By Casey Corcoran, Adolescent Training Specialist

Many of us remember what an awkward and challenging time middle school was. Many of us also remember how awkward and confusing our first relationships with the opposite sex were. It was a time of testing boundaries, taking risks, and building our relationship skills. And as statistics show, this is also an important time for intervention and prevention with young people around relationship issues:

• Data from a study of 8th and 9th grade students showed that 25% of them had been victims of nonsexual dating violence and 8% had been victims of sexual dating violence (Foshee et al. 1996).
• Nationwide, 9% of students reported being hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend in the 12 months prior to being surveyed (Grunbaum et al. 2004).
• A nationwide survey found male students (41%) more likely to have been involved in a physical fight than female students (25%) in the 12 months preceding the survey (Grunbaum et al. 2004).

It is because of this unique and formative period in the lives of young people that Emerge recognized a need for dating/family violence intervention and prevention efforts with young boys.

In the Emerge Adolescent Program, school staff and community members receive professional development to help them identify boys who may benefit from the group. They are told to look for things like controlling behavior with female friends and classmates, instances of family violence, and generally poor skills around relationship building. It is through these school and community agencies that eighth grade boys are recommended for group participation in a one hour psycho-educational group for 16 weeks.

For the past four years, thanks to funding from the Svrluga Foundation, Emerge has run a healthy relationships group for eighth grade boys in Melrose, MA called The Boys Seminar. These groups are intended to teach boys the skills of healthy relationships as they transition into high school. The Emerge Adolescent Curriculum is a developmentally appropriate, asset-based tool that uses cooperative activities, games, and role-plays. Some of the topics include identifying what “pushes their buttons,” positive and negative self-talk, the different types of violent and controlling behavior, respectful communication, building empathy, and how to be an ally.

Adolescent groups have particular challenges that make them different from conducting adult groups. For example, many of the teenagers have existing relationships with each other. They also frequently know each others’ friends, girlfriends, and family members. As opposed to many adult groups, the boys are in the group voluntarily. Since their participation is not court ordered it can be a challenge to keep attendance high.

Another challenge in doing adolescent intervention is that many of the boys only present risk factors or generalized controlling behavior. Because of this, the Emerge Adolescent Curriculum is designed as a hybrid of prevention and intervention skills. The curriculum seeks to teach them how to be in a healthy relationship, both with their girlfriends and with their friends and family. The goal is to provide them with the foundation to have healthy relationships in all parts of their lives.

We all have a responsibility to encourage and teach young men and boys to have healthy relationships. Through this asset-based approach, Emerge is taking the steps to build these important skills and make sure that these boys grow into healthy and responsible men.

Starting in our February edition of our newsletter, we asked subscribers to answer some questions about how they conducted abuser education services. Over the months we were able to collect 48 responses from 26 states and three Canadian provinces.

We asked questions about each respondent's background in their work with abusers, what intervention model was used in their work, their opinion about partner contacts, and their idea on which topics of intervention were most and least useful during group or individual meetings.

As a part of our effort to encourage national dialog among batterer intervention service providers, this newsletter, our website and our discussion forum will continue to offer surveys such as this. We hope to offer support and feedback for people conducting services for abusers.

In order to view the results of this and any future surveys, join our discussion forum by CLICKING HERE to register. If you're already a member, just click on the link below to go directly to the survey results (you may need to sign in first).

As we have announced in our e-mail newsletters, Emerge conducts trainings throughout the world to teach about the Emerge model and how to conduct services for abusers. We frequently receive inquiries about how to coordinate a training, and this article will provide some of these details.

Sometimes people who want to learn how to use the Emerge model send one person to Boston for our introductory three day training. That person goes back to the agency to train others. Another option for those with budgetary restraints is to work together with other organizations in their area to bring Emerge so that more staff may attend. The costs of bringing Emerge to you is typically more cost effective than sending three or more staff to Boston.

Each training has two trainers, and costs per day vary on the type of training you want Emerge to conduct. Emerge can provide the following types of trainings:

• Introductory Working With Abusers
   
• Advanced Group Leader Skills
   
• "Is It Abuse?" Conference for Therapists and Counselors
   
• Adolescent Perpetrators Training
   
• Program Development and Monitoring
   

Ted German, Emerge's Director of Training, would be happy to answer any questions or coordinate a training for your area. Over the past few months, Emerge has conducted trainings in Bermuda, London (Ontario), Ireland, Sweden, Alaska, Idaho, Hawaii, Georgia, Texas and Maine. We'd love to add your state or country to the list!