Social Cognitive Programs for Violence

Social cognitive programs for violence prevention and treatment emphasize changing the way individuals think about social interactions and interpersonal violence in order to change their behavior. A basic premise of the social cognitive perspective is that interpersonal violence is learned over time and across situations and that part of this learning involves the development of characteristic patterns of thinking that influence aggressive and violent behavior. Research studies have identified several social cognitive correlates of interpersonal violence, resulting in a proliferation of interventions aimed at modifying these social cognitive factors. Indeed, reviews of outcomes of violence prevention and treatment programs have consistently documented [Page 677]the effectiveness of social cognitive programs (also called cognitive-behavioral interventions to emphasize the connection between cognition and behavior). Most of these programs attempt to influence some aspect of social information processing that affects how a person understands, interprets, and responds to problematic social situations involving interpersonal conflict.

Social information processing involves a series of discrete cognitive steps individuals use to solve social problems. These steps include the following: (a) searching for relevant cues that help understand the nature of the problem (cue search); (b) interpreting the meaning of these cues (cue interpretation); (c) generating alternative solutions to the problem (response generation); (d) considering consequences of different solutions (consequential thinking); and (e) choosing a solution and evaluating its outcomes (enactment). These sequential steps can occur in a controlled fashion when there is sufficient time to think through a social problem and in an automatic fashion when responding becomes habitual. Both controlled and automatic social information processing are influenced by underlying attitudes and beliefs about the self, others, right and wrong, and appropriate or normative responses to specific situations. Social cognitive programs for violence focus either on a specific component of social information processing or on multiple aspects of social cognition and their interconnections. Further, the specific emphasis of a particular social cognitive program varies depending on the clients served and the particular type of interpersonal violence targeted.