EFFECTS OF TWO TRAINING TECHNIQUES OF EMPATHIC RESPONDING ON CONFLICT REDUCTION AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS

ABSTRACT

The study sought to ascertain the effects of two training techniques of empathic responding on conflict reduction among secondary school adolescents. The two training techniques are Lessons on Empathic Responding and Perception (LERP) and Role Playing. Gender was examined as a moderating variable on the effects of the treatment. The study was delimited to senior secondary school II students in Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State. Six research questions were raised and answered and six hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The sample for the study consisted of eighty students (40 males and 40 females) who were screened using the conflict prone instrument (CPI) and assigned to experimental and control groups. Each of the two experimental groups was exposed to an eight week programme of the two training techniques while the control groups received life skills lessons that were not related to empathy. Davis’ Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and the conflict prone instrument (CPI) were used to measure empathy and adolescents proneness to conflict. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyze the data collected. The major findings include: Role playing was found to be effective in increasing adolescents’ empathy level; LERP was significantly effective in  improving students’ empathy; Post test empathy mean scores as measured by IRI of adolescents exposed to the two treatments significantly increased; there was a mean loss in the post test conflict mean scores of adolescents exposed to the two treatments. There was also no significant interaction effect between gender and treatments. Based on the results and educational implications of these findings, it was recommended among others that LERP and Role Playing should be used as secondary school-based programmes for the development of  empathy and  its related skills  in  adolescent in  order  to  foster the reduction of adolescents’ conflict in secondary schools.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Conflict is a natural and inevitable part of man’s personal and social life.  It is one of the most pervasive aspects of human affairs.  It exists in almost all social relationships, whether they are personal and informal or impersonal and formal. Conflict  according  to  Hornby  (2007)  is  a  situation  in  which  people,  group  or countries are involved in a serious disagreement or argument.  Hornby also defined it as a situation in which there are opposing ideas, opinions, feelings, or wishes; a situation in which it is difficult to choose.  Schellenberge (2001) defined conflict as behaviour in which people oppose one another in their thoughts, feelings and/or actions.  Merreni in Agulanna (2008) opined that conflict is an antagonistic struggle over certain scarce objects.  This brings about injury, destruction and defeat of an opponent.  Agulanna also reported that conflicts, though destructive, can also have functional and beneficial consequences for a group and community life.

Generally, conflict is disagreements in which the parties involve perceive a threat to their needs, interests or concerns. Kerzener (2008) opined that when conflict cannot be contained in a functional way, it can erupt in violence, war, and destruction. The harmful aspects of conflict include: the loss of productivity on the job, the destruction of relationships, organizational breakdown, and psychological damage to individuals. Conflicts among students refer to an existence of unhealthy and unfriendly relationship between two or more of them, seeking to achieve their

ambitions.

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The  prevalence  of  conflicts  among  Nigerian  students  as  observed  by Anokam (2002) had increased in the last three years in terms of frequency of recorded clashes and number of adolescents involved.      Students are quick to resort to conflict to get what they want.   Physical and sometimes fatal fights can start at the slightest comment, a sideways glance, or an unintended bump (Cohen & Nordås 2012). Jehn & Mannix (2001) opined that some conflicts such as interpersonal incompatibilities, disagreements in viewpoints and opinion, disagreement over the group’s approach have often resulted in cruel behaviours and no community in the nation, rural or urban, rich or poor is immune to the incidence and tragedies of youth conflicts. Kalgo (2001) asserted that students tend to have disrespect for their seniors and teachers in schools and that incivility and widespread dishonesty, cheating and violence are on the increase in secondary schools. This was corroborated by Minchakpu (2003) who observed that students are involved in various forms of cruelty such as bullying, hitting, kicking and assault of both students and teachers, destruction of property and even murder. World Health Organization (2013) also opined that because of the pressure many students face, they tend to put themselves at high risk for intentional and unintentional injuries which result from some sort of conflict among them.

