Interactive Theater Program Halts Progression of Violent Behaviors in Youth

The Trauma Center of Boston, one of eight research partners of the Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community Violence, conducted an independent evaluation of the Urban Improv * interactive theater arts program. According to the evaluation, Urban Improv’s interactive theater programs prevent fourth-grade, at-risk urban youth from becoming more violent, aggressive, and disruptive, while enabling them to pay closer attention and engage more in school.

Psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk and Clinical Psychologist Joseph Spinazzola, Co-Principal Investigators, measured the effect Urban Improv programs had on the behavior of children who participated, against the behavior of students who had not participated in the programs. The findings show that participating fourth grade students increased their pro-social behaviors in school, including cooperation, self-control, and positive self-assertion by the end of the program, and also exhibited increased classroom engagement and attention. In addition, they did not display new-onset or increased aggressive behaviors following their Urban Improv experiences.

By comparison, fourth-grade students who did not participate in Urban Improv programs exhibited an increase in aggressive behaviors and continued to withdraw and disengage from social activities, according to study investigators.

Narcissa Campion, Urban Improv Managing Director, says, “In Urban Improv, students learn that they can choose alternatives to violence.”

The study findings held even for the children who had the greatest exposure to violent situations and life stressors (family illness, loss and or community or domestic violence) prior to the program, according to Dr. Spinazzola.

Urban Improv actors engage 6,000 students annually, in Boston and throughout the region, in skits that address issues close to their everyday lives including racism, bullying, self-esteem, domestic violence, substance abuse, and teen pregnancy. The issues addressed are determined according to the age, need, and education level of the students as articulated by their teachers, principals, and community leaders.

Urban Improv programs allow students to participate in action and dialogue in a supportive and cooperative environment. The actors give voice to the students’ ideas and allow them to influence the outcome of the scenes being presented. At a critical point in the scene, the director freezes the action and invites a student to replace one of the actors. This child then makes the pivotal decision affecting the outcome of the scene.

* Founded in 1993, Urban Improv is a violence prevention program for youth that addresses issues close to their everyday lives including racism, bullying, self-esteem, domestic violence, substance abuse, and teen pregnancy. Urban Improv is funded primarily by private donations, grants, and the annual fundraising event, “Banned in Boston”. Urban Improv is a program of the Freelance Players, Inc., a non-profit organization founded in 1974. For more information about Urban Improv, visit http://www.urbanimprov.org or call (617) 232-1175.

Page Updated: April 04, 2005