Viewpoints: Solving Problems With Making Effective Decisions for Young Adults

This manual serves as the student workbook for the Viewpoints group training program. It presents a 10-lesson curriculum designed to teach social problem-solving skills, increase impulse control, promote empathy, and develop prosocial attitudes in adolescents. The program covers topics such as peer pressure, drugs and alcohol, stress, fairness, and prejudice. Lessons involve reading, writing, and group discussion. Each lesson poses real-life problem situations that are interesting, relevant, and highly thought provoking. The program has been field-tested over a period of 15 years in schools and juvenile correctional facilities. It has been shown to significantly reduce students' aggression and antisocial behavior.

Nancy G. Guerra, Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Michigan. She has worked with children and youth in a variety of settings and is currently the principal investigator for a school-based social development intervention funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters and is on the editorial board of the journal Developmental Psychology.
Ann Moore is the Director of the Center for Law-Related Education in Santa Barbara, California. She has worked on a variety of juvenile justice and youth development projects over the past 20 years. She has implemented the Viewpoints program in several settings and was featured on a Bill Moyer's television special on youth violence.
Ronald G. Slaby, Ph.D., is a research scientist with the Education Development Corporaton in Newton, Massachussetts, and a lecturer in the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Harvard School of Public Health. He has published several books and numerous articles in the area of children's social development.