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Book Reference

James, R. K. & Gilliland, B.E. (2017). Crisis intervention strategies (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

The New-Millennium, Violence- Proof School Building Welcome to the (pretty much) violence-proof lm:ll school building of the new millennium. We are not sp ending any money on landscaping, because people ca n hide behind shrubbery and we want every square inch of the exterior in plain view of security vehicles chat will patrol the perimeter on a 24-hour basis, 7 days a we ek. We really don't want taggers making their ar tistic statements on the school or common juvenile delinquents vandalizing it, so we have floodlit the whole facade and built a 10-foot chain-link security -'ence around the grounds. We maintain a vehicle path around the perimeter so that security vehicles or police cars can easily keep surveillance on the building.

We prefer that all students come to school in uses equipped with video monitors and two-way ra-

d ios . For those few who drive, the student parking lot is enclosed by a 10-foot chain-link fence with razor " ire on top. The lot is gated, so all student drivers need passes and hanger tags to get in with video sur- ,·eillance. A security guard will check all students and p arents who come into the parking lot. We also have co ncrete median dividers angled so that there can be no straight-on assault by individuals intent on drive- by shootings or school bombings.

We have only one student entrance into the school whe re all students must go through a metal detector. O nly see-through backpacks are allowed and will be ::u n through an x-ray machine. School uniforms are m andatory. Once students are in the building, all en- try and hall doors will be electronically locked down. Teachers h_ave swipe cards so they can move through h e building. Closed-circuit TV and a call box at the

fro nt entrance enable parents to gain access.

Although uniforms are mandatory, you can have your choice of school colors-as long as those colors are not used by any known gangs operating in or around the school. All students must have holographic ID cards attached to their uniforms , as must the faculty. Students also must have GPS locaters, either car- ried or skin-implanted. All faculty are equipped with

429

430 • PART TWO Handling Specif ic Crises: Going Into the Trenches

panic alarms and carry cell phones with speed-dial numbers preset to call security.

Kevlar bulletproof vests in the school colors will be issued to all staff. The building itself has almost no windows; the few, very small windows are made of bulletproof glass . Walls are double -brick thick (newer munitions can fairly easily penetrate a single-brick thickness). A central monitoring station is capable of visual, auditory, and motion surveillance of the entire school building-both inside and out. All classroom doors are equipped with timed electronic locks that can be operated only through a computer program or be overridden from the central monitoring station. Hallways also have locked electronic doors at strategic locations for crowd control and isolation of intruders.

The real savings is in building architecture. First, we have downsized the gymnasium. We don't need bleachers, becaus e crowds are hazardous. Any pep as- semblies, sporting events, plays, or pageants will be piped back into classrooms via TV monitors. Athletic events will be played on isolated fields , and spectators can watch via community cable television. As a result, we do not need showers or locker areas. In addition, we have also cut the width of hallways , because there are no lockers in this school-lockers are conducive to hiding contraband. Th ere is no need for a cafeteria. Lunches can be either microwaved in classrooms or hot-packed from a central food preparation facility. Cafeterias are places where students congregate, and a congregation of students provides a setting for dan- gerous behavior. Thus, cafeterias are becoming as ex- tinct as the little red schoolhouse.

There are no faculty bathrooms. Student bath- rooms are dangerou s settings and must be policed. So while faculty are relieving themselves, they can also watch students. Finally, the administrative area is now a command-and-control center that is target hardened with maximum security measures for its protection as the school's nerve center. Because most interaction between administrators and students and teachers is by video, there is little if any need for students or teachers to access this area. Therefore, only staff who require access to the administrative area have electronic card keys . The central staff are a little different from the staff of schools in the last millennium. Besides the administrative staff, secre- taries, and support personnel such as crisis workers, four school police officers specially trained in dealing with school violence operate from a police -ready room . A central communications staff is in charge of

all electronic surveillance and media from the cent monitoring station.

The principal in this new-millennium school pla:. _ a somewhat secondary role. The coadminist raw;- is the chief of security. She has a criminal juscict> degree and experience in law enforcement, as we·- as a thorough understanding of computer and se- curity systems. In any emergency, she is the primar decision-making authority. This will happen beca use the principal does not have the necessary expertise to coordinate security, any more than he would h aw the ability to operate a nuclear power plant! If yo are having trouble picturing exactly what this n ew- millennium school looks like, a reasonable facsim ile would be any correctional facility built in the pasc: 10 years and a number of schools.

Universities will change also in the 21st century. Because campus es are spread out over many bu ild- ings, the preferred method of security will be a large compound with carefully guarded entrances a n high, blast-proof walls topped with razor wire ru n - ning along the entire perimeter. Access will be care- fully controlled; students not only will have to show IDs , but they will also be subjected to iris, handprinc. or voice recognition checks. No part of the university campus will be without surveillance cameras, wh ich will be linked to a central command post. If a ny suspicious activity is spotted, a blue light will sta re flashing in that area and heavily armed police will be dispatched. Students will also have GPS transmitters that will immediately give their location anywhere on campus to central security (optional at the universiry level but definitely required in K-12). Students will be required to carry cell phones, and those cell phones must be turned on and keyed to a university threar and warning system that will automatically page t he entire student body if a threat is imminent, follo wed by text message information telling students what to do. Faculty will not like this safety feature, because students' cell phones will often ring in class when students forget to put them in vibrate mode. Loud- speakers and intercoms all over campus will ensu re that every person will hear warnings and evacuation instructions. All buildings will have electronic lo ck- ing systems, which can be activated immediatelr upon a threat announcement. All faculty and resi- dence hall staff will be trained to recognize any ea rly danger signs and threats of violence. There will be few commuter students because of the hassle of getting through the checkpoints at the school compound entrances. Most students who do not live on campus

:.:J take courses by distance learning or online. In- ::.ced, cars will be parked at least a quarter mile away .::Om university buildings to reduce the threat from ~ bombs. The campus police chief will be much .:::gher up in the chain of command and will operate _.:r of a hardened command center with a number _: technologists to keep all the security apparatus ::-:......··mmg.

Are you appalled at the idea of a school that is in :'...-':ect a penitentiary? Although we have not seen a s.:ho ol with every one of the attributes just described, -re have seen each component just mentioned in at ~tone school building in the United States. In fact, :::any experts in school safety have recommended :::te foregoing features (Astor, 1999; Blauvelt, 1998; 3:-ock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996; Dorn & Dorn, 2005; G:duck, 2005; Haynes & Henderson, 200l;Jimerson & ~urlong, 2006; Nadel, 2004; Poland, 1999).

Since the advent of the new millennium, school ·-iolence has been a hot topic among the media, poli- :icians, parents, academics, and the general popu- 2rion. During that time voluminous amounts of ::-esearch , theory, and debate on both prevention and :::itervention have emerged on major topics of school ·-iolence such as shootings, suicide, and bullying (Page er al. , 2015). This chapter is indeed concerned about :hose "hot" topics, but it is also concerned about the ewryday crises that afflict students, teachers, admin- istrators, and parents and how to plan for them.

The National Center for Education Statistics (2010) :-eports that between the 1999 - 2000 and 2007-08 sch ool years, there was an increase in the percentage of public schools reporting the use of the following safety and security measures: controlled access to the building during school hours (from 75 % to 90%); con- -rolled access to school grounds during school hours from 34% to 43%); students required to wear badges or

:oicture IDs (from 4% to 8%); faculty required to wear badges or picture IDs (from 25% to 58%); the use of on e or more security cameras to monitor school (from 19% to 55%); the provision of telephones in most class- :-ooms (from 45% to 72%); and the requirement that students wear uniforms (from 12% to 18%). Between rhe 2003 - 04 and 2007- 08 school years, there was also a n increase in the percentage of public schools report- in g the use of drug testing for student athletes (from 4% to 6%), as well as for students in other extracur- ricular activities (from 3% to 4%). During the 2007- 08 school year, 43% of public schools reported that they h ad an electronic notification system for a school wide emergency, and 31% of public schools reported that

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 431

they had a structured, anonymous threat-reporting system. Seven years later while we have no hard data available, if articles in the School Safety Advisory Council newsletter and what exhibitors are showing at the National Conference School Safety Conference are relevant, we have reason to believe that has increased significantly after the Sandy Hook shootings (School Safety Advisory Council, 2015).

Our somewhat tongue-in-cheek new-millennium school building or college campus may seem patently ludicrous in Carmi, Illinois; Red Lake, Ontario; Truth or Consequences, New Mexico; or your own home- town. But to say that such a school building or col- lege campus will never be built is to be so unaware of school violence in the United States that one would believe you have been living on another planet for the past 20 years. The violence that has arisen in schools is the reason many of these building modifications and security measures are being deemed necessary by more and more school districts and universities . In part, that is what this chapter is about.

School systems are generally able to deal with de- velopmental crises because they are squarely in the middle of one of the greatest developmental crises of all, growing up! But they have not been prepared to deal with situational crises that arise unexpectedly and violently. Why is this so? First, it has simply not been deemed cost expedient to provide all the material and human support needed (Pitcher & Poland, 1992). Our new-millennium, violence-proof school building is not cheap, and the support personnel to staff it will not be cheap either! However, besides the many tips and plans on the Internet (search "school security"), the Department of Homeland Security (Homeland Security Administration, 2015) has planning grants available to put school security systems in place.

Conflicting Statistics The Clery Act requires colleges and univer- Im sities to report all the crime that happens on their campus, so you might suppose we would have pretty good statistics on what happens in K-12 schools as well. Unhappily, that is not the case because police jurisdictions around the United States do not report crime to the FBI in the same way, nor should you believe that K-12 school administrations, fearful of bad publicity, necessarily report all the crimes that occur in their buildings , nor do students report those crimes out of fear for their own safety. A great deal of debate occurs around whether crime is going up or going down in the more than 90,000 schools in the

432 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

United States with nearly 50 million students in at- tendance (National Center for Education Statistics, 2005b) .

Some research indicates that there has been an increase in school violence; a study from the School Violence Resource Center, for example, showed that the percentage of high school students who were threat- ened or injured with a weapon increased from 1993 to 2001 (School Violence Resource Center, 2003). Other research, however, notes decreases in student victim- ization rates for both violent and nonviolent crimes during a similar time period (1992 - 2002; National Center for Education Statistics, 2004). Perhaps more problematic is that the sensational crimes, such as those at Columbine and Virginia Tech, get far more at- tention than the tens of thousands of mini-aggressions that occur every day and create a climate of fear and hostility in schools (National Center for Education Sta- tistics, 2005a; National Institute ofJustice, 1998).

Violent Crime Rates. In summary, the FBI's compre- hensive study of crimes in schools and colleges over a 5 -year period (Noonan & Vavra, 2007) found that 3.3% of all incidents reported through the National Incident-Based Reporting System involved school lo- cations. The following statistics repres~nt the latest re- port from the National Center for Education Statistics (2010). Preliminary data on the 2008-09 school year show that there were 38 student, staff, and school- associated nonstudent violent deaths from July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009, of which 24 were homicides and 14 were suicides. In 2008, among students ages 12- 18, there were about 1.2 million nonfatal crimes at school, including 619,000 thefts and 629,800 violent crimes (from simple assault to serious violent crime). In 2009, 8% of students reported being threatened or injured with a weapon, such as a gun, knife, or club, on school property; 10% of male students in grades 9- 12 reported being threatened or injured with a weapon in the past year, compared to 5% of female students (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010).

Incidents of Crime. During the 2007- 08 school year, 85% of public schools recorded that one or more inci- dents of crime had taken place at school, amounting to an estimated 2 million crimes. This figure trans- lates to a rate of 43 crimes per 1,000 public school students enrolled in 2007-08 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010).

Eleven percent of public schools reported that stu- dent acts of disrespect for teachers other than verbal

abuse took place on a daily or weekly basis. With re - gard to other discipline problems reported as occur- ring at least once a week, 6% of public schools reported student verbal abuse of teachers, 4% reported wide- spread disorder in the classroom, 4% reported student racial/ethnic tensions, and 3% reported student sex- ual harassment of other students. Interestingly, the percentage of students in grades 9-12 who reported that drugs had been offered, sold, or given to them decreased from 32% in 1995 to 23 % in 2009 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010).

In 2009, 31% of students in grades 9-12 reporte d they had been in a physical fight at least once dur- ing the previous 12 months , and 11% said they had been in a fight on school property. Between 1993 and 2009, the percentage of students who reported car- rying a weapon at least one day anywhere during the past 30 days declined from 22% to 17%, and the per- centage who reported carrying a weapon at least one day on school property also declined, from 12% to 6% (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010).

Fear and Avoidance. In 2007, approximately 5% of stu- dents ages 12-18 reported that they were afraid of at- tack or harm at school, and 3% reported that they were afraid of attack or harm away from school. Smaller per- centages of white students (4%) and Asian students (2%) reported being afraid of attack or harm at school than their black (9%) and Hispanic (7%) peers. Seven percent of students ages 12-18 reported that they had avoided a school activity or one or more places in school in the previous 6 months because of fear of attack or harm (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010).

Threats to Teachers. During the 2007-08 school year, a greater percentage of teachers in city schools (10 %) reported being threatened with injury than teachers in town schools (7%) or suburban or rural schools (6% each). A greater percentage of teachers in city schools (5%) and suburban schools (4%) reported be- ing physically attacked, compared to teachers in rural schools (3%). A greater percentage of secondary school teachers (8%) reported being threatened with injury by a student than elementary school teachers (7%). However, a greater percentage of elementary school teachers (6%) reported being physically attacked than secondary school teachers (2%) (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010).

Disciplinary Action. Forty-six percent of public schools (approximately 38,500 schools) took at least

on e serious disciplinary action against a student dur- ing the 2007-08 school year. Of the 767,900 serious disciplinary actions taken, 76% were suspensions Eo r 5 days or more, 19% were transfers to specialized schools, and 5% were removals with no services for the remainder of the school year. Although the over- all percentage of public schools taking a serious dis- ciplinary action declined between 1999 - 2000 (54%) and 2003-04 (46%), there has been no measurable change since then (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010).

While those are big numbers, in comparison to the 90 million children going to school over that 5-year span, it really isn't a lot- unless, of course, you or your child was one of those statistics or was subject to a microag- gression that was never reported. Schools have long been mepared for disasters such as tornadoes and fires, but preparing for these kinds of disasters is relatively simple. The situational crisis that involves violence perpetrated by others on students or teachers is not. Schools are rel- atively safe places as far as lethality is concerned, with school-associated violent deaths representing less than % of all homicides that occur among school-age chil-

dren (Anderson, Kaufman, & Simon, 2001). However, that does not mean schools are ab-

solutely safe havens for learning. Assaults, threats , intimidation, property destruction, bullying, and physical injury occur, and they occur fairly often. T h ey do occur more often in large urban schools, and pe rhaps more alarmingly they occur more often in ::niddle schools (Kaufman, Chen, & Choy, 2002), but they also occur in rural and suburban schools, and when the media portray those incidents the public is shocked and alarmed that such things could happen Stewart & MacNeil, 2005).

It is not enough that schools must be prepared to eal with the direct effects of a crisis such as a sui-

cid e or homicide. School staff must also be prepared .or a variety of ripple effects. How to deal with huge ;:mmbers of other students affected by the crisis? How w deal with critical and concerned parents? How to keep the school safe without trampling on the rights of individuals who may be under suspicion or alleged o have committed violent acts? How to deal with the

::nedia that may descend vulturelike on the school in rhe event of a crisis? In short, few if any institutions h ave as many issues to deal with when subjected to such a crisis as a school district does.

This chapter will not deal with the potential for errorist attacks on a school or the effects of a terrorist

attack on a community, but you should certainly not

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 433

disabuse yourself of that notion. The parents, teachers, and students of School Number One in Beslan, Russia, know all too well what the ramifications are, and cri- sis interveners in the United States have certainly been thinking and planning for just such an occurrence (Dorn & Dorn, 2005; Giduck, 2005;Jimerson & Furlong, 2006; Thompson, 2004; Webber, Bass, & Yep, 2005).

The opening of this chapter sounds more like an introductory course in criminology than in crisis in- tervention. However, you are going to meet some prin- cipal players in school crisis intervention who don't look anything like your U.S. history teacher or school counselor, or at least have very different roles than teaching you about government branches or filling out course schedules .

Violence and Youth Why have today's youth become more vio- lmJI lent? Poor parenting practices, an ineffective welfare system, marginalization of minorities and other dis- enfranchised students, availability of high-powered automatic weapons, racism, the growth of gangs, vi- olence in homes, bullying, lack of male role models, hate crimes, physical abuse, and drug involvement are but a few of the ills that spill ' over into schools (Blauvelt, 1998; Co llier, 1999; Goldstein, 1991; Goldstein & Kodluboy, 1998; Grossman, 1995; Hazler, 1996; Miller, Martin, & Schamess, 2003; Pledge, 2003; Poland, 1994; Soriano, Soriano, & Jimenez, 1994).

Media Violence. Perhaps the most chilling reasons, though, are proposed by David Grossman in his book On Killing (1995, pp. 302 - 305). He proposes that there are th ree learning theories at work: Classical condi- tioning is at work when one sits comfortably in front of a movie or television screen watching mayhem and carnage while eating popcorn and drinking a soda. Operant conditioning thrives at video arcades, which provide immediate feedback and rewards for killing and maiming. Social learning enters the scene when a whole new series of role models , such as Freddy Krueger, do not end up saving the girl and kissing the horse, but slash the girl's throat and the horse's, too. Glorification of a thug culture interlaced with weapons, women as sexual objects, and drug use are cornerstones of contemporary music and media that cater to youth. Even the movie and television heroes are antiheroes and operate outside the law because the justice system is seen as weak and powerless .

It doesn't take a great deal of imagination af- ter reading Grossman's book to understand why

434 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, became killing fields, and why drive-by shootings occur at any number of other schools across the United States. There is a continuing debate on how much influence experiencing vicarious violence via television and video games has on the manifesting of that violence in children (Azar, 2010). We believe there shouldn't be. Brain imaging studies show a clear relationship between brain areas that regulate and govern emotion and images of violence (Bailey, West, & Anderson, 2011; Brummert-Lennings & Warburton, 2011; Englehardt et al. , 2011; Hummer et al. , 2010; Krahe & Moller, 2011; Krahe et al., 2011; Sestir & Bartholow, 2010). A large meta-analysis of violent media and aggression research by Anderson and his associates (2010) strongly suggest that exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive behavior. However, there are enough detrac- tors (Ferguson, 2011; Ferguson et al., 2011; Ferguson & Kilburn, 2009, 2010) that the American Psychological Association reversed its 2005 (Price, 2007) stand that the research strongly suggested a link between violent media and aggressive b ehavior (Azar, 2010). As this chapter is being written, the powerful entertainment lobbies have essentially won out with a U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning a California law that pro- hibited selling M(mature)-rated video games to mi- nors. It may be that there are mediating factors such as family domestic violence, competition, and dif- ferent degrees of exposure (Zhao & Jiang, 2010), and older adolescents may not have as much reaction as younger ones (Bucolo, 2011), but the preponderance of research shows that the two correlate and almost any elementary school teacher can tell when students have been watching South Park the night before. In summary, while it cannot be said that media violence causes school shootings, Langman's (2009) in-depth examination of school shooters found that they often have a fascination with violent media and become ob - sessed with it (p. 8).

Modeling. Modeling is an extremely effective way to reinforce behavior. The field of counseling is a great example. Dr. James wants his students to under-

. stand empathic understanding. He first lectures his students on various techniques such as open-ended questions and reflection of feelings. The students ask questions, and a classroom discussion ensues . How- ever, empathic understanding and the techniques that facilitate it have only been talked about, not

demonstrated. So Dr. James models these techniques in real time in front of the students. The students watch him, ask questions , and then are turned loos e to try the techniques out for themselves under his watchful eyes and tuned-in ears in the classroom. Modeling also facilitates violence. Peggy Noonan, columnist for the Wall Street journal, put it well when she wrote, after watching the video ofSeung-hui Cho, the Virginia Tech murderer, "We'll be seeing more of that from thousands of disaffected teenagers who watched and thought, 'Wow! I could do that! Boy, would that teach them a lesson. Everybody would know me then! "' (Noonan, 2007).

Cho 's role models were Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris of Columbine High School infamy. Who will see Cho as a role model to emulate? The showing of Cho's tape by NBC and other networks over and over in the view of millions of children set him up as a role model for those children. Playing a vio- lent video game such as Grand Theft Auto, putting "gangsta" pictures on MySpace, or watching vid- eos of school shooters or slasher movies does not automatically make a child a schoolyard shooter. If that were true , every kid who played Grand Th eft Auto would go on a murder spree . However, along with other contributing variables discussed later in this chapter, the potential for violence can grow un- til those biological, sociological, and psychological factors coalesce into a homicidal gestalt, and little Eddie Haskell turns into Freddy Krueger.

