Proactive Aggressor Group Intervention (Secondary School)
Introduction
In this section, the details of the proactive aggressor group intervention are presented with real examples and videos. For better understanding, the progress of the group intervention will be divided into six stages over ten sessions: preparation, first meeting, initial stage, early mid-stage, late mid-stage and late stage.
Proactive aggressors are intelligent and lucid; they act cautiously and seldom reveal their thoughts to others. Thus, it is particularly important for workers to establish a relationship of mutual respect with group members. Mutual respect in the relationship can reduce group members’ wariness towards workers and increase their sense of belonging to the group.
According to Bandura’s Social Learning theory (1986, 1999), proactive aggressive behaviour is learned by imitating and modelling others. Skinner (1953) believed that the benefits gained from aggressive behaviour become the aggressors’ incentive, providing reinforcement that perpetuates the aggressive behaviour. Therefore, exploring each group member’s family background can help workers understand the purposes and the reinforcements behind the members’ aggressive behaviour. Workers can thereby accurately and comprehensively evaluate group members.
Proactive aggressors think rationally about their aggressive behaviour. They carefully calculate the risks and rewards of such behaviour and the strategies needed to obtain the expected benefits (Crick & Dodge, 1994). By identifying the behavioural responses of group members (including the behavioural responses that have been considered and practised, and the effectiveness of these), workers can comprehensively assess group members’ aggressive behaviour and the beliefs underlying the behaviour.
Proactive aggressors are cold-blooded, possessing callous and unemotional traits. They lack empathy towards others; they only focus on immediate events and how these can benefit themselves. They seldom express their own feelings. Therefore, workers should enrich group members’ understanding of emotions and help them identify their suppressed emotions.
Educate group members about Ellis’ A-B-C concept. Identify members’ irrational beliefs.
By using Ellis’ A-B-C concept, group members are encouraged to reveal their own thoughts in group discussion and role-playing. This will assist workers to accurately understand the irrational beliefs held by proactive aggressors.
Create internal pressures to motivate group members to make changes.
Proactive aggressors tend to regard the consequences of their aggressive behaviour in a positive way (Poulin & Boivin, 2000) and will ignore the negative outcomes. Through role-playing in realistic situations, group members can establish an objective understanding of the negative consequences of their behaviours.
Discriminate and debate group members’ irrational beliefs.
By learning the concept ‘Reasonable, Fair and Rightful’, members can recognise the unreasonableness of their irrational beliefs. The irrational beliefs of proactive aggressors are commonly expressed as follows: ‘It is horrible when things are not the way I like them to be’, ‘I should be thoroughly competent, intelligent and successful in all possible respects’, and ‘I must have certain and perfect control over things’. Workers should challenge group members’ irrational beliefs by emphasising the importance of the concept of ‘Reasonable, Fair and Rightful’..
Formulate a new and effective rational belief with a new set of emotional and behavioural responses.
Workers should help group members to construct a new and effective set of rational beliefs underpinned by a new set of emotional and behavioural responses, through behavioural training and challenging their irrational beliefs.
Proactive aggressors lack empathy towards and often misunderstand the victims of their negative behaviour. Victims should thus be invited to express to the group the feelings they experienced when they were being bullied, to emphasise to group members the negative consequences of aggressive behaviour.
