Faustlos - Promotion of Social-Emotional Competences in Elementary Schools and Kindergartens.

Abstract

Aggressive and violent behavior of children often is caused by a lack of social and emotional competences, which blocks contructive problem-and conflict-management. Therefore lots of different US-American prevention approaches for the promotion of crucial social competences have been developed. Faustlos is the first German violence prevention curriculum, which promotes the social and emotional competences of first grade pupils and kindergarten aged children. The curriculum builds on the promotion of empathy, impulse control and anger management. Evaluation studies on the effectiveness of Faustlos prove its positive effects on aggressive behavior and on the promotion of social- emotional competence. Further, the feedback of people working with Faustlos concerning the acceptance and practicability of the programm is positive too. Besides the development of additive materials (e.g. Faustlos for parents) evaluation studies on the long-term effects of the program are needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)