The Effect of Student Journaling and Self Reflection on Changing Negative Student Behaviors

Abstract

This study investigated a program that may be used for decreasing aggression in students through the use of self-reflection. The targeted population consisted of middle school and high school students in a private not for profit therapeutic day school in a suburb of a iarge midwestern city. The problem of increased verbal and physical aggression was documented through archival records of the students' behavioral records. In this study, no student name or identifiers were used. The analysis of probable cause data revealed that students exhibited many types of behaviors that supported the need for awareness of self-reflections through journaling. Through informal observations and the archived records of the behavior documentation, this researcher noted the increase of verbal and physical aggression as well as the strong lack of coping abilities and skill prior to the implementation of a systematic three part solution strategy. A review of possible solution strategies by a variety of clinicians resulted in the selection of three major categories of intervention; Life Space Crisis Intervention, an increased amount of student and teacher interactions, and personal journaling. Post-intervention data analysis indicated a decrease in both verbal and physical aggression as well as an improvement in both interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships from hypotheses one, two, three, and seven. This researcher recommends that the use of personal journals be explained thoroughly and applied on a consistent basis by schools. The use of self-reflection through personal journaling would be most effective if all faculty would support the program and consistently implement it within their classrooms.