Formal evaluation Washburn County Anger Management Program

Abstract

This paper describes a formal evaluation of the Washburn County Anger Management Program which was originally developed in 1994, and then significantly revised in 1997-98. The purpose of a formal evaluation was to receive feedback about current logistics of the program, satisfaction with materials, and to determine helpfulness of the strategies and techniques presented by the facilitators. Because the program includes parents, a targeted adolescent, and may include any other members of the household over the age of twelve, everyone who participated in the program since it’s revision, was invited to take part in the evaluation process. All former program participants were mailed a release, confidentiality statement and a survey which was developed to obtain the desired feedback. Respondents were asked to identify their age group, as well as their role. They were then asked to indicate their preferences on logistics, rate their satisfaction with materials by means of a likert scale, and provide feedback on their perceptions of the group and the value and usefulness of specific techniques, both short and longer term. Respondents were asked to return the surveys in a stamped envelop which was provided. The response rate to the surveys was approximately 15%. The data were evaluated and the results indicated that a large majority of the respondents were very satisfied with the program logistics. Overall there appeared to be satisfaction with the materials and information presented. However, there did appear to be some discrepancy between the parent and the youths perceptions of the materials, with the parents perceptions being moderately more positive. Both groups reported increasing comfort with the group with time. The results also indicated that most respondents found most of the strategies helpful and useful, without regard to age or status. Most of the respondents stated they would recommend the program to other families, even if a fee were imposed (respondents participated in the program free of cost). Suggestions for future evolution of the program include addition of a segment or film devoted to relaxation or self soothing strategies, increased emphasis on de-escalation techniques, and the addition of a before and after tool to assess individual anger levels. Suggestions in the evaluation design include that each group participate in feedback following the final session, along with the pre-test/post-test assessment mentioned above.