In-School Social Skills Training

Abstract

The improvement of social or interpersonal skills of disruptive adolescents increasingly concerns educators in the public schools where cost-effectiveness is a major issue. A group-oriented social skills training program (combined experimental and comparison groups total over 500 students) is described across three diverse settings in urban, suburban, and rural junior high schools. The research is related according to the objectives defined for each setting, the specific curriculum that resulted from these objectives, the means by which both cognitive and behavioral features of the program were implemented, and the measures that were applied for assessment of effects. Problems encountered in program development, conduct, and evaluation are highlighted. Program results indicate both short- and long-range cognitive and behavioral change across a number of obtrusive and unobtrusive measures. Several implications of these efforts and findings are noted for the further development and conduct of cost-effective social skills training in the schools.