The lethality issues to be dealt with in this chapter include potential physical assault by gang members, bullies, the estranged violent student, and suicidal children. However, targeted violence against specific students is not the only crisis that schools face. In addition, natural disasters, terrorist assaults , drug abuse, physical and sexual abuse, medical emergen- cies, and classmate, parent, and teacher deaths are all seen as crises. Crisis in the context of a school, although similar to the definition in Chapter 1, has unique features because of the social structure of the school and the sense of community within the school (Allen et al ., 2002). As such, a crisis affects more than one student. It has ripple effects that can tear at the very fabric of the school to the point of destabilizing it (Johnson, 2000, p. 18). Therefore, this chapter will also provide the basic elements of what a school crisis plan should entail as a best bet for prevention, inter- vention, and postvention, who the players are in that plan, and what their roles are when a crisis of any type strikes a school.

Gangs Types of Gangs Of all the other contributors to violent behav- IDJI ior, none appears to have the predictive validity and po- tential for violent behavior in high school as do gangs Rainone et al., 2006). The 2009 FBI Gang Assessment

reported about 20,000 gangs of different types in the United States with a total of more than 1 million mem- bers. They are not just the stereotypical Mafia or His- panic drug cartels, and they operate from the inner city to the suburbs to rural areas to Indian reservations ( 'The Gang Threat," 2009). Twenty percent of public schools reported that gang activities had happened d uring 2007-08, and 3% reported that cult or extrem- ist activities had happened during that school year (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010). There a re basically five types of gangs that human services workers in school districts are likely to encounter.

Homegrown Copycats/Wannabes. There is more than enough media representation of gang members to let every student in the United States who has access to cable TV, movies, magazines, music, or the Internet set up a stereotypical Vicelords, Gangster Disciples, Crips, or Latin Kings-type gang (Goldstein & Kodluboy, 1998, p. 5; U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1995). "Wannabe" status may make them more dangerous in their attempts to prove how tough a nd cool they are. Generally they are short-lived. Makeup is composed of any ethnic group resident in t he population.

Homegrown Survivalist, Aryan Nation, Neo-Nazi, Extreme Right-Wingers. These gangs are based on p olitical/religious philosophies inculcated by adults and in response to the perceived "browning" of America and the supposed threat that entails. They are often supported both financially and/ or morally as "youth corps" by both local and national organizations. Members are typically related to or are friends of adults who espouse such views. They may be transitory or stable in terms of membership, depending on adult support available. They specifically target ethnic/ racial minority groups for violence. They are almost always Caucasian and "Christian" (Goldstein, 1991, p. 24; Goldstein & Kodluboy, 1998, p. 7; U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1995).

Transients from Megagangs. Offshoots of megagangs a re started by gang members moved to supposedly "safe" rural havens by parents seeking to escape the

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 435

problems ofbig-city crime or feeling extreme pressure from law enforcement agencies in their city of ori- gin (Goldstein & Kodluboy, 1998, p. 7; U.S . Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1995). Their children are already members of the gangs they try to escape. These transported gang members start their own gangs. Indian reservations receiving families out of big cities are a prime example of this transient population. Racial/ ethnic makeup may be mixed, but these gangs are typically ethnic group or race based.

Megagangs Opening New Territory. Increased compe- tition in large metropolitan areas forces gangs to seek new territory to sell their wares (mainly drugs). Inter- state arteries and towns adjacent to them are primary targets because of ease of access (Goldstein, 1991, pp. 20-21; Goldstein & Kodluboy, 1998, p. 7). This is the most formidable type of gang organization. It has older adults who may derive their livelihood from its criminal enterprise. It has a clear hierarchy of mem- bers, sophisticated organizational plan and operating rules, large numbers , recruitment programs, finan- cial backing, and the will to be very violent in pursuit of its interests. Racial/ ethnic mak:eup of these gangs is predominately African American or Hispanic in the Midwest, but may be a variety of nationalities on the East or West Coasts. This is the stereotypical street gang of the media (U.S. Office of]uvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1995).

Smorgasbord Home Boys. Some small gangs are started for a variety of reasons, ranging from instru- mental criminal behavior such as theft to expressive behavior such as hate crimes or responses to being perceived as social outcasts. The organizing themes of these gangs range from skinhead neo-Nazism to demonology and devil worship to auto theft to retali- ation for perceived social injustices perpetrated on them. This gang type generally is transitory and short- lived, with small numbers of members. Depending on the type, it may avoid violence if theft is its major activ- ity or may be extremely violent and sadistic if it is into racism, Satanism, or a response to social ostracism. It is mostly Caucasian in makeup (Goldstein, 1991, pp. 20 - 24; Goldstein & Kodluboy, 1998, p. 7; U.S . Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1995).

Emergence of Suburban and Rural Gangs Why have gangs or the threat of gang formation be- come problematic for suburban and rural areas? A

436 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

variety of trends have emerged that make gang for- mation a probability for Opie in Mayberry, rural America. The development of diverse, multicultural communities in the United States will proceed at an accelerated rate in the 21st century, particularly in his- torically white farming communities of the Midwest (Goldstein & Kodluboy, 1998, pp. 63-91). We have generally not had a stellar history in welcoming and integrating newcomers in the United States who don't look, talk, act, and think like us, as witnessed by the contemporary debate over illegal immigrants. Cable television, the Internet, and other electronic informa- tion systems make the most pristine and rustic rural area a part of the global community. Glorification of violence and gangs through electronic media sends children who fee l powerless against the world mes- sages about how they can be powerful (Goldstein & Kodluboy, 1998, p . 7).

Chat rooms, websites, and e-mail provide gangs plenty of opportunity to talk to Opie. If Opie is feel- ing alone and powerless out on 1300 Country Road East, he is likely to talk back. All of the ills that assail dysfunctional families are as characteristic of sub - urban and rural families as they are of urban ones. Gang leaders" are highly sensitive to these parent- less, throwaway kids and, like Fagan in Oliver Twist, recruit them . The gang becomes a surrogate family (Grossman, 1995, pp. 303 - 305; Melton, 2001).

Gang Intervention/Prevention Programs

Although this book is about crisis intervention, the fact is that when dealing with gangs, prevention is far more likely to be effective than intervention. After a gang has taken root and grown, fear and intimidation become huge obstacles to constructive change. Chang- ing gang members ' attitudes about gang membership is anything but easy. Gang members typically fall into what are called "at-risk" student categories. By defini- tion, "at risk" means that a young person is liable to be an academic or social failure when the potential for be- coming a responsible and productive adult is limited by barriers at home, at school, or in the community (Fusick & Bordeau, 2004). At-risk students are truant; have trouble with the legal system; are characterized by impulsive behavior, self.doubts, anxiety, depression, drug use, and suicidal ideation; are poor learners; and have few bonds with the culture of the school. They are what Melton (2001) calls "phantom students" because, much like the Phantom of the Opera, they wear tough masks to hide their emotional scars and largely remain in the shadows of the school culture.

Because of the publicized school shootings in re- cent years, a great deal of interest has been generated in what are believed to be two of its root causes-at- risk students and bullying or being bullied. While not all at-risk students are gang members, many gang members are at-risk students, lo st between the cracks and dropping out of school. Not all bullies are gang members, but the reverse is generally true, becaus e bullies and gangs both gain power and control over others by fear, threat, and intimidation. Therefore, in discussing intervention methods with "gang" mem- bers, the same characteristics and procedures also apply to at-risk students and bullies. Violence preven- tion approaches are legion; they range from teach- ing students warning signs of impending student violence (Alvarez, 1999) to teaching body movement exercises for self-control (Kornblum, 2002). The fol- lowing approaches have all been tried, with varying degrees of success, with children who make up the bulk of gang membership.

Counseling. Counseling, in the sense of having a con- tinuing, person-centered, nonevaluative, nonjudg- mental dialogue with a gang member, is one of the least effective intervention strategies (Lipsey, 1992). Given their past experiences with uncaring and punitive adults, alienated and disenfranchised gang members are suspicious and do not establish rela- tionships easily. They are ultrasensitive to perceived threats and insults, and they are manipulative and reluctant to share information (Melton, 2001). John and Rita Sommers-Flanagan (1997) propose that challenging such kids is an excellent way to start es- tablishing rapport and trust.

CW: So you don't want to be in here getting this counseling "crap." Is that about right?

Gangbanger: Yeah, that's right. I'm outta here.

CW: OK. I'll just call your probation officer, and he can make the arrangements for you to go to the Wilder Youth Facility if you don't want to do this. Now, you are adjudicated here for 12 sessions, but since you don't want to be here, I can see us doing this in, say, 6 sessions, if you are smart enough to catch onto this stuff and not give me a bunch of "crap," as you say, and work hard to get through this stuff What's your choice?

Counseling that uses reality therapy (Glasser, 1965, 2000) and targets behavior and consequences of actions is more likely to be successful when gang- bangers are constantly confronted with their actions

and given choices as to what they want to do (Loeber et al., 1998; Sandhu, 2000). The same is true of victims.

Victim: (Lucinda has been absent from school the last 3 days and is talking to the school counselor about her absences. Finally she breaks down sobbing and tells the counselor why.) This is the fifth time the Rosebuds have taken my lunch money in the past 2 weeks, but they threatened to break my legs, and they can do that. I've seen Tina do that with a ball bat. She's crazy and scares me to death. They also told me not to snitch or they would hurt my little sister.

School Counselor: Lucinda, I'd really like to get Officer Bates in on this and have you tell him. It is not your fault that you are being mugged. You didn't ask for it, and you don't deserve it. It isn't normal, and it isn't OK. You don't have to face this on your own. I and other people will help you.

Victim: No way! No cops! I could get killed.

School Counselor: I understand that it's scary, and there are some real risks. We will keep this con- fidential, and no one will know but the three of us . But you are not the only one who is getting mugged. You can make a choice about helping to stop this. I have an idea you are pretty tired of get- ting assaulted . School should be a place to come and have fun with your friends and learn. It is not a place you should be afraid to come to. Officer Bates and I are working with a lot of teachers and other kids. If enough kids like you say "That's enough!" we can stop this. I won't force you to see the school police officer or even tell him. I think your parents need to know about this. If you want to have your parents come in and talk, we can do that too. The choice is yours.

The counselor acknowledges the danger to Lucinda as real. Attempts to coerce a student into informing are fraught with ethical peril and quite literally can be dangerous to the student if a great deal of care is not taken to keep the information confidential until the school and law enforcement are ready to act. However, if the counselor feels that the threat to Lucinda is high (see the definitions of low, medium, and high threats later in the chapter), her parents should be in- formed and so should the police.

School Resource Officer. The crisis worker IDB attempts to bring the school resource police offi- cer (SRO) into the crisis because multidisciplinary school pupil personnel service teams that involve the

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schoo ls • 437

SRO are critically important to stopping threatening and intimidating behavior (James, Logan, & Davis, 2011; O'Toole, 2003; Welsh & Domitrovich, 2006). Police in the schools can do much more than direct after-school traffic and monitor ball games. SROs go through a good deal of training beyond the ini- tial police academy (National Association of School Resource Officers, 2011). Coordinating intelligence between the police department and the school, work- ing conjointly with school human services workers in gang prevention programs, helping students problem- solve, finding resources and making referrals, deter- ring violence, obtaining information about illegal activities , role modeling, and mentoring are proactive measures that integrate police officers into the fab- ric of the school (Dogutas, 2008; Finn, 2006; Finn et al., 2005; Italiano, 2001;James, Logan, & Davis, 2011; Petersen, 2008; Vancleave, 2008).

If you read any of the statistics at the beginning of this chapter, it should be apparent why SROs are in school buildings. They are there not only to pre- serve the peace, but also to provide support to trou- bled students by building rapport with them, serving as empathic listeners, and eliciting information. As such they are excellent conduits to .provide informa- tion to school officials that might not otherwise be forthcoming (James, Logan, & Davis, 2011). Because many SROs, such as Officer Davis whom you are about to meet, have Crisis Intervention Team training to deal with the mentally ill and emotionally dis- turbed, they make excellent first-line interventionists- particularly when the presence of an authority figure is needed with out-of-control students (James, Logan, & Davis, 2011). We strongly urge that human services workers and school administrators incorporate these police officers as part of a comprehensive pupil per- sonnel services team that deals with violent and potentially violent students, because what they do works (Johnson, 1999).

Meet school resource and Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officer Scott Davis of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department (S. Davis, per- sonal communication, February 18, 2007). Officer Davis is responsible for policing a high school, a middle school, and three elementary schools. Officer Davis's day starts with roll call at 6 A. M . He patrols the neighborhood and keeps an eye out for people or activities that don't belong and other potential problems. This past month one of those problems in- cluded a very large gang fight that brought a number of police officers to the scene to break up the melee.

43 8 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

Because those involved are "his kids," he takes a per- sonal interest in the incident. He follows up with those who were arrested and looks for any others who might have been involved. Occasionally during the day he will hop in his cruiser and look for truants . He spends about 75% of his time at the high school and 20% at the middle school, with drop-in visits to his three elementary schools. His first task of the day is to meet with the high school principal in the morn- ing, go over any potential problems that might be oc- curring before school, and greet the students as they come in the front door. Parents come to his office to talk about problems their kids are having. During the day he checks out a number of students who have been having problems and promotes his Boy Scout Police Explorer program.

At first glance his job appears pretty humdrum , but what isn't apparent is that Officer Davis is put- ting his considerable CIT skills to use every day with "humdrum" stuff and using the same skills when things are boiling over. Laura is 17 years old and a runaway. A social worker has been called to the school and is attempting to take her back to a bad home sit- uation. Officer Davis has personal knowledge of the home becaus t;. he has responded to a disturbance call there. Laura's mother is a drug addict and long gone from the home. Laura tried to hit her father with a brick in one argument, so it is clear that home is not workable. As Officer Davis makes the scene, tensions are rising between Laura and the social worker, who is threatening to have Laura arrested.

Officer Davis: (in a calm but authoritative voice) All right, let's just everybody cool off! First off, you can't have her arrested for a status offense. It's clear home isn't working real well, so Laura, let's you and me go to my office and talk about what's go- ing on and what you think needs to happen.

As Laura explains her situation, Officer Davis asks numerous open-ended questions to allow her to ven- tilate. He finds out she has a drinking problem, but only occasionally uses others drugs. Home is intoler- able, but she does come to school. He also finds out she is bipolar but not taking her medication because of the side effects.

Officer Davis: OK, let's try this. How about going to the crisis center with me. I've got some friends there who might be able to help both in regard to the medication and a place to stay. It may not be exactly what you want, but it beats going home and running away again, 'cause that doesn't seem

to be working real well for you . I'll stay there with you and see what they can do. How about it?

Laura: Hey! You're kinda different. Most cops push people around. OK.

Officer Davis takes her to the crisis center, where she is evaluated and indeed prescribed different medi- cation. She is also placed in a short-term foster home until her medication can be regulated.

Laura: (a month later, in school, waves to Officer Davis) Hey! Remember me?

Officer Davis: Sure, Laura. How are things going?

Laura: Not real great, but I'm getting by. I went back home. The old man and I are sorta getting along.

Officer Davis: Hey! You're here, aren't you! Best place you can be! Here you've got options. The more you're here, the less you're at home. Thought about any after-school activities or sports? Get your grades up, and pretty soon the only time you are at home is to eat and sleep.

Officer Davis enthusiastically reinforces Laura for making it to school. Laura may not be a huge success story, but at least she is in school, has made contact with somebody, and feels like somebody is really in- terested in her. These are little victories in the every- day grind of working in a school, but added up they can win wars for hearts and minds in working with troubled kids. But Officer Davis's life is about to take an exciting turn, and we will return to him later in the chapter.

Guidance Programs. Passive, lecture-based guidance programs that target fear arousal, moral appeal, and self-esteem building have not proven to be highly ef- fective (Gottfredson, Gottfredson, & Skroban, 1998) in dealing with gangs or bullying. Active guidance programs that provide direct student involvement through modeling, role play, and behavioral rehearsal in areas such as anger management, bullying, con- flict resolution, and peer mediation are more help- ful in tackling gang and bullying issues (Beane, 1999; Coloroso, 2003; Davis & Davis, 2003; DuRant et al., 1996; Embry et al., 1996; Feindler & Scalley, 1998; Gottfredson, Gottfredson, & Skroban, 1998; Hausman, Pierce, & Briggs, 1996; Hazler, 1996; Horne, Bartolomucci, & Newman-Carson, 2003; Larson, 1994; Lupton-Smith et al. , 1996; Sexton-Radek, 2004). To be effective, these programs must not be a one-shot ses- sion but should have continuous behavioral rehearsal and fe edback sessions built into them. They must

also have clear, easily implemented practices, be in- -ense, and continue long enough with follow-up ses- sions to reinforce and change some very resistant ~haviors in both victims and victimizers (Gottfredson, Go ttfredson, & Skroban, 1998; Sullivan, 2011; Willard, 10 07; Zins et al., 1994).

Peer Counseling/Peer Mediation. One of the very worst ap proaches is to use peer crisis workers who are gang members or bullies, or for the crisis worker to attempt w run homogeneous counseling groups composed entirely of gang members or bullies (Goldstein & _

7 odluboy, 1998, pp. 107-110). The gang members or bullies will take over the group. However, there is some evidence that heterogeneous counseling groups , -h ose in which students are chosen from a representa- [ive cross-section of the ethnic, social, and economic strata of the school, are useful in helping gang mem- b ers look at alternative solutions and develop new behaviors. There is also some evidence that a peer co unseling/leader program that provides mentoring, m toring, and support functions keeps at-risk and m arginalized students out of trouble and in school (Allen, 1996; Cohen, Kulik, & Kulik, 1982; Fatum & Hoyle, 1996; Scruggs, Mastropieri, & Richter, 1985).

Peer mediation (Cassinerio & Lane-Garon, 2 006; Day-Vines et al., 1996; Schrumpf, Crawford, & Bodine, 1997) is another approach that uses students rn deal with other students who have anger problems. W hile it may seem that the last thing a gang member or bully would be willing to submit to is peer media- tion, it should be remembered that peer pressure and the need to conform exert a tremendous amount of p ressure on all students.

Further, if a student is unwilling to submit to pe er mediation, he or she is ratcheting up the con- se quences by essentially saying, "I am not willing to rry to work this out." Institutional use of these pro- grams should start in elementary schools and be con- tinuously carried through middle and high schools so t here is a clear, consistent, and longitudinal approach rn providing support to alienated, angry, and disen- fra nchised students. In fact, elementary schools are the best place to stop bullying, harassment, prejudice, and other forms of problem behavior.

Anger Management. A variety of anger management techniques have been developed to work with adoles- cents and children (Davis, 2004; Efrid, 2013; Feindler & Weisner, 2006; Nelson, Finch, & Ghee, 2006; Smith, Larson, & Nuckles, 2006). Most of these approaches

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 439

involve skill training and behavior rehearsal in pro- social behaviors, the social (reputation) and finan- cial costs (jail and fines), teaching students cognitive techniques that cool off their hot cognitions about stressful situations. While anger management ap- proaches are effective in reducing abusive verbal and physical responses (Humphrey & Brooks, 2006; Rosenberg, 2004; Sharp & McCallum, 2005; Smith, Larson, & Nuckles, 2006), the problem is their perva- siveness and the environmental variables from both the home and the street that oftentimes see control of anger as weakness instead of strength.

After-School and Commun ity Outreach Programs. As Goldstein and Kodluboy (1998, p. 126) state, "Playing on a basketball team means you are not stealing a car while you're at the game, but it does not prevent you from stealing a car before or after the game ." Research indicates that although such after-school programs may have recreational value, they are not highly ef- fective in delinquency reduction. However, programs such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of America that have a comprehensive curriculum integrating recreation with academic and social skill building, and career and personal counseling, do have high potential for stopping delinquency and reducing gang activity (Sherman et al. , 1997).

National Violence Prevention Programs. When violence reduction in gangs have been tried, a major problem has been that gang membership is a proximity and affiliation motivator where in the culture and the expectancies of the gang promote and encourage vio - lent behavior (Van Brunt, 2015, p. 126). There are many national and commercially available anger manage - ment and violence reduction programs available that specifically target elementary, middle, and secondary school levels (Farrell & Camou, 2006). These pro- grams have ranged from violence prevention cur- riculums (Prothrow-Stith, 1987) to computer-based conflict resolution (Bosworth et al. , 1996) to making physical changes such as brightly lit hallways, limit- ing access to lockers and graffiti off walls (California Department of Education, 2002), and enlisting coaches in violence prevention programs (Jamie et al. , 2015). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published a highly negative review of school vio- lence programs that a lot of money had been sp ent on and pessimistically noted that nothing much in the way of manualized programs worked in reducing youth violence (USDHHS , 2001). One of the major

440 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

problems that Farrell and Camou (2006) report is that little rigorous, evidence -b ased research has been done that could provide valid information on anti vio- lence programs in schools that actually work. While this research was reported 10 years ago, as of yet, little in the way of change has been reported. Pretty clearly, programs that appear to work need to have all the trapping of rigorous research such as control groups, reliable and valid assessment devices, and the ability to be replicated. Even then a one -size-fits-all approach is probably not attainable. It is more likely that successful programs will deal with specific pop- ulations and specific conditions and environments within which that population operates (Farrell & Camou, 2006).

