Washington State Aggression Replacement Training
Problems addressed
Juvenile delinquency
Recidivism
Effectiveness

No Effect

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No Effect

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Life periods served
Children (4 to 13 years)
Teenagers (14 to 17 years)
Where the program was applied
Courts of justice
Community (streets or community centers)
Country of application
United States
Description

This is a psychoeducational intervention program to provide emotional support to adolescents from 11 to 17 years old with a history of aggression and chronic violence.
Three group sessions are conducted to correct antisocial behavior and promote prosocial behaviors. The program consists of three interrelated components:
1) Structured learning training;
2) Anger management training; and
3) Moral reasoning.
Each component focuses on a specific prosocial behavior technique: action, affective/emotional, or thinking/values.

Impact evaluations

An impact evaluation showed that juvenile courts that implemented the program had a more effective reduction in criminal recidivism among adolescent participants compared to other courts. The study had an experimental design with a sample of 1,229 youths, assigned to either a control (n = 525) or treatment (n = 704) group in 26 juvenile courts in Washington state; of this total, 80% were 15-year-old males [1].
Another study revealed that the program was significant in terms of reducing adolescent problem behavior in the school system. The study had an experimental design with a sample of 65 children and adolescents from an educational institution [2].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Barnoski, R. & Aos, S. (2004). Outcome Evaluation of Washington State's Research-Based Programs for Juvenile Offenders (Documents núm. 04-01-1201). Olympia, WA. Washington State Institute for Public Policy. http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/ReportFile/852/Wsipp_Outcome-Evaluation-of-Wash…

[2] Gundersen, K. & Svartdal, F. (2006). Aggression Replacement Training in Norway: Outcome evaluation of 11 Norwegian student projects. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 50(1), 63–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313830500372059

Information source