Week 5 Assignment

ife space crisis intervention

The Shattered Mask: A Red-Flag Carry-In Interview Linda L. Forbringer & Kim Johannpeter

This article describes a Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) with an adolescent in a suburban middle school. The student arrived at school distraught about an incident that occurred over the weekend, and quickly unloaded his anger on his unsuspecting teacher. The teacher used LSCI to defuse the situation, and was able to transform a potentially disastrous situation into a learning opportunity for the student.

Introductory Comments Educators today are often faced with an- gry, explosive outbursts and even violence. Many students arrive at school in the morn- ing carrying emotional baggage. Some are coping with abusive home situations that leave them overwhelmed by feelings of rage and abandonment. For others, the nor- mal life Stressors of interacting with fam- ily members and peers can create turbulent emotions that interfere with their ability to focus on schoolwork. All too often, stu- dents express their distress by lashing out at those around them. When adults respond with anger, the result can be an escalating cycle of conflict that seldom ends happily for child or adult.

Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) is a technique that interrupts the conflict cycle and empowers students by helping them rec- ognize their own patterns of difficult behav- iors and develop more productive responses to emotional turmoil (Long, Wood, & Fec- ser, 2001). Focusing on the here and now, an adult using LSCI can help transform a crisis into a learning experience for the child.

The following example illustrates the six stages in a Life Space Crisis Interview. Be- cause a child in the grips of overwhelming distress must first drain off the intense emo- tions before being able to think rationally or respond to helpful adult suggestions.

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the adult's first goal must be to provide emotional support to de-escalate the situation. The next step establishes the timeline of the event, allowing the adult to hear the child's perceptions of the event while developing trust. Using words to describe the stressful incident helps the child transition from an emotional response to a more rational, problem- solving orientation.

In the third stage of LSCI, the adult identifies the central issue and selects an appropriate therapeu- tic technique. Once the central issue is identified, the interview moves to the insight stage. During this stage the adult helps the child gain insight about his or her self-defeating pattern of behavior and creates motivation for the child to learn new, more productive responses. After the student can recognize that his or her typical response pattern is not helpful, stage five, new skills, can be imple- mented. Together the adult and child explore al- ternative responses to deal more effectively with stressful incidents that are sure to arise in the fu- ture. The sixth and final stage, transfer of learn- ing, helps the child close down emotions and plan for re-entry into the group.

Background and Incident Keaton is a thirteen-year-old general education stu- dent who attends 7th grade at a suburban middle school. He plays goalie in the AAA Hockey League, which is a junior team that travels all across the country and into Canada. Keaton is dedicated to his sport and sometimes practices on the ice early in the morning before school. He earns good grades but is not fond of writing assignments. He usually manages them but rushes through to finish. On Monday, Keaton arrived in his first hour language arts class and slammed his books on the desk as he sat down. Mrs. Johannpeter chose to ignore the behavior and greeted the class. She asked them to write a five paragraph narrative essay describing their weekend. Keaton gave a loud sigh and threw his head back in frustration. He stared at the ceil- ing as the other students began writing. Mrs. Jo- hannpeter said, "Keaton, please get started." Keaton shouted, "I'm not writing that stupid paper!" Mrs. Johannpeter, surprised by his reaction, responded, "Keaton, if you don't complete this assignment now, you will have to do it during your activity pe- riod." Keaton's temper exploded. He leaped up and shouted, "I told you I'm not doing it and you can't make me!" Mrs. Johannpeter was startled by this outburst. The other students were all staring at the two of them.

Stage i: Drain-Off Mrs. Johannpeter: Alright Keaton, let's talk about this.

Keaton: I'm not doing that assignment! (Throwing his hands up into the air in disgust)

Mrs. J.: I realize you don't want to do the assign- ment today, Keaton.

Keaton: Darn right!

Mrs. J.: I know you don't always enjoy writing es- says, but once you get started on one you do a very nice job. You seem pretty upset this morning. May- be there's more on your mind besides the assign- ment. I know you don't need any more problems. Let's move to the back of the room to talk quietly for a few minutes. Maybe we can put the day back on the right track.

Keaton: Oh, alright! (Sighing heavily)

Stage 2: Timeline Mrs. J.: Thank you for discussing this with me Keaton. How were you feeling when you came to school today? (The teacher is trying to deter- mine if something happened prior to his arrival at school).

