Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Thesis submitted to Antioch University in partial fulfillments of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts
Local notes
http://www.processwork.org/files/Finalprojects/Hohler_L_December_2000.pdf
ABSTRACT
Intervening when physical violence escalates among teenagers is a subject little researched or documented in Central Europe. The youth workers who know the most about it often do not document or frame what they are doing. This is the reason why the research methodology for this thesis is based on illuminating the subject from a first-person account of youth workers and teenagers who have directly encountered physical violence. The research took place in the context of a project called "Midnight Basketball" in Zurich, Switzerland and therefore in an open group setting. Three youth workers and three teenagers who have been involved with Midnight Basketball were interviewed about physical violence and their experiences of intervening or engaging in it. The analysis of the interviews leads to a list of interventions to de-escalate physical violence once it has started. Process-oriented Psychology, also referred to as Process Work, provides the basis for the analysis of the implications of these interventions. There are several conclusions about intervening. It is sometimes possible to de-escalate physical violence and there are many ways to intervene. Intervention happens on two levels: On an outer level of the specific intervention applied and on an inner level of the attitude and the congruency of the person who intervenes. On the outer as well as on the inner level there are certain principles that determine whether an intervention is likely to be successful or not. Matching the energy of the fight and including the overall situation are the main outer principles to consider when intervening. Concerning the inner level, it can be said that an intervener who intervenes with an attitude of pathologizing or criticizing the teenagers is less likely to be successful than a person who intervenes with a congruent attitude of liking the teenagers and believing in the situation at hand as a meaningful process.
ABSTRACT
Intervening when physical violence escalates among teenagers is a subject little researched or documented in Central Europe. The youth workers who know the most about it often do not document or frame what they are doing. This is the reason why the research methodology for this thesis is based on illuminating the subject from a first-person account of youth workers and teenagers who have directly encountered physical violence. The research took place in the context of a project called "Midnight Basketball" in Zurich, Switzerland and therefore in an open group setting. Three youth workers and three teenagers who have been involved with Midnight Basketball were interviewed about physical violence and their experiences of intervening or engaging in it. The analysis of the interviews leads to a list of interventions to de-escalate physical violence once it has started. Process-oriented Psychology, also referred to as Process Work, provides the basis for the analysis of the implications of these interventions. There are several conclusions about intervening. It is sometimes possible to de-escalate physical violence and there are many ways to intervene. Intervention happens on two levels: On an outer level of the specific intervention applied and on an inner level of the attitude and the congruency of the person who intervenes. On the outer as well as on the inner level there are certain principles that determine whether an intervention is likely to be successful or not. Matching the energy of the fight and including the overall situation are the main outer principles to consider when intervening. Concerning the inner level, it can be said that an intervener who intervenes with an attitude of pathologizing or criticizing the teenagers is less likely to be successful than a person who intervenes with a congruent attitude of liking the teenagers and believing in the situation at hand as a meaningful process.