Schools. Schools and school districts are not without culpability in the growth and development of gangs, bullying, and violence. Megaschools and megadis- tricts limit many students' participation in the academic and ex tracurricular activities of the school; because of the large numbers of students and the cri- teria that restrict who can participate, relatively few students in very large schools do take part in such activities as band or sports or even the chess team (Goldstein & Kodluboy, 1998, pp. 21-22). Schools can play an active role in the prevention and interven- tion of gang activity. Schools need to set a number one priority of inclusiveness, nurturance, school as community, and the philosophy that no student is left behind either academically and socially (Cypress & Green, 2002). This concept is particularly impor- tant in schools where heterogeneity (diversity) of race and culture is the norm. Fairness and consistency for everybody, with open communication among stake- holders, are essential.

Communication flows not only outward from the administration but inward to them. There must be fair rules and clear sanctions that are enforced evenly in school (Goldstein & Kodluboy, 1998, p. 22). There should be an expectation of success. The total philosophy of the system, starting in kindergarten and working its way up through high school, should not be "If you graduate," but "When you graduate" (Allen, 1996).

Gangs grow in a vacuum. A school is asking for trouble if it has unmonitored areas, such as parking lots and bathrooms; dismisses rumors about planned violence or weapons, drugs, or other contraband brought onto school grounds; excuses the violent be- havior of "good kids"; or sees intervention in any of

the foregoing areas as "not my job" (Dykeman, 199 9· Remboldt, 1994). A school reduces violence when its staff and teachers have high expectations, care about and are involved with their students in inclusive ways, enforce rules and procedures, maintain buildings and keep classrooms neat and clean, and believe it's everyone's job to do so (Stephens , 1997).

School safety goes beyond high-tech security sys - tems. School safety is a sense of not only physical well- being but psychological well-being as well. Schools can maintain or take back their turf when they coop- eratively develop mission statements, share decisions about school policies, maintain buildings and remove graffiti, organize gang awareness and prevention pro- grams, promote parental and student involvement, allow zero tolerance of bullying, harassment, or gang recruitment, and have school authorities that declare, "This is our turf, not yours" (Blauvelt, 1998; Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996). Instead of asking, "How do I know which students will shoot next?" the question might be, "What is the faculty doing to build quality relationships with students and open lines of commu- nication, and to develop the type of climate that will foster a wholesome sense of self in each individual as well as respect for others?" (Cypress & Green, 2002). But preventing gang growth and violence is a task that is much too great for a single school counselor, social worker, psychologist, teacher, or principal-or even a school system.

The Community. It takes everybody in the community working as a team to combat gangs. Cooperation with other agencies such as the courts, corrections, proba- tion, parole, mental health, public assistance, and housing is crucial. Civic and religious organizations must provide p ersonnel and financial support. City and county government must be willing to put in place ordinances that say there is zero tolerance fo r this kind of behavior and back it up with law and code enforcement (Bemak & Keys, 2000; Miller, Martin, & Schamess, 2003; Schaefer-Schiumo & Ginsberg, 2003).

Louvre (2008) makes a compelling argument fo r integrating community action in school crises . She is puzzled why there is so little outrage over the 97% of child murders that occur outside of school walls every year. Louvre argues persuasively that rebuild- ing trust and a sense of community in a school after a crisis requires the total participation of the com- munity. That is what SARA (scanning, analysis , re - sponse, and ass essment; Eck & Spelman, 1987), the Justice Department's model for combating gangs ,

is about. SARA is not about getting rid of gangs in on e day. It is about little victories, such as getting loiterers off school property and cleaning up graffiti. Ir gets all of the stakeholders in having a safe com - aiunity involved in continuous and ongoing link- ages that set goals and generate plans to achieve the co ntinuous little victories that make SARA so effec- cive. Turf guarding and political boundaries have no place in a fight to eradicate gangs (Roth, 2000). T h is approach benefits communities by not letting gangs gain a further foothold in the community, re- su lting in improved performance by students who went to school in fear each day; decreased teacher srress and burnout; decreased need for security staff/ equipment; fewer injuries and lives lost; and most im portant, renewed freedom in the school and the co mmunity. You can find further information about SARA on this book's website (www.cengage.com / counseling/james) .

Bullying Probably no other topic has received as l!iB much attention in the school counseling litera- m re and at conferences in the past 10 years as face- ro -face bullying and, more recently, cyberbullying (Chamberlin, 2006; Holladay, 2010; Howe et al. , 2013; Munsey, 2012; Paterson, 2010; Sabella, 2010; Suniti Bhat, Chang, & Linscott, 2010) - its causes (Crothers & Levinson, 2004; Espelage, Bosworth, & Simon, 2000), effects (Carney, 2008; Sullivan, 2011; Willard, 2 007), and intervention strategies (Bauman, 2011; Burnham, 2011; Burrow-Sanchez et al. , 2011; Hicks , 2015; Leo, 2010; Newman, Horne, & Bartolomucci, 2000; Paterson, 2011; Ratts , Ayers , & Bright, 2009; Saufler, 2010; Shallcross, 2013; Sullivan, 2011; Wil- lard, 2007). That is particularly true with regard to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) stu- d ents (Callahan, 2001;Jackson & Harding, 2010;Jones Farrelly & Robles-Fernandez, 2011; Mccollum, 2010; Windmeyer, 2009), who have little power or support systems in most K-12 buildings. Because of bully- ing, LGBT youth may greatly increase their risk of depression and suicide (Russell et al., 2011), and that becomes even more profound when cyberbullying oc- curs (Wiederhold, 2014).

The crisis dimensions this problem has taken on culminated in a White House Conference on Bullying in March 2011. That conference sought to establish replicable training and intervention programs that were cost effective and time manageable for teachers

CHAPTER TH IRTEEN Crises in Schools • 441

already stretched thin (Munsey, 2011). The fact that a number of elementary, middle, and high school stu- dents have committed suicide because of bullying and cyberbullying in the past few years has gotten the attention of the federal government and caused the Department of Education to assist in bully preven- tion. In December 2010 a technical assistance best practice memo highlighting comprehensive state antibullying laws was sent to state school officers and governors. The Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education and the Department of Justice are working together and will vigorously pur- sue complaints of bullying and harassment. This information and much more is available at www .stopbullying.gov. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). The Office of Safe and Drug- Free Schools will offer competitive grants to measure safety by surveying students and then providing fed- eral funds those schools identified through as having the greatest need of intervention. Schools will also be required to make the "safety scores" public so they can be held accountable for performance in providing a safe environment (Jennings, 2011). Besides the veri- table tsunami of commercial and professional liter- ature on bullying prevention, the U.S. Department of Education (2015) has a two-part tool kit available for free to anybody who wants to start an antibully program training toolkit at www.ed.gov/ blog/ tag /bullying.

Bullying and intimidation affect large numbers of students. One study found that 77% of junior and se- nior high school students in a Midwestern U.S. school survey reported being a victim of bullies (Espelage & Swearer, 2003). In 2007, 32% of U.S. students ages 12-18 reported having been bullied at school that year. In this survey, 21% of students said they had been made fun of; 18% reported being the subject of rumors; 11% said they were pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on; 6% said they were threatened with harm; 5% said they were excluded from activities on purpose; and 4% said that someone had tried to make them do things they did not want to do or that their property had been destroyed on purpose (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010).

Bullying can take a number of forms (Shallcro ss, 2013). It can be direct, such as hitting, kicking, or pushing a person. It can be verbal, such as malicious teasing, threatening, or taunting. It can be social ag- gression, where the leader of a clique influences the group to target a specific individual. It can be overt or covert and involve physical or verbal aggression or

442 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

more subtle approaches such as rumors, gossip, and social exclusion (Bauman, 2011, p. 18; Shallcross, 2013). It can be relational wherein individuals who have been friends cease to be so, and in their acri- mony, maliciously attempt to exclude that person from social activities and spread disparaging rumors about the other person (Shallcross, 2013).

Langman (2009) defines bullying as having three components: First, the bully has more power than the victim, because oflarger size, greater strength, or greater numbers (clique or gang). Second, bullying involves in- timidation through threats, to the point that victims are made to fear for their safety. Third, bullying involves a pattern of behavior, not a onetime push (p. 12).

Bullies are proactive aggressors who use aggres- sion methodically, subtly, and with increasing inten- sity until they achieve their desired goal of personal gain of some kind. Bullying is preplanned and calcu- lated to instill fear and gain control over others with little remorse for its effects on them (Hubbard et al., 2001; McAdams & Schmidt, 200 7; Vitaro & Brend- gen, 2005; Vitaro, Brendgen, & Tremblay, 2002). An entire school can be affected by systematic bullying behaviors. If left unchecked, an atmosphere of fear, mistrust, and low morale, along with the academic and behaviora:l problems that go with a hostile work environment, can create a negative atmosphere for all students (Hoover & Hazler, 1991). Finally, if left un- checked, bullying as a form of aggression can lead to lethal behavior from either the bully or the bullied.

Cyberbullying Cyberbullying, simply defined, means using tech- nology to harass, humiliate, or threaten someone (Holladay, 2010). Cyberbullying is different from face-to-face bullying. In face-to-face bullying, the ef- fects are immediately known, and the victim knows who the bully is and who his or her supporters are . Cyberbullying can be far more insidious because the bully can remain unknown (Shallcross, 2013). Effects can also be more disastrous because the messages can go to an audience literally in the millions (Bauman, 2011, p. 19).

There are eight types of cyberbullying (Bauman, 2011, p. 57; Willard, 2007, p. 2):

Flaming refers to angry offensive language. "You are a shit-brained hootchy mama slut."

Harassment is the technology version of discrimi- natory or hostile behavior toward someone based on gender, race, religion, disability, or sexual

orientation. "Jay is alimp-wristed fag gimpy Yid." Denigratio n is sending or posting defaming info r-

mation about someone. "Jennifer Sonstegarrd is screwing every boy on the hockey team ... and the coach too!"

M asquerading is using someone else's identity to send messages that are rude and inappropriate. "Leslie, you stink! Literally! Get some feminine hygiene products. Signed Phewwwie! Joey'' (a guy Leslie is interested in, but so is Devonne who actually sent the e-mail) .

Outing or trickery is a way of getting people to reveal personal information that might then be used against them. "Leslie, I really have been thinking you're the fox of the history class. I wonder if you'd like to go out for a pizza and movie Saturday night. INTERESTED A LOT, JOEY." When Leslie replies, De~onne then puts it out on the net: "Leslie thinks Joey is going out with HER on Saturday night. How delirious and out of touch with reality is she?"

Social exclusion is a means of deliberately exclud- ing someone from a buddy list, chat room, dis- cussion board, or game. "How many of you want Leslie off the discussion board and out of the game? Everybody who does, vote 'aye.'"

Cyberstalking is the electronic version of pursuing a person who is not interested in the personal attention he or she is receiving, but receiving it anyway. "Don't think I don't know when you come on the discussion board, because I do, and I am going to be here watching and listening."

Cyberthreats are clearly meant to evoke fear and imply that danger is imminent. "It'll be dark by the time you get out of cheerleader practice and this is the night you always walk home. Have a nice night ... and ... oh . .. I'll be watching . .. and waiting."

The crisis worker's intervention with these bullies is difficult and fraught with legal and ethical issues (Stone, 2015). Some school counselors and other hu- man services workers in schools have set up websites where students can contact them to deal with bul- lying and other personal issues in the virtual world that students inhabit. However, because of fear of sexual predators, the Missouri legislature attempte d to make it illegal for any person employed by a school to have an individual dialogue with a student over the net. A judge ruled against the law as uncon- stitutional, but it is a slippery slope and workers can put themselves at risk legally and professionally. The

be tter road to follow, at least at this point, is having cle ar district policies in place in regard to the use of (he Internet (Willard, 2007). Those policies should include the following (pp. 195 - 265) :

1. A cyberbullying/cyberthreat and face-to-face bul- lying review policy for threatening materials sent over the Internet or hard copies found at school.

2. School actions and options that are taken in re- gard to misuse of the Internet by students.

3. Incident and report forms that track and record behavior so that a chain of continuity can be built.

4. A comprehensive district plan to assess cyber use and misuse.

5. Student needs assessment as to bullying and bul- lying prevention effectiveness.

6. Teacher needs assessment as to understanding their role in student bullying.

7. District use policy for the Internet and agreement signed by students and parents that includes netiquette guidelines, to be given to and discussed with both students and parents.

Systemic Intervention. To sum this up, just doing t he foregoing and calling it "done" won't work. There h as to be initiative across the board within the whole community and that particularly includes parents. Ze ro tolerance and one day "Stop Bullying!" programs d on't work (Novotney, 2014). The school's philosophy and policy have to fit with their antibullying efforts or it is useless . There also has to be regular evaluation of the program and updating of it or it will wither and d ie (Burnham, 2011; Novotney, 2014; Sullivan, 2011). That evaluation should include (Professional School Counseling, 20i2):

1. School-wide intervention policies that include peer groups that create a critical mass whereby bullying is absolutely "uncool."

2. Continuous assessment of bullying and dissemi- nation of that data to parents.

3. Gain staff and parent support that ranges from bus drivers to superintendents and community organizations and civic clubs.

4. Form a group to coordinate the antibullying cam- paign and train them on how to do it.

5. Increase adult supervision in hot spots where it is likely to occur and enforce school rules on bullying and apply them consistently.

Ttofi and Farrongton's (2011) meta-analysis of school- based programs to reduce bullying found that when the foregoing points are implemented both bullying

CHAPTER TH IRTEEN Crises in Schools • 443

and victimization decrease by 20%. Note that the best they could do was only 20%. Intervention with bullies first and foremost should include a strict policy against harassment and intimidation (Kerr, 2009, p. 112), and that policy should be clearly spelled out with no loop- holes (McAdams & Schmidt, 2007; Willard, 2007).

Remediation. Once a bully has been identified, Sullivan (2011) proposes three approaches to remediation. First is punishment, which can range from dealing with the criminal justice system to expulsion, detention, or other disciplinary procedures. We believe Sullivan's approach should be a last resort because it essentially has no remediation but is used solely to maintain the safety and integrity of the affected students .

Second is a consequences approach. Bullies are generally masters of manipulation and rationaliza- tion, so the worker needs to be wary of getting into debates with them or accepting excuses for their ag- gressive behavior. Bullies don't change overnight, so positive reinforcement needs to be used cautiously and only when prosocial behavior has started to occur consistently (McAdams & Schmidt, 2007). While negative sanctions are involved, they are mo re educative than punitive in nature. Conse - quences may be attending an anger management group or working with special education students if that was the target population of the bully; behav- ioral contracting social skills training can be used (Burnham, 2011) .

Third is a feelings approach that focuses on stop- ping the dehumanization and discounting of target individuals and focuses on building empathy for one's fellow students. Bullies may develop considerable skill in avoiding the consequences of their actions, but have much more trouble when the focus is on feelings generated by their hurtful behaviors, so that bullies begin to comprehend that there may be con- sequences when others feel victimized (McAdams & Schmidt, 2007).

Joy Burnham and her associates (2010) have de- veloped an innovative virtual world program model that the worker can use with both bullies and bul- lied students. Scenarios can be set up to teach differ- ent kinds of responding skills, hopefully making the bully aware that there are better alternatives and also teaching the bullied student how to respond more assertively.

Fulton (2015) proposes that separating boys from girls when conducting bully prevention programs is important because males and females experience

444 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going In to the Trenches

bullying differently and a one -size -fits-all approach doesn't work. In the first lesson, she uses different film clips for boys and girls to demonstrate male and female bully types . In the second lesson she discusses role players such as the bully, sidekick, supporter, disengaged onlooker, possible defender, champion, and target in gender-specific ways. Lesson three focuses on becoming aware of the behavioral impact of bullying and also focuses on gossip and rumors for females. Males learn that teasing can be turned quickly to bullying, and "just only joking" is a ratio- nalization of bad behavior that gets reframed by ask- ing them if "just joking" is going to make the target's hurt go away. Lesson four focuses on actions of the supporters, disengaged onlookers, possible defenders , and champions. For both boys and girls , these roles are examined and sp ecific strategies are discussed that could help target and combat the bullying behavior. An addition for females is a card game that ends up in the exclusion of one member and then the effects of the exclusion are processed with the whole group.

Bauman (2011) believes that with minor bullying cases brief solution-focused counseling can help both victims and bullies. This approach looks at bullying events as except~ons rather than the norm. It builds on both the victim's and the bully's self-identified strengths and develops strategies for similar situations in the future. For more severe cases she believes support groups can be effective. Supporters of the victim, other individuals involved in the incident, and the main per- petrator can come together to agree on a support plan for the victim. Bauman proposes for the most serious cases that a restorative justice program be undertaken. First the victim is allowed to express how he or she can be helped. Then the bully has the option of coming up with a plan to meet the victim's needs in trying to make amends. There is a prescribed procedure and a very for- malized structure as to what and when things are done, which most likely takes some additional training.

Glasser (1969) believes that classroom meetings that target real-time school and peer problems are an excellent vehicle for bringing a great deal of p eer con- sensus and pressure into play on problems such as the Rosebuds' strong-arm tactics. Once the majority of students in a school or a classroom decide that a par- ticular behavior is "uncool," it tends to diminish very quickly. The major problem with bullying is that by- standers do not speak up. Mobilizing the masses stops bullying and intimidation in their tracks (Charach, Pepler, & Zeigler, 1995). Further, by using the demo- cratic, participatory process of Glasser's classroom

meetings to problem-solve, students come to fe el em - powered and are able to stand up to bullying and in - timidating behaviors (Glasser, 1969). Having studems write out experiences with bullying can help make i[ safe for them to start talking about it.

School Counselor: (Starting a classroom meeting w ith a sixth-grade class. The objective is to start shining a very· bright light on the strong-arm tactics of the Rosebuds, but the counselor does not specifically mention them b) ' name. Indeed, there are two probable gang members in the room.) I want you all to write down four stories about bullying, using the following instructions.

1. Describe a time when someone's words or behav- ior hurt you.

2. Describe a time when you said or did something to hurt another person.

3. Describe a time when you saw or heard bullying but didn't do anything about it.

4. Describe a time when you saw or heard bullying and either got help or tried to stop it.

After the students finish writing their stories and share them with the group, the school counselor open s up a discussion centered on how students felt as they heard different stories . What did they think about what they heard? What would they do? And what would the consequences be if they did do something or changed what they did (Beane, 1999, p. 22)? Once students have started openly discussing threatening and intimidating behaviors, the counselor can use the hallmark of the classroom meeting and reality ther- apy, making a commitment (Glasser, 1969) to make their school a safer and more friendly place by pledg- ing to do so and writing down specifically how that is going to happen (Newman, Horne, & Bartolomucci, 2000, p. 123). There are a number of effective antibul- lying programs, and if handled correctly, they can cut bullying and the potential violence that goes with it.

Finally, Paterson (2011) summarizes a number of researchers and practitioners in advocating for bullies to get counseling. Many of these bullies have them- selves been bullied and need empathy and support as they themselves struggle with the effects of bullying. It may also be that while bullies see their approach as making them powerful, their thinking is distorted and will invariably get them in deeper trouble. As such, cognitive interventions that reframe their dis- torted notions of how they obtain and hold power over others may b e effective. The problem is that fo r both offender and victim, if things don't straighten

o ut and get better they run the risk of falling into the n ext section- and those are the lethal students who make headlines.

The Estranged Violent Juvenile Offender The U.S. Department of Education (Dwyer, l!iiJ Osher, & Warger, 1998) has an excellent booklet that d eals with safe schools in a general way. The booklet specifically mentions the school counselor as one of the lead professionals in helping prevent violence but says little about the specifics of the counselor's role, or t he role of any other human services worker for that m atter. Although gang violence is a major component of violence perpetrated by and among school-age chil- dren and is a major contributor to violence perpe- trated by what Loeber and associates (1998) call the serious violent juvenile offender (SVJO), recent school shootings and subsequent homicides and injuries h ave been perpetrated by juveniles who do not typi- cally fall into the "gang" SVJO category. The purpose o f this section is to examine these different, poten- tially violent juveniles in regard to their psychologi- cal profile, screening mechanisms to detect them, and counseling methods to uncover their violent thoughts before those thoughts turn into action.

