct role-plays with the group. Have children role-play brief depictions

of the diff erent situations as leading to various feelings and have them

identify how they would be feeling if they were really experiencing thatsituation. Be sure to normalize the experience of diff erent emotions.

Set Weekly Goals



the workbook. Remind children to bring their signed goal sheets to next

week’s session.

Positive Feedback


will ask all group members to identify one positive thing about themselvesand/or one positive thing about another group member.

Prize Box



applicable.

Free Time



an eye out for any potential problems that may arise between groupmembers during this time and use it as an opportunity to practice prob-

lem solving.

84



85

Chapter 8 Session : Awareness of Feelings and

Physiological Arousal Related to Anger – Part II

Materials Needed


■ Thermometer model

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Identify various cues of anger

■ Identify diff erent levels of anger

■ Identify triggers for diff erent levels of anger and ways to cope


■ Assign homework








Check that children completed their weekly goal sheets. Remember to

award points to children who successfully achieved their goal.

Identify Physiological Cues of Anger/Other Feelings

Using the feelings poster (or the cartoon faces in the workbook) from

the previous week, begin today’s meeting by asking children to identify

one situation that occurred in the past week which resulted in themfeeling sad, afraid, or angry.

We wanted to have each of you share a situation from the past week

that made you feel sad, afraid, or angry. What was something that

happened to each of you to cause you to experience one of these

feelings?

Reinforce the idea that it is acceptable to feel all diff erent feelings

including anger, but it is what we do when angry that can be prob-

lematic. Ask the group: “Do you think anger goes away if you ignore it?”

Review with the group the physiological cues of anger. Act like you are

angry (e.g., stamp your feet, grimace, ball your hands into fists, etc.)

and describe what you are feeling inside. Ask children to identify your

physiological reactions. Explain that people have diff erent bodily reac-

tions when they experience strong feelings, particularly anger. “How

does your body feel when you become angry? What is the fi rst thing you

notice in your body when you are becoming angry?” Explain to the group

that these physical cues are signals that they are becoming angry and

may need to stop and think how to handle the situation.

Identify Various Levels of Anger

Facilitate a discussion of various levels of emotions. First, discuss the

feeling of being happy. Refer children to the list of happy words in the

86



workbook. The list includes the following words that depict varying lev-

els of happiness:

Joyful Cheerful Ecstatic

Exhilarated Delighted Thrilled

Glad Jolly Excited

Pleased Gleeful Overjoyed

Next, direct children to the list of sad words in the workbook. The list

includes the following words that depict varying levels of sadness:

Disappointed Depressed Sorrowful

Unhappy Hopeless Joyless

Crushed Down Blue

Defeated Distraught

Lastly, present children with a list of angry words (also available in the

workbook). This list includes the following words that depict varying

levels of anger:

Outraged Enraged Bothered

Annoyed Fuming Flustered

Upset Furious Irritated

Mad Frustrated

Next, facilitate a discussion of the physiological reactions at diff erent

levels of being angry. Present children with a picture of a thermometer

or create one using a large piece of poster board and have them follow

along using the picture of a thermometer in their workbooks. “Is every-

body familiar with how a thermometer works?” Be sure to explain the con-

cept or have a child describe how a thermometer works when measuring

temperature. Once the concept is clear, ask the group if someone wouldbe willing to explain how this concept can be applied to the

measurement of anger. Ask children where they may place some of the

various words describing anger on the Anger Emotion Thermometer in

the workbook.

87



Review all signals of anger: behavioral, emotional, physical, cognitive; you

can have children identify each of the signals at the various levels/degrees

of anger discussed earlier. Also review salient triggers for anger. Ask chil-

dren, “What do others do that makes you angry?” You and your co-leadercan point out commonalities in triggers. Ask the group, “What do you do

that makes other people angry?” Make sure group members recognize the

reciprocity in relationships. Use the thermometer and ask group members

to identify the triggers for each degree/level of anger.

Coping With Anger

Next, introduce the idea of coping with anger and have group members

discuss ways to cope at each level of anger. Use the following questions

to guide the discussion:

■ What do you do to cope with anger when you are a little bit angry?

■ What coping strategies do you use when you are very angry?

■ How do the ways you cope di ff er depending on how angry you are?

■ Is it easier to cope with anger when you are just a little bit angry or

very angry? Why?

The group will talk more specifically about coping strategies of anger at


Set Weekly Goals





88



Positive Feedback


leader will ask all group members to identify one positive thing aboutthemselves and/or one positive thing about another group member.

Prize Box



Free Time




members during this time and use it as an opportunity to practice prob-

lem solving.

Homework

✎ Ask children to record their daily anger feelings for one week using the Anger Thermometer Record Form #1 in the workbook. Instruct chil-

dren to check off each type of anger they experience each day and to

identify the general trigger for this feeling. It is helpful to have a list of

possible triggers available for children to refer to. This list should

include being teased/scolded by peers, not being able to do what one

wants, being reprimanded by the teacher, being reprimanded by a par-

ent, and not doing well in school, among others.

89






91

Chapter 9 Session : Anger Coping and Self-Control

Materials Needed


■ Deck of playing cards

■ Dominoes

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Review diff erent methods of coping with anger

■ Practice using anger coping/self-control


■ Assign homework







You will review their Anger Thermometer Record Forms during the

review of ways to cope with anger.




Review Concepts of Anger Coping or Self-Control

Introduce the idea of coping with anger and have group members discuss

ways to cope at each level of anger. Remind children, “Over the last two

weeks, we have talked about experiencing di ff erent levels of emotions. Sometimes

we feel very, very angry (high on the emotion thermometer) and sometimes we

feel just a little bit angry (low on the emotion thermometer). Does everyone

remember this from last week?” Allow time for discussion before reviewing

the thermometer homework assignment from the previous session.

Remember to award two points to children who completed the homework.

Ways of Coping With Anger

Next, the group will talk about diff erent ways to cope with anger. You

may say something like the following to facilitate discussion:

Today, we are going to talk about how we handle emotions and, in par-

ticular, how we handle the feeling of anger. I want each of you to tell the

group what you do to cope with anger when you are a little bit angry.

Ask each group member to volunteer a coping strategy. Then ask each

group member, “What do each of you do when you are very angry?” Allow

time for discussion, including the way that the methods are similar or

diff erent. Possible strategies include but are not limited to the following:

■ Walking away from a provocative peer

■ Reminding oneself that it is not worth getting in trouble

■ Trying to compromise with a parent

92



■ Ignoring something that makes you angry

■ Telling an adult that somebody or something is bothering you

■ Talking to the person who is making you feel angry

It is important to convey to the group that our ability to cope with

emotions is diff erent depending on the intensity of the emotion. Have

the group members identify various ways to express diff erent feelings.

For example, expression of feelings can occur via writing, creating art,

talking to the person with whom you are angry, talking to another

person, playing sports or engaging in physical activity, and listening to

music, among others.

Practice Using Anger Coping or Self-Control

This portion of today’s session introduces the idea of coping with feel-

ings of anger that are triggered by teasing. Many children indicate that

teasing is one of the more diffi

cult situations with which to cope, and itis believed that teaching children eff ective strategies for coping with teas-

ing will allow them to develop better control of their reactions to this

common event. The series of activities that are carried out over the next

four sessions are believed to be eff ective because they provide gradual

exposure to teasing, which can arouse emotion in the children participat-

ing. Using self-control or anger coping in this more naturalistic situation

then increases the likelihood that the skill being taught will generalize to

the classroom or other outside situations. However, be sensitive to the

needs of your children and intervene to assist them as needed.

Self-Control Memory Game

Use the deck of cards to play a game in which children practice using

some of the coping strategies just discussed. You may introduce thegame as follows:

We are going to play a memory game during which you have to prac-

tice self-control. I will show one person cards, and this person will

try to remember as many numbers on the cards as they can, while the

93



rest of the group members say things to distract him or her (such as

making teasing comments toward the person engaged in the task).

There are a couple of important rules for this game:

( ) You cannot curse;

( ) You cannot make racial comments; and

( ) You cannot touch the person who is practicing self-control.

The person who is practicing self-control should try as hard as he or she

can to focus on the cards and to not pay attention to the teasing by others.

We are going to keep track of your scores to see who remembers the most.

Pick diff erent number cards and arrange a fan so that all card numbers

are visible. Choose one group member at a time to play this game and

expose the cards to the group member for seconds. This group mem-

ber will have to utilize self-control while the other group members make

teasing remarks (you and your co-leader should not be involved in the teas-

ing). The group member trying to remember the numbers may talk aloud.

After

seconds have elapsed, give the child memorizing the numbers a piece of paper and a pen to write down as many numbers as he or she can

remember (suits are not important). Repeat this procedure for each group

member and keep track of the results to tell the group members at the end.

After the game is over, discuss it with the group using the following

sample questions:

■ Was it hard to concentrate on the numbers?

■ How did you keep your attention focused?

■ How did you maintain your self-control?

■ Did you start to feel angry?

■ Did that hurt your concentration?

■ Did the winner become angry?

The point to convey is that all the group members were probably able to

utilize self-control by ignoring the others and their teasing remarks and

concentrating on the cards. Ask children, “What can you do if you are in the

classroom and someone starts teasing you or acting up?” The answer is that the

94



children should call on the skills that they utilized during this game and

use them in real life. Those children who had difficulty blocking out their

peers will need to be encouraged to work on the skill of ignoring.

Self-Control Dominoes Game

Play a second self-control game using dominoes. Indicate that the same

rules apply to this game. Introduce the game as follows:

We are going to play a di ff erent self-control game. This time, you

each have to build a tower of dominoes. We will give you seconds

to build your tower as high as possible, using one hand, while the

other group members are teasing you. Remember to focus on the

dominoes and ignore what the other children are saying.

Have each member take a turn at building the tower. Keep track of the

results to tell the group members at the end. Discuss this activity in a

similar manner as was done for the memory card game. Emphasize

group members’ ability to ignore peer teasing and how this skill can be

practiced in the classroom.

Set Weekly Goals


current goal if it has yet to be achieved) and complete the goal sheet inthe workbook. Remind the children to bring their signed goal sheets to


Positive Feedback




95



Prize Box



Free Time




problem solving.

Homework

✎ Ask children to continue recording their daily anger feelings using the

Anger Thermometer Record Form # in the workbook. This version of

the form provides a space for children to record the way in which they

coped with their anger. Instruct children to fill out this section and bring

the completed form to next week’s session.

96



97

Chapter 10 Session : Using Self-Statements

for Anger Coping – Part I

Materials Needed


■ Puppets – enough so that each child and group leader can have one of

their own

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Reinforce concept of self-instruction

■ Use puppets to practice self-instruction and distraction as coping skills





previous week.



Also check that children completed their Anger Thermometer Record

Forms. Children who returned homework should receive two points for

completing the assignment. If the children indicated that they were able

to cope with their anger, ask what strategies they used to make this hap-pen. Ask group members to identify the thoughts that they experienced

with each level of anger.

■ What did you say to yourself when you were feeling angry or

irritated?

■ Did these thoughts make you feel angrier than you did before?

■ Did these thoughts help you to calm down?

■ Did these thoughts help you to solve the problem?

Have group members identify self-statements that would be eff ective

at each level of anger. Write these coping self-statements next to the

appropriate degree/level on the thermometer. Convey the idea that it

is easier to use coping statements and to think about better ways to

cope with the situation at the lower levels of anger than at higherlevels.

Introduce Self-Talk or Self-Statements

Present children with examples of diff erent types of self-statements

people may use when they are angry. For example, act like you are

angry at someone else and say, “This guy is a jerk and always out to

get me!” “I can’t believe he did that. I hate him!” Ask children, “Do

you say these kinds of things to yourself when you are angry? Do these self-

statements help you control your anger and solve the problem?” Then,

role-play using coping self-statements by saying, “I am not sure why

he did that. I don’t care what he thinks. I can keep my cool.” Ask

group members whether they think coping statements like these can

help control anger or solve problems.

Discuss incidents during the past week when group members became

angry at school. As children talk about their incidents, ask follow-up

questions such as, “What did you say to yourself? Did these thoughts

help you cope with your anger? What things could you have said that

98



would have made you less angry?” If possible, you may wish to

audiotape or videotape each group member saying several coping

self-statements in response to an anger-provoking situation (to pro-

vide them with additional practice using anger-reducing self-state-ments or to convey to parents one of the ideas being presented to

their child during the parent group). You can use situations that

involve a failed attempt at group entry or peer teasing, having the

children verbalize the self-statements they would use in this situation

to avoid becoming angry.

Practice Using Self-Statements

Remind children of the self-control games they played last week (mem-

ory card game and dominoes).

During the last meeting we played two games that involved each of

you practicing using coping statements. The goal was for each of you

to focus your attention on the task (either memorizing the numbers on a series of cards or building a tower of dominoes with one

hand). The winners were the person who remembered the most cards

or built the highest tower. We agreed that _____ and _____

(name(s) of the children who won the two games) won because they

were really good at blocking out the things that people were saying

and were able to focus on something else—the cards or the dominoes.

This is what we want all of you to be able to do when people are

teasing you or making you angry.

Wait for responses from the group and respond accordingly. Then, let

children know that today the group will play another self-control game.

This time the children will use puppets.

Self-Control Puppet Game

Hand out puppets to the children in the group. Make sure each child gets

one and that there is one left for either you or your co-leader to use. You

will use your puppet to interact with the children’s puppets. Explain to

99



the group that their puppets should tease your puppet by saying mean or

hurtful things. Make sure that each child takes a turn and that all puppets

do not “talk” at once (i.e., one puppet says something, then another, then

another; keep going until it seems appropriate to stop). Remind childrenthat the same rules for last week’s games apply today. There is no cursing

or making racial comments. Also, children are not allowed to touch other

group members or their puppets, and they should direct their comments

at your puppet, not at you.

During this exercise, model self-talk and other coping skills that will

enhance anger coping, such as:

■ I can tell I am getting mad and I want to be careful not to get too

angry and lose my temper.

■ I think I will ask them to stop and see if that works.

■ They are just trying to make me mad so that I will say something

back and get into trouble.

■

It is not worth getting mad about—they do not know what they are talking about anyway.

■ I like my _____ (hair, clothes, shoes), so why should I get mad if they

are saying something about it?

Attempt to use techniques that would be applicable for diff erent degrees

of anger. Make your statements out loud but make sure the group mem-

bers understand that self-talk occurs inside your head. In a real life

situation you would not be mumbling coping statements under your

breath or saying them out loud.

After modeling self-talk, let children know that they are going to use the

puppets to practice using coping statements themselves. Introduce the

activity as follows:

Now, we are going to have each of you practice using coping state-

ments. We want each of you to use your puppet to make coping state-ments when reacting to teasing from other puppets—this means that

we want to hear you say the coping statements out loud. We know

that in real life you would say them to yourself inside your head but,

for today, we want to hear you say them out loud.

100



Allow – seconds per child for the teasing of their puppet by other

group members’ puppets. Allow ample space between group members

to discourage physical provocation. You and your co-leader should not

engage in the teasing exercise but should focus on maintaining orderand assisting the group members in coping eff ectively. After each turn,

ask one or more of the following questions:

■ What was the puppet thinking or saying to himself?

■ What level of anger did the puppet experience during the teasing?

■ What skills did the puppet use to maintain control over his anger?

■ Did the puppet use di ff erent coping statements for di ff erent levels of

anger?

■ What other feelings did the puppet experience?

Be sure to provide positive feedback to children regarding their use of

coping skills and reinforce the use of distraction techniques (e.g., focus-

ing their attention on an object in the room or thinking about a fun

game that they could play later that day). You may also use the feelings

poster from Session and/or the thermometer model from Session to

monitor feeling states.

Set Weekly Goals

Remind each student to set a new weekly goal (or continue with theircurrent goal if it has yet to be achieved) and complete the goal sheet in



Positive Feedback




101



Prize Box



Free Time




problem solving.

102



103

Chapter 11 Session : Using Self-Statements for Anger

Coping – Part II

Materials Needed


■ Prize box

Outline



■ Continue self-instruction and distraction training

■ Encourage generalization of this skill to the classroom


■ Assign homework










Continue Practice of Coping Self-Statements

Review the self-control game with puppets from the previous group

session. Refer children to the list of coping statements in the workbook

and then introduce today’s self-control game.

Today we are going to play the self-control game, but this time, we

are going to let each of you receive the teasing and practice using self-

control. The person being teased will stand in the middle of the

group. To help each of you be prepared with coping statements, let’s

take a few minutes to review the coping statements in your work-

books. During this review time, I want you to choose three that you

will use for this exercise. We hope that you will use more of them inthe future, but for today you should practice using at least three.

It is useful to arrange the chairs in a circle, having the child being

teased stand in the middle of the circle and the children doing the

teasing stand outside the circle of chairs. Before beginning the exer-

cise, instruct the child about to be teased to tell the group which cop-

ing self-statements he or she is going to use. Make sure each child in

the group takes a turn receiving the teasing comments. If a child ishaving diff iculty with this task, you can have that child tell the other

group members which comments are permissible (provide the other

children with a script). You may also have other group members take

turns delivering the teasing, rather than having all the children teas-

ing at one time. A third possibility would be to have one of the group

leaders stand in the middle with the child being teased to verbalize

coping self-statements as a modeling and supportive technique for

the child. Once the exercise has been completed, ask each child the

following:

■ How did you feel?

