Why is a Different Approach Needed?
Program
Unique Approach
Young people are often put in a bind because they encounter situations where they feel threatened or provoked and then, feel compelled to fight to maintain their self-respect and feel safe. Fight Navigator helps them to:
- Understand the individual, societal, and cultural forces that influence fighting
- Understand and analyze threatening situations that create the bind of having to fight or else be shamed
- Learn contextually relevant ways to navigate threats and maintain their self-respect and feel safe.Young people are often put in a bind because they encounter situations where they feel threatened or provoked and then, feel compelled to fight to maintain their self-respect and feel safe. Fight Navigator helps them to:
- Understand the individual, societal, and cultural forces that influence fighting
- Understand and analyze threatening situations that create the bind of having to fight or else be shamed
- Learn contextually relevant ways to navigate threats and maintain their self-respect and feel safe.
Topics Covered
- Mixed messages about fighting
- Consequences of fighting
- Awareness of situations that promote fighting
- Awareness of contextual factors that promote fighting
- Mental preparation
- Concrete techniques to respond to threats in a manner that avoids violence and saves face.
Learning Objectives
As a result of this training, participants will be able to:
- Critically understand and analyze threatening situations that create the bind of having to fight or else be shamed.
- Learn how to prepare themselves outside of a threatening situation in order to access the optimal range of response options, when actually faced with a threat.
- Learn specific strategies for responding to a threat in a manner that avoids violence, but still saves face.
Who should use it?
The Fight Navigator program has been flexibly designed, so it can be delivered in a wide range of settings such as afterschool programs, summer programs, youth police academy programs, teen centers, and residential substance abuse or juvenile justice programs. Teen center directors, juvenile police officers, juvenile court counselors, guidance counselors, social workers, substance abuse counselors, and clinicians are some of the professionals who have been successfully trained to deliver the Fight Navigator program.
About The Developers
Fight Navigator was developed by experts in the field of violence prevention.
Dr. James Barrett, Developer
Dr. Barrett is an Instructor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School and a psychologist in the Cambridge Health Alliance Child and Adolescent Outpatient Department working primarily in school-based health centers. He is the site director of the Safety Net psychology practicum and clinical coordinator of the Safety Net Collaborative in partnership with the Cambridge Police Departmentâs Youth and Family Services Unit, Cambridge Human Services and Cambridge Public Schools. Dr. Barrett has presented at numerous national conferences on juvenile justice, gang violence, preventing retaliatory violence, and police-mental health partnerships. He has contributed to national meetings convened by SAMHSA, the MacArthur Foundation and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He is a contributor to Adolescent Psychiatry, The Community Psychologist, Professional School Counseling, and The Handbook of Human Development for Health Professionals. He also has a private practice in Cambridge Massachusetts and can be contacted at: www.jamesbarrettphd.com.
Dr. Janis Kupersmidt, Co-Author
Dr. Kupersmidt is the President and a Senior Research Scientist at innovation Research & Training (iRT). She is also a licensed clinical child psychologist focusing on delinquent, aggressive, and substance abusing youth. During her research career, she has been the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on approximately 50 grants or contract awards and has published over 80 papers, chapters, and books on the topics of aggression, delinquency, social information processing skills, peer relations, substance abuse, prevention, mentoring, mindfulness, media literacy education, and positive youth development. In addition, she has authored or co-authored many evidence-based prevention programs including the Aware, Connected Scholars, Media Detective, Media Ready, Media Aware, Preparing for Mentoring, and Buddy Builder programs. She has conducted numerous training workshops around the world and completed over 150 presentations at scientific conferences. She is the co-editor of a book, Childrenâs peer relations: From development to intervention, published by the American Psychological Association Press. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia, and then, retired as an Associate Professor at UNC-CH to found iRT.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Does it Work?
How Does it Work?
Some features of the program include: Utilizes a workshop model that can be delivered in one or more sittings Total length is 3 hours, depending upon group size, amount of …
How flexible is the program?
How flexible is the program?
The instructions are scripted in the Facilitator’s Guide to provide instructors with guidance on the goals, flow, and structure of each part of the workshop. Group facilitators may supplement the …
What Impact Does It Have?
What Impact Does It Have?
The Fight Navigator program was evaluated as a pilot prevention program with approximately 20 teenage boys attending a summer program in Cambridge, MA. Participants were given a vignette to read …
What happens after the workshop?
What happens after the workshop?
After the Fight Navigator program is presented to youth, their counselors and support staff are encouraged to utilize the vocabulary, concepts, and skills that were taught in the Fight Navigator …
Help Young people respond to threats in a manner that avoids violence and allows both party to save face
Price
Fight Navigator costs $120.
With the one-year license you get the downloadable manual and support materials, as well as access to web-based workshop materials.
About IRT
innovation Research and Training (iRT) was founded in 1999 by Dr. Janis Kupersmidt as an organization devoted to attempting to fill the many gaps between basic research findings, social policy, prevention, and clinical practice. Because of IRT’s foundation in the behavioral sciences, the company has a unique commitment to the application of current scientific findings, methods, and best practices to identifying and solving significant real-world problems facing children, families, and communities. Talented multidisciplinary teams of scientists, practitioners, graphic design artists, instructional designers, and web applications developers work together to develop innovative and attractive programs and services designed for usability, dissemination, and ease of implementation. The company is dedicated to developing evidence-based, cost-effective, culturally sensitive, and strengths-based methods for assessment, intervention, research, and training with the highest professional standards of excellence.
