Steven H. Day

Social Information-Processing Skills Training to Promote Social Competence and Prevent Aggressive Behavior in the Third Grades.

This article describes a school-based study designed to promote social competence and reduce aggressive behavior by strengthening childrens skills in processing social information and regulating emotions. Three successive cohorts of 3rd graders (N = 548) from 2 schools participated. In 2000-2001, children received a routine health curriculum; in 2001-2002, students received the Making Choices: Social Problem Solving Skills for Children (MC) program; and in 2002-2003, children received MC supplemented with teacher and parent activities. Compared with children in the routine condition, children in both MC conditions were rated lower on posttest social and overt aggression and higher on social competence. Moreover, they scored significantly higher on an information-processing skills posttest. The findings suggest that prevention programs can strengthen social- emotional skills and produce changes in aggressive behavior.

Classifying juvenile offenders according to risk of recidivism: Predictive validity, race/ethnicity, and gender

Structured risk assessment instruments are increasingly used in juvenile justice systems to support judicial decision making. They help juvenile justice authorities identify youths with a higher likelihood of repeat delinquency and reduce discretion associated with disposition decision making. To be effective, these instruments should be accurate across diverse populations. This study describes the predictive validity of the North Carolina Assessment of Risk (NCAR) in a sample of 9,534 adjudicated juveniles in North Carolina. Results show the predictive validity of the NCAR to differ by gender and race/ethnicity. Closer inspection reveals that risk factors for recidivism differed according to demographic group and that brief risk assessment instruments such as the NCAR leave other risk factors unmeasured. The results support the utility of risk assessment for juvenile justice decision making and suggest strategies to improve the validity of risk assessment for all offender groups.

North Carolina Assessment of Risk (NCAR): Reliability and Predictive Validity with Juvenile Offenders.

Abstract Actuarial risk assessment instruments are used increasingly in juvenile justice to classify youths according to their risk of recidivism. The purpose of this article is to describe the results of two studies of one instrument: the North Carolina Assessment of Risk (NCAR). In the first study, the inter-rater reliability of the risk assessment instrument was estimated with a sample of 175 court counselors who rated videotaped vignettes of juvenile offenders. In the second study, predictive validity was assessed prospectively by following a statewide sample of 464 delinquent youths for 12 months. Findings indicate that the risk assessment instrument increases reliability as compared to clinical judgment. Moreover, risk scores are correlated significantly with rearrest. However, analyses also show that relationships between risk scores and recidivism vary for subgroups based on gender and race/ethnicity. Though challenges remain in improving the accuracy of risk assessment, the findings suggest that actuarial assessment can be a valuable tool to support decision making in juvenile justice.

Conduct Problems and Peer Rejection in Childhood: A Randomized Trial of the Making Choices and Strong Families Programs

This article discusses the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention designed to disrupt developmental processes associated with conduct problems and peer rejection in childhood. Compared with 41 children randomized to a wait list control condition, 45 children in an intervention condition received a social skills training program. At the same time, their parents participated in an in-home family intervention. Compared with control group children, intervention children demonstrated significant improvements on five of six outcome measures. Differences between the experimental and control groups suggest the programs strengthen children’s prosocial behavior, promote their ability to regulate emotions, and increase social contact with peers. Intervention also was associated with significant improvements in classroom comportment and decreases in relational aggression, a measure of coercion in peer relationships. The findings are consistent with those of other programs effective in interrupting risk processes associated with conduct problems in childhood and early adolescence.

Peer Relations of Bullies, Bully-Victims, and Victims: The Two Social Worlds of Bullying in Second-Grade Classrooms

This study examined the social relations of bullies, victims, and bully-victims in second-grade classrooms. Bully-victims are identified as both bullies and victims. The sample consisted of 537 ethnically diverse second-grade students (247 boys, 290 girls) from 37 classrooms across 11 participating schools. Bullies, bully-victims, and victims tended to have somewhat distinct sociometric status and peer-assessed behavioral characteristics. Furthermore, bullies and bully-victims had distinct affiliation patterns. Bullies tended to be members of peer groups that contained few victims and most were in groups in which more than 50% of the members were not involved in bullying. In contrast, bully-victims tended to be members of groups that were composed primarily of bullies (i.e., bullies and bully-victims) and victims (i.e., victims and bully-victims). Implications for understanding the social dynamics of bullying in elementary school are discussed.

