The Problem of Mass Incarceration

Specific Prevention Strategies

Building on the idea that all kids have the different strengths and needs, we must offer varied programs designed to help students grow on multiple levels and in multiple ways.  The following are some evidenced based practices to support all students, but particularly helpful in addressing students who have experienced complex trauma as a result of violence.

Direct Instruction of Metacognition

Children and adolescents can show positive effects in learning after direct instruction in processes linked to metacognition, or self-regulated learning.  Improvement in metacognition can boost the ability to plan, monitor, and evaluate while also increasing students’ positive beliefs about themselves and the goals they can achieve.  It has been proven that metacognitive instruction does improve both cognitive learning and motivation.  Using scaffolded individual instruction and repeated practice of skills, students showed increases in both skill and motivation. Metacognition skills allow students to learn deeply, to organize their knowledge, to evaluate credibility and reasoning, and to make informed decisions about what is supported and truthful. Improved metacognition also improved students’ ability to transfer knowledge and skills from one topic and subject to others.  Metacognition instruction also increased awareness of academic strengths and weaknesses.  This is important because as soon as a student is aware of a particular learning deficit, a teacher can offer strategies to fill or strengthen the gap.  As academic failure is one of the risk factors for violence/trauma exposure, we need to do everything possible to help our students become more savvy learners while building their awareness of the learning process. 

There are generally three important stages to developing metacognition: planning, monitoring, and evaluating.  In the planning phase, students gain needed knowledge, create goals, and investigate strategies for obtaining their goals.  Then, they map out smaller action steps important to achieving the goal and identify possible resources and roadblocks in order to increase their confidence in their own ability to succeed.  Understanding the planning process and practicing its steps will help students achieve self-efficacy which will in turn increase motivation.  Since teens (and adults) who have experienced trauma are often overwhelmed, understanding how to create a clear and orderly plan is enormously helpful when trying to reach a goal.  Also important is that the goal is genuinely important to the student.  If the student does not perceive the goal as useful and worth effort, he or she is unlikely to commit the time, attention, and energy needed to get it done. If the student does not truly understand that the goal is a valuable accomplishment, the effort will be minimal.  The next phase is monitoring or self-control.  Students who have a plan must now maintain the effort and focus needed in order to make progress toward the goal.  They must follow through with action steps and monitor their own progress.  They must also be willing to seek help from others and to use available resources.  This is not an easy process for many, and it is especially hard for people who have not been able to depend on much throughout their lives.  Care must be taken to find appropriate and available mentors whenever possible to facilitate trust.  Lastly, the evaluation phase, has to do with deciding whether you’ve met a goal (or not) and why.  Good evaluators must understand that it is possible to improve with practice, focus, and effort.  Students must believe that the brain is capable of growing connections and strengthening understanding.  Too many kids think that they’re just not smart like others, when intelligence and performance in many areas can be greatly changed with continued effort, timely instruction, and correct coaching. ¹⁴

Using Visualization, Affirmation, and Psychophysiological Regulation to Develop Self-Regulation

Visualization has been used for decades, but only recently have scientists been able to prove that the brain’s chemical response to visualization is the same as its response to an actual experience.  Scientists have used MRI to show that brain activity during imagined scenes stimulated the same networks as brain activity during actual events.  Students who are led through a detailed visualization of success and safety may be able to encode a construct of positive and calm emotional experiences to use as a cornerstone for future expectations and experiences.  Eventually, students can master leading themselves through visualizations that promote confidence in goal achievement and ability to remain calm under stress.  Even more interesting, is that there is now evidence to show that neural activity can mirror actual experiences in witnesses to events.  Someone who sees another person experience something positive or negative can have the same brain stimulation as the person actually having the experience.¹⁵ Some posit that this is how we develop empathy; I say this underlines the idea that seeing and feeling lead to higher probabilities of doing.

Affirmation, like visualization, can boost confidence by allowing the student to receive positive messages about him or herself whether or not they have been successful yet.  A student who can say aloud with emotion, “My patience is improving daily.  I am becoming a patient person.”  Is more likely to develop confidence in his abilities to fight impulsivity.  Who we think we are is a combination of what we see, hear, feel, and do.  Learning to develop positive affirmations and using them regularly can have positive results in emotional stability, subjectivity, and memory.  Further, students who understand the positive effects of affirmation can also assist others by using affirmations.  Students who are surrounded by peers who tell them that they can achieve, that they are making progress, and that their goals are important and worth effort are much more likely to continue working even when the work is difficult.