Peter Langman (2009) has written an excellent in- depth book on school shooters. He believes that most school shooters share some psychological symptoms. He further believes they fall within three general trait categories: psychopathic, psychotic, or trauma- tized. We believe that these three categories encom- pass what we call the EVJO. The term estranged violent juvenile offenders (EVJOs) is chosen because these juveniles typically are separated from their peers in distinctive ways and harbor a great deal of enmity toward their peers or the school system. We believe these individuals are distinct from their equally le- thal SVJO counterparts-gang members . In contrast to a gang culture, in which violence is generated in order to bind its members together in perpetuation of the gang's growth and stature, the EVJO is typically is olated and has no allegiances unless to a very few others who are also experiencing the same estrange- ment. EVJOs can be partitioned into two major cat- egories, those who are mentally ill and those who are not. Langman's (2009) two categories of psychopathic and psychotic shooter would most nearly fall under our mentally ill EVJO category, and his traumatized shooter would fall under our not mentally ill EVJO

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 445

category. Although it could be argued that anyone who would shoot a number of his fellow students is "crazy," that does not necessarily make him men- tally ill under the American Psychiatric Association's (2013) DSM-5 classification system. Therefore, it is also important to discriminate between EVJOs who are and are not mentally ill because of differences in profiles, screening, and intervention. Although we do not arbitrarily exclude the potential for females in this group, the preponderance of offenders will be male. As a result, we will use the male gender to de- scribe the potential offender.

A Comparison of Traits, Characteristics, and Behaviors of SVJOs and EVJOs The following traits, characteristics, and behaviors have been compiled from a number of published sources and interviews with human services workers who deal with both the SVJO and EVJO (Carney et al., 1999; Corder et al., 1976; Cunningham & Davis, 1999; Duncan & Duncan, 1971; Dwyer, Osher, & Warger, 1998; Fein et al., 2002; Galatzen-Levy, 1993; Hardwick & Rowton-Lee , 1996; James & Dorner, 1999; Lempp, 1990; Levis, 1992; Loeber, 1990; Maro!m et al., 1982; Myers & Mutch, 1992; National School Safety Center, 1998; O 'Toole, 2003; Sage & Dietz, 1994; Sloan, 1988; Vossekuil et al. , 2002; Webster & Wilson, 1994; Zagar et al. , 1990). These characteristics fall within what the FBI's Critical Incident Response Group and the National Center for the Analysis ofViolent Crime call the four-pronged assessment model that evaluates the likelihood of carrying out a threat of violence. The four -pronged assessment model considers the personality of the student, family dynamics, school dynamics, and social dynamics (O'Toole, 2003).

Understand that there are serious moral, ethi- cal, and legal implications of attempting to label potentially violent students (Simmons, 2000) . A heated debate rages on whether an accurate profile of a school shooter exists. There is a belief that such profiles are overinclusive, biased, stigmatizing, and can potentially violate the student's constitutional rights (Bailey, 2001; Reddy et al., 2001; Vossekuil et al. , 2000, 2002) . Mulvey and Cauffman (2001) argue that such profiling is not only unproven, but has limited usefulness and often does more harm than good, particularly when a false positive identifica- tion is made and the student becomes labeled as a "homicidal maniac."

Langman's (2009) profiling of infamous school shooters in the last 15 years is an eye-opener in regard

446 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

to some of the stereotypical myths that make for good media sound bites. While the characteristics that fol- low may be present to some degree in all school shoot- ers, it would be a severe mistake to suppose that any one factor, such as bullying, being a loner, or having a fascination with violence and guns, is the factor that causes students to become homicidal, nor is it very likely that the student will have all of the char- acteristics that profile the school shooter. It is much more reasonable to say that each school shooter has a mix of these potentially lethal ingredients that, when combined in the right amounts and cooked for the right amount of time in the right ecosystem, turn into a recipe for lethality.

Thus, there seems to be enough evidence that when these traits and characteristics are combined with specific behaviors that indicate an increased threat level, they are at least a preliminary screening device that crisis workers can employ if reasonable judgment and care are used. On the other side of the dilemma, to not recognize that there is a potential threat is also professionally unethical and morally indefensible. More ominously, there are growing legal opinions that unanticipated acts of violence in schools can be anticipated and courts will expect schools to have prevention pr.ograms in place (Capuzz i, 2002).

Summarizing these characteristics of the poten- tially violent juvenile, your authors would emphati- cally echo the U.S. Department of Education's Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools (Dwyer, Osher, & Warger, 1998, p. 3) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's The School Shooter: A Threat Assess- ment Perspective (O ' Toole, 2003, p. 30) in their warning that it is important to avoid inappropriate labeling, stereotyping, or stigmatizing individuals based on the following categories. None of the categories by themselves or in combination can absolutely predict who will become violent and who will not. However, if the child fits into multiple categories, the crisis worker should be aware that the potential for violence increases and that this is an extremely troubled per- son. What we are more interested in when conducting a threat assessment are the d emonstrated behaviors and communications that are likely to indicate in- tent (Fein et al., 2002; Langman, 2009). Therefore, when reading the following categories, focus not so much on the categories themselves but on what be- haviors are being manifested by the individual in his actions and communications. As these behaviors and communications stack up, the potential for violence increases .

Abusive Childhood. Sexual, psychological, and physi- cal abuses in childhood are fertile fields in which the SVJO and EVJO take root and grow. Exposure to violent role models at home, maternal or paternal deprivation, frequent moves, loss of a parent, inco n - sistent and punitive discipline, and rejection are char- acteristics of both. There is little parental control or supervision of curfews, Internet access, or television. Both SVJO and EVJO may rule the roost at home, and parents may be intimidated and afraid of the child. For the EVJO who does have a positive and supportive family, his sense of integration into the family likely will be weak and alienated. He will express contempt for his parents and dismiss their role in his life. H e will insist on an inordinate degree of privacy, and his parents will have little information about his ac- tivities , friends, or school life. Such alienation may be particularly true for the mentally ill EVJO, even though he has an extremely supportive family situa- tion and has received a great deal of nurturing and care. Parents may be in a great deal of denial about the potential for violence in either type.

Academic Problems. The SVJO will probably have a history of school problems that includes truancy, poor grades, discipline problems, and trouble with teachers. A combination of ADHD and conduct dis- order is a high predictor of future violent behavior for the SVJO . In contrast, the EVJO will likely be passively compliant in school and may even do well academi- cally. Unless some traumatic incident causes him to act out, he may well go unnoticed, or even be re- spected by his teachers. Both may have mild to severe language disorders that, when they are placed under stress, will cause them to be more likely to act than talk. The mentally ill EVJO will be likely to experience many academic problems because of his difficulty in maintaining contact with the reality and demands of the classroom.

Altered States of Consciousness. Even if psychoac- tive substances are not ingested, their cognitive pro- cesses lead both the SVJO and the EVJO to limited reality testing. Typical reports after a violent incident include derealization, decompensation, and deper- sonalization. Statements such as "I was just seeing red and sort of blanking out," or "It's like I wasn't there, sorta watching a videotape, so it was like me but really not me," are characteristic of both the SVJO and the EVJO. The mentally ill EVJO may operate in a continued state of altered consciousness and have

minimum contact with the reality of the situation if not controlled by medication. Abuse of street or pre- scription psychotropic drugs increases the potential for violent behavior.

Anger/Low Frustration Tolerance. Both types react to stress in self-defeating ways. The SVJO is likely to have a "s hort fuse " and immediately aggress in a stressfu l situation, whereas the EVJO typically will flee the situation or act in a more passive way. The low frustration tolerance of the SVJO is much more im- mediate and seen in highly observable ways. In con- trast, the EVJO may have less observable behavioral manifestations because his anger is turned inward and sublimated. He may be erroneously seen to have a high frustration tolerance. In contrast, the mentally ill EVJO may have a very low frustration tolerance be- cause of his tenuous grip on reality.

Bully/Bullied. The SVJO is the stereotypical bully. A bully at school, he is most probably a victim at home. The EVJO is the stereotypical bullied child. He may fall into one of two categories, the passive victim or the aggressive victim. The aggressive victim may be ho t tempered and attempt to retaliate when attacked. Paradoxically, the aggressive victim may also be seen as a bully. Whereas the passive bullied child is depicted as lonely and socially isolated at school, the aggressive vic- tim is one of the most disliked and notorious members of his peer group. Although the passive bullied child may be much slower to act than his aggressive counter- part, both may bring weapons to school to counterbal- ance their perceived inferiority to their tormentors.

Chemical and Substance Abuse. Both types may al- ter consciousness by using psychoactive substances and freeing themselves of psychological restraints to commit violent acts. With the mentally ill EVJO, dis- continued use of prescribed psychotropic medication combined with illicit drug us e has a high likelihood of precipitating a violent episode. Substance abuse markedly increases the potential for violence.

Criminal Behavior. In contrast to the gang member, who probably has a long history of contacts with the police and juvenile authorities, the EVJO most likely does not. The EVJO is as likely as not to be seen as a good and compliant student by his teachers. Com- ments from his neighbors are typically, "He's a real quiet, polite boy." He may have excellent church atten- dance and belong to the Boy Scouts or other socially

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 447

appropriate organizations. If the EVJO has any con- tacts with the police, it will most fikely be of a petty misdemeanor nature and involve passive acts against objects rather than aggressive acts against people. If the EVJO is mentally ill, h e may have had contacts with the authorities through domestic disturbance or "mentally ill" calls. He will be on some type of anti- psychotic medication and will likely have quit taking it b ecause he doesn't like the side effects.

Delayed Cognitive and Affective Development. Both types may not have reached Piaget's formal opera- tional or even concrete stage of development. Linear and logical thinking is stunted, and short-term emo- tional gratification overrules long-term behavioral consequences. Their notion of the finality of death or the realness and pain of bodily injury may be very much like a game of cops and robbers in which they are shot and killed over and over in the course of an afternoon. They may not relate their violent actions to any negative emotional outcomes for either their victims or themselves.

Emotional Lability/Depression. Whereas the SVJO demonstrates a quick temper, "short fuse ," and rapid mood swings, the EVJO may show d epressive charac- teristics in which anger is turned inward. The EVJO may be serious to the point of su llenness , and see lit- tle humor in his world, particularly ifhe has been the object of derisive humor by his peers or significant others in his life. The severely d epressed EVJO may see the end point of retaliation against his tormen- tors as also the end point for himself and may see sui- cide as a viable option after he has exacted revenge. The mentally ill EVJO may have bizarre thoughts and emotions with correlative mood swings that range from rage to fear. He also may have suicidal ideation, depending on his emotional state and particular mental illness .

External Locus of Control. Fate, God, "The Man," and other external entities play a large part in the behav- ior of the SVJO and the EVJO. The SVJO may view himself as both the victimizer as a way of gaining power, and the victim because of his circumstances. The EVJO clearly assumes a victim s tatus . Both blame others for their outcast state. The EVJO 's external lo- cus is tied to a low self-concept that is constantly reaf- firmed as being inadequate by the world around him. The mentally ill EVJO may receive "messages" from "voices" that tell him to act against others.

448 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

History and Threats of Violence. One of the best pre- dictors of violence is past violence. Particularly when threats of violence are coupled with a past history of violence, the probability of violence increases. Whereas the SVJO will more likely be clear, immediate, and direct with his threats , the EVJO 's threats are likely to be more implied, conditional, and veiled for a lon- ger period of time. The mentally ill EVJO may make threats that commingle reality with fantasy such that specific individuals may be symbolized as "monsters" or other objects that are threatening to him.

Hypersensitivity. Both the SVJO and EVJO are hy- persensitive to criticism and real or perceived slights and threats. They will both be suspicious, fearful , dis- trustful, and paranoid in their worldview. Whereas the SVJO will be more overt in his manifestation of these characteristics through name-calling, swear- ing, and angry outbursts, the EVJO will be more pas- sive. Both are overly sensitive to what they believe others think, feel, and act toward them. They are "injustice collectors"; they harbor resentment over past wrongs and will not forget them or the people believed to be responsible . The mentally ill EVJO will be exponentially more hypers ensitive to imag- ined threats " to his well-b eing and react angrily to them. Paradoxically, both may have little sensitivity or empathy for others .

lmpulsivity. The SVJO is quick to act and wants im- mediate gratification. He has little consideration for the consequences of his actions, lacks insight, has poor judgment, and has little understanding of how his belief system filters actions and resulting conse- quences. He habitually makes violent threats when angry. In contrast, the EVJO may be slow to act. He may be hypersensitive as a result of past negative ex- periences that have been socially and emotionally pu- nitive. His belief system will turn to a "them against me" view that continues to build until his frustration spills out and he aggresses against his real or imag- ined tormentors. The mentally ill EVJO may fall along a continuum of high to low impulsivity depending on the disorder from which he suffers.

Mental Illness . Hospitalization for mental illness alone is not an indicator of potential violence. How- ever, when hospitalization of the mentally ill SVJO or EVJO is preceded by a history of violent offenses, it is an indicator. Violence potential is further exac- erbated when psychotropic medication is stopped

because of its side effects, the inability to obtain it, or inadequate supervision in administering it.

Negative Role Models. For the SVJO, local and n a- tionally known gangbangers and movie and music "gangstas" may be role models. The EVJO may be drawn to malevolent historical figures such as Hit- ler, religious figures such as Satan, and antiheroe s in books, videos, and game simulations. The mentally ill EVJO may create his own alter ego who tells him to d o violent things.

Odd/Bizarre Beliefs. Odd or bizarre beliefs fall into two categories . Schizophrenic-type mental illnes ses and personality disorders are defined by odd and bi- zarre beliefs and behaviors, which would character- ize the mentally ill EVJO. The second category mo re closely typifies the EVJO without mental illness . H is thoughts and behaviors may range from an interest in demonology, magical thinking, and satanic cults to extremely rigid political and religious views that p ro - mote violent solutions to society's problems, which he knows little about. He disregards facts , logic, a nd reasoning that might challenge these opinions. Joi n- ing splinter groups that advocate such views is a way of achieving the affiliation, status, and power tha t the EVJO craves.

Pathology and Deviance. A psychological smorgas- bord of problems may be exhibited by both types of juvenile offenders. Fire setting, cruelty to animals, defacing and destroying property, temper tantrum s, running away from home , and oppositional defiance to authority are some examples. When these behavio rs have a long history, they are probably more character- istic of the SVJO. When they seem to occur spontane- ously with no prior history, or are kept under wraps by parents who are in denial and concerned about t he social stigma attached to these behaviors, they m ore aptly characterize the EVJO. Parents of both groups may be passive in regard to what most parents would find very disturbing and abnormal behavior. If con- tacted by school officials or law enforcement, parents may respond defensively and minimize or reject re- ports of obvious misconduct.

Physical Problems. Particularly for the EVJO, physical problems that range from stuttering to severe acne to delayed physical development may contribute to a poor body image and feelings of inferiority. Internal head injuries, congenital brain damage, and a variety

of neurological problems may contribute to the po- rential for violence in the mentally ill EVJO .

Preoccupation with Violent Themes. Both the SVJO a nd the EVJO may become fixated on movies , b ooks, television shows, videos , and music that gl amorize violence. Interest in violent pornography, weapons collections, sadomasochistic parapherna- li a , and instruments of torture allow the powerless EVJO, and particularly the mentally ill EVJO who is paranoid, to fantasize about dominance over his p ersecutors and plot very meticulously how to get rid of them.

Social Status. The SVJO may be ostentatious and gregarious in his social relations as a means of gain- ing status . He sees females as providers of "goods and services" and tends to use them for his own self- gratification. He may display a pathological need for attention, and have an overall attitude of superiority a nd an exaggerated sense of entitlement. A social as- sessment of the EVJO would generally depict him as a social isolate from the majority of his peers with affiliations that place him in outlier groups. How- ever, there are EVJOs who are popular, participate in extracurricular activities, and would generally be seen as involved in the school community. If asked, h is classmates might characterize the EVJO in terms such as "geek," "Goth," "nerd," "freak," "weird," and other terms that clearly set him apart from the social mainstream. His attempts to form relationships with t he opposite sex will generally be clumsy and fraught with failure. Females who try to be kind to him may well have their kindness misinterpreted. When the EVJO makes attempts to move beyond "kindness " in the relationship and his romantic overtures are re- jected, the isolation he feels is further compounded. Because of his bizarre behavior, the mentally ill EVJO will be ex tremely socially isolated from his peers and labeled as "nuts ," "mental," or "crazy."

Suicidal Ideation. Both the SVJO and EVJO may have severe depressive episodes with significant mood swings. The result may be angry outbursts against others or self, with concomitant threats or attempts of suicide. Such threats or attempts may occur par- ticularly after a real or perceived personal loss. The mentally ill EVJO may consider suicide a very viable option to get the demons out of his head or as a way to keep "them" from getting him and further persecut- ing him after he does away with his enemies.

CHAPTER TH IRTEEN Cr ises in Schools • 449

Weapons. Both the SVJO and the EVJO may have an undue fascination with and knowledge of weap- ons. The family may keep guns or other weapons ac- cessible in the home, or the SVJO or EVJO may have easy means of obtaining them on the street . Parents or significant role models may have a casual attitude toward weapons and see them as a useful or normal means of settling disputes. The SVJO may commonly carry or have access to a weapon for both "protection" and "revenge" against other gang members. When the EVJO carries a weapon to school, he is most likely get- ting ready to act out against his tormentors. The men- tally ill EVJO may be much like the SVJO in carrying weapons for both protection and revenge against his imagined enemies.

Case Study: Seung-hui Cho Now consider Seung-hui Cho at Virginia Tech in April 200 7. How well do you think he fits the foregoing be - haviors and characteristics?

Seung-hui Cho, the Virginia Tech mass murderer and suicide, is the personification of the mentally ill EVJO. The following behaviors, characteristics, and traits are gleaned from the video he sent to NBC and from a report by Michael Ruane (2007), who inter- viewed Cho's former suite mate, Andy Koch.

Cho clearly had altered states of consciousness as exemplified by his imaginary supermodel girlfriend "Jelly," whom he claimed h e was making out with in his locked room. He had severe ego identity prob- lems, as indicated by his alter ego, Ismail Ax, a name written in red ink on his arm, and by his signature "?" on a class role, which earned him the nickname of the "Question Mark Kid." Claiming to vacation with Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, and to live in the ominous room "666" when his hall had only five floors , boosted his weak self-concept and gave him power. Like most EVJOs he had no apparent his- tory of direct threats to anyone, but his behavior was most certainly threatening to all around him. His plays were so dark, twisted, and threatening that they caught the attention of his English professors . They are characteristic of the commingling of reality and fantas y for a person with paranoid schizophrenia and cannot be passed off as the works of "another Ste- phen King in the making." Cho's stalking behavior, scrawling of scary lines from Shakespeare on a girl's residence hall door, and other antisocial and bizarre behaviors over an ex tended period of time were pre- cursors of his ultimate acts of violence; those oblique threats would slowly grow and finally take form in

45 0 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

the direct and methodical act of mass murder. His hypersensitivities to external threats were legion and ranged from girls to the "rich snobs." He had been in- voluntarily hospitalized, was found to be depressed but not a threat to anyone else, and was released. Numerous complaints brought the police to his door. His antiheroes Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the mass murderers at Columbine High School, were ideal role models for the rampage he was contemplating. Most likely another role model, Ismail Ax, his imaginary alter ego, urged him along.

Cho 's physical problems included not being able to speak well, being small of stature, and be- ing different, although at this writing it is unclear whether "being different " related to being Korean, bullied, a loner, or some other factor or constella- tion of factors that set him apart. His writings and Facebook illustration of himself as a Zorro-like figure with only a large question mark in an oth- erwise blank face portray the graphic images of the violence he was contemplating. Finally and tragi- cally, these characteristics were known to numer- ous people, from his roommate to professors to the police. The psychological leakage that"characterizes a potentially v·iolent student was a veritable flood for Seung-hui Cho.

In summary, if you now look back through the traits, behaviors, characteristics, and screening fac- tors for the mentally ill EVJO and compare them to Cho's, they should scream at you, "Do something! " However, "doing something" in the case of a college student, even one whose behavior is as blatant as Cho's, is not so easily accomplished, as we shall see in this chapter's section on legal and ethical issues of potentially violent behavior.

Screening the EVJO Langman (2009) emphasizes that the key is lml early detection and prevention because once an armed suicidal/homicidal student sets foot on the school ground with a plan of action, all the metal detectors in the world are not going to stop him from carrying out his intended plan. The problem with profiling the estranged violent juvenile offender who is not men- tally ill is that any staff member in a school could probably identify at least 20% of the male population who might fit the foregoing profile and have many of the characteristics described in the foregoing section. How, then, can this population be screened for those students who might have such characteristics and, more important, the intent to carry out a violent act?

Leakage. Leakage occurs when a student communi- cates to a third party the intent to do harm (Meloy & O'Toole, 2011). In school, these intentionally or u n - intentionally reveals feelings, thoughts, fantasies , at- titudes, or intentions that signal a violent act. A note given to classmates then dropped and found by teach- ers, texts and post-its, and social media sites all a re possible leakage pints. They can be delivered through stories, diaries, essays, poems, drawings, doodles, songs, tattoos, videos, or other media that make boasts, threats, predictions, or ultimatums. Another form of leakage occurs when unwitting friends and classmates are coerced or deceived into helping in preparations fo r violent acts . Leakage can be cries for help, signs ofinner conflict, or boasts that may presage a serious threat. Leakage is considered one of the most important clues that precede a violent act (O'Toole, 2003).

