Social Competency CBT-Based Group Training for Youth in Alternative School Settings

Abstract

In response to criticisms concerning placing disruptive youth in less academically rigorous alternative educational settings, U.S. government policy makers ratified legislation aimed at improving the effectiveness of alternative schooling (and schooling in general) through the adoption of evidence-based practices. To achieve this, the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education recommended that research in this field would need "enhanced rigor ... and the current system does not always embrace or implement evidence-based practices once established". Prompted by the push for research-backed practices, a number of researchers have since put forward recommendations for evidence-based practice in alternative schooling programs. Evidence-based practices were recommended for adoption within alternative education curricula, instructional practices, and, relevant to this chapter, therapeutic interventions. Most educators agree that whether alternative programs or schools "empower or entrap" students depends upon the adoption of evidence-based practice in both academic and therapeutic interventions. Therapeutic treatment and the effectiveness of these treatments constitute the focus of this chapter. To provide a context for this discussion, an overview of the historical background of alternative schooling programs will be undertaken, followed by a summary on how these schools operate today including: program settings, curricula, inclusion criteria, demographic profiles of students, and uniformity amongst alternative education programs. As will be shown, therapeutic groups such as anger management and social skills training are widely used in alternative programs. Published studies will be reviewed to (a) ascertain the effectiveness of skills-based group therapy programs (e.g., anger management training) and (b) consider current knowledge with regard to the risk associated with aggregating groups of youth with conduct problems (i.e., deviancy training.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)