Evaluation of the Effects of a Conflict Resolution Program on the Behavior of Middle School Students

Interpersonal violence has become a leading cause of death and injury among adolescents in the United States. The Unites States Department of Justice reports three million crimes-or about 11% of all crimes, occur each year in public schools. With this increasing trend, interventions are needed, to assist adolescents decrease levels of individual anger and frustration and to learn skills to resolve conflict. A ten-week Conflict Resolution group was implemented in an inner city school in Minneapolis, MN. Each child was asked to complete a pretest/posttest, before the group began and following the last group meeting. This questionnaire evaluated their knowledge of and skills used to resolve conflict and what (if anything) they learned during participation in the group. Six weeks following participation in the group, each child was asked to complete a follow-up questionnaire that evaluated the relationship between intention to use conflict resolution skills learned and self-reported aggressive behavior. Results of this study, limitations, and areas for future research are addressed in this article