One of the results of these conflicts is that students miss school and participate less in class.   Ojo (2000) asserted that interpersonal incompatibilities, disagreements in  viewpoints  and  opinions and  disagreement over  the  group’s approaches had accounted for many incidences of school drop-out, drug addiction, cultism,   prostitution   and   many   other   social   vices   persisting   today   among

adolescents. Ojo thus, concluded that such a  situation is hardly conducive for meaningful learning and academic success. Some of the likely causes of conflicts are quest for recognition, envy jealousy, sectional pride, disagreement, mistrust, corruption, group assertion, selfishness and group staying too long in power. Agulanna (2008) observed that students’ conflict had been associated with a variety of factors, which included difficulty in controlling anger.     Students according to Agulanna injure and kill themselves over incidents that could be considered trivial – an insult, a dispute over a girlfriend or boyfriend, or a rumour. Economic deprivation had been one of  the major causes of  youth restiveness in  Delta State.   This orientation had over time gradually crept into institutions of learning. The spate of adolescents’ conflict in secondary schools in Delta State had resulted in the cancellation of internal and external examination results, disruption of academic calendars and eventual close down of some secondary schools within the state is on the increase (Aghanta, 2006). Some students in secondary schools in Delta State and in Agbor particular engage in various forms of conflicts resulting in violent behaviours which have negatively affected academic activities.

The impact that students conflict has upon the educational process is undeniable as it is evidenced in the incessant breakdown of law and order, cancellation of internal and external examination results and disruption of academic calendar.   Interpersonal violence such as hitting, kicking, yelling, threatening, teasing, shooting among others is very tangible and disturbing. Minchakpu (2003) noted that conflict occurs within individuals, as when self-esteem is low and they criticize   and   withhold   themselves   and   conflict   occurs   outside   of   discrete

interpersonal interaction altogether.  The latter, so called structural conflict equally has disastrous effects upon its victim ranging from lateness, absenteeism, truancy, examination malpractice, dishonesty, cultism, suspension, rustication and outright expulsion from the school (Cohen & Nordas, 2012).

That conflicts exist in institutions of learning is not an aberration since the individuals (staff and students) who make up the system are from different backgrounds and have different opinions and values about life. In the context of this study, conflict among students would be seen as a disagreement in which those involved perceive a threat to their needs, interests or concerns which could result to violent behaviour. This meant that one student or group of them engaged in an activity that interfered with a second activity of another student. Conflict for students is a disagreement among them over issues that could lead to breakdown of law and order within the school system. Anokam (2002) observed that conflicts occur often in schools, where large number of students of different backgrounds clash over a variety of problems. In addition, students at the senior secondary school level are entirely adolescents who are experiencing developmental problems.

Adolescent is a young person in the process of developing from a child into an adult. World Health Organization (WHO) (2001) described an adolescent as a person who is between the ages of 10 to19. WHO observed that the biological determinants of adolescents are fairly universal; however, the duration and defining characteristics of these individuals may vary across time, cultures, and socioeconomic situations. The International Planned Parenthood Federation – IPPF (2004) defined adolescents as people who are between ages 15 to19. Actually,

IPPF  also  admitted  that  the  age  can  be  as  wide  as  10  to  19.  However, the categorization of adolescents according to the organization varied depending on the individual’s situation. For example, married people tend to be considered as adults while young people at school are still considered as adolescents, even if they are of the  same age.  However, it must be  emphasized that adolescents are passing through a phase, rather than a fixed time period in an individual’s life.

Adolescence is a phenomena that is uniquely human. According to Falaye (2001) while many other living things pass through the normal growth stages of childhood to adulthood, only human beings manifest certain characteristics that fall in between childhood and adulthood. Kaplan (2004) asserted that the term adolescence is commonly used to describe the transition stage between childhood and adulthood. Adolescence is also equated to both the terms “teenage years” and “puberty.” However adolescence is not exclusive to either of these terms. Puberty refers to the hormonal changes that occur in early youth; and the period of adolescence can extend well beyond the teenage years. In fact, there is no one scientific definition of adolescence or set age boundary. There are key development changes  that  nearly  all  adolescents  experience  during  their  transition  from childhood to adulthood.  Adolescence has also been described as a phase of life beginning in biology and ending in society.   It is an “in-between” developmental stage in which young people are no longer considered children, but are yet to be accepted as adults (Noh and Wilson, 2005).

