Conflict Resolution Training for Children Ages 6-11
In September 2023, the Institute of World Affairs (IWA) was awarded a grant by the JAMS Foundation (Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services) and the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) to develop, pilot, implement, and assess a curriculum for children, ages 6 through 11, on conflict resolution and reconciliation. The goal was to teach elementary-school-aged children the skills necessary to address conflict in ways that do not lead to violence. The literature suggests that in order to get children to turn away from violence, they have to be reached before aged twelve, when they go into middle school and generally experience puberty.
The curriculum for the program was developed by IWA in fall 2023 and piloted in spring 2024 in partnership with the community-based organization, the Alliance of Concerned Men (ACM). The pilot involved twenty-four (24) children drawn primarily from Kimball, Kipp, and Sousa Elementary Schools, all in Ward 7, one of Washington D.C.’s most economically challenged communities, and home to ACM. Lessons learned in the pilot led to modifications in the curriculum, which was then offered during the 2024-2025 school year to forty (40) children at Turner Elementary School in Ward 8, another historically disadvantaged, predominantly African-American community. These programs were evaluated by external experts. Results to date are highly encouraging and show significant behavioral change among the participating children with respect to conflict management and resolution. Unanticipated secondary effects were also highly positive. For example, some parents noticed a change for the better in the behavior of their children at home and deeper engagement at school.
The curriculum consists of approximately 14 lessons that begin with a focus group in which the participants are asked questions about issues that they will address in the subsequent workshops. We return to the focus group questions at the end of the workshops in order to compare the participants’ answers, prior to and after the lessons. That gives us a way to assess how much the participants were able to absorb and internalize.
Over the duration of the lessons, through role-play, drawing, and discussions, the participants tackle a range of increasingly complex questions grouped around a number of themes: Understanding Feelings; Identifying Sources of Conflict; Conflict Resolution/Resolving Conflicts; and Problem Solving, Reconciliation and Moving On. One of the important lessons we wanted the participants to learn is that conflict is not a bad thing, in fact, it is part of life, and for them to think about what drives them to conflict. The immediate point that follows is that if conflict is part of life, how can you deal with it in a constructive way so that you can reconcile and move on, rather than resort to violence as a way to deal with the conflict. That involves giving the children the range of skills to understand what causes conflict, how they can address it, and how they can move on from it.
In focus group sessions with both the children in the pilot program and those in the longer, year-long program, we were able to get a sense of the impact that the lessons had. For example, for both groups in the pre-workshop sessions their responses to “what makes you angry” were the same. For example, I get angry when my brother hits me” or when a classmate teases me. And the initial response to those triggers was violence, for example, “I hit him back,” or “I push him.” In the post-lesson focus groups, the responses were quite different. In response to what do you do when someone makes you angry, “I go to my safe space” (which is one of the lessons), or “I go to my room until I can calm down,” or “I tell my teacher,” etc. In short, what was clear were the differences in the ways in which the children responded to their anger as a result of the skills they were taught in the lessons. While it is too soon to learn how enduring these lessons are or will be, the initial responses were very promising.
Our experience over these two years taught us a number of lessons about implementing this program in difficult communities in Washington, D.C., lessons that could be applied in virtually any setting. But what we think is most important about this work thus far is that it has given us insight into ways in which we can begin to introduce these extremely complex concepts even to young children in a way in which they might turn from violence and toward more productive ways to deal with conflict in the future.
IWA is actively seeking to introduce the project in other communities in DC and beyond. For further information about the program or collaborating, contact Joyce Kaufman, jkaufman@iwa.org.
Guns for Opportunity (GfO)
This project is designed to get guns off the streets of the nation’s capital by offering education and training opportunities to young people prepared to exchange firearms for personal and professional advancement. It capitalizes on 23 years of experience by an award-winning community organization, The Alliance of Concerned Men (ACM), and builds on over two years of research and development by ACM in partnership with American University (AU) faculty.
GfO will serve as a gateway to a suite of services for young citizens of Washington, DC, offering them paths to psycho-social healing, education, instruction in dispute management and civil rights, and employment training. GfO utilizes community-based mentors. The project cycle is captured in this diagram. It includes continuous monitoring and evaluation.
A key objective of these project elements is to build individual and community resilience.
Guns for Opportunity – as opposed to guns for cash! – is an innovative program to introduce young citizens who turn in firearms and other weapons to a system of healing, education and training that within a period of approximately twelve months equips them with the knowledge and skills to become more productive citizens.
An initial product of this initiative is an 88-page manual of training resources to be used as a tool to facilitate violence prevention workshops aimed at empowering youth to become agents of change in their communities. The manual contains lesson plans, workshop ideas, motivational and action plans, with easy to follow directions and illustration. The manual and accompanying training workshops can be used in schools, community organizations and law enforcement.
Director: Dr. Hrach Gregorian