-- - -- -', If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. RESILIENT YOUTH INA VIOLENT M o WORLD M CD . New Perspectives LO and Practices Published by the COLLABORATIVE for SCHOOL COUNSELING and SUPPORT SERVICES 156303 U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Justice This document has been reproduced exactly as received from the person or organization originating it. Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the National Institute of Justice. Permission to reproduce this copyrighted material has been ~1'1~rative for School Colllselina and Support Services to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). Further reproduction outside of the NCJRS system requires permission of the copyright owner. NCJRS Preface and Acknowledgments SEP 2'l t995 his monograph is a record of Resilient Youth in a which we earnestly commend for its strong commitment to Violent World: New Perspectives and Practices, a a broad range of efforts aimed at understanding and pre­ summer Institute that took place at the Harvard venting violence in our world. The Foundation has also T Graduate School of Education from July 7-12, helped to support follow-up of participating teams during 1994. The program, designed by the Collaborative for the present academic year. Metropolitan Life has focused its School Counseling and Support Services, was intended to last two national teacher surveys on the issue of violence. serve school counselors, psychologists, social workers, We are especially grateful to Virginia Millan of the Metro­ nurses, teachers, health educators, and administrators - politan Life Foundation for her interest, patience, support, the same kind of audience that attended the Collaborative's and encouragement. All presenters were kind enough to first summer program, Coping With Violence in the Schools, review the transcripts. We are grateful to the Harvard held in July 1993. Education Publishing Group for their assistance with plan­ In designing plenary sessions, several workshops, and a ning and publishing this monograph. And, for their contri­ large binder of articles and resource materials, Institute bution to the production of this modest document, we planners attempted to create a conceptual framework that thank Linda Chisom, William Eldredge, Kathleen Ivins, could help practitioners think about resilience in their Karen Maloney, Brenda Mathis, Martha Ransohoff-Adler, work with young people. The opening and closing interac­ Dody Riggs, Karen Ryder, Sheila Walsh, and Margot tive panels about resilience were led by adults and young Welch. people, respectively. Plenary sessions focused on a range of The Collaborative for School Counseling and Support issues: strengthening children's social development skills, Services is a young effort, based at the Harvard Graduate resilience in the context of trauma and loss, new efforts to School of Education, to create interdisciplinary, profes­ break cycles of violence by changing habits of thinking that sional development opportunities and resources for all who perpetuate aggressor and victim responses, the challenges are providing school-based services in elementary and sec­ and importance of multicultural understanding, and new ondary, public and independent, urban, suburban, and rural models for school-community collaboration. schools. Both summer conferences have been supported in Participants in the Institute came from 13 different part by generous grants from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foun­ states, including Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massa­ dation, which has applauded our Collaborative for serving chusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, "a special mission in the field of education." Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Many attended as members of small teams, with whom they could work together on program innovation and imple­ mentation when they returned to their schools. By the end of the Institute, many teams had drawn up action plans to MARGOT A. WELCH guide them when they returned to address the challenge of violence in their school settings. This monograph has been assembled quite simply, as a straightforward record of conference proceedings. Edited Additional copies of this report are available from the Collabo­ transcripts do not pretend to have the formal authority of rative for School Counseling and Support Services, Harvard research or academic scholarship. Contents include oral Graduate School of Education, Larsen 208, Appian Way, Cam­ presentations by scholars, practitioners, and young people, bridge, MA 02138 (tel: 617-496-4570). Any or all portions of along with a lengthy bibliography. It documents the Col­ this report may be reproduced and circulated, provided the source is cited as "Collaborative for School Counseling and labomtive's effort to look at the issue of violence in chil­ Support Services. Resilient Youth in a Violent World: Edited dren's lives through a different lens from the one used Transcripts of a 1994 Summer Program of the Harvard Col­ during the previous summer's conference. Like our previous laborative for School Counseling and Support Services. Cam­ report, however, this monograph was also supported by a bridge, Mass. 1995." generous grant from the Metropolitan Life Foundation - ~~---~----------~- ---------------- Resilient Youth in a Violent World Transcript of the Summer 1994 Conference sponsored by the Collaborative for School Counseling and Support Services Contents Introduction iii Resilience: A Brief Overview 1 Reflections on Individual, Family, and Cultural Factors Influencing Resilience 4 Collaboration, Prevention, and the Nurturing of Social Skills 12 Coping With Traumatic Violence 17 Violence: Its Prevalence and Some Responses 25 Project Alliance: A Law Enforcement-School Collaboration 31 The Implementation of School,Based Mediation Programs 38 Violence Prevention Programs in Four School Systems: Practitioner Teams Describe the Implementation Process Jersey City, New Jersey 45 Worcester, Massachusetts 50 Charlotte,Mecklenburg, North Carolina 56 Lawrence Township, Indianapolis, Indiana 61 Thinking About Values and Violence 66 All Our Children: Violence as a Public Health Emergency 70 The Challenges of Implementation and Job Satisfaction 76 Young People Share Their Stories 78 Conclusion 88 Bibliography 90 Introduction Margot A. Welch, Ed.D., Harvard Graduate School of Education he public spotlight seems to shine most brightly usefulness lies not in a message for inaction, with the on wb.t is most difficult. We hear much that is of argument that the strong can preserve themselves. Rather, critical importance about problems and pathol­ it calls for action to strengthen those features of effective ogy. "Violence" is epidemic - and much of what coping in all children so as to lower the power of risk factors Tis called "violence" is embedded in the intricately patterned to achieve a reality of morbid outcome. (Chess, in Dugan fabric of our contemporary culture. Today it is increasingly and Coles, 1989, p. 181) acknowledged that widespread violence in our society is The increasing severity of our social problems has in taxing the resources of children, families, communities, and many communities coincided with diminishing structural all whose mission is to help young people grow into strong, supports for responsive and effective services in schools. No healthy, trusting adults. A host of ~erious challenges - resources have been put into long-term program evaluation domestic violence, battering, drug and alcohol addictions, that could document the effects, over time, of preventive the spread of firearms, child neglect and abuse, racism, programs on developing children. And indications of new hidden and overt poverty, hunger, unemployment - are resourcefulness and energy have gone largely undocu­ disrupting the wholesome growth and development of chil­ mented. During the past few years a host of promising new dren in many kinds of communities. School practitioners efforts have been made - including peer mediation, lead­ are coping with the consequences of these problems every ership and mentoring programs; classroom-based conflict day. resolution, social skills, and violence prevention curricula; It is also true that a number of children are demonstrat­ sexual harassment, gender identity, multicultural and sub­ ing extraordinary strengths in managing the cruelest kinds stance abuse awareness programs; school- and system-wide of misfortune and adversity. Defying predictions of doom, crisis response plans; and new school-community collabo­ many are growing into energetic young adults, attached to rations. In problematic school systems, many educators and their communities and ready for what life may have in store school-based service providers are finding new ways to for them: mobilize and nourish strengths in the children with whom they are working. I want to see the little kids on my block grow up "Resilience" is a wonderful word, deriving as it does in a good way, and not in a bad way. On the block from the Latin resilire, meaning "to jump or spring back." today, the only chance you're gonna get is the bad Given people's increasing willingness to think about, un­ way. But maybe I can get through college and derstand, and address the impact of violence on the lives of come back and make the bad road better. That's children, what can we learn about the capacity to bounce my