Community and school violence and risk reduction: Empirically supported prevention.

Abstract

The development, implementation, and research of two separate psychoeducational group programs are described. One of the programs, Project FREE (Family Rejuvenation, Education and Empowerment; developed by Paula T. McWhirter and her colleagues) focuses on mothers who have suffered domestic violence and their children as witnesses. The project includes parallel psychoeducational group sessions with battered mothers and a simultaneous psychoeducational group session with the children followed by a conjoint session with both mothers and children. The pilot and the initial studies were conducted in a clinic/hospital setting and later studies in temporary domestic homeless shelters. The second program, GOPEP (Group Oriented Psychoeducation Prevention; developed by J. Jeffries McWhirter and his colleagues) includes four separate school based interventions designed to reduce anger, diminish depression, reduce anxiety, and build positive peer and adult relationships. Each program includes 15 1-hr sessions for classroom group or as a pullout group program. Both Project FREE and GOPEP utilized group process is to reduce future problems and to promote well-being and positive mental health. Following program description and implementation, research process and group program efficacy are presented.

Children and Adolescents Mental Health: A Systematic Review of Interaction-Based Interventions in Schools and Communities

“…Likewise, Ohl et al (2013) confirmed the effectiveness of relationships for decreasing emotional symptoms. McWhirter and McWhirter (2010) garnered the results of the GOPEP intervention program (McWhirter et al, 1997), based on group sessions and on conjoint sessions, which entailed substantial collaboration between researchers and participants, and confirmed the effectiveness of the SOAR program (Student Optimistic Attitudes and Resilience Program) in reducing anxiety and depression. The FREE program, for its part, was effective in decreasing self-isolation among children and their mothers, survivors of domestic violence.Externalizing symptomatology: Four articles present improvements in aspects related to aggression and behavioral issues.…”

“…Ohl et al (2013) confirmed that the Pyramid project helped improve peer problems; however, they did not find positive effects on behavioral problems. McWhirter and McWhirter (2010) gathered evidence confirming the effectiveness of the FREE project in decreasing family conflict, and of the SCARE (Student-Created Aggression Replacement Education) program, one of the GOPEP intervention programs, in decreasing and managing aggression, anger, and violent behaviors. However, Cappella et al (2012) did not find significative differences in behavioral regulation as an effect of their BRIDGE intervention, although children identified as having behavioral problems benefitted more than their peers in the area of social relations.…”

“…Similarly, interventions focus on “group interactions” as a preventive strategy that seek to reduce future mental health problems and to promote well-being (McWhirter and McWhirter, 2010). Specifically, two group-oriented prevention programs—Project Family Rejuvenation Education and Empowerment and Group-Oriented Psychological Education Prevention- are characterized by small-group discussions among students and with their mothers; in both settings participants engage in dialogue in a nonthreatening climate while encouraging cultivation of feedback and support between them (McWhirter and McWhirter, 2010).…”

“…Moreover, three studies promoted collaborative interactions between parents, teachers, and mental health professionals (Bradshaw et al, 2009; McWhirter and McWhirter, 2010; Atkins et al, 2015). Interactive features of these mental health programs include building positive peer groups and partnerships, solving problems peacefully, and fostering parent-student interactions, among others.…”

Group-Centered Prevention in Mental Health

“…Psychotherapy focuses more on personality change, while psychological counseling stresses coping strategies as well as problem-solving (Gazda et al 2001). Prevention is an extension of the counseling approach that has proven to be particularly effective with children, teens, parenting groups, married couples, and with many health-based groups McWhirter and McWhirter 2010;Webster-Stratton and Herman 2008). A psychoeducational structure is frequently used.…”