Core Components

Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways (RiPP) is a school-based violence-prevention intervention for children aged 10 to 14 years. The programme provides adolescents with conflict resolution strategies and skills to reduce aggressive behaviour and violence. The curriculum is delivered consecutively over three school years commencing first year of senior/secondary school and consists, each year, of 16 lessons of 50 minutes, with each lesson building on the previous. RiPP is designed to be implemented alongside a peer mediation programme and is suitable for children from all socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.

The programme combines a classroom curriculum of social/cognitive problem-solving with real-life, skill-building opportunities, such as peer mediation. Students learn to apply critical thinking skills and personal management strategies to personal health and well-being issues. RiPP lessons comprise a variety of activities and strategies including team building, repetition and mental rehearsal, small group work, role playing, rehearsal of specific social skills for preventing violence and didactic learning. Each activity is scripted to a specific objective. Student workbooks are used to support all activities.

In the 16 sessions of the first year, students learn that they have non-violent options when conflicts arise. In the 16 sessions of the second year, students learn that friendships are the place to work on resolving conflicts before testing these skills in the larger community. In the 16 sessions of the third year, students come to see the move to high school as a chance to imagine the future, set their goals, make new friends, forgive someone, work hard in school, and apply for a job. Through the programme students also learn the physical and mental development that occurs during adolescence, how to analyse the consequences of personal choices on health and well-being, learn that they have nonviolent options when conflicts arise and experience the benefits of being a positive family and community role model. The key concepts taught in RiPP include:

1) The importance of significant friends or adult mentors
2) The relationship between self-image and gang-related behaviours
3) The effects of environmental influences on personal health

RiPP is manualised with a range of materials for each of the three consecutive years including instructor manuals, student workbooks, student journal (3rd year), 3 RiPP posters and customisable google forms for the three student workbooks and journal to support virtual implementation.

Fidelity

In order to maintain fidelity to the intervention, the following are provided for implementing agencies/schools.

(1) Standardised training
(2) Training manual, student workbooks and printable and on-line materials
(3) Evaluation tools

Modifiable Components

The RiPP manual provides instructions for implementation, which include modifications to ‘Make RiPP Real’ in the community context where it is implemented. The activities and worksheets in the workbooks are all available as modifiable google forms.
The programme can also be implemented virtually to a group and is available in English.

Support for Organisation / Practice

Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways (RiPP) is supported by Prevention Opportunities, LLC.

Implementation Support

RiPP provides implementation support to schools and teachers that includes:

• On-site training to introduce the model
• Ongoing coaching and support to help teachers integrate RiPP into their existing practices
• Classroom materials to support teachers as they implement the programme in their classrooms
• Technical assistance by phone or email during delivery from the RiPP trainer

Licence Requirements

A license is not required to deliver RiPP.

Start-up Costs

To deliver RiPP requires the purchase of programme materials at a cost of $475. The cost for training and technical assistance varies depending on the implementing school’s needs and travel.

Building Staff Competency

Qualifications Required

To deliver RiPP requires trained qualified teachers.

Training Requirements

Training to deliver RiPP is negotiated between the school and the developer to ensure it fits the context and staff needs.

Supervision Requirements

Supervision is not required to deliver RiPP.

Theory of Change

Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways (RiPP) targets early adolescence, a developmental phase in the child’s life as an opportunity to promote healthy social development and prevent violence. The programme is underpinned by theories of social cognition, problem-solving and emotional processes that are essential in controlling aggressive behaviour and in increasing social competence and is delivered through six themes:

1. Promotion of Peaceful and Positive Relationships
2. Choice, Power, and Self-Efficacy in Early Adolescence
3. Self-Regulation
4. Responsible Decision-Making and Problem-Solving
5. The Need to Achieve and Take Positive Risks
6. Developmentally-Appropriate School Context

Values

Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways (RiPP) provides classroom-based support to all children combining a classroom curriculum of social/cognitive problem-solving with real-life skill-building opportunities such as peer mediation. RiPP enables children to develop critical thinking skills and personal management strategies.

• Does taking a universal classroom-based approach to prevent violence align with your organisation’s values?
• Is supporting children to develop critical thinking skills and personal management strategies to prevent violence align with your organisation’s values?

Priorities

RiPP is a school-based violence-prevention intervention for children aged 10 to 14 years. It focuses on building social-cognitive skills to promote nonviolence conflict resolution and positive communication. The goals of RiPP include the creation of a caring community to support pro-social norms and expectations that acknowledge the interactive influence of behaviours, intra-personal attributes, and environmental factors.

• Is taking a prevention approach to reduce aggression and prevent violent behaviours in adolescents a current priority for your organisation?
• Is reducing early risk factors that can lead to violence in adolescence a priority for your organisation?

Existing Initiatives

• Does your service already provide prevention programmes aiming to provide conflict-resolution strategies and skills to reduce aggressive behaviour and prevent violence?
• Does your organisation already have teachers trained in delivering RiPP?
• Do you have links with CAMHS, Adult Mental Health Services and Child Protection Services to refer onto if required?

Workforce

To deliver Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways (RiPP), which is integrated into class time, requires a qualified trained teacher with access to the programme materials.

• Do you have enough qualified teachers available to commit to undertake training?
• Do you have enough qualified teachers available to commit to delivering the full extent of this programme?

Technology Support

To implement RiPP by virtual group delivery requires online access to stream media requiring the use of an appropriate device and internet access.

• Do you have access to adequate technology to support teachers to effectively deliver the technological components of the programme?

Administrative Support

Minimal administrative support is required to deliver RiPP however, some support may be required to collect evaluation data and feedback and print off materials.

• Do you have enough administrative capacity and systems to meet these administrative needs?

Financial Support

To deliver RiPP requires the purchase of programme materials at a cost of $475 and training and travel costs which are negotiated directly with the programme developer.

• Do you have the finances to purchase the training and materials?

Comparable Population

Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways (RiPP) is designed as a universal programme for children across the full range of socio-economic levels aged 10-14 years.

Evidence of its effectiveness includes an ethnically diverse student population in rural schools in the USA including White, Caucasian American/European, Hispanic or Latino, African American or Black ethnicities.

• Is this comparable to the population you serve?
• Does your organisation have existing contacts with this population?

Desired Outcome

RiPP is a classroom based preventative programme that seeks to provide conflict resolution strategies and skills to reduce aggressive behaviour and prevent violence in school aged children and to intervene with young children to help them avoid potential violence in adolescence.

Research has identified that RiPP has shown significant improvements in measures of aggression, victimisation, life satisfaction, knowledge and attitudes.

• Is providing conflict resolution strategies in skills to reduce aggressive behaviour and violence a desired outcome for your organisation?
• Is preventing adolescent’s future problem behaviours such as violence a desired outcome for your organisation?
• Do you have other existing initiatives that would be supportive of addressing this need and achieving these outcomes?