Writings, Drawings, Pictures, Videos, Texts, Socia l Media, and E-Mails. The writings, drawings, homemade pictures, and videos ofEVJOs are often an open path- way into their troubled minds. In cases of potential vio - lent behavior, artwork may make the point more vividly than a verbal description. Graphic themes of violence that pervade the writings, drawings, photographs, vid- eos, and e-mails ofEVJOs are a tip-off that the student may be contemplating violent action against school staff or fellow students. These hard-copy emotional messages should be taken very seriously when previou s incidents of violent behavior have occurred and when such graphic displays of violent ideation are issuing from the "quiet kid" who has no history of disruption in the school. School crisis workers need to apprise teach - ers of these indicators of predisposition to violence, and such student-generated work should be passed on to t he crisis worker (Duncan & Duncan, 1971; Hammond & Gantt, 1998;James & Dorner, 1999).

Being aware of and acting on threats are critical in the prevention of a violent act (Wattendorf, 200 2) and leaks are one way of doing so. Training teachers to be aware of and report these types of leakage and n ot dismiss them as idle, out-of-hand comments is impor- tant (Van Brunt, 2015, p. 9). Bondu and Scheithauer (2015) found that when German teachers were trained to detect leaking they reported more improved knowl- edge about leaking and understanding more courses of action after training. While this may sound like overkill in regard to the cascade of notes teachers find (kids being notoriously sloppy and negligent in t h e art of getting rid of the evidence), let somebody with threat expertise determine how valid the threat is.

Peer Referral. There are very, very few instances in which the EVJO does not give some warning of his in- te ntions to harm himself or others. Invariably, in psy- ch ological postmortems of situations that resulted in injury or death due to violence by an EVJO, students h ad heard statements or seen notes from the student in dicating his intent to do harm but had generally d ismissed them as just "talk" (Hardwick & Rowton- Lee, 1996;James & Dorner, 1999).

However, the problem with peer referral is twofold. First, other students are afraid of and repelled by the notion of"narking" or "snitching" on another student. T his reticence to inform on another is particularly true when the student in question may be so threatening that other students fear for their own safety or dismiss the threat of a student they have known for years and in their opinion is absolutely harmless. Students need to feel safe in providing information about a poten- tially dangerous situation (Dwyer, Osher, & Warger, 1998, p. 4; Stewart & MacNeil, 2005).

One of the best ways to screen for potentially vio- lent students is through a peer referral and notifica- tion system run by peers and coordinated by school cr isis workers (Allen, 1996). Conflict resolution, pe er mediation, peer leadership, and peer counsel- ing are all programs that allow students to legiti- m ately notify faculty of potentially violent students without becoming informers. Whatever type of peer p rogram is offered should not be operated from the standpoint that its only purpose is to "catch bad k ids ." The primary purpose of peer programs should b e to help other students resolve conflicts, mediate d isputes, and provide support, help, and referral for common maturational problems associated with a dolescence and acclimation to school. However, when in the course of providing such peer helping se rvices , peer helpers gain information about fellow students in crisis who may be planning to commit violent acts , it is clearly appropriate for them to ap- prise the crisis worker of the information they have received (James & Dorner, 1999).

Peer helpers need to be carefully trained, moni- tored, and supervised by crisis workers lest they ex- ceed their limits (Allen, 1996). Peer helpers should be selected from a broad cross-section of the school pop- u lation (Day-Vines et al. , 1996). It has been your au- t hors' experience that students who represent the full spectrum of the student population are much more effective in reaching their peers and being accepted by them. That does not mean that there are lowered expectations of peer helpers either academically or

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 451

morally. The best peer helpers have been able to dem- onstrate a willingness to work with and help all of their fellow students. Their very diversity allows the program to reach a broader constellation of students than it otherwise might (Allen, 1996).

Team. The other major step is establishing a threat assessment team much like those that now exist on many college campuses (Lovre, 2013; Myer, James, & Moulton, 2011; Van Brunt, 2015) and in some K-12 school systems. The team should be composed of at least an administrator, a counselor, an SRO, and enough teachers spread across all grades and all sec- tions of the school to ensure that at least one team member has direct contact with each student. This in-house team would be considered a threat level I team . It meets on a regular basis to filter all poten- tial threats and rate them as to seriousness of intent. If a potential threat is discovered by the team, then a threat level II multiagency team composed of mental health and law enforcement individuals who are spe- cialists in threat assessment should be brought into the picture. However, assessment is only the begin- ning of the threat team's job . The real job comes in de- signing (Lovre, 2013) a plan to not onlx find potential th reats but to make plans to stabili ze and move them away from a lethal thinking a nd operating mode. As we have discussed in Chapter 8, Crisis of Lethality, the threshold that an angry person crosses from suicide to homicide can be very easy, thus the school system should have a comprehensive suicide prevention plan in place . The most effective threat assessment plan does not put that on the shoulders of the school sys- tem, but sees it as a community problem and brings community resources to bear on it (Lovre, 2013).

Interviewing the Potential EVJO When interviewing the potential EVJO, the first two tasks of the crisis intervention/ prevention model, Pre- dispositioning and Problem Exploration, along with the default task of Safety, are particularly critical in getting the EVJO to start talking about a violent act. The third task, Providing Support, and the default task of Safety are critical in assuring the student that the overriding concern is the student's own safety and well-being and that the issues that brought him to this point are not going to be shoved in a file drawer and never see the light of day. Coordinated with these preliminary tasks is the three-level threat assessment model provided in The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective (O'Toole, 2003, pp. 8-9).

452 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

Low threat is one that poses a minimal risk to the proposed victim. The threat is vague and indirect. The information is inconsistent and implausible, lacks de- tail, or is unrealistic. The content suggests it is unlikely to be carried out. Medium threat is one that could be car- ried out, although it may appear to be unrealistic. It is more direct than a low-level threat. Wording indicates that some thought has been given to how it will be car- ried out. There is a general indication of possible place and time. There is little indication the threatener has taken preparatory steps or made solid plans. There may be a specific statement seeking to convey the threat is real, as in "I'm serious, and I mean it!" High threat poses an imminent and serious danger to the safety of oth- ers. The threat is direct, specific, and plausible. Con- crete steps have been taken toward carrying it out, and there is a solid plan with means, opportunity, knowl- edge, and lethal methodology to carry it out.

Problem Definition. The school crisis worker who inter- views a potential EVJO initially needs to proceed with basic listening and responding skills that deeply reflect the student's feelings and allow him to ventilate his an- gry feelings. It should be understood that other nega- tive emotions are undergirding and supporting the anger the stugent feels. Suspicion, betrayal, embarrass- ment, grief, anxiety, inadequacy, threat, insecurity, and particularly, hopelessness and frustration, are but a few of the negative feelings that may be pushing the student toward violence. As indicated in online Chapter 19, Crisis/ Hostage Negotiation, when an individual is contemplating an expressive crime, empathic listening with open-ended leads and deep reflections of thinking and feeling will allow vitriolic feelings to emerge.

Case of John. John is a 14-year-old high school fresh- man who was referred to the school counselor by a teacher who had screened out John's theme after she had been through a workshop on profiling poten- tially violent students. The counselor has read John's theme, which is filled with angry and violent threats about a group of girls who have been teasing him.

CW: John, I've read your theme Mrs. Smith sent to me . You seem really angry. Would you like to tell me about what's making you so angry right now?

John: I'm sick of the Tri-Beta Club. Particularly the girls. They ask me to do stuff, and I do it, but then they make fun of me.

CW: Sounds like you're not only angry but hurt too. How do they hurt you?

These feelings and their antecedent causes need to be fully explored by the crisis worker to make a clear determination of what is going on and with whom it is occurring. Exploration is important for two rea- sons. First, by allowing the student to ventilate, the crisis worker does much toward defusing the poten- tially violent situation and can start to help the stu- dent develop alternative coping and problem-solving strategies. The crisis worker wants to establish a n open and trusting relationship with this troubled student. Hearing the student and affirming him, through summary clarification and restatement of the content of his problem and reflection of his feel- ings, go a long way toward doing that .

John: Yeah. I want to be friends, but I don't think they really want me for a friend. When they nee d somebody to build a float or put up posters, I'm just fine. But when I asked Sally Johnson if sh e wanted to go get a soda after the float was done, she laughed at me, said I was a loser, and then told the other girls, and they laughed too . I hate them !

CW: So they really put you down and embarrassed you when you did everything they wanted you to do.

Second, by adequately exploring the affective, b e- havioral, and cognitive dimensions of the student's problem, the crisis worker may gain valuable infor- mation about the who, what, where, when, and how of the student's proposed course of action. The worker stays away from why questions because of their inter- rogatory nature. John is already defensive, and the crisis worker does not wish to do anything that will further alienate him.

CW: John, it sounds like you'd really like to get back at them for the way they've treated you . How might you do that?

Ensuring Safety. Assessment of lethality is primary in any crisis intervention. Contrary to exploring is- sues by using open-ended questions, we subsequently assess the potential for suicidal or homicidal behav- ior by asking specific, closed-ended questions that are designed to get direct answers about the student's threat level. The questions we ask could come straight from a detective's homicide manual and fall within the following areas:

1. Is there a motive? 2. Is there opportunity? 3. What is the method or plan? 4. What are the means?

Most people in psychological crisis who have sui- cidal or homicidal ideation will talk about what they are going to do, and talking about their plan does not, contrary to popular myth, make them more likely to carry it out. Even though they may believe they have exhausted all other possibilities, their willingness to talk about their thoughts and contemplated actions is a positive sign and an indication that at least some part of them believes there is an alternative. The po- tential EVJO, in particular, fits this pattern because of his feelings of anger, hopelessness, and frustration and his need to vent those feelings . If questions are asked in an empathic, nonjudgmental way, the individual will be willing to talk about the four points just listed. There is one major exception, and that is the mentally ill EVJO who is paranoid about the behavior of others toward him. He is highly unlikely to voluntarily come to counseling or think that he needs it. After all, he believes it is the others who are all wrong and messed up-not him! Persuading him to talk may best be ac- complished by eliciting talk about "them" and dis- playing a good deal of empathy in regard to injustices perpetrated on him.

As motive, opportunity, method, and means are covered, the threat assessment goes up as each be- comes more concrete. The motive of the EVJO is often unclear, or muddled, and therefore may be dismissed as inconsequential. It would be a mistake to dismiss such ideation, however, because it is not just the mo- tive itself but the intensity and the lability with which it is discussed that are important. The more emotive the EVJO is about the injustices done him, the more he clarifies and elaborates on his plan and the oppor- tunity to carry it out, and the more lethal his means, the higher the threat assessment (O'Toole, 2003, p. 9).

It should be abundantly clear that if the potential EVJO has access to firearms or other weapons and k nows how to use them, the threat becomes critical, and there is increased risk for violence (Dwyer, Osher, & Warger, 1998, p. 10; Langman 2009, p. 182). Thus the crisis worker should not hesitate to ask the student what he knows about firearms and if he has access to them. If the crisis worker does not know about types and use of firearms , the SRO should be consulted.

The following two scenarios, using John as an ex- a mple, depict low versus high levels of threat.

Scenario 1

j ohn: I wish they were all dead. It'd serve them right!

CW: So if they were dead, it'd pay them back for what they've done to you. How might that happen?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 453

John: Well, I don't know for sure. I'd wish they'd get some incurable disease and really suffer a lot.

CW: So you'd like to see them hurt as much as they've hurt you. How might that happen?

John: Yeah. Well, I dunno for sure. Maybe they'd get that bird flu or food poisoning from the cafeteria.

Here, the s tudent's wish for the death of his tor- mentors is couched in fantasy with no clear means or method for carrying out his plan. This fantasized re- venge would not carry a high lethality level, but would certainly indicate that this student is in need of sup - port and continued work with the crisis worker.

Scenario 2

John: I wish they were all dead. It'd serve them right.

CW: So if they were dead, it'd pay them back for what they've done to you. How might that happen?

john: It'd be easy. I'd wait for them after school. When they go out to work on the homecoming float at the bus barn, I'd be behind the incinerator. I could shoot them real easy.

CW: John, do you know how to use a gun?

John: Sure. My dad's got a 9 mm pistol. He showed me how to use it. He says I'm pretty good with it.

CW: Can you get your dad's gun?

John: Well, he's got it locked up in the gun safe, but I know the combination.

CW: John, when are you planning on doing this?

John: I don't know, but if they make fun of me one more time, soon.

In this second scenario, the student's motive, method, opportunity, and access to lethal means are much clearer and better defined. Such a response would indicate a much higher threat level and would call for clear and immediate action on the part of the crisis worker.

Providing Support. In any case in which a student's lethality level is high, we need to provide clear owning statements about what we will need to do to keep the client and others he may intend to harm safe. Parents must be informed, and a clear line of communication needs to be established with the school administra- tion, law enforcement, and other agencies that may become involved (Dwyer, Osher, & Warger, 1998, p. 11).

CW: (responding to scenario 2) John, what you have said really concerns me. It sounds like you've really

45 4 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

worked out the details, and if you carry this out, I'm afraid for you and the other students. I under- stand you're really angry and hurt by what they've done to you. I can certainly understand how you could feel that way, but I don't want to see you get hurt any more, either by the other students in what they say and do to you, or by the police. I don't want you to shoot anybody, and I don't want the police to shoot you. I need to get some help for you right now, and I need to be sure you're safe. I want you to stay with me until I can make sure you are safe. I need to talk to your parents because I'm sure they would be concerned for you. I also need to talk to the principal to make sure that she understands what's going on, so she can make sure that you stay safe. I understand that you might be upset with me for doing this, but I'm really concerned about you right now, John. I understand that right now you think this is the only solution you've got, but I be- lieve there are other ways to handle this, and I want you to understand that I'll help you to figure some of those out. I'll stay with you and work with you until we do get things worked out and you are safe.

Many clients will not be happy when they are in- formed about.what is going to happen to them. One of the best responses the crisis worker can make when this happens is to use a combination of what are called "I understand" statements and the "broken re- cord" technique, which continuously and repeatedly acknowledges the client's unhappiness about our de- cision, but also reaffirms our concern and caring for him. If the student becomes angry or enraged over the worker's insistence that help is required, and becomes threatening, the worker needs to acknowledge the an- ger, but also set limits.

John: Hey, everything is supposed to be confidential in here. You tricked me. No way you tell my par- ents, my old man would beat me to death. Screw this. (jumps up with fists clenched)

CW: (immediately rises from her chair as a safety precau- tion) No, I did not trick you, John. You heard what I said about confidentiality when we talked about harming yourself or others. John, I totally get what you say, but don't you want some respect, don't you want to feel better about coming to school? Don't you not want to be tricked and made fun of anymore? These things can happen because you have not acted on that angry notion. So please sit down and let me go to work for you . Nothing has happened so far that says we can't get

some more positive results. So please sit down a nc let me do my job to help you out.

The worker first acknowledges his anger a nd sense of betrayal. She then uses a series of negative interrogative questions that ask for agreement a nd attempt to reframe his present cognitive and emo - tional state to what he desires to have happen. She also uses "these" things to gain psychological clos e- ness as opposed to "that" notion which she wishes to distance psychologically. Finally, she also use s Fauteux's (2010) technique of showing there is sti ll time because nothing has happened yet that would destroy the possibility of John's getting what he wants other than revenge.

If these techniques do not get John to calm down, then the worker needs to consider her own safety and follow our recommendations in Chapter 14, Violent Behavior in Institutions, to get out of the room and/ or get help.

At other times, what may at first seem to be a high threat situation may not be and, in fact, may mask other crisis issues. Return now to Officer Davis whom you met earlier in the chapter, and see how his day is going to become very interesting indeed.

Officer Davis receives a call from the school secre- tary at his home (S. Davis, personal communication, February 17, 2007). She is very distressed. The school has received a phone call from some kind of a psycho- therapist in California who has been communicating with and working with a student via the Internet, a Goth 16-year-old white male. The therapist is very concerned because the student indicates he is tired of being bullied and is making a bomb to blow up the school. She calls long distance and tells the school secretary this information after the school day is over and the students are gone. The student has put that information on MySpace and indicated he is going to blow up something or somebody. Through some good detective work on the part of the school secre- tary, she has determined that the boy is Paul Jones. Officer Davis discretely meets the boy at school the next morning and pulls him into his office.

Officer Davis: Talk to me, Paul. What's going on? You seem kinda depressed.

Paul: Not really. Some kids trash talking me is all, and I'm tired of getting bullied by them.

Officer Davis: Look, you're not in any trouble OK, but I gotta check this out. It looks like you put some stuff on the net about making a bomb. Want to show me what it was?

Paul: Well yeah! I put some of that stuff on there, but I'm not really making one.

Paul shows him what he put on the net. Officer D avis e-mails this information to the local bomb squad, who are sitting in unmarked cars outside Paul's house. They get very excited over the informa- (ion and immediately want to search Paul's house for bo mb-making material. Officer Davis calls the par- ents and informs them of what is occurring. A search of the house is quietly conducted, and nothing is fo und in the way of explosive devices, much to the re- lief of the parents and everyone else . However, Officer D avis's CIT training kicks in, and he feels something more is going on with this troubled young man. He continues to explore Paul's feelings with him.

Officer Davis: Look, I've done a lot of this stuff, Paul, and I get a good sense when things are really trou- bling people. You seem really down or maybe something else. I think it's more than getting trash talk for being Goth. You sure you don't want to talk to me about it?

Paul: OK. Look, this is weird. Like I have spiders crawling all over my arms right now. And there is a waterfall right in back of you. Plus my dad talks to me a lot in class, but like he's at work and not really there, but nevertheless, he is talking to me, and it really is distracting and scary. See I scratch my arms, but the spiders still come back.

Officer Davis: (thinking to himself, "Holy mackerel! This kid is having schizophrenic episodes!") Paul, that cer- tainly concerns me. Have you told your parents?

Paul: No, I'm too embarrassed. I don't want them to know. I keep thinking they'll go away. They don't come often, but when they do, it's pretty scary. That waterfall behind you right now is pretty real.

Officer Davis: I don't see or hear it. I know you do, and that needs to get taken care of. I've got a friend at the crisis center who deals with this stuff. I be- lieve after I talk with your parents you need to meet him.

Officer Davis now calls the parents, who are at (heir home with the bomb disposal unit, and informs (hem of their son's hallucinating episodes. To say that (his is a day they would like to soon forget is putting it mildly. However, Officer Davis calmly talks them (hough the problem and then drives Paul to the crisis ce nter, where the parents meet him. Whenever Officer D avis has to take someone to the crisis center, he stays w make sure the person is being seen and treated

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schoo ls • 455

before he leaves. This is particularly true of students, who need a friendly face when they are taken to a mental health facility and are under emotional du- ress. This tactic allows students to know that he is not abandoning them and pays off down the road when he encounters them again. They know they can trust him and that he really is interested in them as people.

It may be argued that a school counselor, psy- chologist, or social worker might be the best person to handle this situation. However, when a school re- source officer like Scott Davis is also CIT trained, the fact that this is a potentially lethal situation with di- saster ramifications makes him the very best qualified person to deal with Paul. You may wonder whether this is a rose-colored picture of a police officer. With the spread of CIT training across the United States, officers like Scott Davis are becoming more and more common and are, in every sense of the definition, crisis interventionists. Further, they certainly have ample opportunity to ply their trade in 21st-century schools (James, Logan, & Davis, 2011).

Acting How the crisis worker acts depends on a continu- ous assessment of the student. If the crisis worker determines that the student is indeed a threat, then the worker's response should be to make an immedi- ate referral and notify parents, administrators, and, if necessary, law enforcement personnel. If the crisis worker determines that the student's lethality level is not high, then the worker can move forward in the model to examining alternatives , making plans, and obtaining a commitment to work on positive actions that will help him become less alienated and angry. An investigation might indicate that the behavior was merely a "throwaway" statement that had no mean- ing other than ordinary misguided playfulness or a momentary pique of anger. Even then, it would be a proper educative and counseling activity to teach the student not to play this game. However, in today's school environment, threats against others should not automatically be discounted. Thus, the crisis worker needs to keep a record of the encounter and follow up with the student to ensure that those threats do not escalate into action (James & Crawford, 2002).

Punishment by expulsion is not the answer and in fact does at least two things we don't want to have happen. First, it likely increases the student's grudge against the school or those in it he feels are respon- sible for his misery. Second, it is likely to leave the stu- dent unsupervised at home and give him free license

456 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

to plan and assemble the necessary weaponry to pay the school back (Langman, 2009, p. 186). What needs to happen is that the student is evaluated for psy- chiatric and/ or behavioral problems, medicated if necessary, provided counseling, and placed in an al- ternative school that is well supervised.

