Date of Award

12-1-2001

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Counseling

First Advisor

Dr. Scott Harrington

Abstract

The effect of life skills training in reducing aggressive behaviors was researched with seven subjects in a residential treatment facility. The subjects were between the ages of 10-15 and prone to aggression. The subjects had been diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Impulse Control Disorder, and/or Conduct Disorder. The seven subjects’ aggressive behaviors were assessed using the excessive aggression sub-scale on the Burks’ Behavior Rating Scale. Four full-time staff members completed the Burks’ Behavior Rating Scale three times over a 16-week period of time, observing the subjects’ behaviors with and without the life skills training. The results from the paired-dependent samples t-tests suggested that there was a decrease in aggressive behaviors with and without the life skills training significant at the .05 level. The decrease in aggression in both conditions demonstrates difficulty in determining the effect the life skills training had on the subjects’ aggressive behaviors as opposed to the standard treatment available to the subjects at the residential facility.

Comments

A Thesis Presented to the Department of Counseling and the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts University of Nebraska at Omaha. Copyright Sarah Skradski December, 2001

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