Structured Small Group Program
Dead Celebrities Group
Goal/ Purpose
The overarching group goal for the Dead Celebrities group is to change the attitudes and values of 8th grade boys concerning drug use, and to develop social skills that will enable them to use the knowledge they have gained for the purpose of drug use prevention when they are with their peers. This goal will be accomplished by increasing group members’ knowledge about the effects, consequences, reasons for, and alternatives to drug use, and through social skills training. Changing the attitudes of 8th grade boys concerning drug use will result in the prevention of drug use in the future, which will lead to higher test scores, fewer behavioral problems, and a lower rate of truancy. This goal is in alignment with the school’s mission statement, which states that the Blackhawk School District “has the responsibility to meet all challenges facing Public Education today and in the future” (Blackhawk Education Association, 2012). A pre/post-test will be given to assess attitudes toward drug use, and skills will be observed by the group leader in sessions.
Population
This group is for male students in the 8th grade who are at risk for drug use.
Rationale/ Need
Drug use is a predictor of memory and attention deficits, and adolescent drug use has been linked to decreased cognitive function even years after the use has stopped (Hanson, Medina, Padula, Tapert, & Brown, 2011). According to the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA, n.d.), “Teens who abuse drugs have declining grades, a higher rate of absenteeism from school and other activities, as well as and increased potential for dropping out of school” (Social Consequences). Prevention of drug use among students will improve test scores, attendance, and behavior problems.
In order to assess the need for the group, a survey will be administered to all eighth-grade boys to determine risk factors and current attitudes about drugs (Appendix E). The survey will be in the form of a five-item Likert scale with responses ranging from 0-3. Each of the five items will give an indication of possible risk factors for future drug use: (1) historical personal use, (2) friends who use, (3) family members who use, (4) general attitude toward drug use, and (5) attitude toward future personal use. Responses will be scored with 0 indicating no risk for future use based on that item and 3 indicating high risk for future use based on that item. Students with a total score of 4 or higher, and any student scoring 2 or higher on any single item, will be considered at risk.
The DEA (n.d.) reports that substance use is associated with both truancy and delinquency. In addition to the survey, student attendance records and behavior/discipline reports will also be reviewed. Students who are missing/tardy frequently (averaging one absence or two tardies every two weeks) will be considered at risk. Any student with more than one behavior/discipline report will also be considered at risk. Burrow-Sanchez, Jenson, and Clark (2008) confirm that risk factors for substance abuse include the display of problem behaviors and peers and family who use drugs. It is likely that children of alcoholics will be potential group members, and Erford (2010) states that group work is especially beneficial to that group of students.
Theoretical Orientation
It is important that the programming for a small group in school is both needs-based and data-driven so that real needs of the school and its students are met using methods that have been proven to be effective. With that in mind, this group will be a psychoeducational group using use a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) approach. This theoretical orientation was chosen because CBT’s emphasis on thoughts influencing behavior aligns well with the group’s goals of providing information to change attitudes and values about drugs, with the intent to prevent the behavior of using drugs. According to Corey (2012), “One of the strengths of the cognitive behavioral approaches is the emphasis given to education and prevention” (p. 373). Pentz (2003) reports that in effective drug use prevention programs, risk factors are addressed “in terms of a sequence of expected change from cognition to behavior” (p. 145). Pentz (2003) additionally states that interactive learning methods, such as peer group discussion, are effective in the prevention of adolescent drug use. According to Burrow-Sanchez et al. (2008), psychoeducational groups in schools “are designed to raise student awareness of a problem area (e.g., substance abuse) while imparting practical information about ways to prevent the problem from occurring” (p. 241).
Ethical. Legal, and Multicultural Issues
In accord with the American School Counselor Association’s (ASCA) Ethical Standards for School Counselors (2010), the professional school counselor’s primary obligation is to the student when working with minors in schools (Standard A.1.a). The school counselor is also responsible to the parents of the students they counsel. Any group participation must be done with the informed consent of the student’s parents (Appendix B). Part of informed consent is the acknowledgement that there are certain circumstances under which confidentiality must be broken, such as if the student were to disclose any intent to inflict harm on self or others, or if the school counselor’s records were to be subpoenaed by a court of law. School counselors are also mandated reporters, and are thus obligated by law to report any suspected child abuse. This may be a concern in this particular group because the group may include children of alcoholics, who are more likely to abuse their children (Erford, 2010).
In a group setting, there will be information that is shared with the group that will be beyond the power of the school counselor to keep confidential. The school counselor will discuss this with the group and urge each group member to take seriously the confidentiality of the other members of the group. This will aid in the cohesiveness and effectiveness of the group process if the group members adhere to this bond of trust with each other. When group members feel safe, they will disclose more and the group will be able to make more progress.
The group will be sensitive to multicultural considerations. The group leader will strive to avoid situations where one a group consists of all members of one culture and only one member of another culture. This will likely be a mixed-culture group, and group members will be encouraged to talk about their differences in such a manner as to gain understanding and empathy for group members of other cultures, with the understanding that their influences and perceptions may be very different. Discrimination will not be tolerated in the group setting. In the case of repeated, intentional discrimination of a group member, offending member(s) will be asked to leave the group for the sake of the safety of the discriminated member.