Adolescents often experience problems in regulating their thoughts and emotions, but trauma introduces additional problems with regulation as a result of the intense stress response to triggers.  Helping students to learn to regulate their bodies and thoughts give them a stronger sense of control and empowerment, thus increasing confidence and resilience.  Adolescence is the start for building reflective behavior and learning self-regulation skills as a group has proven to be more effective since classmates can create a sort of reference space for developing regulation.  The ability to let go of not useful negative thoughts and shore up skills in developing positive thoughts can go a long way in releasing anxiety and stress.  The calming effect that happens as a result of releasing emotional stress counteracts the stress of trauma, refreshes the tiredness caused by anxiety, and generally helps children and adults to feel better.  There are three main methods/skills involved with self-regulation: breathing control, managing movement and muscles, and word influence.  Specific Instruction is provided in rationale, biology, psychology, followed by repeated guided exercises and practice, until students are able to internalize processes in times of stress independently.  Developing self-regulation skills is important because it allows students to overcome the stress response that is draining them of energy and joy, thus allowing the possibility of more positive thoughts and actions in all areas.¹⁶

Character and Leadership Education

Well-designed character and leadership education help students in learning skills and developing traits aligned with positive moral and performance behavior.  The traits were separated into knowledge units needed to achieve Foundational Understanding (Positive Attitude, Preparation, Perseverance, Respect, Honesty, Integrity), Skill Acquisition (Courage, Appreciation, Composure, Empathy, Gratitude, Compassion), and Positive Futures (Tolerance, Service, Loyalty, Responsibility).  Each trait was paired with a developed unit that provided explanation, experience, and reflection in activities matched to the topic.  For example, the trait of Preparation tackled how and why to develop goals and priorities, then asked the student to create a plan for a prioritized goal.  Peer and small group work allowed for discussion and activities offered real world usefulness.  The program has had positive benefits for many students over the last fifteen years and is still being modified annually to best fit the needs of kids.  Learning and practicing skills of character and leadership allow the opportunity to be better received in many social settings.  Confidence and increased self-esteem are its obvious results.¹⁸

Teaching Mindfulness Skills

There is new evidence that youth who have learned mindfulness skills are more able to stay in the present with a focused awareness, maintain concentrated attention, show compassion for themselves as well as others, and better regulate affect.  Those skill sets help students develop socially, combat flashback, focus attention, and improve memory.  Mindfulness has been shown to improve executive function across a range of children.  Further, mindfulness instruction can be comforting and fun, helping to connect and deepen trusting relationships.¹⁴ Teens who have been taught about the different functions of the brain in thinking and emotional response have greater ability to be optimistic about training the brain with regard to mindfulness and control/self-regulation.  Teens need to know the basic functions of the amygdala and limbic system in order to understand how the effects of trauma can be both debilitating and ameliorated.  Helping people experience calm is a worthwhile endeavor because it increases the probability of working to stay calm.  When humans can stay calm, they can reason and reflect.  Without calm, the stress of trauma or even everyday life, can lead to impulsive, reactionary, and regrettable actions.  One way of increasing frequency and duration of calmness is practicing meditation skills. 

Meditation has been shown to be helpful in getting to and maintaining a state of calm as well as improve cognitive ability.  Starting with guided meditation and moving toward self-monitored meditation, students are better able to take the time needed to consider motivation and consequences of any action. Those minutes of thoughtfulness can dramatically change both how a teen sees him/her self as well as how others see him, further reinforcing the notion that heshe is in control and capable.

Restorative Justice Practices

Restorative Justice seeks to allow victims a voice in the justice system.  The process facilitates dialogue between victims and perpetrators and supports reasonable reparations and as much understanding as possible.  Restorative Justice can validate and provide some sense of closure for the victim of a crime.  It also allows the opportunity for the perpetrator to better understand the impact of the crime and to attempt to alleviate some or all of the financial loss.  Since victimization and delinquency often intersect, both the victim and perpetrator are offered the opportunity to explore the impact of victimization in their lives.  Perpetrators often have their own history of trauma and while that trauma cannot be used to excuse violence committed, revealing it can sometimes lead to support services and the consideration of mitigating factors.  It also allows perpetrators and victims to see each other as unique human beings with strengths and weaknesses.  Making reparations can positively impact both parties.  The careful process can offer many advantages.¹⁹ There are many schools who have embraced restorative practice as their new buzzword strategy, but it is important that all participants understand both the process and the motivation and to have a trained facilitator to help everyone communicate.  Restorative practice also takes time to establish and a willingness to change the discipline structure.  With dedication, schools can develop into communities that honor individuals while functioning for the greater good.