A primary consideration is what to do if the stu- dent is carrying a weapon. If the crisis worker feels the relationship with the student is positive enough and the student indicates that he has a weapon in his pos- session, then the crisis worker may ask for it for safe- keeping. In taking a weapon, the crisis worker should always be sure it is handed over butt first or, if a knife, haft (handle) first . If the crisis worker is unsure of the student's intent or if the student is resistant, the cri- sis worker should immediately seek help and get out of the room. If the student indicates he has a weapon in his locker or some other hiding place, the crisis worker should have another person go with him or her to the hiding place. In no instance should the crisis worker attempt to be a hero and attempt to forcibly take a weapon away from a student (Crews, 1998). There is no known formula for determining whether to attempt to get the weapon away from the student or leave the premises to get help. Probably the best rule to follow is whatever the crisis worker believes will be the safest course of action for both the crisis worker and the student.

School-Based Suicide Prevention and Intervention Because adolescence is the most volatile pe- l:mJ riod of transition in the human cycle of development, factors involving youth who are at risk for suicide are dramatically different from thos e affecting adults who kill themselves (Berman, Jobes, & Silverman, 2006; Capuzzi, 2009; Maples et al., 2005; Pfeffer, 2006). Suicidal thoughts and behaviors represent the most common mental health emergency among teen- agers (King et al., 2013) . Suicide ranks third (12%) behind homicide (15%) and vehicle accidents (31%) as one of the leading causes of death in adolescents. From 1952 to 1995, the incidence of suicide among adolescents rose 300%. From 1980 to 1997, the rate of suicide among persons aged 10-14 rose 109% (Cen- ters for Disease Control, 2002). For youth between the ages of 10 and 24, currently suicide is the third lead- ing cause of death. It results in approximately 4,600 lives lost each year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015a). Given these figures there is an av- erage likelihood that every year, every teacher in every

high school classroom in the United States can expecr two girls and one boy to seriously contemplate or at- tempt suicide (King, 2000), and every principal in the average American high school can expect one com- pleted suicide every 5 years and 170 attempts in any given year, although certainly most of these will never come to the school's attention (Brock, Sandoval, & Hart, 2006).

Further, unless they are ferreted out, these teen- agers are not likely to seek mental health assistance . Husky and her associates (2012) followed up the ad- olescent supplement national comorbidity study. During the course of 12 months, 3.6% of adolescents reported suicidal ideation without a plan or attempt, 0.6% reported a suicide plan without an attempt, and 1.9% made a suicide attempt. Overall, two-thirds of adolescents with suicidal ideation (67.3%) and half of those with a plan (54.4%) or attempt (56.9%) did not have any contact with a mental health specialist in the past year.

Deaths from youth suicide are only part of the problem. Suicide and self-harm in young people are a major cause oflife years of adjusting to a disability brought on by the attempt (De Silva et al., 2013). More young people survive suicide attempts than actually die. A nationwide survey of youth in grades 9-12 in public and private schools in the United States found that 16% of students reported seriously considering suicide, 13% reported creating a plan, and 8% report- ing trying to take their own life in the 12 months preceding the survey. That means that essentially every school counselor, social worker, and school psychologist has someone who is actively thinking about, planning or trying to kill themselves. Each year, approximately 157,000 youth between the ages of 10 and 24 receive medical care for self-inflicted in- juries at Emergency Departments across the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015b). So when that doesn't work, those same human services workers are going to see those kids again, only this time they may be both psychologically and/ or physically disfigured from the attempt, have solved none of the problems that got them to a suicidal state, and are likely worse off than before. To that end, many states, our own state of Tennessee being a pretty good example, now require training for all school person- nel in detecting suicidal behavior (Capuzzi, 2009).

Suicide affects all youth, but some groups are at higher risk than others. Boys are more likely than girls to die from suicide. Of the reported suicides in the 10 to 24 age group, 81% of the deaths were males

and 19% were females . Girls, however, are more likely to report attempting suicide than b oys. Cultural variations in suicide rates also exist, with Native American/ Alaskan Native youth having the highest rates of suicide-related fatalities. A nationwide survey of youth in grades 9- 12 in public and private schools in the United States found Hispanic youth were more likely to report attempting suicide than their black and white, non-Hispanic peers (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015b). Suicide is a problem t hat is far more prevalent and far more lethal than all the school assaults combined-even though school shootings get far more publicity.

From these figures it would seem apparent that crisis response programs in schools should incorpo- rate suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention components that are comprehensive and systematic (Austin, 2003; Capuzzi, 2002, 2009; Kalafat, 2003; Komar, 1994; Malley, Kush, & Bogo, 1994; Reis & Cornell, 2008; Webb & Griffiths, 1998- 1999). If a school system does not have a written formal policy, t he board and the community should require that sui- cide prevention/ intervention/ postvention procedures be developed and implemented (Malley, Kush, & Bogo, 1994, p. 135). School-based child and adolescent suicide prevention/intervention/postvention should include (Capuzzi, 2002; Kerr, 2009; Malley, Kush, & Bogo, 1994, p. 131; Maples et al., 2005; Thompson, 2004):

1. A written, formal suicide policy statement. 2. Written procedures to address and ensure the

safety of at-risk students. 3. Faculty and staff inservice orientation and

training in warning signs and referral of at-risk students.

4. Identification and training of mental health pro- fessionals on-site or readily available crisis teams.

5 . Prevention materials for distribution to students, parents, and the community, and for classroom discussion.

6. Procedures for psychological screening, identifica- tion, and counseling of at-risk students.

7. Preplanned postvention respons es and strategies that occur following any completed suicide.

8. Written criteria for crisis workers to assess lethal- ity of a potential student suicide.

9. Written policies on how the school-based child and adolescent suicide prevention/ intervention/ postvention program is evaluated.

Kerr (2009, pp. 24 - 26) has taken these general pro cedures a step further and outlined what the

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 457

response should be to a suicide threat, a suicide at- tempt on school grounds , a suicide attempt off school grounds or during a school-sponsored activity and re - ported to an employee, and a completed or suspected completed suicide.

Risk Factors/Predictors/Cues Almost all adolescent suicide victims have expen- enced some form of psychiatric illness. These range across affective, conduct, and attention deficit disorders (Shaffer, 1988) to antisocial personality, substance abuse, and depressive disorders (Guida, 2001; Hacker et al., 2006; Shaffer, 1988). Adolescents who have questions about their sex ual identity, have recently experienced a loss, suffered humiliation at school or home, been bullied or cyberbullied, had an interper- sonal conflict with a romantic partner or a parent, a dramatic change such a s the death of a friend, or a pregnancy, are heavily into alcohol or drug use, have been traumatized by sexu a l or physical assault, are depressed, have a physical illness, have made a ma- jor geographic move to a new school, engage in risky behaviors (parasuicidal), or are petulantly angry and impulsively act out are all candidates for suicidal ideation, threats , and acting (Capuzzi, 2002; Guida, 2001; Nelson & Galas , 1994). W hen faced with these conflicts, it appears that lack of family or peer sup- port is a precipitating factor in generating suicidal ideation (Mazza & Reynolds, 1998). Interes tingly, gift- edness may also be a contributing factor (Nelson & Galas, 1994). The individual who comes from a home where suicide has been attempted or has had a close friend who has attempted suicide may be at greater risk (Capuzzi, 2002; Nelson & Galas, 1994). But prob- ably the best single predictor is a previous suicide at- tempt (Nelson & Galas, 1994; Shaffer et al., 1988).

The clues and behaviors that a re commonly found in the suicide indicators in Chapter 8, Crisis of Lethality, would hold true for most adolescents and children. For children and adolescents, how- ever, warning signs also include a sudden change in friends or dress habits , cutting hair or chang- ing hairstyles , difficulty concentrating, persistent boredom, sudden or increased promiscuity, reversal of valuation of prized objects, use of drugs or alco- hol, and a decline in school achievement (Capuzzi, 2002; Greene, 1994; Maples et al. , 2005; Nelson & Galas , 1994). Copycat suicides are particularly prob- lematic for adolescents , particularly if the adolescents believe there will be notoriety for them. This phenom- enon occurs after a suicide when peers, who may have

458 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

had similar thoughts, also attempt suicide (Austin, 2003) . Although most adolescents give cues to their attempts, not all do. Adolescents may verbally indi- cate their decision to kill themselves in clear terms, or they may be far less direct with such statements as "I wonder what death is like" or "I'm tired of all of this."

Preadolescent Suicide There is a prevailing notion that young children do not commit suicide. Have a conversation with any el- ementary school counselor, social worker, or school psychologist who has been in the business for any length of time and you will be quickly disabused of that faulty notion . The problem is that while a ton of work has been done with adolescents, relatively little has been done with young children. Price (2010), in a brief overview, pointed this out. The experts he que- ried indicated that most young children who commit suicide have some kind of mental disorder and are likely to have been victims of physical or sexual abuse . However, that is certainly not true of every child.

The other major issue is that when children are found to be suicidal they tend to be treated as minia- ture adults rather than in terms of the cognitive a nd developmental stage they are in. Indeed, because of their level of cognitive development, many young chil- dren's thought processes that lead to suicide would not generally be considered reasons to kill themselves if they were adults. But, as with all suicidal persons, it makes perfect sense to them . Consider the follow- ing reasons: wanting to meet a friend or relative who died; feeling guilty that they are the cause of parents' getting a divorce; avoiding punishment or embar- rassment they believe is worse than death; wanting to punish someone else (although this can certainly happen with adolescents and adults); believing they will be martyrs for some cause; and escape from an intolerable situation such as an abusive home or a concentrated cyberbully attack (Muro & Kottman, 1995, pp. 324- 325).

Further, parents and teachers tend to dismiss clues that are common to suicidal ideation. Indeed, it is interesting that most child counseling and ther- apy books tend to lump a lot of what is known about adolescent suicide into their recommendations and counseling techniques for elementary age children. The bottom line is that young children who emit sui- cidal clues should be taken seriously, and the child counseling procedures that are depicted in other parts of this chapter and book should be used with them along with the general suicide prevention and

intervention techniques that are used with adults. To that end, our own state ofTennessee mandates by law training for all school personnel in suicide preven- tion, and we believe that it should be part of the policy of every elementary school that parents are educated about suicide prevention.

Child and Adolescent Cases of Suicidal Ideation Here are some strategies and suggestions (Capuzzi 2002; Flemons & Grainik, 2013; Fujimura, Weis, & Cochran, 1985; Nelson & Galas, 1994) for anyone (cr i- sis worker or layperson) who comes into contact with a child or adolescent suspected of being suicidal:

1. Trust your suspicions that the young person may be self-destructive.

2. Tell the person you're worried about him or h er; then listen to the person in a nonjudgmental, sup- portive way.

3. Ask direct questions, including whether the youngster is thinking about suicide and, if so, whether he or she has a plan.

4. Don't act shocked at what the youngster tells you. Don' t debate whether suicide is right or wrong, o r counsel the person yourself if you're not qualified. Don't promise to keep the youngster's intentions a secret. Be calm and supportive and reinforce the person for talking about it.

5. Don't leave the youngster alone if you think the risk of suicide is immediate.

6. Do not be embarrassed or reticent about getting help from a competent counselor, therapist, or other responsible adult.

7. Ensure that the youngster is safe and that the ap- propriate adults responsible for the youngster are notified and become actively involved with the youngster.

8. Assure the youngster that something is being done, that the youngster's suicidal urges are not being discounted, and that, in time, the emer- gency will most likely pass. Apprise the youngste r that survival is a step-by-step, day-to-day process; that help is at hand; and that calling for help in a direct manner is necessary whenever the suicidal urge gets strong.

9. Assume an active and authoritarian role as needed to protect the child at risk. This is a crisis and calls for applied, directive guidance and manage- ment. After the youngster has apparently resolved the high-risk crisis, monitor progress very closely.

Many persons have been known to suddenly com- mit suicide after they seemed to be renewed and strong.

10. Actively acknowledge the reality of suicide as a choice, but do not "normalize" suicide as a good choice.

11. Ask questions about the suicidal ideation, but bal- ance them with interspersed empathic responses.

12. Construct a short-term safety plan. If the young- ster is unwilling or unable to comply or there are no parents or guardians available, go to 13.

13. Consider hospitalization if parents are not coop- erating, if the youth is highly agitated, or if the student has not been eating, is exhausted or de- hydrated, or has some other exacerbating physical condition.

14. Refuse to allow the youth to return to school without an assessment and release by a qualified mental health professional. This assures that the youth will receive the necessary treatment and also protects the school from liability if a suicide attempt or completion takes place.

The following scenarios incorporate many of the suggestions just given.

Billy, Age 11. In a group counseling session, children ages 9 to 12 (including Billy) were engaged in relaxation training, emotive imagery, and self-esteem building. The children were taking turns disclosing a positive image each was experiencing. Billy had been rather quiet and complacent in previous counseling sessions.

Billy: I see myself beside the highway. There's a big 18-wheeler-going fast. I'm feeling like I'm gonna die. I want to die. I see myself jumping in front of it.

CW: Billy, that concerns me to hear you say that! Could you and I talk about that after the others leave? And Billy, I want you to know that I'm glad you didn't keep that image a secret from us.

The crisis worker was shaken and surprised at Billy's sudden description of his images . The worker assessed the suicide risk to be high because of the con- tent and the context of the disclosure (the group ac- tivity had been clearly structured to facilitate sharing only positive, growth-promoting images, which other members of the group had done).

Billy's nonverbal body posture and profoundly serious facial expression communicated that he was not fooling. The crisis worker did not deny, refute, or

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 459

admonish Billy. Recognizing that Billy was taking a great risk by disclosing his death wish, the worker re- sponded by assuring Billy that he had received the mes- sage as sent and conveying to members of the group the worker's willingness to attend to and answer Billy's cry for help.

Lester, Age 14. Lester was an intelligent youngster who made good grades in school and had a reputa- tion for being quiet, cooperative, and well behaved. Following his parents' bitter divorce, while living with his mother and a younger sister and brother, Lester began to get into trouble in school because of his overt acting out and belligerent behavior. He lost interest in his studies and school activities, and his grades began to tumble. He became rebellious with his mother, and his appetite decreased to the de- gree that he just picked at his food. He became very withdrawn-seldom leaving his room-in contrast to his previous behavior of being actively engaged in outside activities whenever possible.

Lester's mother and the school counselor decided to place him in a student support group consisting of male and female middle school "students, all of whom were experiencing severe difficulty following the separation and/ or divorce of their parents . At the conclusion of one of the group sessions, Lester asked to speak with the crisis worker.

CW: Lester, sounds like something happened in the group today that got pretty close to you.

Lester: (hesitant, looking down, nervous) I ... I've been feel- ing weird lately. Strange. Like I'm somewhere else.

CW: You mean like you're outside your own body ob- serving yourself?

Lester: Yeah. Even at night. I don't understand it. I've even thought I might be going crazy.

CW: (closely observing Lester's body language) Lester, it sounds like this is so serious you may have even been wishing you were dead.

Lester: Yeah. I've been scared. I've just thought about how it would be to just go to sleep and not wake up.

CW: Have you thought about making that happen? Killing yourself, so that you'd never wake up?

Lester: Thought about it, yeah. Thought about it more lately.

The crisis worker had sensed prior to the interview that Lester might be suicidal. At least six indicators on

460 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

the risk assessment checklist pointed to the conclu- sion that Lester was at a high risk level: his changing family life, his changing behavior and attitudes, his body language, his eating habits, his social habits, and his grades. Any one of these would have been an important lethality signal (Curran, 1987, pp. 111-118).

Crisis workers and other adults who work with suicidal youngsters must pay careful attention to clues indicating that suicidal ideation is present. Hunt, Osten, and Teague (1991, pp. 20-21) found that classroom teachers who are sensitive to the emotional changes in and have a close relationship with their students can be primary identification, support, and referral sources for youth who are suicidal.

Lester 's science teacher, Mr. Birch, overheard Lester talking to a classmate about giving him his "boom box" and some CDs. Lester had also taken a pair of scissors and chopped off his long hair. He had gotten in a shouting match with a girl in class and almost come to blows with her before the teacher intervened.

These behaviors were clearly uncharacteristic of Lester. Mr. Birch also knew from a staffing meet- ing with Lester's teachers that Lester had thoughts of killing himself. The teacher had a list of warning signs he had received at an inservice training on sui- cide (Maples et al., 2005). Afte~ he became suspicious of Lester's behavior, he looked over the warning signs and made an immediate referral for Lester to the cri- sis worker. The crisis worker called Lester's mother, who confirmed Mr. Birch's suspicions. The assistant principal also indicated that Lester had had two dis- ciplinary referrals for fighting after school in the last 2 weeks.

CW: (3 months after the initial intervention) Lester, I asked for this conference because I'm worried about you again. I thought you were doing great! But now, frankly, I'm scared to death for you . Mr. Birch and your mom are worried too and asked me to see you.

Lester: Oh, I'm OK. Things are going great.

CW: (in a calm, soft, caring, empathic voice-not a lec- turing or agitated tone) They may seem OK to you, but what concerns me right now is what you've been doing lately. Your mother is very upset and puzzled because you've given your CD player to a friend, and the principal is livid because you've picked two fights on the way home from school this week. I've noticed that the last 2 days in the hallways and cafeteria you've been like an entirely

different person. If these things say what they ap- pear to say, I don't think I can leave here today u n - til I can be sure you're safe. I don't want to wake u p in the morning and hear that you're dead!

Lester: It's really not anything you should feel wor- ried about. I'm OK, really I am.

CW: (soft, empathic vocal tone continued) Fine, then yo u can help me feel OK by discussing with me what's going on. I just want you to know that the clues I'm picking up spell danger and that I'm as co n - cerned for you as I've ever been. And I need to know that you're safe, even though you say you're OK. I really care about you.

The crisis worker was empathic but confrontive and persistent even though it would have been desir- able and comforting to believe that Lester was OK. As it turned out, Lester was indeed on the threshold of suicide again. The important thing was that the worker interpreted Lester's unusual actions as clue s that called for help-whether Lester overtly called fo r help or not.

What is particularly helpful for them is decreas- ing their feelings of isolation and marginalization (Berman, Jobes, & Silverman, 2006). Including sui- cidal children and adolescents in support groups and other activities that make them feel like valued and contributing members to their school and peer group is an important part of moving them away from sui- cidal thinking and behaving. Berman and Jobes (1994) found that suicidal adolescents particularly need empathic therapeutic alliances to help them fe el affirmed, valued, and understood.

Postvention Clustering of Suicides. Cluster or contagion suicides occur when more than one suicide attempt or com- pletion happens within a proximate geographic area, giving the appearance that these events are relate d (Gould & Shaffer, 1986; Kirk, 1993, p. 15; Webb & Griffiths, 1998-1999, pp. B43-B48). There is evidence that publicity about child and adolescent suicide completions and media programs depicting factua l or fictional suicides have been associated with suicide attempts and completions in geographic areas reached by the publicity (Austin, 2003; Kalafat, 199 0, p. 364).

Kirk (1993, pp. 15-16) likens such clustering to the infectious disease concept; that is, when a patho- gen is introduced into a vulnerable population, the probability of infection is spontaneously increase d.

Similarly, when an adolescent suicide occurs and is sensationally reported or somehow glorified, other adolescents who may already be in a state of despair, helplessness, or hopelessness may be influenced to- ward terminating their lives or see it as an excellent way to get a great deal of attention.

Contagion. Sandy Austin (2003) reported on a series of four suicides at her school in an 8-month period. The school crisis response team immediately responded to the suicides in the following manner. After each sui- cide, faculty were called and informed of a meeting the next morning where they were briefed. District men- tal health personnel were contacted for support. The principal, counselor, and SRO visited the deceased's family members and asked if a memo could be read that stated the student "took his own life" instead of "committed suicide" to convey the finality of the act and decrease the "glory" of it. Memos were drafted and read in each class. At the end of the day, faculty met for a debriefing to determine how students were doing. Students were invited to come into the counseling of- fice for one-on-one or group counseling or just to come to a "safe room ." Parent/ community meetings were hosted with an expert to address the suicide issue. The media were asked to construct their stories in a "signs to look for" manner and "how to help someone access resources" to address the contagion effect.

The crisis team was then confronted with another problem. Instead of dealing in typical teenager fash- ion with the ruts and potholes of adolescence, the students started talking about suicide as a viable op- tion for taking care of problems. The counselor and student representatives visited each English class and asked students to be observant and tell someone if a friend started talking about suicide or showed warn- ing signs. Posters were created on the subject of getting h elp and watching for clues and placed throughout t he community. Crisis line phone numbers were put on cards and passed out. Austin reported that for the rest of the school year there was at least one tip a day on a potential suicide. The toll went beyond the sui- cides and the grief felt for their loss. Two peer coun- selors became suicidal, and one school counselor had rn take a month's sick leave due to stress. Thus, you should get a pretty clear notion that vicarious trauma, which you will read about in Chapter 16, is real.

