Classrooms in Peace Within Violent Contexts: Field Evaluation of Aulas en Paz in Colombia

What makes for effectiveness when starting early - Learning from an integrated school-based violence and abuse prevention programme for children under 12

BACKGROUND

Integrated programmes addressing varying forms of violence and abuse are increasingly delivered to children under 12 but uncertainty remains about what should be delivered to whom, when and in what dose.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the impact of Speak Out Stay Safe (SOSS) - an integrated prevention programme for children under 12 - and whether impact varied by age, gender and context.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

A representative UK sample of primary schools in receipt of SOSS was matched with comparison schools not receiving SOSS. At 6 months follow-up, 1553 children from 36 schools completed the survey.

METHODS

The matched control study incorporated economic and process evaluations. Survey measures included: children's knowledge and understanding of different forms of violence and abuse, readiness to seek help, knowledge of sexual abuse, perceptions of school culture and health and wellbeing. Perceptions of children, teachers, and facilitators were captured.

RESULTS

At 6 months, children aged 9-10 who received SOSS retained their improved knowledge of neglect and their ability to identify a trusted adult who they would tell about violence or abuse. Children aged 6-7 receiving a shorter version of the programme were less likely to benefit and boys made fewer gains than girls. SOSS improved the knowledge of children with low knowledge of abuse. School culture was closely associated with programme impact.

CONCLUSION

School-based prevention programmes deliver benefits at low cost but should acknowledge and engage with the specific school context to achieve school readiness and embed programme messages.

Impact of Bullying and Facts on Victims in Elementary Schools

Background: Bullying is a serious problem for the mental health development of school-age children. Few studies in Indonesia have reported how the impact of bullying causes children to experience stress and difficulty in building social relationships. Aim: This study aimed to determine the impact and phenomenon of becoming victims of bullying in elementary schools in Indonesia.  Methods: This research used a mixed-method approach with a sequential explanatory design. The sampling technique used multistage random sampling. The sample population included 617 elementary school students who are in grades 4, 5, and 6. The quantitative data analysis used structural equation modeling (SEM) while the qualitative data analysis was based on the results of SEM analysis. Results: The impact of bullying on victims is stressful and symptomatic. The victims revealed they became depressed, had poor performance, had difficulty in socializing, did not dare to report fear of being ostracized, feared they would become the next victim, and was advised by the teacher not to reply, be patient, and just let it go. As a result, the victims complained they felt ugly, ashamed among friends, and reluctant to attend the class. Teachers consider bullying as ordinary delinquency because the victim can recover without help, think it is normal, or it was just a joke so there is no need for special rules. Conclusion: Bullying of elementary school students has a negative impact on their mental health and causes psychosocial problems. There is a tendency to become repeated victims, while the ambivalence of teachers makes victims more vulnerable to bullying.

Predicting adolescent boys' and young men's perpetration of youth violence in Colombia

Youth violence poses a substantive public health burden in Latin America, particularly among adolescent boys and young men. Understanding predictors of youth violence perpetration among boys and young men is critical to more effectively target and tailor prevention programs, especially in Colombia, which has endured decades-long internal armed conflict. This study uses Colombia's nationally representative 2018 Violence Against Children and Youth Survey data to examine risk and protective factors associated with violence perpetration among 13- to 24-year-old male. Amongst adolescent boys and young men in Colombia, the prevalence of ever perpetrating violence against someone other than an intimate partner was approximately 23%. Multivariable logistic regression models revealed that physical violence victimization by peers, emotional violence victimization by caregivers, having lost or been separated from a mother during childhood, and witnessing community violence were all associated with lifetime perpetration of youth violence. Programs targeting reduction of youth violence among boys might consider addressing the previously identified predictors earlier in the life course and at the individual, family and community levels.

