Promoting social justice through building healthy relationships: Evaluation of SWOVA’s ‘Respectful Relationships’ program

Abstract

This evaluation examines the effectiveness of the Saltspring Women Opposed to Violence and Abuse (SWOVA) Community Development and Research Society’s ‘Respectful Relationships’ (R+R) program. R+R is a school—community partnership program that focuses on youth development of social competencies that underlie social justice. Youth in Grades 6—12, from seven school districts located in British Columbia, Canada participated in the evaluation of this program through pre- and post-test surveys. Results revealed significant gains across all 12 social-emotional competencies from pre- to post-program when the whole sample was considered. A closer examination revealed statistically significant gender differences that emerged on a small number of dimensions. Youth also provided their feedback on the overall experience of participating in the R+R program which indicated high levels of enjoyment and learning from the program.

Three Decades of Research: The Case for Comprehensive Sex Education

“…This section, however, reviews healthy relationship outcomes outside the specific context of DV or IPV prevention programs. These efforts focused on healthy relationships as a foundation for adolescent sexual health [54] and emphasized communication skills [47,55,76,77], ethics and social justice [29,41,77,78], and socialeemotional learning [73,76].…”

“…A longitudinal study of 1,600 Mexican fourth graders, in the Yo Quiero Yo Puede program, which focused on the importance of talking about taboo and difficult subjects, demonstrated improved communication skills in these subjects and increased self-efficacy and intentions to discuss difficult subjects, including romance, sexuality, and threatening or unpleasant topics [76]. Rigorous evaluations found significant increases in communication skills for both the Respectful Relationships 6th to 10th grade sequential curriculum [77], and the Fourth R, for ninth graders [53].…”

“…Although not identified as a goal of sex education per se, the incorporation of social-emotional learning into sex education has been explored in the literature [101]. Studies identified here demonstrate a range of important socialeemotional outcomes, across grade levels, resulting from sex education in the classroom, including increased empathy [19,20], respect for others [26], improved communication [41,51,76,77,81], managing feelings [49], positive self-image (including body image) [82,84,92e96], increased sense of selfcontrol and safety [81], and establishing and maintaining positive relationships [55]. For example, evaluation of Respectful Relationships, a sequential, 4-year social justice program in Canada, with 1,748 6th to 10th graders, demonstrated significant growth in empathy, self-esteem, ability to speak one's opinion, belief in equal rights for all, and "seeing people for who they are on the inside."…”

“…For example, evaluation of Respectful Relationships, a sequential, 4-year social justice program in Canada, with 1,748 6th to 10th graders, demonstrated significant growth in empathy, self-esteem, ability to speak one's opinion, belief in equal rights for all, and "seeing people for who they are on the inside." In addition, the program demonstrated increased nonviolent conflict resolution among girls, and among boys, increased discomfort in seeing others being picked on [77].…”

Subjective Vitality Mediates the Relationship between Respect toward Partner and Subjective Happiness on Teachers

“…Respectful romantic relationships have notable impacts on quality of life, psychological, and physical well-being [3]. A wide variety of studies on the importance of respect; concentrated on both direct and indirect predictors of respect [4], kindness [5], contemporary sexism and discrimination [6], conceptualization of respect [7], preventing gender-based violence [8], value education [9,10,11], respectful relationships program [12].…”