■ What were you thinking or saying to yourself ?

104



■ Were you able to use the coping self-statements?

■ How did this help you with self-control?

■ Did you use other distraction techniques?

Review with the group how this exercise can help them with real teas-

ing in the classroom. Ask children, “What can you do if someone teases

you in the classroom? What kinds of coping self-statements will help you

feel less angry?”

Set Weekly Goals





Positive Feedback




Prize Box



applicable.

Free Time




105




problem solving.

Homework

✎ Ask children to continue recording their daily anger feelings using the

Anger Thermometer Record Form # in the workbook. This version

of the form provides a space for children to record the coping state-

ments they used to deal with their anger.

✎ Encourage children to use coping statements over the course of each

day and to look to the list in the workbook to find statements that are

useful for them. A long-term goal is to have these statements memo-

rized; in the short term, children may choose to tape a small piece of

paper with one or more of the statements to their desks.

106



107

Chapter 12 Session : Using Self-Statements

for Anger Coping – Part III

Materials Needed


■ Video recorder (optional)

■ Videotape from previous session depicting self-control exercise (if one

was made)

■ Videotape player and television for viewing previous session’s video

(optional)

■ Large drawing of a thermometer that can be placed on the floor and

used to indicate low, medium, and high in relation to feelings of anger

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Review self-instruction

■ Strengthen memory for coping statements

■ Practice self-control







previous week.

You will review their completed Anger Thermometer Record Forms

during the review of self-instruction and coping statements.




Review Self-Instruction and Real Life Application of Coping Statements

Review the concept of self-talk and the activities that were used to con-

vey this concept (e.g., card memory game, dominoes, and puppet teas-

ing). Ask questions such as:

■ Do you remember what those games involved?

■ What were some of the things that people said to themselves to keep

from being angry when they were teased?

■ Are there any other things you can say to yourself that would help you

to stay calm and to stay in control of your behavior (e.g., not fi ght)

when angry?

Review children’s completed Anger Thermometer Record Forms from

last week and their use of coping self-statements. Use positive reinforce-

ment strategies to encourage the children to continue practicing their

coping statements outside of group. To encourage a more in-depthunderstanding of why it is important to use coping statements, ask

questions such as:

■ What did you say to yourself when you fi rst started to notice you were

getting angry?

108



■ Did these thoughts help you cope with your anger? How?

■ Did you say anything to yourself that made you become

angrier?

■ What could you have said to yourself that would have made you

less angry?

■ Why do you think it is important to be aware of the things we tell

ourselves in problem situations?

Remember to award two points to children who completed the home-

work. Provide positive reinforcement to those group members whocompleted the assignment.

If possible, you may wish to audiotape or videotape each group

member saying several coping self-statements in response to an anger-

provoking situation. This provides additional practice using anger-

reducing self-statements and can be used in parent groups to convey to

parents one of the ideas being presented to their children. The tape can

be presented at the parent meeting only if all group members consentto the viewing.

Coping Statements Memory Test

The purpose of this portion of the session is to try to strengthen the

children’s memory regarding coping statements. The list of coping state-ments reviewed last week gave them many examples but it is unlikely

that group members will work on memorizing them without being

reminded. You may use the following sample dialogue:

As we were talking about earlier, one way to keep calm is to tell

yourself statements that will help you feel less angry. We would like

to write down all of the coping statements that you can think of. You

can use any of the statements that are written on the list in your workbooks that we reviewed last week, but you cannot look at that

sheet now. You can also write down your own coping statements that

were not on the sheet. We just want to see how many di ff erent coping

statements you can think of.

109



If the group has trouble recalling coping statements, provide them with

an example from the following list:

■ “Just don’t sweat it”

■ “It is not worth getting in trouble”

■ “They don’t know what they are saying/talking about”

■ “I am not going to let it beat me”

■ “Other people like me”

■

“I know I am okay”

■ “Slow down”

■ “Don’t be a fool, stay cool”

■ “I am above this”

■ “I am not going to let them control me/get me/win”

■

“I am not going to give them that power”

Instruct the children to use the Coping Statements Memory Test work-

sheet in the workbook to record their statements. Allow between and

minutes to complete the exercise and then review as a group. Have

each group member select two favorite coping statements and place a

star beside them on his or her paper. You and your co-leader should

write these statements down on a piece of paper. It is important for

school personnel working with the child to have a copy of these state-ments for future reference, and it is important that group leaders refer

to these when problems arise.

Optional Videotape Viewing

If a videotape of a teasing exercise from a previous session is available, say,

We would like to look back at a videotape from an earlier session when

you were doing the self-control game. After we look at the tape, I will

ask you to tell us some of the things the di ff erent people said to themselves

when being teased. (Play tape) What were some of the things people said

110



to themselves when being teased? What things that people said do you

think you could say to yourself that would keep you from becoming more

angry? Are there any other things that you could say to yourself that

would help you to stay calm and stay out of a fi ght when you are angry?

Practicing Self-Control

When introducing the next self-control teasing exercise, remind the chil-

dren that they can use any of the coping statements generated on their

Coping Statements Memory Test worksheet. Place a large drawing of a thermometer on the floor (or simply identify the low, middle, and high

areas using paper or another form of marker) and ask each group mem-

ber to stand on the “thermometer” during a self-control exercise. They

are to move up and down the thermometer with increasing and decreas-

ing levels of anger. Have the group stand in a circle around the person

who is being exposed to the teasing or in front of the “thermometer”

during the teasing exercise. If the group member who is practicing self-

control is unable to use coping statements and engages in dialogue with

other group members, ask that she turn away from the group in order to

help her focus on using coping statements. In addition, you can make

the rule that the person practicing self-control cannot speak to other

group members and must always begin their statements with the word,

“I” (not “you”). It may benefit the group if one or more of the leaders

engaged in the exercise first so that the children feel more comfortable

with the task.

You may use the following sample dialogue to introduce the exercise:

The next thing we are going to do is have each of you practice using

Coping Statements while being teased by your fellow group members.

The same rules as before apply: you cannot curse, you cannot make

racial comments, and you cannot touch other group members.

During this exercise, the person being teased should say things to her-

self that will keep her from becoming angry. You can use any of the

ideas we just thought of and wrote down or you can use whatever

coping statement works for you. While people are teasing, we want

the person to be walking up and down the thermometer as a way to

indicate how angry she feels inside. As the teasing begins to bother

111



you, we would expect that you would be higher up on the thermome-

ter. As you say coping statements, we are hoping that you will feel less

angry and will move back down the thermometer. Does everybody

understand what we are going to do?

We are going to do this exercise two times with every person in the

group. The fi rst time you receive teasing, we are going to ask that

you say your coping statements out loud so that everyone can

hear you. During the second time, we want you to say the coping

statements to yourself (in your head) rather than saying them out

loud. This is how we usually use coping statements. After the

second time, we will ask you to tell us which coping statements

you used.

Optional Self-Control Exercise

This optional exercise is designed to extend the concept of self-talk for

use in diff erent kinds of situations or with diff erent feeling states. You

may introduce it as follows:

We have talked in here about the things you can say to yourself when

you are feeling angry to help you stay calm and to be able to think

about di ff erent ways to handle these angry feelings. As you remem-

bered, at the beginning of the group meetings, we talked about many

di ff erent kinds of feelings. Who can remember some of the other feel-

ings we identi fi ed? We wanted to talk some about the things you can

say to yourself when you are feeling di ff erent emotions rather than

just anger.

■ What are some situations where you might feel afraid/worried?

■ What is something you could say to yourself when you are feeling

afraid that would help you to stay calm and decide how to han-

dle the situation?

Elicit diff erent ideas for self-statements that would be useful in fear-

producing situations.

■ What does it mean to feel disappointed?

112



■ What is something you can say to yourself when you are feeling disap-

pointed that would help you to cope with the situation that makes

you feel this way?

Elicit diff erent ideas for self-statements that would be useful in disap-

pointing situations.

■ What kinds of things make you feel sad?

■ What are some things you could say to yourself that would help you to

cope with these situations?

Elicit diff

erent ideas for self-statements that would be useful in sad sit-uations. You can have group members generate diff erent situations that

elicit these various feelings and have them role-play these situations

using the coping self-statements.

Set Weekly Goals





Positive Feedback




Prize Box


more details). Tally the points earned for each child and award prizes,

if applicable.

113



Free Time


end of the session (see Chapter for more details). Remember to keep aneye out for any potential problems that may arise between group members

during this time and use it as an opportunity to practice problem solving.

114



115

Chapter 13 Session : Relaxation and Overcoming Barriers

to Self-Control

Materials Needed


■ Deep breathing script

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Teach self-control through deep breathing

■ Identify and overcome barriers to the use of self-control











Self-Control Through Deep Breathing

Remind group members of the exercise they did last week during which

they used coping statements to make them feel less angry when being

teased (shown by moving along a big thermometer). Introduce the idea that it can sometimes be diff icult to use this type of self-control in real-life

situations and that today you will introduce the group to breathing exer-

cises that will increase their ability to use self-control. Use the following

script to engage the children in a deep/diaphragmatic breathing exercise.

Deep Breathing Script

Get into a comfortable position. Put one hand on your stomach and the other

on your chest. Inhale slowly and watch which hand moves. Shallow breaths

move the hand on the chest; deep breaths move the hand on the stomach.

Now, slowly inhale through your nose. As you inhale, count slowly to three

and feel your stomach expand with your hand. Hold the breath for one sec-

ond and then slowly exhale while also counting to three. When you inhale,

think of the word “inhale.” When you exhale, think of the word “relax.”

Inhale . . . . . . . . . Hold . . . Relax . . . . . . . . . Continue deep

breathing for several minutes, becoming more relaxed with every exhale.

After practicing the breathing exercises, ask group members to review

some other strategies they can use to calm themselves down when they

are feeling angry. Explain to children that everyone becomes angry or

frustrated at times, and it is important for people to be able to calmdown after becoming angry and before they do something out of anger.

When a person slows down his or her anger reaction, they are able to

make better choices for how to cope with the situation. Remind chil-

dren that deep breathing is one way to calm down and ask them for any

116



other strategies they can think of. “What are some other ways that people

can calm down when they have become angry?”

You and your co-leader may supplement this exercise with other similar

breathing or relaxation exercises that you are familiar with and are

appropriate for this age group. A sample relaxation script and discussion

questions are provided for children in the workbook.

Identifying and Overcoming Barriers to Use of Self-Control

Engage children in a discussion about obstacles to the eff ective use of self-

talk. Reiterate the idea that it is sometimes diff icult to use self-control in

real life situations. Specifically, when people are really angry, it may be

diff icult to stop quickly enough to use the self-talk or any other self-

control technique. Discuss ways to make self-talk more likely to work. Ask

children, “What are some of the things that get in the way of using coping state-

ments during times of anger or stress? Why do you think it is easier to use these

coping statements in group than when you are outside in the real world?”

Write down each of the obstacles/barriers that children raise and ask

questions like:

■ How do you think you could overcome this barrier?

■ What do you think you could do that would help you to cope with

this problem?

Role-play diff icult situations for children and include obstacles intro-

duced in the preceding discussion in the role-play. Have children role-

play their solution for overcoming that barrier.

Introduce the idea that sometimes, even if we walk away from or avoid

a conflict with another person, we still feel angry or aroused inside. Ask

the following questions:

■ Have you ever walked away from a fi ght?

■ Have you ever been able to ignore people who were bothering you?

■ How do you feel after you have walked away from a fi ght?

■ What feeling do you have after avoiding a con fl ict?

117



It is very likely that all group members have experienced having to walk

away from conflict. If they do not volunteer any examples, use exam-

ples from your own experiences with conflict situations and your feel-

ings after having walked away. Normalize the feeling of anger but focuson the positive aspects associated with dealing eff ectively with conflict.

Also, introduce the idea of engaging in positive activities in order to feel

more positively about the self. You may ask children:

■ What are some things you can do if you are still feeling

angry/upset/sad in order to feel better again?

■

What are some of the things you do to calm down?

■ What are some ways you can stop feeling mad?

Refer children to the workbook page entitled, What Can I Do to Calm

Myself Down. On this page are examples of some self-soothing activi-

ties or arousal-reduction techniques including the strategies listed here.

There are four blank lines included on the page. Ask each child to

write down activities that they can think of to help themselves to calm

down. Then, review with the group. Possible activities include:

■ Playing sports

■ Talking to a friend

■ Drawing

■ Listening to music

■ Going for a walk or exercising

■ Playing a game (e.g., Nintendo, Playstation, etc.)

■ Playing with a pet

Set Weekly Goals


current goal if it has yet to be achieved) and complete the Goal Sheet in

the workbook. Remind the children to bring their signed Goal Sheets

to next week’s session.

118



Positive Feedback



Prize Box



Free Time

If time permits, allow children a free-play period of – minutes at

the end of the session (see Chapter for more details). Remember to

keep an eye out for any potential problems that may arise between

group members during this time and use it as an opportunity to prac-

tice problem solving.

119






121

Chapter 14 Session : Perspective Taking – Part I

Materials Needed


■ Optical illusion to illustrate concept of perspective

■ Pictures depicting children in conflictive situations for use during the

stimulus activity

■ Audiotape recorder (optional)

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Establish the concept of perspective taking

■ Identify diff erent perspectives of a social situation

■ Conduct brief introduction to “blind spots”


■ Assign homework






previous week.


Check that children completed their weekly goal sheets. Rememberto award points to children who successfully achieved their goal.

Establish the Concept of Perspective Taking

The main purpose of this session is to help group members understand

that situations can be seen from diff erent points of view. You may want

to say the following to explain this concept:

Di ff erent people can see the same thing or the same problem/situation

very di ff erently. Although viewpoints may di ff er, there is some validity

to all points of view and all points of view have some capacity of

being justi fi ed.

An additional goal is to help group members understand that these

perceptions influence our thoughts and feelings, which in turn have animpact on our behavior.

Given that people’s perceptions may di ff er in a situation, the thoughts

and feelings that each person has in a situation may also di ff er.

Optical Illusion Activity

This activity reinforces the concept that people can see the same thing

diff erently. Have each group member look at the optical illusion sheet in

the workbook and write down on a piece of paper what they see without

looking at what other people have written down. A copy of the optical

illusion is also provided here (see Figure .). Once all group members

122



have written down their response, ask each person to state what they

perceived the illustration to be. You and your co-leader may want to

participate in this exercise as well. Emphasize that everyone looked at the

same picture, but that diff erent people saw diff erent things. This exercisecan be repeated with other visual illusion pictures if desired.

Stimulus Card Activity

This is a continuation and elaboration of the concept of perspective

taking. The purpose of this exercise is to:

■ Teach children that our thoughts about another person’s intentionsand motives influence how we think, feel, and react to one another.

■ Show more fully how difficult it is to know other people’s motives

and intentions.

For this portion of the session you will need a picture (from a book,

magazine, cartoon strip, etc.) that depicts an ambiguous conflictive

situation involving a number of characters. For example, the picture can

show a group of children involved in a conflict, or a child having

difficulty joining a new activity with peers, or a conflict between a child

and a teacher or between a child and a parent, etc.

Use the picture to perform a brief role-play by having each group

member portray a person in the picture. You or your co-leader will

assume the role of roving reporter for fake news channel WTVD.

Instruct children to portray the situation from the picture. The “roving reporter” should stop the role-play just prior to the resolution of the

problem and tell members to “freeze” in their spots. Then, go around to

each group member individually and tape record (optional) their

responses to the Roving Reporter Questions listed on page 124. These

questions are also included in the children’s workbook.

123

Figure 14.1 Optical Illusion



■ What was the problem?

■ When did you first see a problem?

■ Who had the problem?

■ What were you thinking to yourself as the problem happened?

■ How did you feel?

■ What are you going to do next?

■ What can you do or say to solve the problem?

■ What do you think the outcome will be?

■ How do you think other people saw the problem?

■ What would other people say the problem is?

■ Why do you think the person did what he did?

Once all the children have been interviewed, have them return to

their seats to listen to each other’s responses (if taped) and to have a brief discussion. You may ask the following questions to facilitate the

discussion.

■ Did people see the things di ff erently?

■ Did they have di ff erent thoughts?

■ What caused those di ff erences?

■ Did their thoughts and feelings a ff ect what they were going to do

next?

Introduction to “Blind Spots”

Conduct a brief introduction to how people’s feelings may interfere

with being able to read the intentions of others accurately. You may usethe following sample dialogue:

Negative outcomes of previous interactions with others can generate

bad feelings. These bad feelings can then in fl uence how you see

other people and what intentions you ascribe to them. These feelings

124



can cause us to ignore some cues that these people give to us or cause

us to ignore important information. Being frustrated with teachers

or others can lead you to perceive only those behaviors that will

make you more upset, and to miss behaviors that would lead you to feel more positively about that person. We call this process develop-

ing “blind spots.” Blind spots happen when we let feelings from past

situations in fl uence how we see people in current situations. This

can happen with friends, family members, and teachers. Over the

next couple of weeks we will be spending more time exploring this

issue more fully.

Before you close the session with the usual activities, let the children

know that next week’s homework assignment will be to interview one

of their teachers. Children should take the week to think about

which teacher they’d like to interview and what questions they would

like to ask.

Set Weekly Goals


current goal if it has yet to be achieved) and complete the goal sheet

in the workbook. Remind the children to bring their signed goal sheets


Positive Feedback




Prize Box



applicable.

