Peaceful Solutions - Changing Habits of Thought

Students who experience violence often behave and react with aggression, seeing no other way to retain their standing in their community and provide themselves with safety. Their mindset affords them few options, and they act accordingly. The "habits of thought" model of violence prevention intends to help young people develop new options for how they respond to conflicts. When young people change their patterns of thought and recognize that they can choose how they respond to conflict or threats of violence, they are on the way to exercising control in situations where they previously may have felt helpless.

At Sproul Junior High School in Colorado Springs, Ann Junk and her students work with a program called "Aggressors, Victims, and Bystanders," based on the research of Dr. Ronald Slaby and developed by Education Development Center to help students change negative "habits of thought." Students engage in a variety of activities to explore their beliefs about conflict. They examine the roles of aggressors, victims, and bystanders, and learn new skills and concepts that will expand their options and help them deal positively with conflict.

The students create scenarios that present conflict situations with a potential for violence, then act out the scenarios showing two different kinds of responses: those that escalate the conflict and those that de-escalate it. Students work in small groups to discuss and analyze the beliefs that underlie their thoughts and actions when dealing with conflict, and they learn a model of handling conflict called "Think First." Through these and other activities, the students learn to think analytically and critically about their own beliefs and behaviors as they question and reframe some of their basic assumptions.

The Aggressors, Victims, and Bystanders resource guide defines habits of thoughts as:

how one thinks, as indicated by one's skills in solving social problems
what what one thinks, as indicated by one's beliefs supporting the use of violence
one's style of thinking in conflict situations, a hot-headed style of making impulsive, incomplete, and erroneous responses or a cool-headed style of making reflective, thorough, and accurate responses

The Aggressors, Victims, and Bystanders program addresses students' habits of thought through a 12-lesson curriculum in which students look at conflicts in their lives, examine their beliefs about conflict and violence, and work with a process called "Think First" to develop new skills and strategies for handling conflict in all three conflict roles -- aggressor, victim, and bystander. The Think First process has four steps:

Step 1: Keep Cool. Replace hot-headed thoughts and actions with cool-headed ones.

Step 2: Size Up the Situation. Be aware of "baggage" you bring to the situation and make sure you get all the facts, rather than jumping to conclusions.

Step 3: Think It Through. Look at your goals, your options, and the likely consequences of the actions you might choose.

Step 4: Do the Right Thing. Choose your best option and act on it. Then use what you learned and apply it to future conflicts.


		Students can try to change a personal habit of their choice, such as nail-biting, excessive phone time, procrastinating, and the like. They can work with partners or small groups to identify a habit, set a goal for change, develop an action plan, and follow through. (Be sure to help students choose goals that are specific, realistic, and attainable. To "give up sweets" is a vague and difficult goal; to "limit myself to one treat each day" is clear and within reach.) Students will need several weeks to work on changing their habits. At the end of that time, discuss the process. Help students see the connection between habits of thought and other kinds of habits.
		Show students scenes from television shows, television news, or movies that portray conflict or confrontation involving victims, aggressors, and bystanders. Discuss and analyze the interactions that are shown. Ask students to consider: Who is the victim(s)? The aggressor(s)? The bystander(s)? What actions do they take and what are the consequences of their actions? What might have been the thoughts or beliefs underlying the characters' actions? Did they have any other choices, and if so, what else could they have done?
		With your students, carry out the activity shown in the video using belief cards. Make index cards with the following statements. (The statements are taken from the Aggressors, Victims, and Bystanders curriculum published by EDC. See Suggested Reading for this strategy.) Watching a fight and doing nothing is supporting the fight. If someone disrespects me, I have to fight him or her. If I refuse to fight, then others will think I'm a coward. People are basically mean. Distribute the cards to students, as shown in the video. As they consider one statement at a time, invite discussion. Help students understand that we all operate on our beliefs about how the world works and how people interact, and that when we make our beliefs explicit, then we can examine them, question them, and perhaps develop new ways of thinking and operating.
		Teach students the "Think First" process for handling conflict (see "What Are Habits of Thought?" above). Then ask them to work in pairs or groups to develop role-plays or skits in which someone uses the Think First strategy. Groups or pairs can act out their role-plays or skits for the class.