For  the  adolescents, this period is  a dramatic challenge, one requiring adjustment  to  changes  in  the  self,  in  the  family  and  in  the  peer  group.    In

contemporary society, adolescents experience institutional changes as well. The World Health Organization (WHO) (2013) had described the adolescence phase as a time when these individuals within the stage face a lot of pressures and are extremely involved in high risks behaviours.   For the purpose of this study, the adolescent would be defined as an individual who is between the age of 10 – 19 and whose activities to some extent are independent of his or her parents. Adolescents are even at conflict within themselves; hence, they tend to transfer such tendencies into which ever system they find themselves.

For many of these adolescents, the only way to vent their anger is by striking out, often with grave consequences.  Thagard (2007) opined that the regulation of egoistic behaviour springs from internal sources, which were limits that individuals place on themselves.    These limits according to him were controlled by what he called sympathy.  Thargard (2007) added that this is the shared feeling that results when we observe other people in emotional states, the compassion that we feel for their sorrow, the resentment when they are slighted, and the joy that is felt when they triumph.  Collectively these feelings are called empathy.  It might be right then to say that adolescents in secondary schools who always want to strike the other in any way lack a measure of empathy that would enable them see others from same emotional state of being.

Empathy is what happens to us when we leave our own bodies and find ourselves either momentarily or for a longer period of time in the mind of the other. The individual observes reality through his or her eyes, feel his or her emotions and share in his or her pain. People also seem to make the same immediate connection

between the tone of voice and other vocal expressions and inner feeling (Lampart,

2005). Empathy had been described as a sense of similarity in feelings experienced by the self and the other, without confusing between the two individuals (Decety & Meyer, 2008).

The human capacity to recognize the bodily feelings of another is related to one’s imitative capacities, and seemed to be grounded in the innate capacity to associate the bodily movements and facial expressions one sees in another with the provocative feelings of producing those corresponding movements or expressing oneself (Gordon, 2004).   Proper empathetic engagement helps the individual to understand and anticipate the behaviour of the other. Apart from the automatic tendency to recognize the emotions of others, one may also deliberately engage in empathic reasoning (Gordon, 2004). A person may simulate ‘pretend’ versions of the beliefs, desires, character traits and context of the other and see what emotional feelings this leads to, or a person might simulate the emotional feeling and then look around for a suitable reason for this to fit.

Empathy involves identification with client.  This is clear in Rogers’ definition. Beland (2000) quoting Rogers, asserted that empathy is an accurate, understanding of the client’s world as seen from the inside. To sense the clients’ private world as if it were your own, but without losing the ‘as if’ quality.  Colloquially, it is expressed, at least in part by the phrase ‘I know where you’re coming from’.  Empathy however is the inner experience of sharing in and comprehending the momentary psychological state of another person. In the context of this work, empathy is seen as an ability to understand the situation of another or an ability to feel for the

situation of others. The ability to understand another person’s situation could communicate acceptance, respect and interest for them.   Understanding another person’s situation could help reduce to the barest minimum the tendency of disagreement and foster a peaceful coexistence of such individuals within a system.

Researches as reported by Beland (2000), Cotton (2001) and Cary (2004) had consistently shown that youth who are prone to conflict lag behind their peers in empathy, emotional reason and ability to accept others the way they are.  Meredith (2002) revealed that such individuals rather used cognitive distortions to rationalize their  behaviour.    This  tendency  to  distort  prevented  them  from  experiencing empathy for their victims.  Meredith (2002) described adolescents’ who got involved in conflict as been characterized by self-centredeness, externalization of blame and minimization of consequences.