Citizenship Education for Political Engagement: A Systematic Review of Controlled Trials

Citizenship Education could play a pivotal role in creating a fairer society in which all groups participate equally in the political progress. But strong causal evidence of which educational techniques work best to create political engagement is lacking. This paper presents the results of a systematic review of controlled trials within the field based on transparent search protocols. It finds 25 studies which use controlled trials to test causal claims between Citizenship Education programs and political engagement outcomes. The studies identified largely confirm accepted ideas, such as the importance of participatory methods, whole school approaches, teacher training, and doubts over whether knowledge alone or online engagement necessarily translate into behavioral change. But the paucity of identified studies also points both to the difficulties of attracting funding for controlled trials which investigate Citizenship Education as a tool for political engagement and real epistemological tensions within the discipline itself.

How can adolescent aggression be reduced? A multi-level meta-analysis

Aggressive behaviour among adolescents has significant social and economic costs. Numerous attempts have been made to intervene to reduce aggression in adolescents. However, little is known about what factors enhance or diminish intervention effectiveness. The present systematic review and meta-analysis, therefore, seeks to quantify the effectiveness of interventions to reduce aggressive behaviour in adolescents and to identify when and for whom such interventions work best. Sixteen databases were searched for randomised controlled trials that assessed interventions to reduce aggression among adolescents. After screening 9795 records, 95 studies were included. A multi-level meta-analysis found a significant overall small-to-medium effect size (d = 0.28; 95% CI [0.17, 0.39]). More effective interventions were of shorter duration, were conducted in the Middle East, were targeted at adolescents with higher levels of risk, and were facilitated by intervention professionals. Potentially active ingredients were classified using the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy. Behavioural practice and problem solving were components of more effective interventions targeted at the general population. Overall the findings indicate that psychosocial interventions are effective in reducing adolescent aggression. Future trials need to assess the effect of individual techniques and their combination to identify the key components that can reduce aggression in adolescents.

Psychological Intervention and Prevention Programs for Child and Adolescent Exposure to Community Violence: A Systematic Review

The purpose of this article is to systematically review the existing literature regarding intervention and prevention programs that ameliorate the negative effects of exposure to community violence (ECV) on children and adolescents. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review (PRISMA) Guidelines, we conducted a systematic review of the literature aimed at providing a synthesis of the extant Randomized Control Trials (RCT) and peer-reviewed empirical literature on intervention and prevention programs for those affected by ECV. Nine randomized controlled trials were identified: seven studies with elementary school students in the USA, one study with elementary school students in Colombia, and one study with middle school students in the USA. Most trials compared intervention and no-treatment control groups; three studies compared active interventions. The intervention and prevention trials conducted in school settings in the USA showed most impact on reducing internalizing and PTSD symptoms. The evidence base of intervention and prevention programs for child and adolescent exposure to community violence is very limited. This systematic review synthesizes extant evidence of the effectiveness of intervention programs in reducing internalizing and externalizing symptoms, PTSD, exposure to community violence, and in enhancing academic performance. More studies are needed to provide a better understanding of how interventions might ameliorate the adverse consequences of exposure to community violence.

Positive School Climate as a Moderator of Violence Exposure for Colombian Adolescents

In Colombia, many adolescents have experienced violence related to the decades-long armed conflict in the country and have witnessed or been directly victimized by violence in their communities, often related to gang activity or drug trafficking. Exposure to violence, both political and community violence, has detrimental implications for adolescent development. This study used data from 1857 Colombian adolescents in an urban setting. We aim to understand the relations between exposure to violence and adolescent outcomes, both externalizing behaviors and developmental competence, and then to understand whether school climate (i.e., safety, connectedness, services) moderates these relations. Results demonstrate that armed conflict, community violence victimization, and witnessing community violence are positively associated with externalizing behaviors, but only armed conflict is negatively associated with developmental competence. School safety, connectedness, and services moderate the relation between community violence witnessing and externalizing behaviors. School services moderates the relation between community violence victimization and developmental competence. As students perceived more positive school climate, the effects of community violence exposure on outcomes were weakened. This study identifies potential levers for intervention regarding how schools can better support violence-affected youth through enhancements to school safety, connectedness, and services.