125



Free Time


end of the session (see Chapter for more details). Remember to keep aneye out for any potential problems that may arise between group members


Homework

✎ Ask students to begin thinking about a teacher they want to interview and any questions they would like to ask him.

126



127

Chapter 15 Session : Perspective Taking – Part II

Materials Needed


■ Pictures depicting children in conflictive situations (see Session )

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Identify diff erent perspectives of a situation

■ Apply perspective taking to a social situation


■ Assign homework

Group Leader Note:

■ The homework assignment for this week is to contact a teacher to

schedule an interview. Make sure that the teachers are aware of the

assignment and are willing to participate.





previous group session. The review section of each meeting should be usedto have group members recall the primary message from the previous week.




Continuation of Perspective Taking Exercises

Perception exercises are designed to expand the concept of perspec-

tive taking. We want to assist children in recognizing that the infor-

mation we have represents only our view of the world and that

sometimes we make inaccurate judgments about a problem or situa-

tion because our view is limited. The exercises illustrate and reinforce

group members’ understanding that some conflicts are based on

diff erences in perceptions (i.e., what someone thought they saw).

Resolving conflicts can be diff icult at times because not all people see

a problem in the same way, or diff erent people focus on a diff erent

part of the problem.

Choose one of the following three perception exercises.

Exercise # 1 – What Could It Be?

In this exercise, you will hand out to each child a piece of paper describ-

ing a particular part of an elephant. However, do not let the children

know that the parts belong to an elephant. Ask each child to think

about the description she has received (each child should get a diff erent

description) and what it could possibly refer to. The goal of the exercise

is for all the children to put their descriptions together to figure out that

the object being described is an elephant.

128



Introduce the activity as follows:

We are going to give each of you a piece of paper that gives you a

description of part of an object. When you receive your description of

the object, try to think of all the di ff erent kinds of objects this could

be. We will then ask all of you to try to fi gure out together what the

object is based on all the di ff erent parts of the object that you have.

Distribute the following descriptions to the children (one description

per child).

■ You feel a thin, flat object that moves slowly back and forth.

■ You feel a rough-textured, thick object kind of like a tree trunk,

with wrinkles in it.

■ You feel a long, hollow object with wrinkles on it and a hole in

the end of it.

■ You feel a very large, rounded object.

■

You feel a smooth, long, pointed object that feels almost like a smooth stone.

■ You feel a thin, rope-like object with strands on the end.

OR

■ What you feel is like a fan.

■ What you feel is like a tree.

■ What you feel is like a rope.

■ What you feel is like a spear.

■ What you feel is like a high wall.

■ What you feel is like a snake.

Once each child has his or her description, instruct the group to try to

figure out what the larger object is. Have each child describe his or her

part and work together with the other students to put all the pieces

together to figure out that what is being described is an elephant. An

alternative approach to this exercise is to tell the group that you will be

reading them descriptions of diff erent parts of the same object, and you

129



want them to draw the diff erent parts and try to figure out what the

whole object is; this can be accomplished by having each child draw each

descriptive piece on separate pieces of paper, or to use the dry erase board

or flipchart and have each child draw one of the component parts. Aftereach child has drawn her object, or after the group has completed the

drawing, ask them to discuss the diff erent possible options for what the

object is and to come to a consensus about what the object is.

Exercise # 2 – Wise Man and the _____

Read the following story to the group. DO NOT read the title out loud

because it reveals the answer. Have group members try to guess what the

object is.

Wise Man and the Elephant

Con fl ict is as old as time itself. People have always tried to make

sense of the world and understand each other. At times, this is

di ff icult because not all people see a problem in the same way. As you

listen to this old Indian tale, see if you can discover the cause of the

wise men’s misunderstanding.

Once upon a time, there were six wise men living together in a small

town. The six wise men were blind. One day, an object was brought to

the town. The six men wanted to see the object but how could they? “I

know,” said the fi rst man. “We will feel it!” “Good idea,” said the

others. “Then we will know what it is like.” So the six men went to see

the object. The fi rst man touched something that felt big and fl at and

moved from side to side. He said, “It is like a fan.” The second man

was feeling a di ff erent part of the object and exclaimed, “No, it feels

like a tree trunk!” The third man shouted out, “You are both wrong, it

feels like a thin rope that tapers at the end!” Just at that moment the fourth man pricked his fi nger on a sharp part of the object and yelled,

“It is not like a rope, a fan, or a tree—it is like a sharp spear. I just

pricked my fi nger on it!” At this moment the fi fth man called out, “No,

no, this is like a high wall. Strong and sturdy.” The sixth man did not

130



agree with any of the others. He stated that the object reminded him of

a snake; it was long and cylindrical and moved around in many direc-

tions. The six wise men argued and argued and could not come to an

agreement as to what they were touching.

Can you help them to discover what it was that they were touching?

(Answer: Elephant)

Ask the group what was the problem that led to the wise men being

unable to “see” the object (each took only their own perspective and

therefore were limited in their view). Be sure to stress the importance of

listening to other people’s perspectives—without listening to others, itis hard to have a complete understanding of what we are looking at.

Also, tie in the notion that sometimes we can get into trouble because

we fight for what we think is right (e.g., we think that somebody pur-

posely knocked our books over, but it was really an accident).

Exercise # 3 – What’s in the Bag?

Another exercise that conveys a similar idea is to utilize a stuff ed animal

as a stimulus. Place the stuff ed animal into a bag and have each child

take a turn feeling the stuff ed animal and making a guess as to what it

is. After each child has had an opportunity to feel the animal, ask the

group to come to a consensus about what the object is. You can intro-

duce this exercise by first reading the wise man and elephant story and

then engaging in this task. Process the exercise with the group by ask-ing the following questions.

■ Why was/wasn’t it hard to come up with a group answer?

■ How were you able to come up with your answer about what the

object was?

■ Could you have fi gured it out without the other members’ ideas?

■ Was the solution based only on the information that you were pro-

vided?

■ Did you try to take in information from other group members before

suggesting an idea about what the object was?

131



Why Did This Happen? Exercise

The purpose of the following exercise is to illustrate that, in order to

avoid making false assumptions about the reason for another person’sbehavior, we have to delay responding until we can ask ourselves or the

other person, “Why did this happen?”

If you wish, you may use one of the stimulus pictures from Session

to discuss perspective taking. Pick a picture that has a problem that can

be interpreted in diff erent ways and show it to the group. Ask group

members to talk about what is happening in the picture and the reasons

why these things are happening. Have the students generate various

intentions or motivations for one of the characters in the situation (e.g.,

“What are the reasons she might have done that?”). Write down all the

intentions that were generated on the dry erase board or flipchart. In

order to facilitate understanding of the relationship between motiva-

tions and consequences, ask group members to generate what they

think the parental response would be for each of the motivations

they came up with. Record the response next to the identified inten-tion/motivation. As group members are discussing their responses,

either you or your co-leader can write down the motives presented by

the group members on individual slips of paper for use during the next

exercise.

Motive in a Hat Exercise

Place all slips of paper with motives written on them in a hat (or

other container) and have each group member choose one of the slips

(if you are running out of time, it would be fine for only one or two

group members to conduct the role-play). These motives will be their

role-play exercises. For example, the situation can be, “Tom stomps

into the house and slams the door. Why did Tom slam the door?”

. It was an accident.

. Tom slammed the door to annoy his mother.

. Tom was sick and needed to go to the bathroom.

132



Following the role-played situation, ask group members to guess what

intention the person was trying to portray. (Generally, group members

cannot guess the correct intention, thus group leaders can emphasize

how diff icult it is to know why someone did something even if they know possible reasons). Encourage group members to remind them-

selves how diff icult it is to determine why people do the things they do

and that there may be more than one reason why people do the things

they do (i.e., conflicting goals or motivations).

Intentions

Have a brief discussion about the four main groupings of intentions.

Now that children understand that diff erent people do things for

diff erent reasons, work with them to label the various types of inten-

tions or reasons that people behave the way they do. See if group mem-

bers can identify the following intentions: () It was an accident, () I

was trying to be helpful, () I was purposefully trying to be mean or tomake someone mad, and () I am not sure. If they are unable to do so,

go over each of them with the group.

Set Weekly Goals




Positive Feedback




133



Prize Box

Remember, children can earn points during group (see Chapter for more

details). Tally the points earned for each child and award prizes, if applicable.

Free Time



an eye out for any potential problems that may arise between groupmembers during this time and use it as an opportunity to practice prob-

lem solving.

Homework

✎ Remind students to select a teacher to interview and ask them to

complete the Scheduling a Teacher Interview form in their workbooks

before next session. Children should schedule their interviews for

some time after next week’s meeting.

134



135

Chapter 16 Session : Perspective Taking – Part III

Materials Needed


■ Pictures depicting children in conflictive situations (see Session )

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Reinforce “Accidental” and “Unclear/Don’t Know” attributions of

ambiguous social problems

■ Develop perspective-taking questions for teacher interview


■ Assign homework





previous week.



Children who scheduled a teacher interview (and returned their form to

the group session) should receive two points for completing the assign-

ment. The teacher interview will be discussed further at the end of the

session.




Interpersonal Problem Discussion

In today’s session, you will solicit real-life situations from group

members in order to illustrate the diff iculty in being able to identify the

intentions or motives of other people. An additional goal of the session

is to demonstrate how our thoughts about another person’s motivations

and intentions will a ff ect how we think, feel, and react to others during

interactions. You and your co-leader can begin this discussion by describ-

ing a situation from your own lives (with peers, siblings, coworkers, par-

ents) when you misjudged another person’s intentions. Try to label or

categorize the assumed intention into one of the following categories:

■ Accident (Accidental: they did not mean to make me mad, it was

an accident)■ Being helpful (Prosocial: they were trying to help me out)

■ Being mean (Hostile: they were trying to make me angry or get

me upset)

■ Don’t know (Ambiguous: it is unclear why they did that, I don’t

know why they did that)

Develop visual cues to represent these four categories and have these

available for children to point to when identifying the intention of the

other person in the interaction. Relate the cues they used when identi-

fying the inappropriate intention, and to indicate what cues they did

not notice that may have helped them to more accurately perceive the

136



other person’s intention. Ask group members to relate a situation when

they misjudged another person’s intention or motive. Ask them to iden-

tify the cues they used to come to the inaccurate perception, the cues

that might have helped them to more accurately identify why the per-son did what they did, and what category the intention they ascribed to

the person and what category the person’s intention actually fell into.

“What did you pay attention to that made you think that’s why he did that?

What could you have paid attention to that would have made you see the

problem di ff erently?” If children are having diff iculty with this task,

introduce an ambiguous story and ask all group members why they

think the person in the story did what he or she did.

You may use the following example:

Say that you have gone into the lunchroom and are heading toward

the table where your best friend is sitting. When you sit down at the

table, he ignores you and keeps eating his sandwich. Why do you think

your friend ignored you? What kinds of things made you think that?

What would have caused you to see this problem di ff erently?

Optional Exercise

Ask group members to discuss problems with teachers. It may be

important to remind the group about the confidentiality rule at this

point. Using the dry erase board or flipchart, record any situation that

depicts a child-teacher interaction when things did not turn out the way the child wanted (e.g., teacher accused a student of doing something he

did not do, or a student feels that he has received a grade that is lower

than deserved). Ask group members to describe what the teacher did and

why he did it. Focus on labeling the teacher’s intentions according to the

scheme previously described. Some examples of how children may label

teacher’s intentions are: “she made a mistake (accident );” “he doesn’t like

me (hostile);” “she was trying to help me get a better grade” (helpful);

and “I don’t know why she did it (don’t know ).” Ask group members to

identify the cues that led them to believe the teacher was acting in a cer-

tain way, or how they detected the teacher’s intentions. Discuss the idea

that it is often diff icult to determine what a person’s motivation is. Refer

students to the page in the workbook entitled, Why Did This Happen.

137



Blind Spots

This activity is designed to illustrate how feelings may interfere with

being able to read intentions accurately, which can also interfere withbeing able to identify what another person’s intentions are. Explain to

children that negative outcomes of previous interactions can generate

bad feelings, which can then a ff ect how they see other people and what

intentions they ascribe to others. These feelings can cause people to

ignore some cues that others are giving them, or to ignore important

information. Being frustrated with teachers or others can lead children

to perceive only those behaviors that will make them more upset, andto miss behaviors that would lead them to feel more positively about

that person. This process is called developing “blind spots” and it can

be further explained with the following sample dialogue:

Blind spots happen when we let feelings from past situations a ff ect

how we see other people in situations that are happening now. We

will ignore some information when there are blind spots. Similarly,

teachers might have blind spots that a ff ect how they see you and your behavior in the classroom.

A stimulus picture from Session can be used to convey this concept

to the students. Cover up part of the picture on the card and ask each

child to guess what is going on in the picture. Following this, uncover

the whole picture and ask group members if their interpretation of the

problem would have been diff erent had they been able to see the entire

picture to begin with. Emphasize that often we have to interpret otherpeople’s actions based on partial information, which makes it more

diff icult to know what is going on.

Teacher Interview

Explain to students that the group will begin working on a newsletter

that will describe diff erent interviews between members of the Coping

Power Program and their teachers. Solicit from children questions they

would like to ask their teachers. Be prepared with suggestions of your

own. Some ideas include:

138



. How was school diff erent when you were young?

. How is school the same?

. What did you like the most about elementary/middle school?

. What did you like the least about elementary/middle school?

. What really cool thing do you remember about one of your

teachers in elementary/middle school?

. Did kids sometimes misunderstand why teachers had rules?

. What do you want to have happen when you are teaching a class?

. When a child makes noise and interrupts a class what is your goal

for the whole class, and with that student?

. What do you really like about teaching?

. Do you think teachers know how much kids look up to them for

the hard work they do?

Make sure the child ends the interview by asking questions and .

Optional Role-Play

If you wish, you may engage the group in a role-play exercise where

either you or your co-leader plays the part of the teacher while thegroup asks interview questions. Use the list of questions generated by

the children. Process the role-play with the group by asking one or more

of the following discussion questions:

■ What do you think the teacher was trying to tell the student?

■ How do you think the student reacted to what the teacher was saying?

■ How do you think the student feels toward the teacher?

■ Did the student have any blind spots that may have gotten in the way

of understanding why the teacher has rules?

139





optional exercise would be to request one or more teachers to attend

the first – minutes of the next group session. Using a group for-

mat, have each group member take turns asking the teacher(s) ques-

tions. Remind group members that they can earn two points forreturning their homework.

141






143

Chapter 17 Session : Perspective Taking and Problem

Solving

Materials Needed


■ List of possible problem situations and solutions

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Discuss children’s teacher interviews

■ Introduce problem solving

■ Introduce the PICC Model

■ Teach the children how to break problems down into solvable steps

using the “Pick It Apart” method







previous week.

You will review children’s teacher interviews separately.




Review Teacher Interviews

Have each student be prepared to talk about her teacher interview withthe group. If the interview is being conducted during the group session,

have students take turns asking questions of the teacher(s). Record

responses on the dry erase board or flipchart or tape record the inter-

view. Ask students what they learned in the process of interviewing their

teachers. Some possible discussion questions are:

■ What did you learn in the process of interviewing your teacher?

■ Did you fi nd out anything about them that you didn’t already know?

■ How did you feel when you were interviewing your teacher?

■ Did this activity help you better understand why there are rules to fol-

low in class?

■ Were you surprised by anything that was said during the interview?

Remember to give two points to all members who completed the assign-ment. For those who did not complete the assignment, use your discretion

with reassigning the homework and giving points. You want to be careful

to not reward group members for not completing their homework (e.g.,

giving the same reward to those who return it late) but you want to be fair.

144



Problem Identification

Introduction to Problem Solving

Problem identification will be discussed as a component of the prob-

lem-solving process. Explain to children that over the next several

weeks, the group will talk about problem solving and how to make

good choices when they have problems with their friends or other peo-

ple in their lives. Before you start, ask the group to define what a prob-

lem is. Encourage students to provide a definition but do not force the

issue. If they are unable to describe it, you may use the following sam-ple dialogue to define problems.

A problem exists when there is something that gets in the way of a

goal that we want to reach or something that keeps us from getting

where we want to be. There are many examples of problems, some

are individual problems (e.g., your bike gets a fl at tire and you are

miles away from home), and some are group problems (e.g., your boy

scout troop is having trouble raising money for a fi eld trip). A prob-lem can also exist if two people want di ff erent goals and both goals

cannot be met with the same solution. For example, you have home-

work to do but you really want to watch your favorite TV show fi rst.

Your mother wants you to get your homework done before you can

watch TV. People can sometimes tell when there is a problem,

because they will feel angry or sad. Can you think of any examples

of problems?

Wait for the students to respond. If they do not spontaneously off er

examples, ask them to think of a problem that they have experienced in

school during the last week. You may want to use one of these examples

to demonstrate how to think through the steps of problem solving.

Introduction to PICC Model

Start the discussion by asking group members what they think the first

step to solving a problem is. Guide them toward creating the words asso-

ciated with the PICC model. P Problem, I Identification, C

Choices, and C Consequences. The “PICC” outline represents the

145



main problem-solving steps schematically and will be used throughout

the problem-solving sessions. Write the PICC schematic on the dry erase

board or flipchart. “PICC” follows the form of:

Problem Identification _________________________________

Choices Consequences

Defining a Problem in Solvable Steps

After the discussion about problem solving in general, introduce thenotion of “picking it apart.” You may use the following sample dia-

logue:

Great! You have some really good ideas about getting started with

problem solving. Let’s use the PICC chart (this should have already

been drawn on the dry erase board or fl ipchart) to “pick apart” a

problem and to “pick” good choices that really work for you. Let’s look

at an example of breaking down a problem into smaller parts.