Lack of empathy is one of the main factors that allowed adolescents to abuse their victims in diverse forms. Thargard (2000) noted that adolescents’ inability to feel their victims’ pain and accept their victims the way they are encouraged cruel behavours.  However, the basic capacity to recognize emotions is probably innate and might be achieved unconsciously for some, yet it could be trained and achieved with various degrees of intensity or accuracy.  In view of the fact that the lack of empathy had been blamed for the many conflicts that adolescents in secondary schools engaged in, Ojo (2000), opined that there was the need to reduce the damaging effects of  these  conflicts by  increasing the  amount  of  empathy that students possessed.

Given that adolescent are sanguine to solve hard-hitting mathematical problems, carry out snooping science experiments, learn about diverse cultures and languages, they could also be encouraged to become individuals who could identify with the feelings and experiences of family members, teachers, classmates,  and acquaintances (Ojo, 2000). Therefore, it would be possible to reduce on their cruelty and violence and keep civility alive in the society through training.   The training aimed at equipping the adolescent with conflict reduction skills through emotional understanding. The provision of empathic training according to Cotton (2001) could be used to enhance empathic behaviour in both adolescents and adults.   Some specific   components   of   empathy   training   approaches   include   lessons   in interpersonal perception and empathic responding; role playing and components empathy training (Cotton, 2001).

Lessons in Empathic Responding and Perception, (LERP) is an empathy training programme involving traditional lessons on issues related to empathy such as what empathy is, how it develops, how to recognize and respond to   other’s emotive states.  Cotton (2001) in a review of empathy training programmes found studies that concluded that LERP caused an increase in empathy scores of the participants.   Programmes   such   as   micro   training;   the   interpersonal   Living Laboratory; and Relationship Enhancement (Cary, 2004) were examples of LERP which had been found to be effective in increasing empathy levels in young people. The  interpersonal  reactivity  index  (IRI)  according  to  Frias-Navarro (2009)  was designed by Davis in 1980 to assess empathy, which was defined as the “reactions of one individual to the observed experiences of another.  It was made up of 28

items using 5-point scales (A = does not described me well to E= described me very well) and four sub-scales.  The four sub-scales were fantasy (FS), which assessed the extent to which individual identify with fictional characters, perspective-taking (PT), assessed the extent to which individuals spontaneously (try to) adopt others’ points of view, empathetic concern (EC) assessed the extent of individuals’ “feelings of  warmth,  compassion  and  concern  for  others’  and  personal  distress  (PD) assessed the extent of individuals’ “feeling of anxiety and discomfort” as a result of “another’s negative experience’. Each of these four sub-scales (FS,PT,EC and PD) had seven items. Apart from LERP, Fisher and Vander (2002) opined that role playing had also been found to increase empathic behaviour in adolescents.

Role–playing referred to the changing of one’s behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role (Rilstone 2004).  Hornby  (2007) defined role-playing as  “the  changing of  one’s behaviour to fulfill a social role”. Blatner (2002) believed that the natural vehicle for the experiential learning of an interpersonal skill such as empathy was role-playing. Role playing he said was a natural vehicle of learning because it is an extension of the imaginative, pretend play of childhood.   Role Playing (RP) involved activities and modeling of empathic behaviour in which one imagined and acted out the roles and situations of others.     Role playing built a type of understanding and a more flexible type of thinking. For the purpose of this study, role playing was seen as imagining one’s self to be someone else.  Fisher and Vander (2002) had empirically established  that  adolescents  could  be  effectively  taught  empathy  through  role

playing and that it was very effective in increasing empathic behaviour. Adolescents differ in sexual categorization; they are either males or females.

One of the predators of conflict apart from psychological factors as observed by Dykeman, (2011) was gender. Gender referred to sexual identity, particularly in relation to society or culture. It could also mean a grammatical category that was used in the classification of nouns, pronouns or adjectives based on characteristics such  as  animacy.  WHO  (2013)  opined  that  gender  issues  focused  on  the relationship between men and women, their roles, interests and needs. WHO also observed that the way and manner individuals responded to conflict situation depended largely on gender.   It was for this reason that the study incorporated gender as a variable in the treatment to establish if there would be difference in the treatment outcomes based on this variable.

