Introduction

The community project assignment has been an exciting and memorable experience in the Social Work Program. Although our original intentions were to provide the students with anger management tools, the focus of our group broadened to cover a variety of issues such as: pregnancy, grief and loss, and overall problems that the students brought into the setting. Our time spent with the students has provided us with valuable knowledge that we will be able to implement in our professional career.

Statement of Need

Students who attend Alternative High Schools are at risk of failure, may live in a dysfunctional family, may be sexually, emotionally, and physically abused, may abuse drugs, credit deficient, and have bad behavior (Reality, 2001). Alternative High School students have typically had a history of acting out in the classroom, fighting and neglecting to turn in homework, all of which interfere with student performance and correlate with school failure (McWhirter, 1999). According to our research, youth living in the United States are often considered at risk along a number of dimensions. Griffin, Scheier, Botvin, Diaz and Miller (1999) stated, “A recent study of over 4500 youths attending high school found that 43 percent of respondents reported hitting or threatening to hit someone in the past year, 14 percent reported attacking someone and 13 percent reported caring a hidden weapon” (p. 281). Anger and anger management are particularly important constructs because with adolescents and adults alike, anger has being associated with a variety of other problems such as poor health, and domestic violence. This dynamic progression of behavior reflects fundamental deficits in anger management and decision making skills which, if present could lead to more negative educational outcomes.

Description of the Intervention

Our intervention provided a variety of helpful strategies and tools that allowed the students to gain knowledge through student feedback and participation. Our main focus with this intervention was to give the students information that angry emotions can potentially lead to problems when these feelings get out of control. Furthermore, our anger group incorporated learning strategies through which the students were exposed by a series of helpful tools: handouts, role-plays, guest speakers, and educational videos. Moreover, the students participated in a fundraiser that allowed them to work collaboratively as a group to achieve a common goal (class trip).

In both fall and spring semesters, our group took place on the site provided by the staff at the school. The group consisted of sophomores through seniors. Ages varied depending on class level (ages from 16-18 years of age). The majority of the students included: Hispanic/Latinos, Euro-Americans, African Americans, and Italians. The group was arranged to run for ten weeks. Each session was scheduled for one hour. It was held once a week on Mondays. Every session began with reviewing the group rules. On occasion, the students were assigned homework if the instructors felt it was necessary. Students were not obligated to share, but were encouraged to participate within the group.

In fall of 2002, our first group consisted of an unexpected 18-20 students. With such a high number of student participation, the group format had to be re-evaluated. With the help of another intern student from another university, we were able to work together in providing the students with handouts and a variety of information dealing with anger management.

In spring, 2003, our group format shifted from an anger management to a support group. The reason for this change was that we felt that the students needed more than just anger management, but other topics as well. This allowed the students to express problems that they were coping with at the time. The community project was reorganized to serve a smaller number of students. After collaborating with the faculty at the school, we developed a list of students dealing with a mix of different issues. The group consisted of six students with problems from pregnancy, becoming a parent (both genders), grief and loss, drugs, and everyday hassles.

Evaluation of the Intervention

The main focus of the group was to provide the students with an awareness that issues will come and go throughout their life span. By doing this, we hope that in the future the students’ will become open-minded and realize that their choices reflect consequences.  In addition, we hope that the students would utilize the tools and strategies they have learned. Through feedback from the students and facilitators, we were able to reflect on the progress of the group. For example, when asked if an anger management was important to teach in school, one student replied, “yes, just because anger brings out so much negativity.  If students only knew how to deal with anger in a more positive and constructive way everything would be better in school and society.” In addition, the staff felt the anger and support group promoted a constructive environment dealing and coping with a variety of issues. We hope that the information provided would bring knowledge, a positive expression of anger management, and self-reflection in ways of controlling emotions within the classroom and environmental surroundings.

Reflections on the Project

At the beginning of the community project, we felt that the anger management group was not going to work for a number of reasons. For one, we did not think anyone was going to show up. In fact, because we were student interns, we felt that the high school students were not going to respect or appreciate our presence. Third, we felt that having three group leaders was a problem. It did not allow for each individual to speak out because of the time given. Finally, the group dynamic was very informal, which at times created a difficult atmosphere in trying to teach the students the lesson plan for that week.

Although, we have had our differences, we have also had our successes as well. For example, we reduced our group size from 18-22 to 6 students. Throughout the semester, we also gained respect from the staff and students. With dedication and hard work, the students and staff valued and appreciated our time spent there. Since the students knew we did not get paid, it showed the students that we wanted to be there to support and encourage them. In conclusion, this has not only been a learning experience for the high school students, but for us as well.

References

Griffin, K. W., Schieier, L. M., Botvin, G. J. Diaz, T., & Miller, N.  (1999). Interpersonal aggression in urban minority youth: Mediators of perceived neighborhood, peer, and parental influences [Electronic version]. Journal of Community Psychology, 27 (3), 281-298.

McWhirter, B. (1999). Effects of anger management and goal setting group interventions on state-trait anger and self-efficacy beliefs among high-risk adolescents. Current Psychology, 18 (2), 223.

Reality (2001). Working in a continuation high school. Retrieved May 30, 2002, from http://www.cceanet.org.

Interviews conducted during the month of November 2002

 One student, local alternative education school

 Administrators, local alternative education school

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