Choose one of the following exercises to demonstrate the process of

picking apart a problem.

Exercise # 1 – My Car Is Not Working!

I had my car towed into the automotive shop and all of you were mechanics who worked at the shop. One of you asked me to describe

the reason that I had my car towed to the shop. I replied, “Because it

won’t run.” Would my answer be helpful to you? Would it help you to

fi gure out what is wrong?

Wait for the children to respond and then continue. Refer to the PICC

chart on display and write “Pick it apart Ask questions” underneath

the words “Problem Identification.” Leave enough room below to writethe children’s responses.

Problem Identification _______________

Pick it apart Ask questions

146



Continue by asking the group, “What kinds of things would you need to

know to fi gure out what was wrong with the car?” As the children generate

questions, try to reframe these questions into more general categories,

such as:

■ How often has it happened?

■ In what situations does it happen?

■ What happened just before the problem occurred?

■ What is not a ff ected by the problem?

Make sure that responses included things like:

■ It will not run after leaving my parking lights on all night (a bat-

tery or electrical problem)

■ I have not been to the gas station in a long time (car ran out of gas)

■ There was a loud crash under the car and since then there has

been a loud noise (muffler problem).

After sufficient additional information has been obtained, ask children to

think about what caused the problem with your car. Instruct the group to

solicit suggestions for what caused the problem and how understanding

what the problem is helps us to understand the cause of the problem.

Then, talk to children about your goal.

There is one other thing you probably want to ask me before you start

to work on my car. You will want to know what my goal is. For

example, you might ask me if I want the car fi xed no matter what

the cost or if I am only willing to pay a certain amount of money.

Instruct the group to solicit information that would help to identify your

goal and then, in response to the group’s questions, you can state that you

want it fixed only if the repairs cost less than $., since the car is pret-

ty old. If the repairs cost more than $., your goal would be to get

rid of the car and try to sell it “as-is.” Be sure to discuss how considering

the goal changes how you think about the problem. Frame these under

the terms Choices and Consequences (e.g., if you choose to fix only the

muffler but the transmission needs to be overhauled, the consequence

would be that you may not get much money when you try to sell it).

147



Exercise # 2 – My Video Game Is Not Working!

Let’s say that your brother wants to play a video game, but it isn’t

working. He comes to you and tells you that the game does not work.Does this help you to fi gure out what is wrong? What kinds of things

would you ask to fi gure out what the problem is?”

Again, as children are generating questions, try to reframe these ques-

tions into more general categories such as:

■ When does the problem occur?

■ What are some of the specific difficulties encountered?

Now, I want you to pretend that you are a video game repairman

while I play the role of your brother. Try to get a better idea of why

the game is not working by asking me some questions.

Encourage one group member to take on the role of the video game

repairman. Following are some of the questions that you would like this

person to ask so they get a better idea as to what is happening.

■ Is the power light on? (not plugged in, no electricity to operate

the machine)

■ Does the picture come on the screen but you cannot move the

figures? (the joystick is not plugged in correctly)

■ Is the TV screen on but the game does not show up on the screen?

(cartridge is not all the way in)

■ Does the TV work fine when the game is not plugged in? (the

Nintendo machine is probably broken)

■ Is the TV on the wrong channel? (needs to be on the right channel)

Ask the child playing the role of the repairman if now that she has more

information about the problem, she also has a better idea about what

might have caused the problem. Solicit suggestions for what caused theproblem and how understanding what the problem is helps us to under-

stand the cause of the problem. Then, explain that once the problem and

the cause of the problem have been identified, it is time to think about

what you (the brother) want. What is your goal? For example, do you

148



want to have the machine fixed no matter how much it costs, or would

you rather buy a new machine if the expense will be too great? Instruct

the group to solicit information that would help to identify what your

goal is. Note how consideration of the goal changes how you think aboutthe problem. Once again, frame these under the terms Choices and

Consequences (e.g., if you choose to get the game working no matter

what the cost and the problem is that the cartridge is jammed, the con-

sequence might be that you need to take the game to a repairman and

this would cost a lot of money. An option would be to see if a new game

would cost less money than getting the old one repaired).

Set Weekly Goals





Positive Feedback




Prize Box



applicable.

149



Free Time




solving.

150



151

Chapter 18 Session : Social Problem Solving – Part I

Materials Needed


■ Prize box

Outline



■ Complete introduction to problem solving from previous session

(Session )

■ Engage group in a problem-solving exercise






previous week.




Check that children completed their weekly goal sheets. Remember toaward points to children who successfully achieved their goal.


Continue last week’s discussion about problem solving and the PICC

Model.

Last time we met we talked about the PICC Model—can anyone tell

me what that refers to? (Wait for responses and prompt students as

needed.) Remember how we talked about the importance of really

knowing what a problem is before we try to solve it? (Wait for

responses and prompt as needed.)

Put the PICC Model on the dry erase board or flipchart so that all

group members can see it.

Problem Identification __________________

Pick it apart Ask questions


Choose one of the following two exercises to illustrate how to “pick

apart” a problem.

Exercise #1 – My Friends Won’t Let Me Play!

Engage in the “pick it apart” procedure with a vague social problem.

Introduce to the students the problem of a child not wanting to play

with them. Using the PICC chart, try to determine more explicitly

what the problem is.

Here is the problem. My name is Tim and I have a friend named

Bob. I see Bob walking in front of my house and I run outside to ask

him if he wants to play with me. When I asked him he responded by

152



saying “No” and kept on walking. Can you help me to fi gure out

what the problem is? What questions should I ask myself?

Make it appear as though you think that Bob doesn’t like you so you

have decided that you are never going to ask him to play again.

Obviously, this is not a good solution. Ask group members to help you

come up with a diff erent interpretation to the problem; ask them to

provide you with a list of possible questions that you could ask so that

you could be sure of what the problem is. For example:

■ When are the times he will not play with you (e.g., dinner time)?

■ Is this all the time or only sometimes?

■ What is he doing when he will not play with you?

■ Are there other people around when you ask him to play?

■ How do you ask him to play with you?

■ Did he play with you in the past?

Off er responses to these questions and create a scenario in which the

only times that Bob will not play are when he has to get home for din-

ner or when you ask him to play tennis, which is a game that Bob does

not like. Point out that one way to solve the problem would be to ask

him to do something else besides play tennis—find out what games he

likes to play or approach him after dinner is over.

Exercise #2 – Parent-Child Conflict

Role-play a situation that involves a parent-child conflict. Either you or

your co-leader can play the part of the parent, while one of you takes

on the role of the child. The basic scenario to portray is one in which

the child asks the parent if he can go to the mall or stay up an hour later

to watch a TV show, and the parent says, “No! I asked you to clean yourroom today, and your room is still a mess.” Ask group members to

define the problem in the situation. If the child suggests the problem is

that “Mom is not fair” or that “I never get to do what I want,” discuss

how this problem definition may actually hinder problem solving,

153



because there is little that the child can do to resolve the problem. Here

are some suggested questions to ask the group members.

■ What is the problem according to the mom?

■ What is the problem according to the child?

■ When would this be a problem?

■ How did this problem emerge?

■ What is the child’s goal?

■

What is the parent’s goal?

Problem Identification and Solution Formation

Introduce the relationship between problem identification and solution

generation by having the children play a game. The goal of the game is

for students to come up with solutions to a problem in minutes. If

they can come up with solutions, each group member earns one extra

point for the session; if they can’t, the group does not earn any extra

points. You may use the following sample dialogue to introduce the game:

Now we are going to have you play a game. What we want you to do

is to try to think of di ff erent solutions to this problem (refer chil-

dren to the page in the workbook entitled, These Boys Have a

Problem to Solve). This is a picture of three boys, and the middle

boy is saying, “I can help them solve this problem.” We want you to

think of as many solutions to this problem as you can. We want you

to do this as fast as you can—the solutions can be good solutions or

bad solutions, it doesn’t matter. We will write down your solutions as

you come up with them. Ready? Go!

Either you or your co-leader should record the solutions as they are gen-

erated and keep them in list format on the far side of the dry erase board

or flipchart. You will use the rest of the board for the second part of the

exercise. Possible solutions include:

. Try to get the two boys to talk to each other.

. Help his friend Dan by hitting Tom.

154



. Go tell a teacher that there is a fight on the playground.

. Convince Dan that it is not worth getting in trouble and they

should just leave.

. Go get a basketball and see if they will play a game and become

friends again.

. Refer the boys to peer mediation.

. Tell Tom he will get his brother to beat him up if he hits Dan

again.

. Say to Tom that they do not like to be hit by other kids.

. Ask Dan if he wants to come over to his house and get away from

this place.

. Begin to talk about the fun things that they did at school that

day.

Following this exercise, categorize the solutions students generated into

more general solution types. For example, you can use the following

categories to help the children understand that there are some general

ways to classify solutions:

■ Help Seeking

■ Verbal Assertion

■ Direct Action

■ Physical Aggression

■ Verbal Aggression

■ Compromise or Bargaining

■ Avoidance or Nonconfrontation

This type of categorization will help students to develop more complete

ideas of how problems can be solved, and they will learn that there are

several diff erent types of solutions within each category. Write down the

general categories on the dry erase board or flipchart.

155



Set Weekly Goals




Positive Feedback




Prize Box



applicable.

Free Time

If time permits, allow children a free-play period of –minutes at the end

of the session (see Chapter for more details). Remember to keep an eye

out for any potential problems that may arise between group members


156



157

Chapter 19 Session : Social Problem Solving – Part II

Materials Needed


■ Prize box

Outline



■ Identify and evaluate consequences for solutions

■ Demonstrate the diff erence between automatic thinking and

deliberate thinking


■ Assign homework




previous week.






Identifying Consequences for Solutions

To begin today’s session, ask the group for a definition of a consequence.

So far, we have talked a lot about how we should de fi ne a problem.We have said that we need to look at problems from many di ff erent

angles or viewpoints so we can get a complete understanding of what

is going on. We have also talked about the importance of generating

many solutions for a problem so we can evaluate the solutions and

choose the best one. What we haven’t talked about is how we actually

evaluate our choices. How do we know which choice is the best one?

Wait for the group to respond. Praise anyone who comes up with thenotion of looking at consequences or outcome. If nobody comes up

with an answer, ask the group the following question: “Has anyone

heard of the word consequence?” If someone has, ask that child to tell the

rest of the group what the word means. If no one has heard the word

before, explain to students that a consequence is what happens as a

result of something you do, or it is what happens after you do some-

thing. Provide a simple example of a consequence such as, “What hap-

pens if you leave a chocolate bar in the car on a hot day?” (Answer: It

melts.) “ Melting is the consequence that is associated with your behavior of

leaving your chocolate bar in the car on a hot day.”

Present a problem to the group (you may use one of the problem situ-

ations generated in a previous group session) and brainstorm solutions

(good and bad) using the PICC format:

Problem Identi fi cation ________________

Pick It Apart “Ask questions”


158



Once all the solutions have been generated, ask group members to iden-

tify what the consequences are for each solution. It is also useful to ask

group members to state what the goal is for each of the solutions and to

encourage their recognition of the relationship between problemdefinition, the goal being pursued, and the solutions that are generated.

Examples of questions to be asked during the discussion are:

■ What would be the consequence for this solution?

■ What would happen after this solution was used?

■ What else might happen?

■ What else might the other person do?

■ What else might the other person feel?

Generate several consequences for each solution.

The point of the preceding exercise is to introduce the idea that there

are often several consequences for one solution and, if you want to

make a good decision, you must think of all the possible consequences.

Evaluating Consequences

Using the consequences that have been generated to the problem

situation just described, ask group members, “How can you tell if a

consequence is ‘good’ or ‘bad’? What makes a consequence good versus bad?”

Introduce the idea that a consequence is good if it helps the person to

reach an important goal. It may be useful to discuss the diff erence

between long-term and short-term goals (e.g., fighting may help to

reach the short-term goal of feeling strong/important/tough but may

get in the way of reaching the long-term goal of doing well in school,

having a good job, staying out of trouble).

Using the PICC chart with consequences listed, ask group members to

rate each of the consequences as either good or bad or okay. Then ask

group members to indicate which of the possible solutions generated

would be the best solution based on the consequences. This further

illustrates the idea that there may be several options or choices in every

situation, and there may be several consequences for each solution.

159



“When making a decision, it is useful to think about all the consequences

and think about what you want to have happen and make your choice

based on the solution that will help you achieve that goal.”

The point of this exercise is to convey to the group members that, in order

to make good choices, we must evaluate the consequences of our choices.

Refer children to the Problem Solving – PICC Model in the workbook

and review.

Automatic Responding Versus Thinking Ahead: Part One

The following exercise is designed to teach children to recognize the

diff erence between solutions that are generated in an automatic mode

of responding and those that are generated when people think before

responding. It is important to convey to the students the idea that if

they are able to stop and think before responding, they will often be

able to think of better solutions.

Engage the children in a game where they think of as many possible

solutions to a problem as they can. Again, you may use a problem situ-

ation generated in a previous group session. Instruct group members to

respond to you as quickly as possible, giving you every possible solution

they can think of. Children should say the first thing that pops into

their heads, regardless of whether the solution is “right” or “wrong” or

“good” or “bad.” Either you or your co-leader should record all of the

responses on the dry erase board or flipchart. Do not evaluate any of thesolutions off ered, but instead ask for clarification if a solution is not

clearly delineated (e.g., “Why do you think that would solve the problem?”

Or “How would that solve this problem?”). If a child off ers a solution that

is a variation of a solution previously mentioned, point out that this is

a variation and then list it with the solutions generated.

After generating a long list of solutions, ask group members to identify

the consequences for these solutions and evaluate the consequences interms of being good (), okay (), or bad ().

160



Group Leader Note:

■ You will need a copy of the solutions and the consequence ratings so

you can compare them to the new ones that will be generated in a similar exercise to be conducted next week. Be sure to write them

down and have them available for next week.

Set Weekly Goals


current goal if it has yet to be achieved) and complete the Goal Sheet in

the workbook. Remind the children to bring their signed Goal Sheets


Positive Feedback

As outlined in Chapter , at the end of each session you and your co-leader will ask all group members to identify one positive thing about


Prize Box



applicable.

Free Time


the end of the session (see Chapter for more details). Remember tokeep an eye out for any potential problems that may arise between

group members during this time and use it as an opportunity to prac-

tice problem solving.

161



Homework

✎ Instruct the children to complete the Problem-Solving Worksheet in

the workbook and bring it to next week’s session. The target problemcan be one experienced at home, in school, or in the community. The

solution should be carried out and the consequences noted in the

space provided. Encourage group members to think before responding

and to evaluate all available options. Remind group members that

they will receive two points for completing the assignment.

162





Review children’s completed Problem-Solving Worksheets. Group mem-

bers who completed their homework should receive two points. Discuss

the target problems, choices, and consequences.




Automatic Responding Versus Thinking Ahead: Part Two

Remind the children of last week’s discussion regarding generating

solutions to problems and the game they played in which the group

generated multiple solutions to a particular problem. Explain to the

children that today the group is going to play a similar game, but

instead of generating all the answers they can possibly think of, they are going to think about the consequences of each solution and iden-

tify only those they think will have good outcomes. Stress the impor-

tance of thinking through the consequences of the solutions before

choosing one. Use the same real-life problem that was used during

last week’s exercise.

After solutions have been generated, ask group members to look at

the two lists of solutions (one from today and one from the previoussession) and decide which list has better ideas on it. Ask group mem-

bers to generate the consequences for each of the solutions off ered in

today’s exercise and then rate the consequences as good (), bad

(), or okay (). Point out that, in general, people can come up with

better solutions if they stop to think about the following things:

■ What is the problem?

■ What do I want to see happen?

■ What are my choices for solving this problem?

This sequence usually produces better results than if the person simply

responded without thinking about the choices first.

164



Remind group members to use breathing techniques (see Session ) or

other methods to help them calm down before they make a decision.

Inform them that right now the focus is on their ability to “stop and

think,” rather than their ability to think quickly. This is because they areat the early stages of learning how to make good decisions, and because

of this they need to proceed slowly. As children get better at making

good decisions they will be able to do so faster and the whole process will

not seem as tedious and difficult. One way to explain this to the group

is to use the metaphor of learning to play a new video game.

Learning how to make good decisions is like learning to play a

new video game. The fi rst few times you play a new game you

need to really think about what you are doing and how to win the

game. You make mistakes and you learn from those mistakes. After

playing the game for a while, you can play without thinking very

much, and your playing becomes much more automatic. It is the

same for solving problems. First you will have to stop and really

think about what options are available and what the consequences

are for each solution. But after a while, your responding will become much more automatic and you will not have to think as

much as you do now.

