Participants' Perceptions of a Violence Prevention Curriculum for Middle School Students: Was It Relevant and Useful?

Abstract

School-based youth violence prevention programs, particularly those focused on middle school students, have generally had limited effects that are often not sustained over time. Although many interventions focus on teaching social-cognitive skills, few studies have explored the extent to which students master these skills, actually use them, and find them effective in dealing with problem situations. This study examined these issues based on interviews with 141 students attending one county and two urban middle schools in classrooms where the Second Step violence prevention program had been implemented. We coded interviews to assess participants' general reactions to the interventions, use of skills, and effectiveness of skills. We also asked participants to describe outcomes they experienced when they used specific skills taught in the intervention in response to problem situations. Participants had generally positive reactions to the intervention. Their suggestions for improving the intervention primarily concerned improving its relevance. Participants described changes they had made based on the intervention, particularly controlling anger and improving relations with others. Their responses indicated that they sometimes misunderstood or misused specific intervention skills, especially problem solving and empathy. Students' descriptions of the outcomes they experienced when using intervention skills were not uniformly positive. This was especially true for situations involving peers such as peer pressure and bullying. These results underscore the need for more intensive efforts to ensure that students master intervention skills and are able to use them correctly. In addition, interventions should address the broader social context (e.g., peers, school) to maximize the effectiveness of skills.

Figure 1.

Percentage of participants who reported using each intervention skill. Figure includes the percentage of those whose descriptions indicated that they did not use the skill correctly. N = 141.

Figure 2.

Percentage of participants using each skill who identified one or more outcome related to achieving desired outcome, avoiding negative outcome, and experiencing negative outcome. Total N = 141. The denominator for percentages varied across skills and reflects the number of students who reported using each skill (values in parentheses).