Predictive validity of the joint risk matrix with juvenile offenders: a focus on gender and race/ethnicity

Actuarial risk assessment instruments promise to increase decision-making accuracy and equity in settings such as the juvenile justice system, but both aims presume high levels of predictive validity. Prior research suggests that the predictive validity of some juvenile justice risk assessment instruments differs across gender and race/ethnicity. The Joint Risk Matrix (JRM) described herein is an instrument developed to increase the predictive validity of risk assessment for the diverse populations served by the nation’s juvenile courts. The predictive validity of the JRM was estimated on a sample of 536 court-involved juveniles. The instrument demonstrated acceptable levels of validity across all juveniles (AUC = .710). Gender-based differences were explained by gendered patterns of referral to out-of-home placements. Differences by race/ethnicity were reduced compared with previous reports. The findings suggest that risk assessment can be improved by including measures related to the behavior and demeanor of offenders and the cooperation of their parents or caretakers.

School-Based Skills Training to Prevent Aggressive Behavior and Peer Rejection in Childhood: Evaluating the Making Choices Program

This paper reports findings from an evaluation of a school-based prevention program, called Making Choices, which was designed to decrease childhood aggression and peer rejection by teaching children social problem solving and relationship enhancement skills. Using a pre- to post-test control group design, 51 third graders received the intervention program and 50 received the no-intervention control condition. Controlling for pretest scores, children who received the Making Choices intervention had significantly higher scores on social contact, cognitive concentration, and displayed significantly lower overt aggression. Important moderation effects surfaced, indicating that the intervention differentially benefitted high-risk children.

A Primer for the Design of Practice Manuals: Four Stages of Development.

Treatment manuals are increasingly being used to guide interventions with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. However, little is known about best practices in designing manuals. We describe a process that provides for the development of manuals and specifies the means by which manuals can be adapted for practice conditions and constraints. Manual development is conceptualized as comprising four systematic and recursive stages: (a) formulation, (b) revision, (c) differentiation, and (d) translation. We discuss issues and challenges in developing manuals that are responsive to a range of factors that influence social work practice, including advances in knowledge, the influence of evidence-based practice, the needs of individual clients, and contingencies linked to organizational policies, procedures, and leadership.

Interpersonal competence configurations and peer relations in early elementary classrooms: Perceived popular and unpopular aggressive subtypes

Social relations of second grade students (247 boys, 290 girls) were examined in rural elementary classrooms. Cluster analysis of teacher ratings was used to identify interpersonal competence configurations including perceived unpopular-aggressive (i.e., Troubled ) and perceived popular-aggressive (i.e., Tough) subtypes for both boys and girls. Troubled children tended to have rejected status and were more likely to be either socially isolated or members of peer groups that did not contain popular classmates. Tough children were perceived by peers as being socially prominent (i.e., popular, cool, leaders) and they tended to associate with perceived popular peers. Tough boys had elevated levels of rejected or controversial sociometric status while Tough girls were distributed at expected levels across sociometric status classifications. The implications for intervention are discussed.

A Controlled Trial of the Making Choices Program: Six-Month Follow-Up

Objective: Six-month follow-up outcomes from a controlled trial of a program designed to prevent aggressive behavior in childhood are described. Method: Data were collected from three sequential cohorts of third graders in two public elementary schools (N =443). The Year 1 cohort received a routine health curriculum. The Year 2 cohort received the Making Choices program. The Year 3 cohort received the Making Choices program plus enhancements to promote behavioral generalization. Results: Six months after the end of prevention services, children in the intervention cohorts demonstrated significantly lower aggressive behavior when compared to children in the comparison cohort. The effects of the two programs were not significantly different. Conclusion: Both interventions appear to produce positive behavioral effects at follow-up.