Evidence Rating for Outcomes
Juvenile Problem & At-Risk Behaviors | Multiple juvenile problem/at-risk behaviors |
Date:
This practice aims to reduce school-based conflict and encourage long-term prosocial behavior. It teaches students to understand the nature of the conflict and provides options for responding. This practice is rated Promising for multiple problem or at-risk behaviors. Student participants in the programs reported significantly fewer antisocial behaviors than students in the control group.
Practice Goals/Target Population
Conflict resolution education (CRE) programs target incidences of opposition or disputes between youths (such as fights over possessions or verbal arguments), with the intention of affecting long-term prosocial behaviors of students in grades K–12. The primary goal of CRE programs is to facilitate constructive resolution of interpersonal conflicts between students and reduce related antisocial behaviors. CRE programs fall within the positive youth development family of programs that are designed to develop youth resiliency and capacity building.
Practice Activities
School-based CRE programs focus on the nature of the conflict between students and provide options for responding. Such options are constructive self-management, communication, social perspective-taking, cooperative interpersonal problem- solving, promoting respect, and other related concepts. CRE program activities include facilitation, modeling, and guided practice of skills and strategies to manage conflict and develop social cognitive competence.
There are typically three formats of delivery for CRE programs. Direct skills instruction programs train students on CRE topics and rehearse conflict resolution strategies. Peer mediation programs train student-peer mediators in the specific CRE program to help their peers resolve disputes through a prescribed process. Embedded curriculum integrates CRE components into traditional school curricula and lesson plans.
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Juvenile Problem & At-Risk Behaviors | Multiple juvenile problem/at-risk behaviors
Garrard and Lipsey (2007) examined the results from 36 studies on conflict resolution education (CRE) programs and found that students who received CRE reported significantly fewer antisocial behaviors than students in the control group (effect size=0.26). When converted into an odds ratio, this means that the proportion of students involved in fights dropped nearly one third as a result of CRE programs (a reduction in proportion from 0.14 to 0.095). Similarly, as a result of CRE, the proportion of students being bullied dropped from 28 percent to 20 percent, and the proportion of students being called hate-related words dropped from 11 percent to 7.5 percent. |
Garrard and Lipsey (2007) included additional tests—called moderator analyses—to see whether any factors, such as student variables, strengthened the likelihood that conflict resolution education (CRE) programs improved outcomes. They found that significantly larger effect sizes were reported for students aged 14 to 17 (effect size=0.53), while smaller effect sizes were reported for students aged 6 to 9 (effect size=0.06)
These sources were used in the development of the practice profile:
Garrard, Wendy M., and Mark W. Lipsey. 2007. "Conflict Resolution Education and Antisocial Behavior in U. S. Schools: A Meta-Analysis." Conflict Resolution Quarterly 25(1):9–38. View abstract
Following are CrimeSolutions-rated programs that are related to this practice:
Age: 5 - 17
Gender: Male, Female
Setting (Delivery): School
Practice Type: Conflict Resolution/Interpersonal Skills, School/Classroom Environment
Unit of Analysis: Persons