The school district did everything by the book. T hey did everything they could possibly do and generally did it right, but still the suicides contin- u ed . Shaffer, Vieland, and Garland (1990) reported

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 461

that among adolescent suicide attempters, "talking about suicide in the classroom makes some kids more likely to try to kill themselves" (pp. 3153-3155). Thus, "postvention" classroom programs designed for sui- cide education and prevention may be appropriate for the majority of adolescents who are not currently at risk, but may not be appropriate for the at-risk popu- lation. Or at least a massive effort will be needed to get all of the student body involved and willing to tell an adult about a peer's suicidal thoughts or threats without fear of being labeled a snitch.

Publicity and Contagion. Kirk (1993, p. 17), in his in- vestigation about media effects on adolescent suicide, makes three interesting observations: (1) The more sensational the reporting of the suicide, the greater was the increase in suicides within the reporting area. (2) There was a significant increase in auto accidents involving teenagers following media reports of youth suicides. (3) There was an increase in adolescent sui- cides following certain made-for-television motion pictures that focused on episodes showing suicides in the lives of troubled and suicidal adolescents. That's why it is critically important for the media liaison to work closely with the media, as in the case of Sandy Austin's school district.

Imperatives for SCRTs in Suicides. School crisis l!!Jm response teams (SCRTs) must be knowledgeable about suicide postvention so that clustering does not occur. Crises of suicide are different from other crises because of the self-instigating behavior that goes with them and because so many different emotional evaluations are placed on suicide. IfSCRT members do not know about the dynamics of suicidal behavior, they need to get outside consultation that does, and they need to have it available immediately. The worst possible scenario is an insecure SCRT that does not want to "look bad" because it needs outside help to handle the crisis. In our own experience, we have witnessed an SCRT that did not know what it was doing and wound up with three more completed suicides and two attempts on its hands in the space of2 months in the same high school! Thus, it is critical that parents, teachers, and students be given notification and information regarding warn- ing signs of suicide-particularly after a completion (Maples et al., 2005).

Jennifer, Age 17. Jennifer was terrified. Although she had suffered from depression, loneliness, and low self-esteem for several years , she had managed to have a satisfactory social life, maintain average

462 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

grades in school, and regain her equilibrium follow- ing each depressive episode. Several stressors during the past year had combined to complicate and dis- rupt her life. Indeed, one of the major contributors to child and adolescent suicide is the role of the family (Berman, Jobes, & Silverman, 2006; Wagner, 1997). Her parents ' separation and divorce were unex pected and bitter. Her maternal grandmother, to whom she had been very close, died from rapidly progress- ing intestinal cancer. Jennifer was living with her mother and two younger sisters. The mother began dating a single man and permitted him to move in with them. Jennifer changed schools during the mid- dle of the year when her parents' original home was sold. Because of her lack of social adjustment and academic achievement in the new school,Jennifer was placed in a support group at the school and was also seen regularly by an individual counselor.

Following a weekend episode of trauma over the suicide of a friend who attended another school, Jennifer showed signs of being upset, severely de- pressed, exhausted, and withdrawn. The crisis worker had been notified thatJennifer had missed school on Friday to attend her friend's funeral. Being wary of contagion s'uicide, sometimes called copycat suicide (Gould & Shaffer, 1986), the crisis worker knew that Jennifer's risk level was probably elevated because of her trauma over her friend's suicide, in addition to her already stressful family situation.

CW: Jennifer, it frightens me to see you this way. What's happening to cause you so much pain right now?

The crisis worker could see the physical and emo- tional devastation Jennifer was feeling. It was impor- tant to communicate to Jennifer the worker's affective concern and to provide a direct and open opportu- nity for Jennifer to feel safe and to respond (Patros & Shamoo, 1989, pp. 126 - 128).

Jennifer: (after a long pause, in a very low, subdued voice) I ... I've never been this scared before in my life. (pause) All weekend I've been at the end of my rope. I've just thought, there's no use going on anymore. And ever since last Friday at Etta's funeral, I've won- dered if it wouldn't be better if I just went like she did. They said such nice things about her. She and I were so close. It was so sad but so comforting to hear all the wonderful things they said about her.

CW: Jennifer, I'm glad you're here now. I can see how the death of Etta and her eulogy really affected

you. What frightens me right now is what you just said, that it would be better if you joined her. Do es this mean that you're planning to kill yourself over this?

The crisis worker's questioning was aimed a t swiftly making an assessment of Jennifer's lethality and quickly heading off the idea of contagion sui- cide. The answer to such a question drastically im- pacts and changes what the crisis worker does. Even though Jennifer's destabilized family situation would have been signal enough to inquire into any suicidal thoughts and plans she might have, the hint of con- tagion suicide served as a red flag, alerting the crisis worker to be assertive and direct in asking the suicide question.

The concept of contagion suicide is controversial. Skeptics and critics claim that there is little scientific proof of clustering and copycatting because it is dif- ficult to prove that one suicide attempt or completion directly causes another. But according to Kirk (1993 , pp. 16-17), there is too much evidence of recent conta- gion suicides in the United States to ignore or dismiss claims of clustering. We agree with his conclusions and believe from our own experience that it is ex- tremely important for school crisis response teams that go into a school after a suicide to know that this phenomenon has a possibility of being activated if postvention is not handled correctly.

There is evidence that providing peer support such as a professionally led peer counseling group can help suicidal teenagers (King et al., 2006). One of the major support systems in schools to prevent initial and conta- gion suicides is a peer counseling system such as Allen's (1996) peer leader program. Allen's peer counselors meet weekly to talk about issues and problems that are occurring in their high school. They are the eyes and ears of the counselor and are privy to information of a far wider and current scope than school staff will ever be. By relaying information to the school counselor about peers who are severely affected by a school trauma, they enable intervention to happen much more effectively and quickly. As Allen says, "I have no idea what types of drugs or alcohol are currently hot. I don't know who is depressed because he broke up with his girlfriend, but my peer leaders do, and they are not seen as snitches for telling me. It is okay because the rest of the kids see it as the peer leaders' job."

Grief and Mourning After Adolescent Suicide. II!Jll Kirk (1993, pp. 112 - 115) found that suicides of adoles- cents and other youth represent a type of death that

severely complicates survivors' mourning a nd adjust- ment. He cited the following reasons:

1. The adolescent suicide is generally unexpected. 2. The death of a young person is harder to accept

than that of an older person who has lived a full life.

3. To many people, suicide is incomprehensible and perhaps even morally wrong.

4. The suicide completer's family and friends are left with guilt, anger, and a sense of unfinished busi- ness with the deceased, which mourners must work through.

5. There is less social support for a suicide completer's family than there may be for other bereaved families because people tend to unjustly ascribe blame to the family.

Kirk also stated that when a suicide occurs in a school setting, grief reaction is often further compli- cated by the group response of classmates and school personnel. Educators, school crisis response teams, parents, and others involved in designing prevention, intervention, and postvention procedures should be sensitive to the unique grief factors just mentioned. A suicide absolutely must not be glorified or made heroic. That doesn't mean that feelings are ignored or questions concerning the deceased are not answered as truthfully and honestly as possible. Survivors will be seeking answers to why the individual took his or her life. There will be many questions about who had responsibility or culpability in not preventing it. There will be questioning of oneself as to why it wasn't seen, or if seen then why wasn't it stopped (Capuzzi, 2009). Empathic understanding of these concerns from students, parents , and facu lty is of primary im- portance, and no questions or comments should be summarily dismissed (Capuzzi, 2002).

As with other traumatic events, a room for coun- seling students should be set up, factual informa- tion should be disseminated, and an SCRT meeting should be held to determine whether other students may be at risk . Maples and her associates (2005) de- scribe an adaption of a four-stage model (Brammer, Abrego, & Shostrom, 1993) that can be used to work with teenage survivors of a suicide. In stage 1 there will be shock and disorganization . Typical responses are "It couldn't happen," and "No, not possible!" Initial in- te rvention follows along the lines of the intervention res ponses described in Chapter 12 , Personal Loss: Bereavement and Grief, and uses basic nonjudgmen- tal listening and responding skills. Stage 2 is the most

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Cr ises in Schools • 463

potentially volatile stage of this particular grieving process . It involves feelings of anguish, remorse, and guilt over not having done something to prevent the suicide. "Why didn't I see this coming?" "I could have stopped it!" are common themes of recrimination. Besides conducting a psychological autopsy on the or- der of the one in Chapter 8, Crisis of Lethality, using cognitivebehavioral strategies such as thought stop- ping and positive mental videotapes may be effective in helping students control their feelings.

Heather: (16-year-old best friend of a suicide starting to shake uncontrollably and with tears streaming down her face) I think I am going crazy. Every time I pass Sally's locker I come apart. We had been best friends since first grade. I could have, should have stopped this, and I didn't even know it. That's some kind offriend.

CW: Remember what we said in the psychological au- topsy. It made perfect sense to her. It is a terrible tragedy, but neither you nor I nor anyone else can be, or should be, responsible for her suicide. You have that pink memory band on your arm. Every time you pass where her locker was [note crisis worker's movement to past tens"e], tap the band and say "STOP!" when those feelings start to flood over you, and remember that one great moment you said when the two of you won the sixth-grade talent show. Smile and remember how deliriously happy and goofy you looked in your Raggedy Ann and Andy costumes. Then move on. You need to do this every time you go by the locker. Don't avoid the locker like you have been, but just make it part of your normal routine. We are going to get that mental image squarely in your mind, so lean back, close your eyes, and let's practice that.

Stage 3 has to do with reconciliation of the loss. When faced with traumatic death for the first time, teenag- ers may struggle with existential questions such as the meaning of life or the futility of everyday living. "What's it all about? " and "Why bother with school?" are topics for group grief work that help students rec- oncile and move on with their lives. Spiritual compo- nents of these questions should be considered, and working alliances and referrals to pastoral counsel- ing are good options .

Stage 4 has to do with emergence of new goals for survivors. Recommitment to established friendships or dedication to a worthy cause or a sport season are ways of helping teenagers move past the suicide. Typi- cally this stage will mark the passing of the friend and recommitment to living by the surviving teenagers .

464 • PART TWO Handl ing Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

Suicide of a popular student or teacher is one of the most difficult challenges human services workers in schools face . The potential for interventions to go terribly awry is high, and thus interventions must be thought through and carefully applied. One of your authors witnessed one instance in which the faculty of a school assembled after school to engage in a debrief- ing with the SCRT of the district. The teachers had all sorts of questions and emotions to deal with concern- ing the suicide of a fellow teacher the previous night. They were told, "If you are having problems with your fellow teacher's death, we suggest you call your be- havioral health service provider and talk with them ." Then the SCRT leader dismissed the group, leaving the principal and school counselo r to deal with more than 50 enraged and frustrated faculty members.

As in any crisis, being at the school of the com- pleted suicide as soon as possible after notification is critical for planning and for making assessments about the emotional state of faculty and students, quelling rumors, assessing for other possible suicides, and depropagandizing and deglorifying the suicide by debriefing faculty and students. Capuzzi (2009) recommends that a single statement be prepared and read in each class rather than over tne public address system so that everyone receives the same message but in the presence of teachers who can be watchful for students who are having a difficult time. It is fruit- less and damaging for the SCRT to come straggling in late in the afternoon or the next day. Such dilatory behavior lets rumor and chaos run wild, and makes a statement that there is not a great deal of concern about the health and well-being of the school.

The following points are recommended when the death of a student or teacher is due to suicide (American Association ofSuicidology, 1991, 1998; Capuzzi, 2009):

1. Don' t dismiss school or encourage funeral atten- dance during school hours.

2. Don't hold a large-scale memorial to the deceased or dismiss school to do so.

3. Do provide individual and group counseling. 4. Verify the facts , and do treat the death as a suicide. 5. Do emphasize that no one thing or person is to

blame for the suicide. 6. Do emphasize that help is available, that suicide

is preventable, and that everyone has a role to play in prevention.

7. Don't build a tangible memorial such as a bench or a tree with a marker or dedicate a yearbook to the suicide.

8. Do not release information in large groups such as an assembly. Work by classroom or in small groups.

9. Do be on the lookout for delayed grief reactions .

Do suicide prevention/intervention school-based programs work? Results are variable. There is n o clear, evidence -bas ed comprehensive prevention strat- egy at present (Katz et al. , 2013). Katz and associates found that most suicide prevention programs are d e- signed to improve students' and school staffs' knowl- edge and attitude toward suicide. Of 16 programs examined, only 2 reduced suicide attempts, although several of the programs did reduce suicidal ideation, improve general life skills, and train gatekeepers to become more vigilant. De Silva and associates (2013) conducted broad-based mapping studies for suicidal and self-harm studies. They found some school- based programs with skills training components to be promising. Zenere and Lazarus (1997) studied a comprehensive suicide prevention and intervention program in a large, urban, culturally diverse school district. Students were tracked over a 5 -year period. What they found was that although suicidal ideation remained stable, the rate of attempts and completions was dramatically reduced. Wasserman and associates (2015) conducted a very sophisticated cross Europ e study of 15-year-old students assigned to three treat- ment conditions. The Youth Aware of Mental Health Programme (YAM) targeted pupils as opposed to screening by professionals and a gatekeeper training program for teachers. YAM was effective in reducing the number of attempts and severe suicidal ideation, although Brent and Brown (2015) noted in a com- ment that the specific components such as seeking help or using coping were not isolated or discussed . Brent and associates (2013) in their comprehensive review of interventions found that the most effective interventions appeared to have either family interac- tions or nonfamilial support, so it may be that any school-based program needs to consider the inclusion of support systems outside the school.

Planning for a Crisis Federal Emergency Management Agency. The l:mlJ school crisis events in the 1990s caused a huge change in the way schools viewed security and the need for crisis response. As various state and local education agencies started scrambling to prepare emergency plans that included more than fire drills and tornado warnings , a planning guide for schools was created in

2 003 by the U.S. Department of Education. Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities used the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) four-stage model for schools, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery as a template fo r the guide (U.S. Department of Education, 20 03). This guide is currently available at www2 .ed.gov/ admins/lead/safety/emergencyplanning.pdf

This plan fits with the FEMA national inci- de nt emergency model (see Chapter 17, Disaster Re sponse), which allows for a common language be tween first responders , school personnel, and t he community (U.S. Department of Education, 2 013). Having consistency with terms is an impor- tant feature, as it allows the school districts and t he community first responders to speak the same language. Another national school model has been developed by school psychologists.

PREPaRE Model. The PREPaRE (Prevent, Reaffirm, Evaluate, Provide, and Respond Examine) school cri- sis prevention and intervention model was developed by the National Association of School Psychologists and piloted in 2006. PREPaRE stands for prevent and p repare for psychological trauma; reaffirm physical health and perceptions of security and safety; evaluate psychological trauma risk; provide interventions; and respond to psychological needs; examine the effective- ness of crisis prevention and intervention. PREPaRE is an evidence-informed school crisis curriculum with a strong mental health component. While the model is based on the U.S. Department of Education's phases of crisis management and the Incident Command System, as proposed by the National Incident Management System, it also incorporates components of Mitchell and Everly's (1995) critical incident stress management (s ee Chapter 17, Disaster Response), which introduced "debriefing" and offers both planning for student behaviors in crisis and prevention in school safety (Brock et al. , 2011).

PREPaRE follows a planned system to use in a cri- sis situation including the assembling of a team, eval- uating the potential trauma to students, and offering crisis services. In addition, the PREPaRE model uses a three-tier approach as all students may receive ser- vices following a crisis situation. Tier 1 may be con- ducted in the form of a classroom meeting, while Tier 2 may advance to a more individual- based crisis in- tervention. Finally, students who were severely trau- matized would receive psychotherapy, which would be categorized under Tier 3 (Brock et al., 2011).

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 465

One of the main components in the PREPaRE model is offering training opportunities in order to understand the work of crisis response. Given that the National Association of School Psychologists cov- ers the United States and its members are in practi- cally every school district in the country, it should not be too surprising that many districts use this (Brock et al., 2011). There are indeed a number of differ- ent models for crisis response in schools such as the National Organization Victim's Assistance (NOVA) program (2015), the integrated model by Jimerson and associates (2005), and Caplan's (1964) three-tier structure. All these models highlight the importance of tasks that need to be done before a crisis, during a crisis, and after a crisis situation.

Whatever the model, a crisis plan for a school system is not done overnight. It takes a great deal of planning and commitment by the school dis- trict and the staff (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996; Duncan, Delisle, & Esquith, 2013; Kerr, 2009; Luna & Hoffman, 1999; Maples et al., 2005; Montano & Dowdall-Thomae, 2003; Newgass & Schonfeld, 2005; Petersen, 1999; Petersen & Straub, 1992; Rubin, 1999; Stephens, 1997). Crisis plans are both generic and idiosyncratic. Crisis plans of other schools and con- sultants can be extremely helpful in making a skeletal outline for what needs to be covered in containing a crisis. No matter whether the crisis occurs in Brooklyn, New York, or Brooklyn, Mississippi, many of the same needs and responses generic to all crises of le- thality will be applicable to each. When a disaster hits schools the federal government encourages schools to follow the National Incident Management System (2011), which standardizes how a crisis response is or- ganized . That's all well and good, but the professional responders will leave after the emergency is over and guess who gets to carry on? Also, they won't be there in the first few minutes or hours of the crisis when the chaos theory you vaguely remember in Chapter 1 is running rampant.

Further, each school district and each school building has its own peculiarities in regard to its physical plant, its staffing, its student population, and its community makeup. Each of these variables plays a critical part in how specific planning for a cri- sis will be conducted. To think that a crisis plan for the Los Angeles school district can be taken wholesale and applied to Waterloo, Iowa, would be misguided, to say the least. A crisis response in a school needs a delivery system. The chief components of any service delivery system are the written policy of what to do

466 • PART TWO Hand ling Specific Crises : Going Into the Trenches

when a crisis occurs, the physical resources to carry out the policy, and the trained personnel to imple- ment the service (Nelson & Slaikeu, 1990, p. 339). A crisis plan must cover safety and security; obtaining, verifying, and providing accurate information to the various constituencies of the school; and also deal with the emotional needs of those constituencies. If these three areas are not addressed concurrently as the crisis unfolds, none will be addressed effectively (Newgass & Schonfeld, 2005).

The Crisis Response Planning Committee Initial planning should use a crisis response plan- ning committee (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996; Duncan, Delisle, & Esquith, 2013 ; Kerr, 2009 ; Montano & Dowdall-Thomae, 2003; Newgass & Schonfeld, 2005; Petersen, 1999; Petersen & Straub, 1992; Poland, 1999; Rubin, 1999; Stephens, 1997). A decision needs to be made on the size of the commit- tee. If it 's too large, it becomes unwieldy. If it 's too small, it's not viable enough to meet a large crisis. The ideal is probably a two-tiered team if the dis- trict is large enough to support it and a super-tier regional team outside the district. The first-tier team is a district-wide effort that deals with the big pic- ture of crises. This team should be composed of a wide variety of individuals representing a cross sec- tion of social services and government institutions that will have to respond to the crisis . The second tier is a building response team that is familiar with its physical plant and its constituency. These indi- viduals represent the teaching staff and administra- tion, the parents, and most important, the support staff (failure to include the custodian might mean that nobody knows how to shut off the gas or elec- tricity in the building) (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996, p. 31 ; Lovre, 2013). One of the critical ingredi- ents is coordination between these two tiers. If these two levels operate at cross-purposes, not only will they hinder crisis resolution, they can make it worse . Coordination should be systemic and integrate part- nerships among a variety of stakeholders that work with adolescents (Lubell & Vetter, 2006).

A needs assessment should be conducted to deter- mine what the school staff needs in the way of training and, even more important, whether the constituency believes in and is willing to support the effort (Davis & Salasin, 1975). One might suppose that few people would be opposed to implementing a full-scale cri- sis prevention and intervention program in a school given the current publicity about school violence.

That supposition may not be true when it comes to the reality of passing a bond issue, providing release time for staff, or disrupting ease of access to scho ol buildings. Therefore, fully apprising the community and determining their resistance or acceptance are critical to implementing an effective plan (Duncan, Delisle, & Esquith, 2013).

A clear system for dealing with a major scho ol crisis should be established long before the need fo r intervention. It should ensure that all personnel a re clear as to what is going to happen, when it will hap - pen, who will be responsible for each component, how a report is made, who is to make the report, and sub- sequent follow-up action.

Such planning should include all the school staff and administration. Furthermore, because such in - terventions will undoubtedly involve law enforcemem and perhaps other mental health agencies, they too should be involved in planning for violence inter- vention and know what part they are to play in ir (Blauvelt, 1998; Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 19 96. pp . 33-37; Montano & Dowdall-Thomae, 20 03: Newgass & Schonfeld, 2005).

Your authors have seen a number of voluminous crisis plans developed by school systems that are quire impressive. One plan has 29 different leaders, direc- tors , officers, and chiefs, with very detailed roles an ci functions for each! These plans are gathering dust on the principal's and superintendent's bookshelf. An y crisis plan should be usable, and it should be simple enough that everybody knows his or her role in im- plementing it (Blauvelt, 1998; Goldstein & Kodlub o}·· 1998, pp. 170-171). From that standpoint, while no school district goes without a tornado, earthquake. or fire drill on a regular basis, very few schools han~ drills regarding armed intruders or other kinds o: crises. If staff are not trained to implement the pla.G and if a school crisis plan is not practiced, evaluareC. critiqued, reviewed, and updated on a regular basis (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996, pp. 243-248; Dunca.::. Delisle, & Esquith, 2013; Poland, 1999, p. 4) , it is pretty much useless.

