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The Effects of a Drama-Based Intervention on Relational Aggression 1 Running head: DRAMA-BASED INTERVENTION FOR RELATIONAL AGGRESSION
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | DeVincentis, Dani |
| Copyright Year | 2010 |
| Abstract | Relational aggression is the manipulation of or damage to peer relationships or social standing as a means of bullying. Relational aggression research has primarily focused on its effects, finding it to be positively correlated with withdrawn behavior, victimization, and rejection (Tan, 2009). When examining relational aggression and other forms of bullying in students, one third of participants reported experiencing panic, impaired concentration, and recurring memories of bullying incidences (Sharp, 1995). Others (e.g., Gastic, 2008) found negative effects on school performance and disciplinary issues. Interventions to reduce this behavior are less common in research, with successful interventions even rarer. In the present study, the researcher hoped to reduce relational aggression in a middle school population, utilizing a drama-based intervention designed to increase empathy for relational aggression victims. This study examined if, following the performance, students would engage in fewer relationally aggressive behaviors. Drama-based interventions focused on increasing empathy have been successful in previous research (Ostrov, et. al, 2009). One class from the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades from a small mid-western town participated in the intervention; control groups from each grade were also assessed. The Young Adult Social Behavior Scale was used to measure relational aggression. Significant gender differences were found, such that girls relationally aggress more. Boys’ aggression reduced from pre to post-test, though not due to the intervention. It is proposed that this gender difference is due to girls’ drive for belonging and inclusion overriding feelings of empathy for peers, whereas boys may be less affected by such drives. The Effects of a Drama-Based Intervention on Relational Aggression 3 The Effects of a Drama-Based Intervention on Relational Aggression in Middle School Students “No, I’m sorry, you can’t sit with us today. The table is full.” A lunch table of yesterday’s friends immediately spread their things out to fill empty space, leaving no room for argument. “You will never guess what I heard about Adam today,” a boy says as several of his friends head out to the field for sports practice. “I don’t know what I did wrong! It must’ve been something, because I went all day at school and nobody said a single word to me.” While fictional, the above examples have happened to countless victims of relational aggression. This form of aggression is far less obvious than physical aggression and as such often flies under the radar of teachers, parents, coaches, and other authority figures that might otherwise intervene in more overt cases of meanness or aggression. While there is some tendency toward writing such things off as simply a part of growing up, the truth is that these behaviors are much more serious and much more harmful than that. Relational aggression, as exemplified above, involves harming others through purposeful manipulation of or damage to peer relationships (Coyne, Archer, & Eslea, 2006). Examples of this aggression can include rumor spreading with the intent to damage reputation, popularity or peer standing; gossiping; giving the silent treatment; intentional exclusion from activities or events; and explicit or implied threats to a relationship if the threatened party does not comply with the aggressor’s wishes (Gomes, The Effects of a Drama-Based Intervention on Relational Aggression 4 2007). Relational aggression is more common in girls than boys, at least at a younger age (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995); however, there is evidence that, as boys age, relational aggression becomes more common, possibly because overt and physical aggression becomes less socially acceptable (Verona, et. al, 2008). Being a victim of relational aggression has several negative effects. Relational aggression is a powerful predictor of social-psychological adjustment (Prinstein, Boergers, & Vernberg, 2001). It is positively correlated with withdrawn behavior, victimization, and rejection (Tan, 2009). In a study which examined relational aggression, along with the effects of bullying in general, in 13 to 16 year old students, one third of the participants, all victims of bullying, reported feeling panicky or nervous in school, experienced recurring memories of bullying incidences, and reported impaired concentration in school (Sharp, 1995). Being bullied is also found to be positively correlated with increased risk of frequent absences from school, getting into trouble at school, and being more likely to be subject to formal school disciplinary actions, such as in-school suspensions, detentions, out-of-school suspensions, and expulsion (Gastic, 2008). Additionally, in the book Odd Girl Out, author Rachel Simmons interviews several adult women who, as adolescents, were victims of relational aggression, and now admit to still