Recruitment and Screening
Students participating in this group will be selected from the pool of students identified as “at-risk” from the needs assessment survey. The school counselor will provide information about the group to the teachers at the next in-service faculty meeting and let the teachers know that they should expect an email asking about referrals to the group (Appendix F), after explaining what type of students would likely benefit from such a group. This email will be sent immediately after the meeting so that it will be fresh in the teachers’ minds and they can easily refer students with very little time or effort. The list of referrals will be compared to the list of at-risk students and any common names will meet with the school counselor to determine whether they would be an appropriate fit for the group. As this group is focused on the prevention of drug use, any current users will not be eligible for group membership. The school counselor will be looking for developmentally appropriate group members who are capable of getting along well and participating with other students in a group setting. If these methods do not yield a sufficient number of potential group members then students who were referred by teachers or tested to be at risk by the survey will be screened for group membership through an interview with the school counselor. A parental consent form (Appendix B) will be sent home to the parents of potential group members.
Structure
This psychoeducational group is a six session closed group that will last six weeks. Each session will be from 9:45-10:30 am during the 3rd period study hall for six consecutive Tuesdays. The group sessions will be held in the conference room outside the main office, and the group will be held once in the fall and once in the spring.
Core ASCA Standards
(American School Counselor Association, 2005)
PS:A1.2 Identify values, attitudes, and beliefs
PS:A1.9 Demonstrate cooperative behavior in groups
PS:A2.2 Respect alternative points of view
PS:A2.6 Use effective communications skills
PS:B1.1 Use a decision-making and a problem-solving model
PS:B1.2 Understand consequences of decisions and choice
PS:B1.8 Know when peer pressure is influencing a decision
PS:B1.9 Identify long- and short-term goals
PS:C1.7 Apply effective problem-solving and decision-making skills to make safe and healthy choices
PS:C1.8 Learn about the emotional and physical dangers of substance use and abuse
PS:C1.9 Learn how to cope with peer pressure.
Core State Academic Standards
(Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2002)
Standard for Reading, Writing, Spelling, and Listening
1.6.8.A Listen critically and respond to others in small and large group situations.
Standards for Health, Safety, and Physical Education
10.1.9.A Analyze factors that impact growth and development between adolescence and adulthood.
10.1.9.D Analyze prevention and intervention strategies in relation to adolescent and adult drug use.
10.2.9.D Analyze and apply a decision-making process to adolescent health and safety issues.
10.2.9.E Analyze how personal choice, disease and genetics can impact health maintenance and disease prevention.
Objectives
Group members will communicate with each other appropriately and effectively in a small group setting as observed by the group leader.
Group members will learn to interact and work with each other in a cooperative fashion.
Group members will be able to identify at least one unintended consequence of drug use in the presence of their peers as observed by the group leader.
Group members will retain new knowledge of at least one consequence of drug use and share this with a family member or friend outside the group, as evidenced by self-report in the next group session.
Group members will be able to perform a cost-benefit analysis and use it as part of their decision-making process, as evidenced by performance in the group setting and observed by the group leader.
Group members will learn skills to cope with peer pressure and demonstrate those skills in role-play exercise as observed by the group leader.
Group members will be able to identify one example of how the fulfillment of a short-term desire may hinder the accomplishment of a long-term goal, as evidenced by demonstration in the presence of their peers as witnessed by the group leader.
Group members will adopt more drug-resistant attitudes, as evidenced by lower scores on Questions #4 and #5 on the Risk Survey (Appendix E) when completed during the final session of the group.
Group members will commit to not use drugs at the conclusion of the final session, as evidenced by signing a non-use pledge.
Program Evaluation
The program will be evaluated in four ways to test the group members’ knowledge, attitudes, commitment to abstain, and coping/relating skills. There will be a pre-post test administered testing general drug knowledge as it relates to teenagers (Appendix D). Group members should show significant knowledge gains regarding some of the facts regarding drug use, including its effects and causes. The initial assessment survey’s (Appendix E) questions #4 and #5, assessing attitudes toward drug use and future personal drug use, will be given to group members along with the post-test and results compared to those from the initial assessment to determine whether group members have adopted more appropriate and abstentive attitudes toward the use of drugs. Group members will be asked during the final session if they would like to commit to abstain from drugs by signing a non-use pledge. Cuijpers (2002) cites the use of a non-use pledge as an effective evidence-based intervention along with a focus on norms and the intention not to use. Finally, the development and acquisition of coping/relating skills will be tested using role-play in sessions. The evaluation of the program will enable the school counselor to assess its effectiveness. This is essential in professional school counseling because if the outcome is not what was intended, then the programming must be changed. Proven methods should lead to reliable results for school counseling to solidify itself as a legitimate and helpful counseling profession in the eyes of educators, rather than the catch-all position it sometimes ends up being in many school districts.
Session 1
Title: Introduction
Brief Summary of Session: Counselor will introduce the group and group members will introduce each other using an ice-breaking exercise. Group members will complete a drug knowledge pre-test (Appendix D), and as they finish they will be given a list of notable people who have died from drug-related causes (Appendix H). Group will be given homework and the counselor will summarize the session before its termination.