Citation

Kisiel C, Blaustein M, Spinazzola J, Schmidt CS, Zucker M, Van der Kolk B. J. School Violence 2006; 5(2): 19-36.

Affiliation

(ckisiel@mednet.ucla.edu)

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1300/J202v05n02_03

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The present study evaluated the impact of Urban Improv (UI), a theater-based youth violence prevention (YVP) program developed for inner-city youth, on three behavioral and psychological outcome domains: aggressive behaviors, prosocial behaviors, and scholastic attention and engagement. This study compared outcomes for 77 elementary school students in classrooms designated to receive UI with those of 63 students from matched control classrooms. Findings revealed that students who received UI were superior to matched controls on all outcome domains. Findings support UI as a promising practice for YVP with urban elementary school students and suggest that greater attention should be focused on application of theater-based programs in YVP.