Many vices that had eaten deep into the society today (including school drop- out, drug addiction, students’ unrest, cultism, religious and civil riots, rape, suicidal behaviours and the likes) were products of uncurtailed conflicts among adolescents. For the past decades the interest on school hostility had increased substantially in many   countries.   The   increasing   concerns   of   the   scientific,   educational, administrative and political groups were based on the need to analyze and understand the precedents and consequences of cruel behaviour during school ages. These concerns were based on the seriousness and frequency of certain behaviours that tarnished the student’s integrity. World Health Organization (2013) confirmed  that  this  problem tended  to  translate into  more  serious  behavioural patterns related to the physical and verbal violence towards teachers and peers,

hence, conflict is a threat to the teaching-learning process. The destructive and antisocial behaviours in the school demotivate students from their learning process and teachers from their functions of educator and transmitters of knowledge and values.  If the situation is left unchecked, the menace would become a cankerworm that might threaten the peaceful existence of many Nigerian secondary schools and the  society  at  large.    It  was  in  an  attempt  to  stem  this  tide  that  this  study investigated the effects of empathic responding and perception and role playing on conflict reduction among secondary schools adolescents.

Statement of the Problem

There had been a lot of emphasis on the need for qualitative education in Nigeria which included the training of the mind and character hence the planned curriculum  of  secondary  educational  system  is  very  laudable.    However,  the effective implementation of this curriculum had often been disrupted by one form of conflict or  the  other  arising between  students and  management, students  and teachers, and students against students.  In Delta State, the spate of adolescents’ conflict such as interpersonal incompatibilities, disagreements in viewpoints and opinions,  disagreement  over  the  group’s  approaches  which  had  crept  into secondary schools had resulted in the cancellation of internal and external examination results, disruption of academic calendars and eventual closure of some secondary schools within the state is on the increase. Majority of the adolescents in secondary schools especially in Agbor which is the headquarters of Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State engage in various forms of conflicts resulting into

violent behaviours which have negatively affected academic activities within the town. Most of these conflicts might be as a result of lack of or low level of empathy on the part of the adolescents, yet students could be trained to acquire increased empathic understanding

Several empathy-training techniques had therefore sought to operationalise and teach empathic behaviour to young people.   Claims and counter claims had been put forward for the efficacy and efficiency of lessons on Empathic Responding and Perception (LERP) and Role Playing (RP), which had been utilized elsewhere. It was yet to be ascertained how these techniques could increase the level of empathy of the Nigerian adolescents and hence help in reducing conflicts among them.   It  was against this background that this study asked, could training on empathic  responding  and  perception  and  role  playing  have  effect  on  the adolescents’ proneness to conflict in secondary schools?

Purpose of Study

The  study  aimed  at  finding  out  the  effects of  empathic responding and perception and role playing on conflict reduction among secondary school adolescents. Specifically, the study sought to:

1.  determine the effect of lessons  on empathic responding and perception (LERP)

on conflict mean scores of adolescents in secondary schools;

2.  determine the effect of role playing on conflict mean scores of  adolescents in secondary schools;

3.  ascertain the effect of lessons  on empathic responding and perception (LERP)

on empathy mean scores of adolescents in secondary schools in Delta State;

4.  determine the effect of role playing on empathy mean score of  adolescents in secondary schools;

5.  determine the differences in the mean conflict scores of males and females exposed to lessons on empathic responding and perception (LERP).

6.  determine the differences in the mean conflict scores of males and females exposed to role playing.

Significance of Study

This study would be significant in a number of ways.   The findings of the study could be  of  great relevance to  psychologists, government/policy makers, curriculum designers, teachers, guidance counsellors, parents/public, students and other researchers.

