Effect of Creative Drama-based Group Guidance on Male-Adolescents' Conflict Resolution Skills

WOS: 000304582100007Problem Statement: This study assumes that conflict itself is not constructive or destructive, whereas the path chosen to resolve the conflict is what leads to constructive or destructive results. When individuals resolve conflicts in a destructive manner, they instill feelings of anger, rage, hostility and violence in the people involved. On the other hand, when individuals resolve conflicts in a constructive manner, they ensure personal development by improving their own problem-solving, critical thinking and communication skills. Teaching students the skills to resolve conflicts in a constructive manner may dissuade them from choosing aggressive behavior when conflicts rise. Purpose of Study: The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of a conflict resolution skill training program integrated with creative drama on the conflict resolution skills of male adolescents. Methods: This is a quasi-experimental, pre-post and follow-up study with one experimental group and one control group. The researcher used the Conflict Resolution Behavior Determination Scale (CRBDS) to select the participants for the study. The experimental and control groups were each composed of 12 male students for a total of 24 participants. In the study, a program using creative drama techniques was applied to the students in the experimental group. No program was applied to the control group. For the analysis of the data, 2x3 Split-plot ANOVA was used for the repeated measurements. Findings and Results: The findings of the study show that creative drama-based conflict resolution training has been effective at both reducing male adolescents' aggression scores and increasing their problem resolution scores. The findings of the study also show that this effect persisted as far as the follow up measurements, which were done eight weeks after the end of the last application. Conclusions and Recommendations: The results of this study show that adolescents who participate in group work integrated with creative drama can learn conflict resolution skills. Therefore, the researcher suggests that creative drama can be used effectively as a group guidance method that teaches conflict resolution skills. In this study, it was also found that the participants retained the knowledge and skills at the time of the follow up measurements that were done eight weeks after the end of the last application. It may take many years for psychological counselors to create constant change with this kind of application so future studies should reinforce the students' training through occasional, short-term programs that would remind students of the aforementioned knowledge and skills