Trouble at Sea Exercise

This exercise is designed to introduce and extend the concept of conse-quence identification and to assist students in better understanding the

problem-solving process. Explain that the group as a whole will be dis-

cussing a situation and that they must come to some agreement regarding

items to keep and items to discard. (An optional way to complete this

activity is to give the list of items to all the students and ask them to decide

which items they would keep and which items they would throw over-

board.) Having pictures of the objects, or the actual objects themselves, to

help demonstrate this exercise generally heightens the level of interest and

participation among the group members. Explain the story as follows:

You are all members of a fi shing party on a boat that has run into

bad weather and has some engine trouble several miles from shore.

165



The captain of the boat has told you that because of the rough

weather the boat needs to be lighter in order to make it through the

storm and to avoid sinking. You as members of the crew need to

decide which items to keep and which items to throw overboard.You need to decide as a group the order in which you throw the fol-

lowing items overboard.

. Box of matches

. Radio (ship to shore)

. Compass

. Navigational map

. gallons of water

. Signal fl ares

. Life rafts

. feet of rope

. Flashlight

. Life jackets

Allow group members five minutes to discuss the problem and

decide which items would be thrown overboard first. Encourage

students to identify the consequences for throwing each item

overboard, and to use the identified consequences in their decisions

about which items to keep and which items to discard. Ask group

members:

■ What was the problem in this situation?

■ Did di ff erent people have di ff erent ideas about which items to throw

overboard?

■ How did you decide which items to keep and which ones to throw

overboard?

■ Did thinking about the consequences help you decide which items to

keep?

166



Set Weekly Goals


current goal if it has yet to be achieved) and complete the goal sheetin the workbook. Remind the children to bring their signed goal sheets


Positive Feedback

As outlined in Chapter , at the end of each session you and your co-leader will ask all group members to identify one positive thing about themselves


Prize Box


more details). Tally the points earned for each child and award prizes,

if applicable.

Free Time




problem solving.

167





169

Chapter 21 Session : Social Problem Solving – Part IV

Materials Needed


■ Prize Box

Outline



■ Introduce the notion of timing in relation to problem solving

■ Reinforce persistence in problem solving











Problem-Solving Etiquette

During this portion of the session, you will introduce to the group ideas

regarding when and when not to try and solve problems. Refer childrento the Basics of Problem Solving handout in their workbooks and ask

them the following questions:

. “When are good times to approach another person to discuss a

problem?”

Elicit or shape responses that include the following:

■ All people involved in the conflict have time to talk about and

resolve the problem

■ All people are calm

■ When the discussion is held in a private setting

. “When are bad times to try to talk to another person about a

problem?”


■ When you or the other person is very angry

■ When the other person is busy with something or is trying to

finish something

■ When you are too busy to be able to focus on problem solving

■ When the setting is not private and needs to be

. “What are some things to avoid when trying to talk to another

person about the problem?”


■ Blaming the other person

■ Guessing the other person’s intentions (if unsure of what the otherperson’s intention was, it is better to ask, rather than tell them

what you think it was)

■ Making broad generalizations (be concerned with a specific

problem and be specific when talking to the other person;

avoid making statements that include the words “you always”)

170



■ Bringing up old and irrelevant issues (i.e., the past should not

be brought into the current problem)

■ Attacking or putting down the other person

Obstacles and Persistence to Overcoming Them

Introduce the idea of obstacles and persistence in dealing with them.

Recall the idea of “barriers” that was discussed in Session on goal

setting. Ask the group, “Who can remember what a barrier is?”

Elicit/shape a response that a barrier is something that gets in the way

of achieving a goal by asking the group the following:

■ Are there things that could get in the way of your meeting your goal?

■ What might get in the way of this solution working?

■ What are some of the things that might happen so that this solution

would not work?

Elicit from group members some potential barriers to this resolution.

Introduce the idea of having “back-up” or alternative solutions at hand

in case the first solution doesn’t work for some reason. You may use the

following example:

Your goal is to improve your math grade. The fi rst solution is to spend

more time on your math homework. A potential barrier may be that

although you are spending more time doing your math homework, youare still having di ffi culty understanding how to do it.

Ask group members the following:

■ What can you do if the fi rst solution you try doesn’t work?

■ Are there any other solutions you can try?

■ Why is it useful to have several possible solutions in mind when facing a problem?

171



Solvers and Blockers Exercise

The following exercise is designed to reinforce the idea of obstacles and

involves playing a game called “Solve That Problem.” This game isconducted in a game show format. Divide the group into two teams, each

with an approximately equal number of members. Toss a coin to see which

team will be the Solvers and which team will be the Blockers . The basic

idea of this game is that there will be one team determining solutions to a

problem and deciding on the best solution, while the opposing team will

try to think of “blocks” or obstacles that would cause that solution not to

work and reasons why that solution might fail. The categories for thisgame are peer conflict and conflicts with friends.

The Solvers can choose the category in which they want to solve

a problem. Present them with a problem from the Solve That Problem

page in the workbook and give them minutes to think of several

diff erent solutions (need to come up with at least three alternatives) and

to choose the solution they believe would work best.

Once The Solvers have indicated their solution choice, give The

Blockers minutes to think about diff erent obstacles to the proposed

solution and to present the best (or most difficult to overcome) obstacle

to that solution.

Give The Solvers another minutes to think about alternative solutions

for coping with the obstacle and to decide upon the best solution, after

which The Blockers have minutes to think of the best (most difficult)

obstacle to this proposed solution.

Continue this game until either no new blocks or no new solutions can be

formed by the respective teams. You and your co-leader will make all judg-

ments about the appropriateness/relevancy of the solutions and blocks.

In terms of keeping score, The Solvers will receivefive points for each solu-

tion they generate and The Blockers will receive five points for each

block they generate. Once no new solutions or blocks can be generated,

the game is over. The team scoring the highest number of points wins the

game (these points are used for the game only and are not to be used for

rewards or prizes). If time permits, have the teams switch roles and play

again.

172



Set Weekly Goals


current goal if it has yet to be achieved) and complete the goal sheetin the workbook. Remind the children to bring their signed goal sheets


Positive Feedback

As outlined in Chapter , at the end of each session you and your co-leader will ask all group members to identify one positive thing about


Prize Box



applicable.

Free Time




problem solving.

173






175

Chapter 22 Session : Group Creates Videotape – Part I

Materials Needed


■ Copy of a previous group’s problem-solving video, if available

■ Videotape player/television

■ Video camera equipment

■ Prize box

Outline



■ View and discuss problem-solving video, if available

■ Discuss video project with the group and begin planning and

organizing


■ Assign homework

Group Leader Note:

■ The primary purpose of this session is to begin working on a

videotape, which is used for the children’s behavioral rehearsal of

choices. This process helps to consolidate the problem-solving model,

as the children are involved in writing the script for the videotape





we all have to work together as a team. That means we all need to

contribute to creating the script and all have to behave appropriately.

Introduce the concept of this videotape more fully by showing a sample

video from last year’s Coping Power Program, if available. If this is the first

year of the program, skip this section and move right into a discussion of

how to create the first group video.

After viewing the sample video, ask group members questions such as:

■ What was the problem in this videotape?

■

What were the solutions that they used?

■ Which was the best choice?

■ Which solutions/choices used anger control?

■ Can you think of any other choices/solutions that he could have used?

■ What would be the consequences for those solutions?

Guide the children in a discussion of the format of the video by saying the following:

Let’s think about how we are going to make our video. It is probably

best if we start out by making an introduction for the audience. This

will be the only part of the activity that we will write a script for, the

rest we will talk about and act out as we go along. In the introduc-

tion, we should tell the audience what we are doing and why we are

doing it. So, why are we making this video?

Shape/elicit a response that indicates the video will depict the social

problem-solving model, the steps that are used to cope with angry

feelings, and the best way to use coping skills when a problem occurs.

Write down the introduction that the children would like to use for the

video. It is very likely that the children will need a lot of active guidance

by you and your co-leader. Do not hesitate to provide options from

which the children can choose or provide much of the material for theintroduction. However, keep in mind that one of the goals is for the

children to feel that they created the video so be sure to solicit ideas

rather than dictate. You should have some idea of what the primary

problems for group members might be and should suggest two or three

177



of these as potential problems to be videotaped. Ask group members to

provide other suggestions. Write down all possible problems that are

generated and have group members select the problem they would like

to use for the videotape. Avoid using problem situations that seemunsolvable or that would not be conducive to videotaping, such as

intense physical confrontations or fighting. Appropriate situations for

the video include those that have been associated with lower to middle

ranges of anger arousal on the anger thermometer in prior group

activities.

Planning for Taping

Using the Camera

You and your co-leader need to be sure that the lighting and the area

to be used are conducive to taping. You may want to have the

children act out something so you can practice. Be careful that they do

not become overstimulated while doing this. Ask children to step in and

out of camera range so they know where they should be when carrying

out the exercise.

Assigning Roles

Determine who will present the introduction that had beendeveloped earlier (this could be a group member who cannot be

videotaped for some reason and the child can simply talk, or one

child who presents particularly well when speaking, or several group

members can present the introduction by having each child state a

portion of the introduction, etc.).

Ask group members to think about the best way to present the problem

situation for the videotaped version and record the ideas generated forthe script. Do not write a complete script but simply jot down ideas and

the actions that need to be depicted. If there is enough time, go through

a trial run without videotaping. Make the necessary adjustments and

then tape a trial run. Once the practice video has been completed,

178



watch the tape and ask group members: “Was the problem presented in

the best way? Is there anything you want to change about what people did

or said? Is there a better way to present the problem?”

Once the problem stem or situation has been completed, group leaders

can tie the videotaping back into perspective-taking by asking group

members what the problem is according to each person depicted in the

problem situation. If there is time, have a group member act out an

aside on the video, in which he presents verbally what the problem is

from each person’s perspective. Alternatively, the group members who

have acted out the problem situation can each act out an aside, in which

they present the problem from their perspective.

Set Weekly Goals



the workbook. Remind the children to bring their signed goal sheets tonext week’s session.

Positive Feedback




Prize Box



applicable.

179



Free Time




problem solving.

180



181

Chapter 23 Session : Group Creates Videotape - Part II

Materials Needed


■ Practice video created last session

■ Written materials related to videotape formation



■ Prize box

Outline



■ Begin filming video—record three to four solutions to the chosen

problem

■ Depict the consequences associated with each solution on the tape







previous week.



Continue Videotape Production

Inform group members that today’s session will be spent filming

solutions to the problem they chose last week as the focus of the video.

Review the practice tape filmed at last week’s session and let the children

know that today the group will film the final version. First, ask the chil-

dren to list diff erent solutions for the particular problem and record

responses on the dry erase board or flipchart. Provide encouragement if

needed and suggest solutions involving verbal assertion, bargaining,

compromise, and/or negotiation, if the group members do not generate

these types of solutions on their own.

Once the solutions have been identified, ask group members to decide

which solutions they would like to videotape (choose three or four), and

be sure to discuss the consequences associated with each of the chosen

solutions.

Videotape each solution (this will take the rest of this session and the

next). If desired, you may show the group the taped solution after each

enactment. One note of caution is that it is sometimes difficult to get

back to the exact point where you ended, so the final video may appear

choppy. Also, it is better to not have group members view enacted solu-

tions in which they were acting silly; this will reinforce the silliness and

will make it more difficult to complete this task. Discontinue taping if

children become silly to stop reinforcement for this type of behavior.

182



Following the taping/review of each solution, ask group members:

■ Was this the way we want the solution to look?

■ Is there anything we should have done di ff erently?

■ Is everyone happy with this taped solution?

Re-tape solutions until the group as a whole is satisfied with the result.

During the course of the videotape production, be sure to comment on

and reinforce children’s attempts at problem solving. For example,

group members can disagree about the wording for solutions or about

which solutions are best for videotaping. When these disagreements are

identified and resolved among group members, congratulate children

on being able to resolve problems in an appropriate manner.

Set Weekly Goals




Positive Feedback




Prize Box

Remember, children can earn points during group (see Chapter formore details). Tally the points earned for each child and award prizes, if

applicable.

183



Free Time




problem solving.

184



185

Chapter 24 Session : Group Creates Videotape – Part III

Materials Needed


■ Practice video created last session

■ Written materials related to videotape formation



■ Prize box

Outline



■ Complete videotape production

■ Review material learned during the year











Complete Videotape Production

Review (discuss or watch) the problem-solving videotape created last

week. Ask group members to recall other solutions they wanted to enact

and videotape, and write these on the dry erase board orfl

ipchart. Havemembers enact, record, and review the remaining solutions.

Following the taping/review of each solution, ask group members:

■ Is this the way we want the solution to look?

■ Is there anything we should have done di ff erently?

■ Is everyone happy with this taped solution?

Re-tape solutions until the group as a whole is satisfied with the result.

Once group members are satisfied with each individual solution, watch

the entire videotape. Ask group members why it was useful to develop

this videotape and what they were able to learn from this process. Also,

be sure to ask all members for consent to view the video during parent

meetings. ALL members must agree to show the tape or it cannot be shown

at all.

Again, reinforce group members’ attempts at problem solving during

the course of the videotape production.

Review Group Material and Prepare for Summer

Review with the group material from Sessions –. You may use thefollowing sample dialogue:

You all have worked very hard this year in the group meetings and

we hope you have learned a lot about coping with di ffi cult situations.

The videotape we just watched is a great demonstration of your

186



knowledge and coping skills. Now we would like to take an opportu-

nity to review all of the things you have learned this year. What are

some of the things that you have learned in the Coping Power group?

Encourage group members to list skills they have learned during the

first year of group. Write these on the dry erase board or flipchart as

they are generated. Make sure that the list includes the following:

■ Setting long-term goals

■ Setting short-term goals

■

Organizational skills

■ Study and homework skills

■ Identifying feelings in self

■ Identifying feelings in others

■ Recognizing triggers for various feelings

■

Being aware of physical changes in your body related to feelings

■ Calming down through deep breathing and relaxation techniques

■ Self-control and anger coping through coping statements and

other techniques (e.g., doing something else)

■ Taking others’ perspective and avoiding misunderstandings

■ Trying to understand others’ intentions to avoid problems

■ Problem solving—identifying the problem, generating choices,

and selecting the choice with the best possible consequence for

everyone involved (demonstrated wonderfully in the PICC

videotape!)

Summarize for the group by saying:

That is a lot that you have learned! Now, all you have to do is

remember these coping skills and use them. These are not just for use

at school, but can be used for all kinds of di ffi cult situations, such as

at home and in your neighborhood. Who agrees to work on using

these coping skills over the summer break? These types of coping skills

will also be useful as you start th grade and are faced with new types

187



of social situations and di ff erent academic demands. Once th grade

gets started, you will attend Coping Power group at your new middle

school as well (for a total of sessions in th grade). This will allow

you to learn more coping skills and learn ways to apply things youalready know, such as the PICC model, to new situations that arise

in middle school.

Encourage group members to accept the invitation to use their new cop-

ing skills throughout the summer. Answer any remaining questions about

the conclusion of the th-grade group or about next year’s th-grade

group.

Positive Feedback




Prize Box



applicable.

Free Time





problem solving.

188



Coping Power Child Program

Year 2






191

Chapter 25 Session : Review From Previous Year

Materials Needed


■ Three-Strike System poster (from Session )

■ Point System poster (from Session )

■ Materials for review game (board game spinner and review questions)

■ Prize box

Outline

■ Review group purpose and structure

■ Review curriculum material from year one of the program

■ Reinitiate goal setting procedure

Group Leader Note:

■ This session is designed to take place at the beginning of the

student’s second year of involvement in the Coping Power Program.

In preparation for this fi rst meeting, group leaders will need

to familiarize themselves with Sessions – . It would be helpful

to have one or both group leaders meet with each student individually prior to the initial group meeting. This can serve both

to establish a relationship with the student as well as allow time



192

to begin formulating a list of potential goals that the student

will work on during the remainder of the program. Given that

the students have not been participating in group sessions over

the summer, one of the primary purposes of this session will be to review the content and process of the previous sessions.

In addition, review of content from Session will assist group

leaders in reestablishing the group format and structure.

Review General Purpose and Structure of the Program

Introduce yourself and your co-leader to group members and provide

a brief overview of the program to students. Also discuss time, frequency,

and number of group meetings to be held during the year. Year of the

Coping Power Program is comprised of sessions that occur once per

week, usually during the th grade.

Review the general idea regarding the purpose of this group and ask,

“Who can remember why we began meeting in this group? Why do youthink this is called the Coping Power Program?” Elicit or shape a response

that indicates that children can increase or strengthen their coping skills

in this group. It is important to convey to the group that, “We are not

trying to teach you to stop being angry, but rather to learn new ways of

responding when you are angry, so that you are making smarter choices and

think through problems when they do happen.”

Ask the students about any problems they encountered over thesummer months or since the start of school this year that led to anger

or caused a problem for them. Ask them to talk about how they coped

with these situations. Have them discuss times they were able to cope

eff ectively with problem situations and times when they were unable to

do so. See if any of them remembered to use the Problem-Solving

(PICC) model (see Session ) and pick apart the problem. Have group

members discuss situations that continue to be difficult for them, or

that continue to make them angry, and what they do when they

encounter these difficult situations. Record the students’ responses on

the dry erase board or flipchart so they can be used for the goal-setting

section of today’s session.



Getting Acquainted/ Achieving Group Cohesion

The following activities can help the children get to know one another

and build group cohesion. Alternatively, you may choose an activity described in Session (e.g., Pass the Ball, group naming task).

Making a Flag : Have group members construct a flag with paper,

cloth, or other material. For this task, group members would first

need to decide what symbol they want on their flag, and then

work cooperatively to construct this symbol.

