Determining the Effectiveness of Anger Management Training and Curricular Infusion at an Alternative School for Students Expelled for Weapons

Abstract

Students in a school as an alternative to expulsion for carrying a weapon were provided regular direct anger management training. Veteran teachers were taught strategies for infusing the anger management skills into their lessons. Students were given the National School Crime and Safety Survey as a pretest and posttest. In addition, ethnographic field notes were used to examine the reactions of the staff and students to the interventions. Significant reductions in willingness to fight and improvements in ability to control anger were reported. Ethnographic reports indicated that staff and students felt safer and more positive about the school than before the interventions. The challenges to instituting these interventions are described.