Aggression Replacement Training

Over time, significant efforts by several entities within the field of human services have been devoted to forming effective approaches and systems to control antisocial, delinquent, and illegal conduct. There have been Many attempts to develop techniques and programs to improve self-control, especially among children and adolescents. Aggression Replacement Training (ART) is a cognitive-behavioral intervention program to aid children and adolescents convalesce social aptitude and moral reasoning, convalesce anger management, and diminish aggressive behavior. The program was initially designed for habitually aggressive children and adolescents aged 12–17. Drs. Arnold P. Goldstein, Barry Glick, and John Gibbs developed ART. ART has been implemented in schools and juvenile institutions, and is being introduced to adult correctional institutions on a national and international level. The program is offered for 10 weeks, which includes 30 sessions of intervention training, and encompasses three components. The three components offer training in social skills, anger control, and moral reasoning. On a weekly basis, participants engage in a one-hour session in each of these modules (components). layered knowledge, confirmation schemes, and facilitated group discussions enrich skill attainment and reinforce the modules in the curriculum. ART is currently a model program for the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the United Kingdom Home Office. The U.S. Department of Education has categorized ART as a promising approach to address students who struggle with aggression.

Culturally responsive treatment holds the most promise for reduced recidivism. It is often defined as interventions that maintain respect for, and attention to, diversity in both people and programming. Gender, age, and ethnic origin intersect to produce consistent statistical patterns of offending. At a minimum, ART facilitators should be aware of their personal cultural identifications and biases, always showing respect and understanding for client diversity and differences in social learning experiences.

Conducting research in the field of human services with diverse populations is an effective method to determine the cultural responsiveness of a model of treatment. For example, the Wilder Research Center conducted an evaluation sumMary of ART between fall 2002 and fall 2004 with 295 youth who received ART. Four agencies provided the services, including a residential program, a school-based program, and two community-based programs. The youth were racially and culturally diverse (39 percent black, 28 percent [Page 60]white, 24 percent Asian, 6 percent Latino, and 3 percent of another or mixed race). A total of 92 percent were male, mostly between the ages of 14 and 17. According to this research study, positive feedback was received from the youth and their families concerning their satisfaction with the services and staff who provided ART.