Interview Task : Have group members pair up and interview eachother (ask each other questions like “What is your favorite food?”

“What kinds of sports do you like?” “What are your favorite

activities?” etc.) for approximately minutes. Then, instruct them

to introduce the student they interviewed to the rest of the group.

Group Rules

Remind the children of the rules from last year’s group (see Session ).

Encourage members to come up with rules for this year. They can be

the same rules from the previous year or they can be diff erent. Have

students take turns writing down the rules on the dry erase board or

flipchart. Have all group members generate rules. If a student off ers

a “strange,” unclear, or silly rule, try to reframe this into a useful rule.

General rules for the group should include:

■ No physical contact

■ No name-calling

■ No swearing

■ Arriving on time

■ Having a positive attitude

■ Not interrupting each other

■ Keeping everything private (confidentiality)

■ Following directions

193



Point System

Review the procedure for earning points (see Session ). Ask the children

if they remember how they can earn points in group. Have them gener-ate responses and record them on the dry erase board or flipchart. Points

can be earned for the following:

■ point for following the rules

■ point for positive participation

■ points for completing homework assignments

■ – points for achieving weekly goals

Remember to display the point system poster from last year in a visible

space at every group meeting.

The Three-Strike System

Remind students of the three-strike system where each child is given

three chances or warnings before losing a point for not following rules

(see Session ). Be sure to display the three-strike system poster at every

session.

Positive Participation

Review with children the concept of positive participation and how

they can use it to earn points. Responding meaningfully to questions

from leaders or other group members, raising important points related

to the discussion, and engaging in activities are examples of ways

in which children can positively participate in group.

Rewards for Earning Points

Remind children that, like last year, they can use their points for certain

rewards. Children can still “buy” items from the prize box, but now that

194



they are in middle school, prizes will cost more than they did in the

previous year. Children can also combine their points to earn a pizza

party or other group reward at the end of the program. The reward

should be based on reaching a certain percentage (e.g., %) of the totalpossible points for the group.

Goal Setting

Review the goal-setting procedure with the group (see Session ). Ask

children if they can remember the definition of a goal and the diff erencebetween long-term and short-term goals. Have students generate long-

term goals for themselves, or ask them to decide on a goal that they

would like to work on during the course of this school year and the types

of things they might like to change in themselves through their work in

this group. Have students identify the short-term behavioral goals they

need to reach in order to achieve their chosen long-term goal and choose

one to use as their weekly goal. Like last year, children will record their

weekly goals on the goal sheets in the workbook.

Optional Review Game

This optional activity is designed to help reinforce the material covered

during year of the program. The game provides an opportunity for

group leaders to see how much information students retained fromtheir previous experience in the program. It also provides an engaging

and fun format for students to demonstrate their newly learned skills.

Have available a board game spinner with numbers on it and predeter-

mined program review questions that correspond to the numbers. Have

the children take turns spinning the game piece. Whatever number the

arrow lands on will determine the question the child will be asked.

Award one point for every correct answer. Points can be used to pur-chase prizes from the prize box, or simply be calculated as game points

to see who wins this particular game.

195



Set Weekly Goals




Positive Feedback



Prize Box



applicable.

Free Time




problem solving.

196



197

Chapter 26 Session : Organizational and Study Skills

Review

Materials Needed


■ Materials for optional organization and study skills activities (stop-

watch, students’ book bags, sets of words on diff erent colors of paper,

index cards listing positive and negative study skills) (see Session )

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Teach children ways they can improve their academic organizational skills

■ Review study skills for school and homework skills at home


■ Assign homework

Group Leader Note:

■ The primary purpose of today’s group meeting is to reintroduce and rein-

force the skills covered last year in Session (Organizational and Study

Skills). The goal will be to convey to students some appropriate study and

organizational skills that may help them achieve more in school.






previous week.



Strategies for Achieving School Success

Introduce the topic for today by discussing the transition to middle

school and the concomitant increase in homework and study demands

that teachers may make on students. You may use the following sample

dialogue:

Now that you are in middle school there will be more expected

from you in terms of taking responsibility for your schoolwork.

There will be an increase in homework that will require you to

spend more time on your studies. In addition, teachers will be

expecting more from you both in class and in assuming more

independence in terms of completing assignments and other

schoolwork on your own. This means that you may need to

develop new skills in order to meet these new demands. What do

you think are the most important skills needed in order to do

well in school?

At this time, you may ask students if they can recall anything from the

previous session on organizational and study skills. Use the information

from Session to facilitate discussion. Be sure to reiterate how taking

greater responsibility of homework and other school assignments can

decrease frustration and help students to feel less angry in general at

school.

198



Organizational and Study Skills Role-Play

To illustrate the importance of good organizational and study skills, you

may wish to conduct a role-play exercise. You or your co-leader will play the role of the parent while the other acts out the part of the child. Role-

play a scene in which a parent and child are in the den watching TV.

When the show ends, the parent says, “It’s p.m. and time to go to

bed.” The child opens up his or her book bag, takes out several pieces

of crumpled paper, and says that he or she forgot about a homework

assignment that is due in the morning. The child also discovers a sci-

ence project that is due later in the week that he or she hasn’t started.The parent says to the child, “What are all these loose papers in your

book bag?” and “Where is your assignment book?” The child looks

puzzled. Parent and child sit down together to organize materials and

plan for a regular structured study schedule.

Make sure to include organizational skills, study skills, and long-term

assignment planning in your role-play. Generate discussion utilizing the

Problem-Solving (PICC) model to illustrate the objective of the session.Have students pick apart the role-play identifying the problem, choices,

and consequences.

Optional Activities

Following are a number of optional activities that can also be used to illus-

trate the importance of organization and good study skills. Repeating one

or more of the exercises from last year may be very beneficial. Choose

either an organizational or study skills activity to reinforce the objective

of this section (See Session for full instructions on games).

Book Bag Organization

As was done in Session , you can instruct the children to bring their

book bags to today’s session and conduct a contest to see who can

organize their bag the best and/or find particular items (e.g., a ruler, a

pencil, etc.) the quickest. You can use a stopwatch to time the children.

199



Word Organization

You may use the same words for this activity as you used last year in

Session , or you may create new ones. Provide each child with a set of words and instruct them to put the words into some sort of order.

(Children can sort words alphabetically, by color of paper, by category,

etc.) You can use the stopwatch to time the children and see who is able

to organize the words the fastest.

Home/School Study Skills

Write on the dry erase board or flipchart the following statement: “How

to study so that I can do well in school.” Create two columns labeled

home and school and solicit from group members skills they can use

and record responses under the appropriate columns.

Study Skills Index Cards

You may use the same index cards for this activity as you used last year in

Session . Provide the group with the stack of cards, which list positive and

negative study skills, and ask them to decide whether each idea would be

useful or not for studying.

Set Weekly Goals





Positive Feedback




200



Prize Box

Remember, children can earn points during group (see Chapter

formore details). Tally the points earned for each child and award prizes, if

applicable.

Free Time

If time permits, allow children a free-play period of – minutes at theend of the session (see Chapter for more details). Remember to keep



lem solving.

Homework

✎ Ask the children to review the Study Skills at School handout in the

workbook

✎ Have each student complete and return a new Homework Contract in

the workbook (signed by both the student and parent) to the next

group session. Remind group members that they can earn extra points

for returning their homework.

201






203

Chapter 27 Session : Application of Social Problem

Solving to Teacher Con fl ict

Materials Needed


■ Problem-Solving Worksheet

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Enhance perspective-taking ability

■ Discuss teacher’s perspective

■ Practice problem solving with teacher conflicts






previous week.



Check that children signed, and had their parents sign, the Homework

Contract in the workbook.




Understanding the Teacher’s Perspective

Remind group members of the interviews they did with their teachers,

and let them know that you and your co-leader have compiled the top

answers to the question, “What do you (teachers) expect from stu-

dents in the classroom?” These answers will be used to engage the chil-

dren in a game.

Divide the group in half and ask each group to come up with the top responses they think teachers gave to the question. Write the responses

generated by the group on the dry erase board or flipchart. After they

have provided their answers, discuss with the students why teachers may

have selected these specific responses and how these items may impact a

teacher in the classroom. Discuss the importance of understanding the

needs and desires of others (teachers), in order to develop and improve

relationships. (If you want, you can conduct this exercise in a “Family

Feud” game show format and have the answers already prepared on slips

of cardboard. When a student lists one of the top answers, you turn

over that slip and display the answer.)

The following top answers are actual results from surveys we con-

ducted with schoolteachers.

The top answers in our survey were:

. To be involved working and learning something.

. To be happy or excited about learning something.

. To participate.

204



. To be prepared and ready to work.

. To be respectful.

. To work to their best ability.

. To follow the rules.

. To be creative/have fun.

. To pay attention and understand the material.

. To seek out answers to questions they have.

If audiotapes are available from the teacher interviews conducted earlier,

you can replay portions of these interviews for the students to hear.

Use Problem-Solving (PICC) Model to Discuss Teacher Issues


Have group members brainstorm about diff erences of opinion that have

occurred or could occur between a teacher and a student, as well as pos-

sible diff erences in the perspectives of teachers and students. Try to

focus this discussion on the teacher’s expectations for students in the

classroom. You may use the following sample dialogue:

What do teachers expect students to do in the classroom? If they expect

you to do your work independently, how can you ask teachers for helpwhen you need it? What do teachers expect from students in terms of

homework? You may think that homework is boring or takes away

from your free time, but your teachers probably think that homework

is a great way to help you retain what you have learned in class.

Refer children to the Problem-Solving Worksheet in their workbooks.

Ask each child to write down a problem that they have with a teacher

and use the worksheet to help generate solutions to that problem. Makesure that the form is filled out completely. You can go over this as a

group activity, or have each student complete the form independently

and review each one and assist as needed.

205



Consequence Evaluation

Have group members rate each consequence in terms of whether it is a

good (), okay (), or bad () consequence. Record the rating nextto each consequence.

Develop a Plan

Have group members decide what the best solution would be and

then discuss possible obstacles for that solution. Repeat until youhave discussed three or more possible solutions and their associated

obstacles.

Role-Play

Have group members role-play the problem situation and several alter-

natives. Ask each of them to choose a solution that has been rated

or and ask them to enact the solution with another group member

acting as the teacher in the role-play.

Set Weekly Goals




Positive Feedback

As outlined in Chapter , at the end of each session you and your

co-leader will ask all group members to identify one positive thing

about themselves and/or one positive thing about another group

member.

206



Prize Box



Free Time


the end of the session (see Chapter for more details). Remember to keepan eye out for any potential problems that may arise between group


problem solving.

207






209


Solving to Both Making Friends and Being

Friends With Others

Materials Needed


■ Audiotape recorder

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Illustrate eff ective versus ineff ective methods for joining in others’

activities

■ Have children practice joining a group and/or making new friends

■ Reinforce the positive qualities in the self that are important for join-

ing activities and being a friend






previous week.






Joining in Activities and Making New Friends

The purpose of this discussion is to introduce the importance of com-

munication when joining a new activity, and when beginning to make

friends with people that you do not know very well. For groups that aresocially skilled, start the discussion by saying:

We know that you are really good at making friends, and we want to see

the best ways you know for how to make friends. For groups that are

not as socially skilled, you may want to start by stating: It can be

easy or hard to make new friends, and we wanted to spend the fi rst part

of our group today thinking about the best ways to make friends. What

are all the ways that you can think for making new friends, or joining in with a group of kids who are already doing something together?

Suggest to group members that, as they grow older, there will be times

when they will make life changes (e.g., transition to middle school), and

they will meet many new people and will want to develop new friend-

ships. Ask group members to try to think of all possible choices or ways

to make friends. Be sure to include the following ideas:

■ Take a positive approach (e.g., smile, say “hi,” compliment others)

■ Find things that you share in common

■ Try not to be nervous

■ Make eye contact

■ Be kind

■ Be considerate of others and their feelings

■ Listen to others

■ Show an interest in other people and their families

210



■ Suggest doing an activity that could be done together

■ Focus on positive qualities in people

The general idea is to convey ways or skills to make friends, in general.Once this list of positive or eff ective ways of making friends has been gen-

erated, ask members to name the opposite ways of trying to make friends

for each method listed (e.g., not really listening to the other person, try-

ing too hard, not making eye contact, being too friendly or too hostile).

Role-Play

Have each group member role-play making friends. Children can use

any one of the strategies identified or one of their own. Use modeling or

feedback about the child’s portrayal of the diff erent choices/strategies, as

needed.

Positive Qualities of Self and Others

The first component of learning how to develop friendships with others

is to be able to recognize positive qualities in oneself that others would

value in a friend. Engage the children in an exercise designed to assist

them in recognizing their positive qualities that others would value. Use

the following instructions:

Now that we know the general things to do to make friends, we want

you to think about things in yourself that others would like in a

friend. What do you look for in a friend? What qualities are impor-

tant for friends?

For this activity you should have available pieces of paper that list the

diff erent characteristics that are important for friends to have. Display

each trait or characteristic as children identify them. Important charac-

teristics to include are:

■ Trustworthiness

■ Honesty

211



■ Respectful

■ Thoughtful

■ Good listener

These more general categories can be defined in behavioral terms for the

children as well:

■ Sharing with others

■ Keeping secrets

■

Not talking bad behind a person’s back

■ Becoming involved in things another person likes to do

If the children have difficulty generating these kinds of characteristics on

their own, feel free to display the words and ask children to identify the

behavioral characteristics of these general categories. Refer children to

the page in the workbook entitled Making Friends Is Easier if . . .

Wanted: A Good Friend

This next activity involves having each child identify the positive qual-

ities in themselves that make them a good friend to others. Ask the

students to take a few minutes and create an advertisement to sell them-

selves as friends. Instruct them to mention all the reasons they would

make good friends, including any of the qualities previously discussed.

Encourage children to also talk about the things they like to do, the

activities they enjoy (e.g., sports, clubs), their favorite singers or music

groups, their favorite foods, and anything else that describes them.

Refer children to the sample friend advertisement in the workbook

for ideas. Children will use the blank form in the workbook to create

their ads.

For groups where writing skills are an issue, you can use a tape recorder

for this exercise, but written format would provide the children with a

permanent copy of their work. Make sure to reinforce children for report-

ing positive activities they like and positive qualities about themselves.

These are important aspects of children’s identity development that

212



should be revisited in one-to-one sessions (see Chapter ). Ask group

members to share their advertisements with the group. Following this

exercise, it may be beneficial to discuss with group members the idea that,

even if you try all these strategies or use all the skills that were identified,it is still possible that someone will not want to be your friend. Introduce

the idea that using these skills maximizes the possibility that one will

make friends more easily, but it does not guarantee that this will happen.

Set Weekly Goals





Positive Feedback




Prize Box



applicable.

Free Time





lem solving.

213






215

Chapter 29 Session : Application of Social Problem Solving

to Group Entry and Negotiation With Peers

Materials Needed


■ Ball

■ Two-person games (checkers, Connect Four, etc.)

■ Video camera equipment (optional)

■ Videotape player/television (optional)

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Illustrate skills associated with successful group entry

■ Reinforce peer negotiation skills











Entering an Existing Group

Role-Play

In order to convey the ideas of skills associated with successful groupentry, you and your co-leader can conduct a role-play exercise. In this

role-play you and your co-leader or other sta ff member will act out

ineff ective ways to join in with a group, and the children will be asked

to indicate what was wrong with the entry approaches. For this role-

play, enlist one of the children from group to act as part of the group to

be entered. One group leader and one child are playing catch with a

ball. The other group leader attempts to join by walking up to the two

individuals playing catch and saying loudly, “Hey! Can I play with you

guys? Can I play catch? That really looks like fun.” During this exercise the

leader playing the role of the joiner should try to stand very close to one

of the people playing catch. The group leader throwing the ball should

respond by saying, “No, we are playing together.” The person trying to

join then says quietly, “Can I play catch with you?” without looking at

either person. Again, the group leader throwing the ball should say, “We

are playing catch with each other.” The person trying to join in shouldthen say, “Well, it really looks like you are having fun playing catch. Do

you think I could play with you in a few minutes?” The other group leader

should then say, “Well, okay. How about if you give us a couple of minutes

to play together and then you can play with us?” The person approaching

then says, “I really would like to play this game with you now. Why don’t

you throw me the ball?”

Group Leader Note:

■ If the group members identi fi ed other ine ff ective or negative ways of mak-

ing friends or joining a group, you can incorporate these negative methods

into the role-play. An alternate approach to the role-play would be for the

leaders to combine the latter two communication di ffi culties and have the

216



person trying to join the group look down as he or she is asking to play in

a few minutes.

Following the role-play, ask group members to identify what the person

trying to join the game did wrong. Responses may include all or some

of the following:

■ Stood too close

■ Too intrusive

■ Tried to join in

■ Did not look at the people playing the game

■ Spoke too softly

■ Did not listen to what the other person said

Use the Problem-Solving (PICC) Model with children and pick apart the

problem of trying to join a group of kids who are already doing some-

thing. Ask the children to generate possible solutions (e.g., raise voice,

make eye contact) and the consequences of each of those solutions.

Negotiating With Peers

Role-Play

In order to convey to children the basic ideas related to negotiating withpeers, you and your co-leader can conduct a role-play exercise.

