Helping Schoolchildren Cope with Anger, Second Edition

Jim Larson, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Director of the School Psychology Program at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater. He is also a member of the Scientific Board of the Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment, headquartered in Miami, Florida. Formerly a school psychologist with the Milwaukee Public Schools and the lead psychologist in the school system’s Violence Prevention Program, Dr. Larson’s major research interests are the treatment of anger and aggression in children and youth and programming for the prevention of school violence. John E. Lochman, PhD, ABPP, is Saxon Professor Emeritus in Psychology, Senior Fellow of the Alabama Life Research Institute, and Director Emeritus of the Center for Prevention of Youth Behavior Problems at the University of Alabama. He is also Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Duke University Medical Center. A clinical psychologist, Dr. Lochman has authored more than 400 scientific articles, chapters, and books on the causes and consequences of highly aggressive behavior in childhood, and on the effects of intervention for this behavior. His current focus is research on dissemination, implementation, and adaptation of interventions. Dr. Lochman has served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology and is a former President of the Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice (Division 37 of the American Psychological Association) and the American Board of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Career Award from the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (Division 53 of the American Psychological Association).

Larson and Lochman are true scientist-practitioners who have produced an exceptional resource for school- and community-based clinicians. This revised second edition provides a useful update of aggression prevention research and shows how the Anger Coping Program aligns with current models of school-based practice. The session-by-session format is very user friendly. As someone who has worked with this intervention for over 15 years, I highly recommend this book.--Colleen Cicchetti, PhD, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University“I have used the Anger Coping Program for many years and have trained hundreds of school psychologists and school counselors in its use. This highly effective program is now even more valuable with the addition of chapters specifically addressing considerations when treating girls and implementation with individuals. Another new chapter shows how the program is a perfect tool to use within an RTI framework.--Judith A. McBride, PhD, consultant, Long Beach Unified School District, CaliforniaThis is a comprehensive resource for school psychologists, counselors, and others who are working with aggressive and behaviorally challenging students. Practitioners get everything needed to implement the authors' approach, including appropriate background research. The Anger Coping Program provides essential positive behavioral support to students who need it--and it gives school personnel valuable tools for dealing with some of the most difficult challenges they face.--Beth Herman-Ukasick, MSE, school psychologist, Violence Prevention Program, Milwaukee Public Schools- The book covers everything a school practitioner needs to consider when offering an anger management program. --Virginia Child Protection Newsletter, 7/8/2010ƒƒ The book is aimed at those working with eight-to-twelve-year-olds and it uses a group approach which is practitioner friendly. More specifically, the authors are writing for psychologists, counsellors, and other professionals working in schools or school-like settings....The reader is given clear guidance on screening and identification techniques in a step by step method, supplemented with reproducible forms and suggested practitioner scripts. --SEN (Special Education Needs) Magazine, 6/2/2011ƒƒ Larson and Lochman...have restructured this edition so it is more practitioner-friendly. It includes chapters on integrating the programme with other school-wide responses to interventions and positive behavioral supports; adding more detail on working with girls and culturally diverse students and working with individuals. This edition also offers a manualised approach and templates for monitoring change and outcomes....There is great potential here for schools, and to that extent anyone working in a residential setting in the UK, to extrapolate the learning from the programme and consider how it might be adapted. Of course, it will resonate with those schools who already have a whole-school approach through Targeted Mental Health in Schools, but it then builds a response programme to children who have particular problems with self-regulation and anger. --Young Minds Magazine, 6/3/2011

• 1. The Development of Aggression 2. The Empirical Foundation for a Developmental Model of Aggressive Children’s Social-Cognitive and Emotional Difficulties 3. The Role of Anger Management Training in a Comprehensive School Program of Positive Behavioral Supports 4. Getting Started with the Anger Coping Program: Group Leaders, Screening, and Identification 5. Generalization and the Role of the Classroom Teacher 6. Preparing for the First Meeting: Procedures to Implement and Pitfalls to Avoid 7. Outcome Research Results for the Anger Coping Program and the Coping Power Program 8. The Anger Coping Program Manual 9. Considerations When Treating Girls and Treating Children from Diverse Cultural Backgrounds 10. Possible Negative Group Effects and Alternative Use as an Individual Format 11. Case Example 12. Frequently Asked Questions 13. Afterword Appendices: A. Anger Coping Program Teacher Nomination Form B. Anger Coping Program Teacher Screening Scale C. Classroom Goals Interview D. Anger Coping Agreement E. Anger Coping Program Classroom Generalization Inservice Guide F. My Goal Sheet G. Goal Attainment Scaling Form H. Sample Parental Consent Letter I. Anger Coping Program Initial Checklist J. Hassle Log K. Anger Coping Program Parent Letters L. Sample Parental Consent Letter and Anger Coping Program Parent Letters—Spanish Versions M. Anger Coping Program Classroom Progress Monitoring Report (CPMR) N. Anger Coping Program Intervention Integrity Checklists O. Stimulus Pictures Recommended Further Reading