Conflict Resolution Education - National Criminal Justice Reference ...

Community Component. Conflict resolution programs
for youth provide a range of functions and
meet both educational and environmental needs.
An important aspect of the environmental function
is to seek out youth and give them a voice in developing
such a program. CMG and UUUM have
devoted significant time and resources to giving
youth a voice in designing this program. The project
is deeply committed to the idea that when young
people have a role in building a program, their sense
of program ownership increases, and with it their
sense of responsibility, because they have a stake
in the program’s outcome.
Change has been difficult for me and I’m still
a work in process. But if I can change, you
can change, and if you can change, we all
can change the way we deal with conflict
and violence.
Project peer leader,
Funderburg Youth Program
As one example, the organizers initially held a
curriculum development workshop that included
youth, parents, adults, and community leaders. Following
the workshop, four high-school-age youth
were brought into the planning process as project
peer leaders to ensure that future curriculums both
addressed their fears and concerns about dealing
with conflict and dealt with the needs of youth.
Project peer leaders also act as teaching assistants.
In this role, peer leaders work with the CMG training
team to master group facilitation skills while
leading discussions and presentations. As peer leaders
become proficient in these skills, they play an
increasingly prominent role in leading workshops
for their peers and middle school youth in the community’s
clubs, service organizations, churches,
and housing districts. They also participate in the
community outreach and community-to-school
components of the project. Over time, the youth
become leaders in partnership with the adults.
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Recruitment and Selection of Community Youth.
Networking is perhaps the most important key to
developing a community-based program. In this
project, CMG and UUUM formed an alliance because
they shared similar goals in community work.
Additionally, UUUM had an existing youth program
whose leaders were willing to participate in
the project.
Youth were recruited from other organizations such
as Boys & Girls Clubs, church programs, court
referral programs, and other self-esteem programs
for youth in the area. The goal was to reach a broad
cross section of community youth. The initial program
included 20 participants in addition to the
peer leaders.
Community Outreach Component. The community
outreach goals of this project are aimed
at spreading conflict resolution beyond the First
Church in Roxbury to the larger Roxbury community,
including the adjoining communities of
Dorchester and Mattapan. While in-school programs
reach a select audience, this program reaches
youth who are not included in traditional schoolbased
conflict resolution programs.
Community-to-School, School-to-Community
Component. In this component of the project, CMG
and PYN are collaborating to:
♦ Develop a high-school-age conflict resolution and
negotiation curriculum.
♦ Train teachers, youth, and community members
to teach the curriculum.
♦ Design a model program (including training and
curriculum) for replication in other communities.
This was the most helpful training in conflict
resolution and mediation I have ever received.
. . . We learned things while we
were having fun, and we didn’t even know
we were learning at the time.
Streetworker, Boston Police Department