In this role-play exercise you and your co-leader or other sta ff member

sit down to play a two-person game (see Materials Needed section).

Leader A starts off by saying, “I want to go fi rst, so I think you should let

me.” Leader B says in response, “You always get to go fi rst. I want to go

fi rst this time.” Leader A then says, “I do not always go fi rst, and I think

that I should go fi rst this time.” Leader B does not argue at this time andLeader A starts the game. After taking a couple of turns, Leader A says

to the other, “Ha ha! I am winning! I can always play this game better

than you.” Leader B says, “No you can’t. I usually win this game, and you

do not play as well as I do.” At this point, you and your co-leader can stop

217



the role-play and ask group members what the problem is. After group

members have identified the problem (e.g., both people want to go first,

one person was making fun of the other because he or she was not win-

ning, one person was bragging), ask them what the two people couldhave done to avoid these problems, or how they could have helped the

game go more smoothly (e.g., flip a coin, tell other person that she can

go first and you will go first the next time, compliment the other per-

son when she makes a good move, do not brag when you have made a

good move, do not laugh at the other person).

Discuss the importance of being skilled at negotiating with peers and

being able to interact with a minimum amount of conflict. Point out

to group members that the way they interact with their friends now

will, in part, dictate how people view them, and can either help or hin-

der their ability to make friends in the future. People who are seen as

friendly, caring, easygoing, and considerate have a much easier time

making friends and getting ahead in life than do people who are incon-

siderate, mean, and unpleasant to be around. Make sure that the chil-

dren understand that this does not mean that they should act like a “pushover” and do anything that their friends want them to do because

this type of behavior would also lead to problems in the future.

Emphasize balance, as well as the ability to set appropriate limits in a

polite and respectful manner.

Optional Exercise

Place the two-person game on the table and instruct the group that they

can play the game for the next several minutes. One child should be

chosen to work with a group leader in observing and coaching the

group members. Instruct the child to give feedback to any student who

displays any of the positive behaviors listed during the game (e.g., while

the players are engaged, the coach should be actively off ering feedback

on positive/prosocial game behaviors). You can determine how capablethe child is of accurately noting these behaviors and assist him or her to

the extent needed in the observation and coaching task. Observe the

children and note how they decide who will begin to play and how they

decide to take turns at the game. Also, observe sportsmanship and how

218



the children respond to winning and losing. If possible, videotape this

interaction.

At the end of minutes, inform the children that their time is up. Ask

the child who was involved in the coaching to point out the behaviors

she observed and who displayed the positive or more sportsmanlike

behaviors. Then ask group members to comment on their decision-

making process by asking the following questions:

■ How did you decide who would play fi rst?

■ How did you decide who would go next?

Also ask group members to comment on their game-playing behavior.

You may ask the following:

■ Was good sportsmanship shown?

■ Is there anything that people would or could have done di ff erently to

make the game go more smoothly?

If you videotaped the process, review the tape and ask members to com-ment on their own or other group members’ behavior in terms of the

preceding questions.

Set Weekly Goals




Positive Feedback




219



Prize Box



Free Time




solving.

220



221

Chapter 30 Session : Sibling Con fl ict and Problem

Solving

Materials Needed


■ Prize box

Outline



■ Identify and discuss issues pertaining to sibling conflict

■ Role-play alternative solutions to problem situations with siblings






previous week.






Identifying and Dealing With Sibling Conflict


Ask group members to brainstorm various confl

icts that have occurredor that could occur between brothers and sisters. Choose one or two

common and solvable problems, and first engage in a discussion relat-

ed to problem definition and perspective taking by asking, “What is the

problem here?” Break the problem down into manageable steps, that is,

“I want to watch one show and my brother or sister wants to watch

another show,” rather than “My brother or sister always gets to pick the

show to watch,” or “My brother or sister can do more things than me

because he or she is older,” rather than “My parents are always giving

more to my brother or sister because they love him or her more than

me.” Use the following questions to facilitate the discussion:

■ What is the problem from your perspective?

■ What is the problem from your sibling’s perspective?

■ How can the two (or more) of you come to see the problem in the

same way?

■ How could you agree on what the problem is?

If group members have difficulty generating problems with siblings,

you can suggest one of the following sibling conflict situations.

■ Your sibling has a game that you want to use and he will not let

you use it.

■ Your sibling teases you.

■ Your sibling has borrowed something of yours and has broken it.

222



■ You want to use something that belongs to your sibling.

■ Your sibling has broken a rule/cheated while playing a game with

you.

■ Your sibling is refusing to take turns.

Solution Generation

Have group members brainstorm all possible choices and record these

on the Problem-Solving Worksheet in the workbook.

Consequence Generation

For each choice generated, ask group members to identify the possible

consequences for that solution and record these on the form under the

consequence section.

Consequence Evaluation

Have students indicate whether they think each consequence is good

(), okay (), or bad (). Have a group leader or a group member

record the evaluation of each consequence.

Develop a Plan

Ask group members to decide which solution would be the best to try

first, and then generate possible obstacles to that solution. Next, decide

on a backup solution and generate obstacles to that solution. Decide on

a second backup solution and continue until the group feels as though

they have used all the appropriate solutions.

223



Role-Play

At this point in the session you and your co-leader or other sta ff

member will role-play a sibling conflict situation. The situation caninvolve one sibling feeling jealous of what another sibling receives from

a parent. One leader states excitedly “Mom just said that I can go to the

mall with friends tonight.” The other group leader says in response,

“Mom never lets me go to the mall. They love you more than they love me.”

Ask students the following questions and instruct them to record their

responses on the Problem-Solving Worksheet:

■ What was the problem according to each child?

■ What is the real problem?

■ What are his choices in this situation?

■ What are the consequences for each solution?

■ What is the best choice?

Have students indicate whether they think each consequence is good

(), okay (), or bad (), with group leaders or a group member

recording the evaluation for each consequence.

Group Member Role-Play

Ask each group member to choose one of the choices that has received

a rating of either or and ask him or her to enact that solution

with another group member playing the role of the sibling. After each

student has enacted the chosen solution, ask the other group members

if they thought the student was able to enact the solution. Have each

student take a turn acting out a solution.

Group Leader Note:

■ It is useful to discuss the idea that di ff erent strategies will work best

with di ff erent sources of con fl ict. For example, ignoring, leaving,

distracting, or using humor are most useful when the con fl ict involves

teasing. Assertion works best if a sibling has used something without

224



asking, if a sibling has broken a rule/cheated, or if a sibling won’t

take turns/share. Seeking adult assistance works best if one of the

solutions has been tried and failed, or if a sibling refuses to help with

an assigned group chore. This discussion can occur following any of the objectives in this session.

Set Weekly Goals




Positive Feedback




Prize Box



Free Time





problem solving.

225






227


Solving to Peer Pressure

Materials Needed


■ Two-person games (checkers, Connect Four, etc.)

■ Pictures (either hand-drawn or clipped from magazines, newspapers,

comics, etc.) that depict the various categories of peer pressure

(optional)

■ Slips of paper listing diff erent reasons children may give in to peer

pressure (optional)

■ Hat, box, or other container to put the slips of paper in (optional)

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Reinforce peer negotiation skills

■ Illustrate and discuss peer pressure and why it works

■ Discuss ways of resisting peer pressure and sharpening refusal skills



Group Leader Note:

■ The homework assignment for next week is to collect pictures to make

a poster depicting peer pressure and resisting peer pressure. Prior tothis meeting, consult with the school’s principal to request permission

to hang up the poster at the school. Also, do not forget to complete the

individual meeting for this month and complete the Neighborhood

Questionnaire with each student. This questionnaire can be found at

the end of the chapter and will be used as part of the discussion for






previous week.




What Is Peer Pressure?

The goal of this part of the session is to define peer pressure, identify

the diff erent types of peer pressure that exist, and to talk about the

diff erent activities and/or behaviors that peers can pressure children

into. Introduce this topic by referring to a school-based substance use

prevention program, if applicable. Let the children know that this is

their chance to show how much they have learned through suchprograms.

Ask group members: “Who can tell us what peer pressure is? What does

the term peer pressure mean?” Solicit ideas from group members for a

228



general definition of peer pressure, with the basic idea being that

peers try to encourage you to engage in behaviors in which you are

not sure you want to engage (e.g., people try to get you to do bad

things, people try to talk you into trying something you do not know if you want to do, etc.).

Following the generation of a general definition of peer pressure, ask

group members to give diff erent reasons why children will give in to

peer pressure. Alternatively, instead of asking the children to generate

reasons, you can write the general reasons from the list that follows on

slips of paper and place them in a hat or a box. Choose a student to pick

a reason from the hat and have her call on one or two other students in

the group to act out a short skit depicting the particular reason. Repeat

this exercise until each group member has had a turn acting. Or, you

can present the children with pictures (either hand-drawn or clipped

from magazines, newspapers, comics, etc.) that depict the various

reasons for giving in to peer pressure and discuss as a group.

The basic categories of reasons for giving in to peer pressure include:

■ Group acceptance (to be accepted by a group)

■ Approval (so that other kids will like you)

■ Repetition (someone keeps bugging you until you give in)

■ Being threatened physically/socially (kids might give in because

someone threatens to hurt them if they do not do it/threatens to

tell everyone what a wimp/chicken they are)

■ Being put down (kids do not want to be teased or put down)

■ Reassurance (the other kids say that there is no way you can get

caught)

Refusal Skills

Have group members generate diff erent ways to resist peer pressure. Ask

students, “What are all the ways that you can think of for refusing peer

pressure? What can you do or say when someone is trying to get you to do

229



something you do not want to do?” Alternatively, instead of asking

children to generate ideas of ways to resist peer pressure, you can model

each of the refusal skills from the list that follows and ask group

members to label the type of refusal.

The general categories that should be elicited from the group members

include:

■ Say “No thanks.”

■ Broken record (“I don’t want any, I said I don’t want any, etc.”)

■

Make an excuse (“Well, I really need to get home now”)

■ Leave the situation

■ Change the subject (“What did you think of the basketball game

last night?”)

■ Make a joke

■ Act shocked (“I cannot believe you would think of asking me

that!”)

■ Flattery (“I thought you were great in the basketball game

today!”)

■ Suggest a better idea (“How about if we go shoot some baskets

instead?”)

■ Return the challenge (“Come on, you do not really mean that!

Why would you want to do that anyway?”)

■ Find other kids to hang out with

■ Try to use peer mediation

Refer children to the page in the workbook entitled, How Can I Stop

Feeling So Pressured?

Be sure to write down all the ideas that group members have on sepa-rate pieces of paper to use in next week’s session. It is not necessary for

children to identify every type of refusal skill, just as many as you feel is

appropriate.

230



Set Weekly Goals




Positive Feedback



Prize Box



applicable.

Free Time




problem solving.

231



NEIGHBORHOOD QUESTIONNAIRE

(Please use as a guide to your discussion during your next individual meeting)

Child’s Name: _________________

School _________________

. Describe your neighborhood for me. (Try to get an understanding for the general feel of

the neighborhood and then move on to specific questions.)

. Where do you go to have fun in your neighborhood? How do you get there?

. Do you go to community centers, churches, or other activity centers during the week? Are

these places located in your community? Do you belong to any organized teams or groups

(like scouts or church choir)? Which ones? How often do you do these kinds of things?

. Who do you like to hang out with in your neighborhood? Are they older or younger than

you? What do you do together? How do you make new friends or meet people in your

neighborhood?

. What kinds of things go on in your neighborhood? Are there places in your neighborhood

that you don’t feel safe? What makes you feel unsafe? (Note: Probe for violence, drug

use/sale, and other illegal activities if you consider it to be appropriate.)

. Are there groups of kids in your neighborhood who get in trouble? Do you hang out with

this group?

. Are there groups of kids in your neighborhood who don’t get in trouble? Do you hang out with this group?

. What do you like best about your community?

232



233

Chapter 32 Session : Refusal Skills

Materials Needed


■ Slips of paper listing diff erent types of refusal skills (optional)

■ Hat, box, or other container to put the slips of paper in (optional)

■ Board game spinner (optional)

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Reinforce idea of the diff iculty handling peer pressure in groups

■ Role-play refusal skills

■ Role-play use of refusal skills when faced with peer pressure

■ Begin consideration for poster depicting avoidance of peer pressure

and related problems


■ Assign homework





previous group session. The review section of each meeting should be usedto have group members recall the primary message from the previous week.




Influence of Peer Pressure

Group Leader Note:

■ Prior to today’s session, you should recruit a group member to help

you with the following exercise. Be sure to choose a student who is in fl uential with the other children.

Begin this portion of the session by engaging children in an exercise that

illustrates the influence of peer pressure. Draw three diff erent lines, all

of the exact same length, in diff erent orientations or on diff erent places

on the dry erase board or flipchart. After the three lines are drawn, ask

group members, “Which line is longer?” The child you chose as a helper

should do his best to convince the group that one of the lines is longerthan the others, even though that is not the case. He should try to exert

influence over the other children.

Following this activity, ask group members the following questions:

■ How did you decide which line was longer?

■ Did anything help you to make up your mind?

■ Did you decide to go along with the other group members in the deci-

sion or did you stick to your original idea?

■ How did it feel to have someone try to convince you that your view-

point was not right?

234



■ Is it more di ff icult to resist peer pressure if this occurs when a group of

kids is around?

Have a general discussion about how it can be diff icult to maintain your

point of view in the face of peer pressure.

Practice Using Refusal Skills

The goal of this exercise is to have each group member role-play at

least one and possibly two ways to refuse peer pressure (see Session

for a list of refusal skills). You may choose from the following options.

. Have each group member choose two or three of the refusal skills

that they believe would work best for them. Each group member

then role-plays these refusal skills in the face of pressure from

another group member (or group leader).

. Write refusal skills on separate slips of paper (you may have done

this already last week), fold them, and place them in a containerso that the group members cannot see what is written on them.

Each child chooses one refusal skill and then they role-play using

this skill in a peer pressure situation. Another group member (or

group members) and/or group leader tries to pressure him or her

to do something. The group members watching the role-play try

to guess what skill is being depicted.

. Use a board game spinner with numbers on it. Assign a refusalskill to each number and instruct the students to take turns

spinning the game piece. Each group member then role-plays

the refusal skill represented by the number spun in the face of

pressure from either you or the other members of the group.

Role-Play Use of Refusal Skills During Peer Pressure

The purpose of this activity is to role-play peer pressure. Have one child

or group leader leave the room. The remaining people should decide on

a situation or activity they want the person who left the room to engage

in when he or she comes back in. Try to get the group to generate their

235



own ideas (e.g., examples include erasing something important off the

teacher’s board, taking someone’s pencil without asking). Instruct the

students to try as hard as they can to get the person to do what they

want. Instruct the person entering the room to try to resist the pressureusing the refusal skills they had identified as skills that would work best

for them. Be sure to coach this child and help him to recall and use

these strategies, using prompts when needed. Following this role-play,

ask group members questions such as:

■ How did the group try to pressure _____?

■

What did they do or say?

■ How did the other person try to resist the pressure?

■ What did he do or say?

■ How did it feel to be pressured?

■ How did it feel to be the person doing the pressuring?

Open up discussion of real-life experiences with peer pressure. Ask eachmember to volunteer examples of times they have been successful at

using refusal skills and times when they were unsuccessful. It may be

helpful to provide your own real-life experiences and the outcome of

both successes and failures.

Set Weekly Goals





Positive Feedback

As outlined in Chapter , at the end of each session you and your

co-leader will ask all group members to identify one positive thing about


236



Prize Box



Free Time




problem solving.

Homework

✎ Instruct group members to begin collecting pictures from magazines,

newspapers, or other sources that depict peer pressure, ways to avoid

peer pressure, and ways to avoid other problems that children

encounter. If they want to draw something that reflects this theme,

that would also be fine. The clippings/artwork will be used to create a

poster that will be displayed somewhere in the school. This poster will

be created during Session and displayed for two weeks or more.

Remember to award two points to each child for bringing in clippingsfor the next two weeks. If available, show children an example of a

poster to help the group conceptualize what they will be doing.

237






239

Chapter 33 Session : Problem Solving About Neighborhood Problems, Deviant Peer Groups,

and Centrality of Group Membership

Materials Needed


■ Diff erent sizes/colors of paper circles (optional)

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Problem solve neighborhood problems using the PICC Model

■ Identify groups of children who do things together or who hang out

together

■ Identify groups of children who get in trouble together and those who

do not get in trouble

■ Reinforce the idea of defining group membership


■ Assign homework






previous week.

Check that children have begun collecting pictures that depict peer pres-

sure. Remember to award two points to children who return homework.




Group Leader Note:

■ Prior to this session, you should meet with each child in the group

individually to interview her about the neighborhood in which she lives and complete the Neighborhood Questionnaire (see previous

session). Be sure to meet with your co-leader(s), if you have any, to

discuss the completed questionnaires.

Our Neighborhoods

This portion of the session is based on the individual interviews you

conducted with group members. The main theme to keep in mind is

that you want to talk about how to deal with peer pressure, deviant peer

groups, and dangerous situations within the neighborhood environ-

ment. If the neighborhoods appear to be safe, discuss the issue using

hypothetical situations that provide some enticement or temptation.