Keaton: Not very well. (He looked down at his feet.)

Mrs. J.: What do you mean by "not very well?" Were you feeling ill?

Keaton: No, I wasn't feeling sick. I was just in a re- ally bad mood.

Mrs. J.: You were in a really bad mood. Tell me about what caused it.

Keaton: (Looked away, then down at the ground and stood silently.)

Mrs. J.: This seems difficult to talk about. It must be pretty important.

Keaton: (Voice becoming shaky) My mom crushed my brand new goalie mask on the way to my hock- ey tournament Saturday morning!

Mrs. J.: Your mom crushed your new goalie mask?

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Keaton: Yeah! She backed the truck over it and smashed it into thousands of pieces!

Keaton: Yeah. I'd wanted it for a long time, but my mom and dad said it cost too much.

Mrs. J.: How did that happen?

Keaton: We were loading up the truck in a hurry be- cause we were late getting on the road. I put one of my bags in the back of the truck but forgot that I had left my iPod in the house. I went back inside to get it and left the rest of my equipment on the ground.

Mrs. J.: You must have been very disappointed when you realized it was in the hag that was run over by the truck.

He did have a pattern of taking his anger out on others,

rather than dealing with the real source of his distress.

Mrs. J.: I want to make sure I understand what you've said. You were loading the truck with your hockey gear but then realized you forgot your iPod in the house. So you left your equipment on the ground and went inside to get it.

Keaton: That's right. My mom and hrother had al- ready gotten in the car and she honked the horn to get me to hurry up.

Mrs. J.: So your mom honked the horn and what happened after that?

Keaton: I ran out to the truck and got in. She start- ed yelling at me about making everybody late and then backed the truck out of the garage. We heard a loud bang and crunch. It sounded like glass shat- tering! We felt a big bump too.

Mrs. J.: You heard a bang and crunch, felt a bump, and then what happened?

Keaton: My mom screamed, "What the hell was that?" then jumped out of the truck to see what it was. She started screaming at me because I had left my equipment bag on the ground and she ran over it. My new goalie mask was inside that bag!

Mrs. J.: I'm sorry that happened, Keaton. Thank you for telling me. It helps me understand why you became so upset this morning when I asked you to write an essay about your weekend activities. Tell me more about this goalie mask.

Keaton: I got it for my birthday a couple weeks ago. It was super expensive! It had a customized tiger with my team name on it. My aunt and uncle got it for me.

Mrs. J.: You really liked this mask.

Keaton: Yeah, I was mad! I knocked some stuff off the shelf in the garage and kicked my bike over.

Mrs. J.: What did your mom say when you did that?

Keaton: She said it was my own fault for being so irresponsible and that I was lucky the truck didn't get a flat tire. Then she said to get back in the truck because now we're even later than we were before. She said I'd have to borrow an old goal- ie helmet from the coach to use for the tourna- ment.

Mrs. J.: That made you angry.

Keaton: Yes! It was going to be my first game wear- ing my new tiger mask, but I ended up wearing some crappy old one. My dad said that I can't get a new mask either! He said it was my own fault that I didn't put the bag in the truck in the first place.

Mrs. J.: How do you feel about that?

Keaton: I don't know! He must be right. I'm the one who forgot to put the bag in the truck. I shouldn't have worried about getting the iPod.

Mrs. J.: You made a mistake by not putting the bag in the truck and your goalie mask got ruined. You're upset and wish you had remembered to put the bag away before you went inside the house. But you weren't driving the truck, your mom was. Perhaps if you all hadn't heen in such a hurry she would have checked to make sure everything was packed or at least asked you if you had put everything in the truck before backing out of the garage. (Mrs. Jo- hannpeter wanted to help minimize Keaton's stress level and guilt.)

Stage 3: Identify the Central Issue Although Keaton may have been experiencing guilt regarding his role in the incident, Mrs. Johannpeter did not believe this situation warranted a Massag-

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ing Numb Values Interview, because this was not a pattern for Keaton. However, he did have a pattern of taking his anger out on others, rather than deal- ing with the real source of his distress. She therefore decided that the Red Flag LSCI would be beneficial.

Mrs. J.: Are you mad at me Keaton? (Trying to help him see that he was displacing his anger)

Keaton: No, why do you think I'm mad at you?

