The effectiveness of the warning signs program in educating youth about violence prevention: a study with urban high school students

Professional School Counseling, Oct, 2003 by Kristin Schaefer-Schiumo, Amy Patraka Ginsberg

Table 1. Prong I: Personality Traits and Behaviors that may be
Warning Signs of Potential Violence (FBI; O'Toole, 2000) Divided into
Preliminarv Clusters

Cluster                     Personality Traits / Behaviors

Coping/Anger Management     Low Tolerance for Frustration
                            Poor Coping Skills
                            Lack of Resiliency
                            Failed Love Relationship
                            Injustice Collector
                            Anger Management Problems

Behavioral Signs            Leakage
                            Change of Behavior
                            Behavior Relevant to Threat

Depression                  Alienation
                            Signs of Depression
                            Masks Low Self-Esteem

Narcissism                  Narcissism
                            Dehumanizes Others
                            Lack of Empathy
                            Exaggerated Sense of Entitlement
                            Attitude of Superiority
                            Exaggerated or Pathological Need for
                              Attention
                            Externalizes Blame

Fascination with Violence   Inappropriate Humor
and Violent People          Unusual Interest in Sensational Violence
                            Fascination with Violent Entertainment
                            Negative Role Models

Rigidity                    Intolerance
                            Seeks to Manipulate Others
                            Lack of Trust
                            Closed Social Group
                            Rigid and Opinionated

Table 2. Prongs II, III, & IV: Family, School and Social Dynamics that
may be Warning Signs of Potential Violence (FBI; O'Toole, 2000)

Prong             Dynamics

Family Dynamics   Turbulent Parent-Child Relationship
                  Acceptance of Pathological Behavior
                  Access to Weapons
                  Lack of Intimacy
                  Student Rules the Roost
                  No Limits or Monitoring of TV and Internet

School Dynamics   Student's Detachment from School
                  Tolerance for Disrespectful Behavior
                  Inequitable Discipline
                  Inflexible Culture
                  Pecking Order Among Students
                  Code of Silence
                  Unsupervised Computer Access

Social Dynamics   Media, Entertainment, Technology
                  Peer Groups
                  Drugs and Alcohol
                  Outside Interests
                  The Copycat Effect

Table 3. Summary Data of Pre- and Post-Intervention Responses in Prong
1, Personality Traits and Behavior, Divided According to Clusters

                   Classroom 1   Classroom 2   Classroom 3     Total
                                                             Responses

Coping/            31 / 35       28 / 17       29 / 16       88 / 68
Anger Management
Narcissism          0 / 3         1 / 1         8 / 0         9 / 4
Behavior Signs      8 / 10       14 / 6         7 / 8        29 / 24
Fascination with    0 / 2         1 / 0         3 / 1         4 / 3
Violence
Depression         26 / 16       12 / 6        13 / 18       51 / 40
Rigidity            0 / 0         0 / 0         1 / 0         1 / 0

Note. Pre-Intervention Questionnaire (participants) n = 53;
Post-Intervention Questionnaire (participants) n = 35. The numbers
above reflect the number of responses received in each cluster.
Students' responses often included multiple parts and sometimes
referred to more than one category. Thus, the numbers in the table
reflect the number of responses, which is at times greater than the
number of participants.

Table 4. Summary Data of Pre-and-Post-Intervention Responses in Prong
2, Family Dynamics; Prong 3, School Dynamics; and, Prong 4, Social
Dynamics
                                                              Total
                  Classroom 1   Classroom 2   Classroom 3   Responses

Family Dynamics   5 / 3         1 / 1         3 / 0          9 / 4
School dynamics   1 / 0         0 / 0         1 / 0          2 / 0
Behavior Signs    4 / 10        2 / 1         7 / 0         13 / 1

Note. Pre-Intervention Questionnaire n = 53; Post-Intervention
Questionnaire n = 35. The numbers above reflect the number of
responses received in each cluster. Students' responses often included
multiple parts and sometimes referred to more than one category.

Table 5. Summary Data of Types of Pre-and-Post-Intervention Responses
to Questions about how to Prevent Violence in Others and Themselves

                                                               Total
                   Classroom 1   Classroom 2   Classroom 3   Responses

Remove Self from   24 / 10       13 / 8        11 / 3        48 / 21
Situation

Talk to            12 / 10       11 / 2        11 / 8        34 / 20
Potentially
Violent Person

Talk to Someone    19 / 27       20 / 7        14 / 10       53 / 44
Else (friend,
adult, parent,
etc.)

Engage in          28 / 38        6 / 10       24 / 14       58 / 62
Activity for
Distraction or
to Release
Feelings

Note. Pre-Intervention Questionnaire n = 53; Post-Intervention
Questionnaire n = 35. The numbers above reflect the number of responses
received in each cluster. Students' responses often included multiple
parts and sometimes referred to more than one category. Thus, the
numbers in the table reflect the number of responses, which is at times
greater than the number of participants.