You may use the following sample dialogue:

As you may remember, we met with each of you to talk about issues

in your neighborhood. We have looked at some of the answers you

gave us to the neighborhood questionnaire and wanted to talk about

these questions and your answers. Many of you indicated that _____

is a problem in your neighborhood. What are the ways that you try to

240



cope with this problem? Are there any other ways you can try to cope

with this problem? If appropriate, you may want to focus speci fi cally

on peer pressure. All of you may experience peers pressuring you or

tempting you to become involved in activities in which you may not want to be involved. What are some of the possible things people

could try to pressure you to do?

Refer the children to the Problem-Solving Worksheet in their work-

books. Choose one community problem mentioned during the dis-

cussion and have the students complete the worksheet using the

PICC model. Examples of questions that may get group members

thinking are:

■ What are all the di ff erent ways that this problem could be coped with

or handled?

■ Are there any adults who could be consulted if this problem really

occurred?

■ Are there any other places or people in the neighborhood or communi-

ty who could help you handle this problem?

It may be useful to raise the issue that diff erent types of solutions are

more or less appropriate depending on the situation (e.g., neighbor-

hood versus the school). Ask group members to brainstorm diff erent

strategies that they think might work in the neighborhood and, after

the list has been generated, ask the group members to rate each conse-

quence as either good (), okay (), or bad ().

Assessment of Cliques/Clubs/Groups at School

Group Leader Note:

■ If you or your co-leader is based at the school where the Coping Power

Program is being conducted, it would be helpful to try to identify the

di ff erent groups of children who hang out together at the school and to

identify some relevant characteristics of these groups. This information

can then be used for facilitating the following discussion with group

members if they appear to be having di ffi culty identifying groups at

their school.

241



The purpose of this exercise is to assist group members with defining

diff erent types of groups and the characteristics of the diff erent

groups at school. One of the functions of this exercise is to begin

having children identify the diff erent groups that they could becomeinvolved in, and the groups that could have a positive influence on

them. You may use the following sample dialogue to introduce the

exercise:

Today we wanted to talk about the di ff erent kids you hang out with

at school and to what kinds of groups kids at your school belong. We

already talked about some of the groups and some of the pressures that

you experience in your neighborhood. Now, we want to focus on the

people and groups of people who hang out together at school. Who are

the kids you like to hang out with? Who would you choose to play

with or eat with or talk to?

Once group members have identified the children they prefer to be

around, ask them to think about groups of children who prefer to be

together. Ask, “Are there groups of kids that you like to hang out with?

Are there other groups of kids who hang out together?” Write these names

on the flipchart, leaving room next to each group or each group of

names. Then ask group members: “What do these kids do together?

What are any other characteristics you can think of for this group of kids?

What would be a good nickname for this group? Which of these groups of

kids do things that get them into trouble, and which groups of kids stay

out of trouble?” Write down the characteristics, nicknames, and

whether the children get into trouble or not next to each group. Oncethe diff erent groups have been identified, ask members to identify the

groups they belong to.

Identification of Children’s Group Membership and Group Status

The purpose of this exercise is to have a diff erent method for group

members to define the groups to which they belong. Provide group

members with diff erent sizes/colors of paper circles and ask them to

identify what groups they see themselves as members of. Use the

diff erent types of groups generated previously as a guide for this activity.

242



Ask them to use a diff erent circle to represent each group to which they

belong, with the largest circle representing the group that is most impor-

tant to them and so on. Write the name of the group in the middle of

each circle. Once they have identified all groups they see themselves asmembers of, each individual group member can glue/staple/tape their

circles onto a piece of paper, overlapping the circles if there is some over-

lap in group membership. This can also be a discussion achieved through

with group members verbally indicating where overlap occurs. In fact,

this entire objective can be accomplished a through discussion, where

each group member verbally recognizes the diff erent groups he feels he

is a member of, how important these groups are to him, and where over-laps in membership exist.

An alternative approach to this activity is to have each student represent

his group by wearing or holding a sign that identifies it. Each child can

relate what groups he is a member of and the people representing these

groups can stand in diff erent locations in the room. The child who is

identifying his own group membership can then stand close to or far

away from each person to indicate his status/placement within eachgroup.

The final concept to convey in today’s session is about the diff erences

between being a main part of a group versus being on the edge of the

group. You may use the following sample dialogue:

In all groups, there are people who are at the core of the group or

people who are the main members, and there are people who belong

to the group but are more on the edge of the group and not really a

main member. If you were in the middle of a group you would be

involved in almost everything the group does. If you are toward the

edge of the group, you would do only some of the things the group

does. These can be thought of as di ff erent places within the group,

and all places within a group are important places. Are there any

other ways you can tell what place or position a person has in a

group?

For each of the groups that you feel you are a member of, do you see

yourself as a primary or main member, or do you feel you are more on

the edge of the group? If you are not a part of a group and want to be,

243





Set Weekly Goals




Positive Feedback



Prize Box



applicable.

Free Time




lem solving.

Homework

✎ Instruct group members to continue collecting pictures for the peer

pressure poster and to bring all their pictures to next week’s session.

245






247

Chapter 34 Session 32: Group Creates Peer Pressure Poster

Materials Needed


■ Peer pressure pictures or drawings collected by group members

■ Poster materials (construction paper, markers, stickers, glue, and tape)

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Reinforce public commitment to the use of refusal skills by having

children complete the peer pressure poster


Group Leader Note:

■ A few weeks ago, group members were introduced to the idea of

creating a poster to display at their school to assist other children

with resisting peer pressure. You should come to today’s session

prepared with a series of peer pressure-related pictures, in case children did not complete the homework assignment to bring

pictures of their own. Children can use these pictures, as well as

the supplemental craft materials (e.g., markers, stickers) to create

the poster.






previous week.

Check that children have brought their pictures for the peer pressure

poster. Remember to award two points to children who completed this

assignment.




Create Peer Pressure Poster to Display in School

Work with the children to create a poster about peer pressure. You may

use the following sample dialogue to facilitate the activity:

Remember that one of the problems we have been talking about in

group is related to peers pressuring kids to do things they might not

want to do. We think this is a problem that all kids experience at one

time or another, whether in school or in the neighborhood. We want you to create a poster that might help other kids in your school think

about di ff erent ways to cope with peer pressure. This way you can share

your ideas with the other kids with the hope that these ideas will help

them to refuse to succumb to the pressures of their friends. We can

organize the magazine pictures we have collected, or we have some

paper and markers if you want to use them to write words or draw pic-

tures. We do not have much time to complete this poster, so let’s work

really hard to get this done during this session. Here are the ideas from

last week for how we could organize the poster. After we have complet-

ed the poster, I will have it laminated and will bring it back to hang

somewhere in the school.

248



Allow group members to work on this project for the remainder of the

session. Provide instruction and help if necessary. Ask group members

to decide on a prominent place to display the poster.

Set Weekly Goals





Positive Feedback




Prize Box



applicable.

Free Time


end of the session (see Chapter for more details). Remember to keep an

eye out for any potential problems that may arise between group mem-


solving.

249






251

Chapter 35 Session : Positive Quality Development

and Peer Relationships

Materials Needed


■ Prize box

Outline



■ Identify personal strengths and how these strengths help when joining

in positive peer activities and groups

■ Describe good leadership qualities and identify specific qualities for

group members to further develop


Group Leader Note:

■ Prior to this session, you should have received permission to hang the

group’s peer pressure poster in a location at the school and should have

done so. If the group has not seen the poster hanging on the wall, take

them to it at the end of the session.






previous week.



Strength Bombardment

Ask the children to turn to the Strength Bombardment worksheet in

their workbooks. Ask each group member to write down their

strengths, positive qualities, or interests on the circles. Once each child

has completed his bull’s-eye, he can share it with the rest of the group.

At this point, the group is expected to “bombard” this member with

other positive attributes of himself that he may have overlooked.

Instruct the member who is being “bombarded” to write down some of

the diff erent strengths that other people suggested.

The goal of this section is to get the children to think about ways they

can become members of a positive peer group. Encourage them to come

up with strategies for joining groups of people with similar interests and

goals. You may use the following sample dialogue:

Remember a couple of weeks ago we talked about di ff erent groups of

people and asked each of you which groups you were a member of?

Wait for the group to respond. Today we want you to think about

some of the groups you might want to join or for which you may

want to become more of a central member. What kinds of things do

you need to think about in order to do this?

■ Are their interests similar to yours?

■ Are their long-term goals similar to yours?

252



■ What are the strengths you have that you can use to try to join a

group?

■

How can you become a more central member to this group? ■ How can you show other kids the strengths you have?

■ What kind of help might you need to get started in this group?

■ What kind of help might you need to stay involved in this

group?

Positive Quality Development

Ask the children to think about other kids who are well-liked, who are

good leaders, or who are central figures in their respective groups and

what qualities these kids have.

Encourage group members to brainstorm many possible positive quali-

ties that good leaders/well-liked children/central group members have. Write these qualities on the dry erase board or flipchart.

Once a list has been generated, ask group members to choose one or

more of those qualities that they would like to develop in themselves.

Group members can then role-play a situation (e.g., trying to join a

group of children who are playing kick ball at school; starting a new

social club or team sport after school, such as Boy Scouts or baseball or

Girl Scouts or softball) and act as if they had these qualities. Following the role-play, ask the group member: “How did it feel to act as though

you were _____? What did you do di ff erently in this role-play than you do

in real life? Do you think you could act as though you had these qualities

when you are with a group of kids at school?”

Set Weekly Goals





253



Positive Feedback



Prize Box



Free Time


the end of the session (see Chapter for more details). Remember to

keep an eye out for any potential problems that may arise between

group members during this time and use it as an opportunity to practice

problem solving.

254



255

Chapter 36 Session : Review and Termination

of the Coping Power Program

Materials Needed


■ Board game spinner

■ Program review questions

■ Certificates of completion

■ Prize box

Outline



■ Reinforce group members’ positive influences on others

■ Reinforce pubic commitment to use refusal skills and the idea of

being a positive influence on other children in school by displaying

the peer pressure poster

■ Plan for the end of the year party

■ Review the program and hand out certificates of completion



Group Leader Note:

■ This is the fi nal “working” session for the year. Prior to today’s

meeting, you should have prepared a number of questions about the Coping Power Program to use in a review exercise with the

group (see end of chapter for sample questions).

Continuing Positive Quality Development

Ask each student to share with the group ways that they have been a

positive role model for other children at school or ways that they have

helped other children out this past semester. You can also ask each

group member to identify the qualities they currently have that make

them a good leader/positive role model for other children.

Final Review/Termination

This session is designed to serve as a final review for group members, as

well as a forum for sharing feelings related to termination. The review

element of the session is best achieved by playing a game. Use your own

questions or the ones provided at the end of the chapter and engage the

children in a review of the Coping Power Program. You may use the

following sample dialogue:

We have created a game for you to play during this last sessiontogether. Each of you will take turns spinning this game piece.

Whatever number you land on will determine what question you

will be asked. For every question you get right, you will receive one

game point. Let’s see how many points we can earn as a group!

Points earned during the game can be used to purchase prizes from the

box or can simply be calculated as game points to see who wins this

particular game.

Begin this activity by commenting on the things that you remember

from group and on each child’s progress over the course of the year. Also

share your feelings of loss that are associated with the group no longer

meeting and talk about the things you will remember from the group,

256



and what memories you will keep with you. Emphasize that although

the group is ending, you will always have your memories of the group.

Ask each group member to share his memories of the group and the

activities he will always remember. You can also ask group members toshare their feelings related to the loss of the group.

Planning for the End of the Year Party

The purpose of throwing a celebration at the end of the year is to

reward all group members for their eff

orts and to end the year on a positive note. Ask the group members what type of food they would

like to eat at the party next week (e.g., pizza, ice cream, cake, etc.) and

what kind of activities they would like to have planned. If there is an

opportunity for recreational activity in the school gym or field, it may

be possible to play a game of basketball, touch football, or soccer. Board

games are also good ways to engage the children in fun activities.

Before closing the session, hand out certifi

cates of completion to allgroup members and congratulate them for completing the Coping

Power Program successfully.

Positive Feedback




Prize Box



257



Sample Review Questions

■ What is a “coping statement” you can say to yourself to keep from

being angry?

■ Tell about a weekly goal that you were proud of ? Why?

■ What qualities do you look for in a friend?

■ How can you tell what someone else is feeling?

■ What problem situation did we portray in the PICC video?

■ What did you learn from bringing your book bags to group and

sorting the diff erent colored word cards?

■ Name two things that you can do if you don’t understand some-

thing in class.

■ Tell us three good ways to make a new friend.

■ What is “self-talk”?

■ Tell us one thing that you can do to resist peer pressure.

■ Tell us one good thing to do when you are playing a game with

other kids.

■ What is a barrier?

■ Tell us at least two positive qualities about yourself.

■ When you want to say “no” you can . . . ?

■ Name one reason kids might give in to peer pressure.

■ Give yourself a compliment.

■ Give an example of a coping statement.

■ What makes you feel scared?

■ What behaviors do you show when you are happy?

■ What is another word for “sad”?

■ What makes you feel sad?

258



■ Name one thing you learned about the teacher you interviewed.

■ Name one of our group rules.

■ What behaviors do you show when you are sad?

■ What did you learn from the puppet activity?

■ Give a compliment to a group member.

■ What behaviors do you show when you are angry?

■ What is another word for “angry”?

■ What is another word for “happy”?

■ What is a “consequence”?

■ What is a short-term goal?

■ What are three things teachers expect from students?

■ When is it a bad time to try to talk to another person about a

problem?

■ Tell us at least three good solutions to this problem: You want to

watch TV and your brother wants to play a video game (you have

only one TV).

■ Tell us one group that you want to belong to in the future and if

being in this group is a “good” thing or “bad” thing for you.

Why?

■ What is one way that you can show other kids that you are an

independent person who thinks for yourself ?

■ What is a long-term goal?

■ When is it a good time to approach another person to discuss a

problem?

■ What can you do if you set a goal that is too high for yourself ?

■ What is the name of the problem-solving model we have learned

during group?

■ What did you learn from “ The Wise Men and the _____” story?

259



■ Tell us one reason why someone may laugh as you walk past them.

■ Tell us one good solution to this problem: a kid makes fun of

your new haircut.

■ Tell us one good way to enter a positive peer group.

■ What is something you can say to yourself to keep calm?

■ Tell us one reason why kids sometimes give in to peer pressure.

■ Name one item that the group decided not to throw overboard

during the Trouble at Sea activity.

■ What does perspective taking mean?

■ What did we practice doing using the puppets?

■ Name one item the group threw overboard during the Trouble at

Sea activity.

■ What feeling(s) is (are) hard for you to express and why?

■ When is a bad time to approach someone to talk about a problem?

■ What did the six blind men argue about in the story “The Wise

Men and the _____”?

■ Why do we set goals for ourselves?

■ What can you do or say when someone is trying to get you to do

something you do not want to do?

■ Tell us a solution to this problem: Your mom wants you to clean

your room and do the laundry but you have been invited to your

friend’s house (and you want to go).

■ What would you use the “broken record” technique for?

■ What was a good solution to the problem portrayed in the PICC

video?

■ What is something you should avoid when trying to talk to

another person about a problem?

■ Does everyone always see a problem the same way? Why or why

not?

260



261

Chapter 37 End of the Year Party

Materials Needed

■ Party supplies: food, drinks, plates, cups, utensils, napkins, etc.

■ Games for children to play

Outline

■ Have fun!

Group Leader Note:

■ Remember to bring food, beverage, and whatever is necessary to have

fun with your group members. Plan to play sports or games following

the lunch party and thank all group members for participating in the

program and wish them well in the future.

Ending the Year on a Positive Note

Provide a meal for the group and congratulate them on successfully

completing the Coping Power Program. Allow the children to play

games and participate in fun group activities. Talk to them about their

plans for the summer and their feelings about transitioning to middle

school. The goal of this final group meeting is simply to have fun and

make sure that everyone has a good time.






263

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277

About the Authors

John E. Lochman, PhD, ABPP, is Professor and Doddridge Saxon

Chair in Clinical Psychology at The University of Alabama, where he

also directs the Center for Prevention of Youth Behavior Problems.

Dr. Lochman has over publications on risk factors, social cognition,

and intervention and prevention research with aggressive children,

including outcome research on the Coping Power intervention.

Dr. Lochman is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Abnormal Child

Psychology , serves on the NIH study section on Psychosocial

Development, Risk and Prevention, and is President of the AmericanBoard for Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.

Karen C. Wells, PhD, is Associate Professor of Medical Psychology in the

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University

Medical Center, where she is the Director of the Family Studies Program

and Clinic and also the Director of the Psychology Internship for Duke

University Medical Center. Dr. Wells is widely published in the areas

of psychosocial treatments for childhood and adolescent psychiatricdisorders, including ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, depression,

and adolescent suicidality, with a special emphasis on family and parent-

ing factors in etiology and treatment. Dr. Wells has worked with

Dr. Lochman on the development and evaluation of the Coping Power

Program for the last years.

Lisa A. Lenhart, PhD, is the senior psychologist in the Testing and Tutoring

Service at The Treatment and Learning Centers (TLC) in Maryland. Sheis a child clinical psychologist who has provided diagnostic and thera-

peutic services to children and families for over years, using research-

based treatments to help individuals with a variety of difficulties to function

more eff ectively in life. She has extensive supervision experience, both of



professionals and students, and consults with other professionals on an

John Edward Lochman, Karen C. Wells, Lisa a. Lenhart Coping Power Child Group Program Facilitator Guide 2008

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