The School Crisis Response Team (SCRT) When a crisis is of such magnitude that local sea...= are overwhelmed or emotionally devastated because of personal involvement, then outside help shou ld be summoned. Mobilizing this regional tier should h _ planned for a long time before the crisis occurs. T - small rural school districts where the labor power ~;:, expertise for the following positions are beyond cl!=

district's capabilities, it is absolutely mandatory that linkages be established between districts and sup - port personnel. It is even more important for these small districts that they have close linkages between county-wide, state, and federal disaster management teams that compose this super tier.

If the crisis can be handled with help from within the district, the community generally will be better served because these people will be familiar with the setting and their clientele and the district will know what level of expertise these people have (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996, p. 61; Rubin, 1999). Not ev- eryone is cut out to do crisis intervention work. Just because a person is a counselor, a social worker, a school psychologist, or a caring teacher or adminis- trator does not automatically make her or him the best person to be involved with the team. Careful consideration should be given to team composition, and people who feel that they might not be capable of handling a severe crisis should not be discriminated against because they are truthful about their trepida- tion (Kerr, 2009, p. 35).

The following roles make up what would be a com- petent SCRT. There should be redundancy in these roles (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996, pp. 74-75; Kerr, 2009, pp. 36-45; Poland, 2004). If the crisis re- sponse coordinator is a principal who is being held hostage, or the intervention coordinator is a school counselor who is injured in an explosion, there needs to be someone else familiar enough with that role to take over.

Poland (1999, p. 4) speaks of three waves in the aftermath of a disaster. The first wave is the medi- cal personnel and police. The second wave is the me- dia. The third wave is the parents. Therefore, it is not just the victims and survivors that a school must be concerned with, but a host of other problems as well. Therefore, an SCRT will need to have a number of other people on it who may not have any expertise at all in crisis intervention but do have the expertise to allow the SCRT to handle the crisis effectively.

Crisis Response Coordinator. This person should be someone with decision-making capability, most li kely a school administrator who is knowledgeable about the school district and staff. He or she is highly k nowledgeable about the crisis plan and has good co mmunication links within and outside the system. This person is in charge of coordinating, implement- ing, and evaluating crisis response plans (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996, pp. 67-68; Rubin, 1999).

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 467

This role is different from that of the person who would actually coordinate the intervention.

Crisis Intervention Coordinator. This person is re- sponsible for implementing and carrying out the cri- sis plan. The intervention coordinator should have a thorough understanding of crisis intervention tech- niques and strategies. He or she should have a clear understanding of the objectives and methods of the crisis intervention plan and should be able to deal with a multiplicity of crises that range from individ- ual suicides to natural and human-made disasters . This person also needs to be a good administrator and delegator who can coordinate a number of activi- ties and people under very stressful and chaotic con- ditions (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996, pp. 68-69; Petersen, 1999). It should be readily apparent that time should be allocated for the crisis intervention coordinator to plan and coordinate for crisis events, and not just have these "added on" as a supplemen- tary task.

Media Liaison. It is one thing to deal with the local news crew that the SCRT leaders may have developed close personal relationships with over the course of time; it is quite another to deal with national news media. Imagine yourself as a school counselor in Anytown Middle School who has been designated as the SCRT coordinator. An assault at 8:30 A.M. by a per- son with paranoid schizophrenia leaves six children and two teachers dead, the school principal seriously wounded, and nine other children in the hospital with severe gunshot injuries . A panic ensues as fran- tic parents come to the school to get their children. You are attempting to get information out about who is hurt and dead, trying to coordinate psychological triage of survivors who witnessed the carnage, giv- ing information to law enforcement personnel who are looking for the still-at-large perpetrator, attempt- ing to reunite distraught students with equally dis- traught parents, plus a myriad of other tasks, when at 10 A. M . the first national news helicopter lands on the football field and is quickly followed at around noon by a convoy of national news trucks with satellite up- link capability. There is a horde of reporters attempt- ing to interview anybody they can get their hands on. They are particularly interested in getting any school personnel to comment on who is responsible, why it happened, why the school didn't prevent this from happening, what the school is now doing, who the dead and survivors are, and how you personally feel

468 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

about this, among other intrusive and invasive ques - tions to which they are clamoring for answers.

It should become very clear from the foregoing sce- nario that dealing with the media is a major respon- sibility and should be the sole responsibility of one person specially designated and trained for the job. Such a person should be able to keep relationships with the media positive, but should also be able to ef- fectively control them by determining how and what information should be shared with them through well-thought-out and well-prepared statements (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis , 1996, pp. 69-70). One of the worst scenarios in a school crisis is to allow anybody and everybody to talk to the media. The repercussions from the innuendo, rumor, half-truths, and incomplete data can be extremely severe for survivors and further exacerbate the psychological trauma. Media need to be given press releases that indicate how the media can best help and be least disruptive to students. The media liaison provides written notification to parents on what happened as quickly and currently and with as much factual in- formation as possible and also provides helpful litera- ture and directories of support services to deal with the traumatic r_epercussions of the event (Newgass & Schonfeld, 2005). Kerr (2009, p. 74) has generated a list of media questions that are designed to obtain in- formation that may well be used to cast the district in a negative light. She has also generated a list of dos and don'ts in regard to those questions that any me- dia representative would do well to learn (p. 75).

Security Liaison. The security liaison should have close links with local law enforcement agencies and would coordinate responses to single events such as a bus accident or recurring events such as gang- initiated drive-by shootings. One of the major pre - ventive tasks of the security liaison is training staff in implementing safety procedures across a wide ar- ray of potential crisis scenarios (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996, p . 71).

Community/Medical Liaison. The medical liaison should have established close links between the lo- cal emergency, fire , medical, and mental health sys- tems and the school. A critical component of her or his role is planning for medical triage of victims of a school crisis and communicating to parents and staff the medical condition of those involved in the crisis (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996, pp. 71 - 72; Rubin, 1999). If there is a local emergency management

agency, the liaison should have a seat on its board so that he or she knows whom to contact and what kind s of resources are available in a disaster.

Parent Liaison . The parent liaison's job is dealing with parents, period! Keeping parents calm, provid- ing them with information, and furnishing them support are critical in the containment of a crisis. This person works closely with the media liaison in determining what information, about the event itsel f and support services, is disseminated to parents and how it gets to them. Where part of the community is not fluent in English, provision will have to be made for translators, both oral and for all written informa- tion that goes out to parents. Because parents may need the services of other components of the team, this school official must have a good working knowl- edge of each member's role (Rubin, 1999).

Community Liaison. This person or persons need to be the direct link to community resources (Kerr, 2009, p. 37). An ideal member may be the local emer- gency management agency director, the mayor's com- munity action officer, or a high-ranking member of the police or fire department.

Crisis lnterveners. While direct service crisis interven- tionists are most likely to come from the ranks of school counselors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses, it is important to obtain interventionists who are directly linked to children. Thus, it is helpful to include teachers who have direct contact with a broad sample of the stu- dents who might be affected. In an elementary school, at least one primary and one intermediate teacher should be on the team, and in middle and senior high schools, teachers who represent many different subject matter areas or curriculum tracks should be part of the team (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996, p. 72).

The school and district unit should be capable of handling a small crisis such as the suicide of a teacher or a gang shooting. In a large crisis such as a bus-train wreck, backup workers from the local men- tal health system should be available, and in a very large crisis such as the Columbine shooting, the crisis interventionists would be an even larger integrated team of school, local, state, and national interven- tionists. Incorporating students into the team is als o a good idea. They can act as messengers, help iden- tify which students are missing, provide information about the status of other students, and function as peer counselors (Rubin, 1999).

Resource/Facilities Person. This member will need to know where a variety of available supplies are and how to get them from point A to point B in a hurry. Depending on the size and type of the crisis, the resource person may need to know how to obtain everything from pencils and paper to a backup diesel generator. This is not a menial job. If the material supplies are not available, including provision of food and drink when a crisis is going full tilt, then everything grinds to a halt (Rubin, 1999). This per- son also has a working knowledge of building plans and the systems that operate them. Knowing how to shut off gas lines, knowing the location of electrical junction boxes, and being able to show others the opening to steam tunnels can be critical in a crisis where knowledge of building structures is involved (Kerr, 2009, p. 37).

Implementing the Crisis Plan The following minimum requirements are critical to a school crisis plan (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996, pp. 75-76; Brown & Bobrow, 2004; Conoley & Goldstein, 2004; Duncan, Delisle, & Esquith, 2013; Getler, 2004; Montano & Dowdall-Thomae, 2003 ; Petersen & Straub, 1992; Rubin, 1999; Williams , 2004).

Physical Requirements Counseling Locations. As many locations as possible need to be identified for crisis counseling offices. Crisis counseling will involve a wide variety of ac- tivities that will require different accommodations. Auditorium-size rooms will be needed to handle large groups of people for briefings of factual in- formation about the crisis as it unfolds and psy- choeducational information about what people can expect and need to do in the aftermath of the crisis. Classrooms will need to be designated to adminis- ter psychological first aid. Offices will be needed to perform psychological triage and provide individual counseling. If school is in session, a great deal of re- scheduling and shuffling of rooms and assignments will be necessary and should be planned for ahead of time, or alternate buildings such as churches will need to be used.

Operations/Communications Center. In a very large crisis , a room that will become the nerve center for a crisis needs to be designated and equipped. All necessary equipment-additional phone lines, sup - plies, and furniture for additional staff, computers

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 469

with Internet capability, emergency equipment such as portable phones, citizen band and police band radios , and portable generators- should be available here. This nerve center will become the key compo- nent of an efficient crisis operation. In it, people will monitor procedures to determine what staff is avail- able, establish procedures for getting written mes- sages to staff, screen outsiders, and disseminate and coordinate media releases and crisis intervention procedures.

Break Room. A place that is private and will allow workers time to relax, eat, and rest; it may also double as a debriefing room for SCRT members and other crisis personnel.

Information Center. A room large enough to handle a number of media personnel, it should be equipped with a sound system and other visual media equip- ment. It may also double as an information dissemi- nation or briefing room for parents.

First-Aid Room. This room should be stocked with first-aid supplies for minor physical problems.

Logistics On-Site Communications. Message boards, comput- ers linked to central files , dedicated telephone lines, citizen and police band radios, and walkie-talkies should be accessible. Because telephone lines may be jammed or otherwise inoperable, a central message board should be available for announcements, bul- letins, student lists, and other personal information. If possible, dedicated phone lines with the numbers known only to officials and staff responsible for han- dling the crisis should be available. Because there may be little or no communication on-site, walkie -talkies are vital. Portable "to go boxes" provide vital hard- copy data such as updated attendance lists, release cards, emergency numbers , parent/ guardian names, and so on, and can be moved to an alternate site to check off names of students. All teachers should have a "to go box" in addition to a master main office "to go box."

Establishing a Phone Tree Among All Staff. In any size crisis, a redundant phone tree is absolutely imperative. All staff members of a school build- ing need to be informed of a crisis event as soon as there is knowledge of it. The phone tree is critical so that all staff members can begin to operate in a

470 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

crisis mode and assume preplanned positions and duties. Messages about the crisis should be writ- ten down by each person on the tree. Relying on memory and verbal transmission will guarantee that facts get commingled with fiction. One of the worst mistakes that can be made is for staff not to be aware of what is happening and go blundering into an ongoing crisis. We have experienced such lack of communication firsthand, and it is , to say the least, a nightmare.

Procedural Checklist. Although it may seem time wasteful to go through a procedural checklist when a crisis is in full swing, not to do so in a cha- otic situation is asking for trouble . It is too easy to overlook a critical component of the intervention plan and assume it has been taken care of by some - body else.

Building Plans. Building plans are vital to emergency personnel and police. Blueprints of every building in the district should be quickly available. Someone with knowledge of the building should be available to interpret the plans to emergency personnel.

Provisions. Because crisis personnel may be involved for extended periods of time, food and drink should be provided or be delivered on-site.

Responding to the Crisis The following points, in linear order, indicate what needs to occur in a crisis response (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996, pp. 80 - 104; Gerler, 2004; Kerr, 2009; Petersen, 1999; Petersen & Straub, 1992; Poland, 2004; Poland & McCormick, 1999; Rubin, 1999). Kerr has an operational acronym that should be a general overall operating guide to all responders called BE CALM. It stands for:

Before you act be sure you have the facts. Call for help, communicate instructions, and col-

laborate with other responders. Anticipate what could happen next and adjust

the plan. , Listen to your audience and learn what they need. Manage the crisis and maintain the responders with

food, rest, water, debriefing, etc., and modify the plan as needed. (p. 9)

Getting the Facts. The ability to quash the rumor mill that invariably starts up in a crisis is critical

to calming fears and anxiety of the public and al so to providing valid information to crisis workers on how many and which students were affected, what level of response will be required, what inform a- tion needs to be disseminated, and to whom it wi ll be given. Facts need to be checked and rechecked . Getting a team member to the scene of a crisis to make a factual report is critical. Distraught parents and hysterical children make for extremely unrel i- able sources of information. Especially in the cas e of a suicide, getting verification from the medical examiner is a must.

Impact Assessment. As soon as the facts are know n, an SCRT meeting should be held and an assessment should be made of the impact the crisis will have on the school. Considerations in assessing the impact are popularity of the victim, degree of exposure by staff and students, history and recency of similar cri- ses, resources currently available, and timing (a crisis during vacation is likely to be less traumatic than one during school time). At that time, a decision will have to be made as to the degree of mobilization of internal staff and what, if any, outside assistance will be needed.

Triage Assessment. Once the facts are determined and the possible impact of the crisis event is gauged, a triage assessment needs to be conducted to dete r- mine those individuals most affected by the crisis. The SCRT needs to compile a list of those who may b e directly and indirectly affected and determine who is most in need of acute intervention and who may nee d less immediate, intensive attention. Once this list is compiled, interviews and paper-and-pencil tests such as those described in Chapter 7, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, may be used to further divide individuals into primary- and secondary-care groups.

It should not be assumed that relatives, survi- vors, witnesses to the event, and close friends with in the school are the only people needing immediate and intensive attention. Siblings and close friend s in other schools may be just as traumatized, and efforts should be made to assess these individuals as well. In- dividuals who are known to be at risk due to other factors and students whose reactions a re out of p ro - portion to their involvement should also be consid- ered as high risk.

Parents and teachers need to be given checklists and warning signs that will let them know whether their children are starting to develop the symptoms

of acute or posttraumatic stress disorder and refer- ral sheets and phone numbers that will enable them to refer those students who may have been missed by the SCRT. Embedded within these referrals should be questions on lethality. Any student who is expressing t houghts about harming himself or herself or others should immediately be assessed as high risk and in need of immediate crisis intervention.

Psychological First Aid. Psychological first aid (Aguileria, 1997; Slaikeu, 1990, pp. 105-129) is a first- order response that deals with all of the affected in- dividuals no matter what their degree of involvement (see Chapter 1, Approaching Crisis Intervention). The components of psychological first aid are making psychological contact, exploring dimensions of the p roblem, examining possible solutions, gaining as- sistance in taking action, and offering follow-up ser- vices. Psychological first aid is intended as a method to provide support, furnish a platform to be heard and valued, dispel rumors , allow catharsis and ventilation of emotions, reactivate problem-solving abilities, re- duce potential lethality, and restore general stability to the school. It is probably most easily done in class- room meetings with teachers who are trained and supported by the SCRT. Such classroom meetings are an excellent vehicle for providing factual information about the event, giving students information about the psychological effects they may encounter, and dealing with personal issues and problems students may have as they come to grips with and attempt to resolve the crisis.

The NOVA Model. For older students, the National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA, 1997) group crisis intervention model may be used. This model operates along the lines of the critical inci- dents stress debriefing (CISD) program of Mitchell a nd Everly (1995). However, it is not as tightly struc- tured as CISD, and the facilitator is a great deal more interactive with participants.

These groups meet for usually no more than 2 hours. The session has a brief introduction detail- ing safety and security for the participants. Time is then spent on reviewing physical sensory perceptions, going over emotional reactions of shock and dis- belief, and giving opportunity for ventilation and validation of these reactions. Typical questions posed a re "Where were you when it happened? Who were you with? What did you see, hear, smell, taste, or touch at the time? What did you do? How did you react?"

CHAPTER TH IRTEEN Crises in Schools • 471

Time is then taken to review the emotional turmoil that has been experienced and to allow ventilation and validation of these feelings.

Questions are asked in regard to the aftermath of the event. "What are some of the memories that stand out in your mind? What has happened in the last 48 hours? What do you remember seeing or hearing dur- ing that time? How have you reacted?" The facilita- tor validates the thoughts and feelings of the group members. No judgments are made as to right or wrong. Where applicable, the facilitator draws com- parisons between members to create a common bond and normalize thoughts and feelings that go with the abnormal event (National Organization for Victim Assistance, 1997, pp. 8-10).

Questions are then posed to elicit expectations about the future, what coping strategies can be used, and help predict and prepare the group for what may happen over the near future. ''After all that you've been through, what do you think will happen at school in the next few days and weeks? Do you think your fam- ily has been or will be affected? How do you believe you might deal with the problems and issues that have been raised?" As the members identify positive coping strate- gies, they are reinforced and given alternative strategies if they are generating negative coping methods. Refer- rals for more in-depth help are suggested. These com- ponents are then followed by a summary recapitulation to validate what has been said and reaffirm the validity of the participants' experiences. A postgroup session of about 30 minutes is used to distribute handouts, an- swer individual questions, and say good-bye (National Organization for Victim Assistance, 1997, pp. 9-10).

Conducting a large assembly of all the school to do this is not recommended. Although a large assem- bly may be deemed efficient and expedient, it does not begin to address the many personal questions and is - sues that students may have. Psychological first aid is a two-way street and, to be effective, should allow an interchange of information between staff and stu- dents. In and of itself, psychological first aid may be an excellent way of determining who may be in need of more in-depth crisis intervention by observing re- actions of students as they talk about the crisis. This admonition is particularly important in the case of suicide where other students may have "caught" the contagion and need to be identified.

Crisis Intervention. Any student who is assessed as need- ing more than psychological first aid should be given a complete screening interview (Aronin & Ransdell, 1994).

472 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

That interview should consider what the student's expo- sure and recollection of the events are, whether the event is persistently reexperienced, whether there are attempts to avoid reminders of the event, increased levels of physical and mental arousal, feelings of survivors' guilt, failure of previous coping skills to ameliorate prob- lems, somatic complaints, self-destructive or impulsive behaviors, and pre- and postevent comparisons on ef- fectiveness of daily functioning. In short, the screening interview should look at the diagnostic criteria set forth by the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) for the onset of traumatic stress disorder.

It is important to take the time necessary to com- pletely discuss the crisis, and attempts to immediately reintroduce the academic regimen should be held in abeyance until this task can be completed. Although getting back to the standard humdrum schedule of school is important in normalizing the situation, very few students are going to be academically able to do so if they are struggling with attempts to resolve the crisis.

Classroom meetings can help students move from reaction to proaction. That is, students can move from talking about the event to planning how they can take action to solve the residual effects of the event. By moving to a proactive stance; students can begin to attain a feeling of empowerment and reinsti- tute control in their lives. They can also gain closure on the event by cooperatively planning memorials and memorial services (note the previously mentioned ex- ception of memorializing suicide).

The worker should be especially watchful for client reports that perseverate on special details, worst mo- ments, and violence or physical mutilation. These will be extremely potent points in the crisis and need to be thoroughly worked through and controlled (Pynoos & Eth, 1986, p. 309). If there are perpetrators involved in the crisis, one of the greatest fears of children is that the perpetrators "will get them." Whether these perpetra- tors are caught and punished or are still at large makes little difference. The worker needs to take time to clar- ify what happened to the perpetrators or what is being done to catch them. Feeling of self-blame for not having done enough and an inability to take action, desires to retaliate and punish the perpetrators, and fear that they will be revictimized need to be explored and worked through (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996, p. 168).

Briefing and Debriefing. Each morning of the after- math of the crisis, a morning briefing and planning session needs to be held to obtain updated informa- tion, review responsibilities, assign tasks, and plan

interventions. At the end of each day, actions need to be reviewed, weaknesses and strengths need to be ex- amined, and reviews of referred students, staff, and parents need to be made. Plans are then made for the next day and what staff and resources will be needed to accomplish the goals . Additionally, a nightly d e- briefing should be held to give the SCRT a chance to exchange information, obtain reassurance, and ven- tilate feelings (Berman & Jobes, 1991; Rubin, 1999; Williams, 2006). The Missouri School Counselo r Association's (2002) