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Programs & Strategies for Positive Behavior

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Behavior Support for Positive Student Behavior

Anger Coping Program • First Step to Success • In-School Suspension • Pact • School-Based Mentoring

Programs and Strategies for Positive Behavior:
Early Intervention Programs & Strategies:
Anger Coping Program

Student Population Served
Male students between the ages 8-14 that have been identified by school personnel as exhibiting aggressive behavior (Jahnke, 1998).

Program Description
The Anger Coping Program is a school-based intervention that focuses on developing anger management skills through group intervention. Groups of four to six students and two co-leaders from the school, one of which should be a school counselor or psychologist, meet weekly to improve perspective taking, problem solving skills, recognition of emotions associated with anger arousal, and strategies for managing conflicts. The children in the group engage in discussion, role play, viewing video tapes, being video taped, and goal setting (Jahnke, 1998). The role-plays and videotapes help to simulate real life situations so that the students can learn and practice these skills in more natural scenarios (www.prevention.psu.edu). Students also establish a weekly goal relating to the skills they have been practicing in the group sessions. Teachers monitor the students' progress and provide positive reinforcement when the goal is accomplished (Greenberg, Domitrovich, and Bumbarger, 2001).

This program aims to equip students with the social processing and behavioral skills needed to reduce impulsive and aggressive responses to anger. The long-term goal of the Anger Coping Program is to reduce and prevent conduct problems, delinquency, and substance abuse that can result from patterns of aggressive behavior (www.prevention.psu.edu).

Training & Support Information
To implement this program, the two co-leaders should undergo a two-day training from the staff of the Anger Coping Program. After the training session, co-leaders can also establish a hotline with the trainers should questions arise during the program. Additionally, there is a 20 page manual to aid the co-leaders (Sochet, 2000).

Contact Information
John Lochman, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology, University of Alabama
Box 870348
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487
Phone: (205) 348-5083
Fax: (205) 348-8648
jlochman@gp.as.va.edu

References & Additional Resources
Greenberg, M., Domitrovich, C., & Bumbarger, B (2001). The Prevention of Mental Disorders in School-Aged Children: Current State of the Field. Prevention and Treatment, 4(1), 1-48.

Lochman, J. E., Dunn. S., & Klimes-Dougan, B. (1993). An intervention and consultation model from a social cognitive perspective: A description of the anger coping program. School Psychology Review, 22(3), 458-471.

Jahnke, C. (1998). Anger Management Programs for Children and Teens: A Review of Eleven Anger Management Programs. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association of School Psychologists. Orlando, Florida.

Sochet, M. (2000). The Nuts and Bolts of Implementing School Safety Programs. New York, NY: Vera Institute for Justice

www.prevention.psu.edu/ISASPS

www.hamfish.org

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