The assertion by some theories on which this study was anchored such as developmental theory, that a learner’s ability to adopt a desired behaviour depends on his/her training/teaching was tested and supported by the findings of this study. This was shown by  the  existence of  a  significant difference between students exposed to treatment and those in the control group.  This would be of great benefit to  developmental and  educational  psychologists because it  had  confirmed  the authenticity of training being a factor on which students’ learning depends.   This could be an insight for development of adolescents’ empathic behaviour.

Besides there is a growing concern for people to live harmoniously both within the school and outside the school.   The efficacy of Lessons in Empathic Responding and Perception (LERP) in conflict reduction among secondary school adolescents as revealed by this study, should steer policy makers and curriculum designers in developing in-school programmes, which would emphasize prevention and equip adolescents with necessary abilities that would enable them shun violent behaviour. Some specific time could be created on the schools’ time table to enable counsellors teach adolescents issues relating to empathy.

The findings of the study could be useful to teachers and parents alike since teachers  and  parents  could  view  discussion  on  empathy  with  students  as appropriate  and   they   would   also  ensure  that   they   become  empathic,  as adolescents’  eyes  are  on  them  as  role  models  by  ensuring  that  corporal punishments are not meted out on adolescents, while parents could ensure that there behaviours at home and towards people around them reflect empathic understanding.

The findings of the study could be useful to human resources managers in conflict resolution, multicultural education and inter group dialogue programme. They could also be useful in enhancing interpersonal relationships by guidance counselors in schools.  This could be achieved through enlightenment programmes that could de-emphasize adolescent maltreatment, corporal punishment and the likes and emphasize mutual understanding and unconditional acceptance of others just as they are.

The result of this study could familiarize school heads, teachers, counsellors and parents with the skills of training adolescents in empathy thereby preparing them to better handle misapprehensions.  All of these could be achieved using the media to educate the public by conveying a practical and useful message about best practices in conflict reduction among adolescents.  Government could sponsor media chats on television involving school heads, teachers and parents to discuss issues relating to empathic understanding and the need for mutual respect and understanding.

The government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) could sponsor film producers to get more involved in films that reflect empathic behaviours. The study could provide a springboard to other researchers who might like to carry out similar studies in other parts state or from a different perspective.

Scope of Study

The study focused on effects of empathic responding and perception and role playing on conflict reduction among secondary school adolescents. The independent variables were the two training programmes – lessons on empathic responding and perception (LERP) and role playing, while the dependent variables were students’ empathic mean scores and students’ conflict mean scores. Gender was of interest to this study.   The study was delimited to SS II students in government secondary schools in Agbor, Delta State.

Research Questions

The following research questions were raised to guide the study.

1.         What  is  the  effect  of  LERP  on  the  post  test  conflict  mean  scores  of adolescents exposed to LERP compared with those in the control group?

2.         What is the effect of role play on the post test conflict mean scores of adolescents exposed to role play compared with those in the control group?

3.       What is  the  effect  of  LERP on  the  post  test  empathic mean  scores  of adolescents exposed to LERP and those in the control group?

4.       What is the effect of role play on the post test empathic mean scores of adolescents exposed to role play and those in the control group?

5.         What is the difference between males and females’ post test conflict mean scores of adolescents exposed to LERP and those in the control group?

6.         What is the difference between males and females’ post test conflict mean scores  of  adolescents exposed  to  role  playing and  those in  the  control group?

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance.

HO1:        There is no significant difference in the post test conflict mean scores of adolescents exposed to LERP and those in the control group.

HO2:        There is no significant difference in the post test conflict mean scores of students exposed to role playing and those in the control group.

HO3:        There is  no  significant difference in  the  post test  empathic mean scores of adolescents exposed to  LERP and those in the  control group.

HO4:        There is  no  significant difference in  the post test  empathic mean scores of adolescents exposed to role playing and those in the control group.

HO5:        There is no significant difference between the post test conflict mean scores of male and female adolescents exposed to LERP and those in the control group.

HO6:        There is no significant difference between the post test conflict mean scores of male and female adolescents exposed to role playing and those in the control group.

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