Mrs. J.: You displayed a lot of anger toward me to- day. If you're not mad at me, then who are you re- ally upset with?

Keaton: My mom and dad! I guess I'm mad at myself too. (Looking down at the ground)

Mrs. J.: Okay, but who received your anger?

Keaton: I guess it was you.

Mrs. J.: Yes, that's true. Has this happened before? Have you gotten upset with one person and then taken your anger out on someone else?

Keaton: Well, yeah, I guess so. When I get mad, I'm pretty much mad at the world!

Stage 4: Insight Mrs. J.: That's correct! When you're angry, you take that anger out on everyone around you. Do you think this helps you or hurts you?

Keaton: I don't know.

Mrs. J.: Tell me, do you recall what hap- pened when Mr. James asked you about your hockey game when he saw you in the hall on Wednesday?

Keaton: Yeah, I didn't feel like talking to him so I just kept walking and didn't stop.

Mrs. J.: Were you mad at Mr. James about something?

Keaton: No, I was mad because Corby stole my money when we were on the bus.

Mrs. J.: Was it helpful to ignore Mr. James or did it make matters worse?

Keaton: Worse, because he said I was disrespectful and gave me a detention.

Mrs. J.: You're right! It made things worse! It's not easy to look at problems, Keaton, but you're han- dling this very well. You're upset about what hap- pened to your goalie mask. You're mad at your mom for driving the truck over it. You're also mad at yourself and your dad. This morning, you took that anger out on me when I gave you an assign- ment even though I wasn't the person you were re- ally angry with. Can you see how you make more problems for yourself when you take your anger out on people who aren't part of the real problem?

Keaton: Yeah, I'm really sorry Mrs. J.

Stage 5: New Skills Mrs. J.: Thanks for apologizing, Keaton. I'm con- cerned that this pattern doesn't continue. You've got a problem with hockey right now and you don't need to add more problems to that. What could you do if you come to school upset or in a bad mood?

Keaton: Just don't say anything about it and do what I'm supposed to.

Mrs. J.: That might be tough t o d o . Do you think it would help to talk about your feelings with some- one?

Keaton: Yeah, probably.

Mrs. J.: Who would you be comfortable talking to?

Keaton: Either you or Mr. James. I've got you first hour and him second hour.

Mrs. J.: Will you come see me each day when you arrive in class to let me know how you're doing? We could talk for a few minutes at my desk. If there's something bothering you we could discuss it.

Keaton: Yeah, I'll do that.

Stage 6: Transfer of Learning Mrs. J.: Thanks for talking with me today Keaton. You work hard and you're also willing to work on some tough problems. That's a great quality for a student to have! I'm glad to have you in my class. Do you think you can start writing a narrative essay now? You could pick a different topic if you like.

Keaton: Can I write about what happened at a dif- ferent tournament that my team won?

Mrs. J.: Yes. I'll look forward to reading about it!

Instructionai Comments Mrs. Johannpeter was able to use LSCI to effective- ly defuse the incident. Many classroom teachers would become counter-aggressive in this type of situation and turn it into a power struggle with the student, which would only alienate the student and contribute to his false belief that all teachers are in- different to the student's point of view.

Keaton was unable to explain why the assignment upset him. He allowed his stress, anger, disappoint- ment, and guilt to flood his mind and it resulted in a conflict. The teacher recognized the unusual be- havior response and used the conflict as an oppor- tunity to help the student. She recognized that his pattern of displacing anger is self-defeating, then she helped him gain insight and offered hope for change. Finally, Mrs. Johannpeter assisted the stu- dent in developing a realistic plan that would help him better manage his emotions, and she facilitat- ed his return to the classroom in a more positive frame of mind. Through the use of LSCI, a poten- tially disastrous situation was transformed into a growth opportunity for the student.

Linda L. Forbringer, PhD, is an associate pro- fessor in the departmetit of Special Education and Communication Disorders at Southern Illinois Uni- versity Edwardsville. She can be reached by email at [email protected]

Kim Johannpeter, MSEd, is a teacher for Gran- ite City School District, Granite City, Illinois, and a Post-Master's Certificate student at Southern Illi- nois University Edwardsville. Contact her by email at [email protected]

Reference

Long, N. J., Wood, M. M., & Fecser, F. A. (2001). Life Space Crisis Intervention: Talking with students in conflict (2nd ed.). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

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