NCJ Number
198354
Date Published
1999
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This report describes the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program, a school-based violence prevention program and discusses evaluative results of its effectiveness conducted by the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP).
Abstract
In an attempt to inform Federal, State, and local policymakers and opinion leaders, program developers, and local level managers of an effective strategy for directly addressing the problem of violence among children and youth, this research brief describes and evaluates one of the largest and longest running school-based violence prevention programs, the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP). The RCCP is a school-based primary prevention program that begins in kindergarten and extends through the 12th grade promoting constructive conflict resolution and positive inter-group relations, thereby reducing early social-cognitive and behavioral risks for later aggression and violence. The RCCP curriculum is designed around several core skills, communicating clearly, listening carefully, expressing feelings and dealing with anger, resolving conflicts, fostering cooperation, appreciating diversity, and countering bias. An evaluation of RCCP was designed and conducted to assess the impact of the RCCP on the social-cognitive processes and on aggressive behavior. The evaluation provides concrete evidence that early school-based violence prevention initiatives, like RCCP, can work and should be included in communities’ efforts to prevent violence among children and youth. Resources, appendices A-C, and references