struggling to trust women in friendships, years or even decades after the bullying occurred (Simmons, 2002). Given these negative effects, one can see why ignoring this behavior or treating it as symptomatic of growing up is especially problematic. Interventions designed to reduce relational aggression have had mixed results. A study conducted in Japan followed a program that had extensive framework in place with The Effects of a Drama-Based Intervention on Relational Aggression 5 hopes of reducing relational aggression and other forms of bullying: there was a bullying prevention committee made up of parents, teachers, and students; students attended a weekly class on bullying; a bullying prevention forum met bi-weekly; and the schools published newsletters and other materials for students and parents. Despite the complexity of the program, the dedication of all those involved, and the awareness of bullying that it caused among parents, teachers, and students alike, when the program was evaluated after one year, researchers found that there had been no reduction in bullying behavior among students (Okayasu & Takayama, 2004). However, there was a similar program undertaken in the United States, called Second Step, which featured many of the same elements. It was evaluated at a number of middle and high schools several years after the program had been implemented, and was found to be effective at significantly reducing bullying behavior (Van Schoiack-Edstrom, Frey & Beland, 2002). Another study focused on reducing relational aggression in preschoolers. The study utilized a puppet show and other interactive activities, and it produced a significant decrease in relationally aggressive behaviors. This study shows that a drama-based intervention has been demonstrated to be effective in reducing relational aggression in pre-school students. For the present study, the same principle will be applied to middle school students, with a more age-appropriate performance, which will hopefully yield similar results. Emotional elements have also been targeted in other research in order to reduce relationally aggressive behaviors. Feshbach and Feshbach (1982) found that empathy training in elementary school aged children increased positive social behaviors in both aggressive and nonaggressive students. Similarly, Richardson, Hammock, Smith and The Effects of a Drama-Based Intervention on Relational Aggression 6 Gardner (1994) found empathy to be associated with constructive and nonaggressive responses to conflict among college students. Finally, Loudin, Loukas, and Robinson (2003) found that students who reported higher levels of perspective-taking also tended to report lower levels of relational aggression. Influenced largely by the Ostrov, et. al., study and the studies on the effects of empathy, the researcher developed the idea of an age-appropriate drama-based intervention—a live skit, with participatory elements—which would emphasize elements such as empathy, with the hypothesis that if a group of middle school aged students were presented with such an interactive skit that was specifically designed to humanize and engender empathy for the victims of relational aggression, those students will engage in fewer behaviors that are relationally aggressive. Method Participants Participants in this study were two classes from each the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade classes at Southwestern Junior High School in Hanover, Indiana. One class from each grade served as the experimental group; the other served as the control. Of eighty-six participants total, 59% were female, 41% male, with a mean age of 12.4 years. Participants were almost exclusively white. Nine other students were originally included in the sample but were removed due to absences during some part of the study. These students already participate in the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. The program’s goals are to reduce and prevent bullying problems among school children and to improve peer relations at school. It focuses on physical, indirect, and relational aggression. All students in the Southwestern school system, from elementary to high The Effects of a Drama-Based Intervention on Relational Aggression 7 school, take part in the Olweus Program. The middle school students have a daily enrichment class, in which they focus on the Olweus curriculum, as well as other gradespecific areas such as adjusting to the middle school, in the case of the sixth graders, or, in the case of the eighth graders, preparing for high school. The students’ involvement in this curriculum was a main reason for the addition of the control group, in addition to simply strengthening power in any conclusions drawn from the results of this study. Materials The Young Adult Social Behavior Scale, or YASB, (Crothers 2009) was used to measure participants’ level of relational aggression. The 14-item questionnaire contains statements such as “When I am angry with someone, that person is often the last person to know. I will talk to others first.” Participants rank the |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://psych.hanover.edu/research/Thesis10/dani%20is%20omega.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
