| by Risk Factor |  |
by Protective Factor | |
by Keyword | |
All Programs |
The Urban Improv (UI) program is an interactive, theater-based youth violence prevention program designed for at-risk students living in the inner city. The program was developed to affect three psychological and behavioral outcome domains: aggressive behaviors, prosocial behaviors, and scholastic attention and engagement.
Active in Boston, Mass., public schools since 1992, UI uses theater improvisation to develop decision-making, impulse-control, and conflict-resolution skills. UI is based on the idea that providing students with interactive opportunities to rehearse conflict scenarios will enhance their ability to solve problems in a nonviolent manner. UI lasts 27 weeks and is organized into three 9-week intervals, including age-appropriate content for three categories: elementary, middle, and high school. The fourth-grade curriculum incorporates the following themes: friendship, self-esteem, imagination, peer pressure, fairness, violence/conflict resolution, sharing, and family. The weekly sessions are 75 minutes long during school hours in a local theater space accompanied by the students’ teacher. Each session begins with a song about one of the included themes, followed by a prearranged scene that relates to the theme of the day. The students are allowed to make important decisions when the director freezes the scene and a student replaces one of the actors. The outcome of the scene is then changed by which decision the student makes. The students are then divided into groups to act out the previous scene. The session ends with a group discussion of the students’ choices and the following consequences. This allows for further explanation of values and provides a forum for students’ personal experiences. The instructors include a director and four actors who have been trained in youth education, expressive arts, and improvisational theater.
This evaluation consisted of a quasi-experimental, matched control group design with fourth grade elementary school students from eight classrooms in five different innercity schools, all within the same school district. The intervention classrooms were matched to comparison classrooms by school setting, grade, gender, race, learning, first language, and socioeconomic characteristics. There were 140 students in the eight classrooms. Four classes (77 students) acted as controls, and four classes (63 students) received the intervention. Students ranged in age from 8 to 11. Gender was evenly distributed (47.9 percent female, 52.1 percent male) and the ethnic/racial distribution was predominantly ethnic minority (44.5 percent African-American, 27.7 percent Hispanic, 13.1 percent biracial, 5.8 percent Asian-American, 2.2 percent white, 0.7 percent Native American, and other 5.8 percent). Students that were exposed to UI were compared with control groups of students who were not exposed to UI on aggressive and prosocial behaviors and scholastic engagement and attention. Surveys were administered at baseline and immediately following program completion. Students were measured using the Social Skills Rating System (Elementary Level), including the student and teacher report versions; the Youth Coping Inventory self-report; and the Normative Beliefs About Aggression self-report. Data collection took place during school times in intact classrooms. In the baseline group comparison, there were no significant differences between the participant and control groups regarding teacher- or student-reported aggression or student-reported prosocial behavior. Groups were found to differ, however, in teacher-reported prosocial behaviors—with the control groups rated as having higher levels of assertion.
In the comparison immediately following program completion, the teacher-reported findings indicate increased prosocial behaviors, prevention of new onset aggression, and decreased hyperactivity and internalizing symptoms among students in the UI program. In contrast, youths in the comparison group exhibited increases in aggression, hyperactivity, and internalizing symptoms and decreases in levels of prosocial behaviors during the same period. These results support the supposition that UI not only halts the progression of aggressive behaviors but also supports the development of prosocial behaviors. It should be noted, however, that these significant findings were based on teacher reports. There were no statistical differences in student reports of aggressive or prosocial behaviors or hyperactivity and internalizing symptoms.
Kisiel, Cassandra, Margaret Blaustein, Joseph Spinazzola, Caren Swift Schmidt, Marla Zucker, and Bessel van der Kolk. 2005. “Evaluation of a Theater-Based Youth Violence Prevention Program for Elementary School Children.” Journal of School Violence 5(2).
Kippy Dewey
Urban Improv
8 St. John Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Phone: (617) 232-1175
Fax: (617) 730-8932
E-mail: kdewey@urbanimprov.org
Web site: http://www.urbanimprov.org
Kippy Dewey
Urban Improv
8 St. John Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Phone: (617) 232-1175
Fax: (617) 730-8932
E-mail: kdewey@urbanimprov.org
Web site: http://www.urbanimprov.org
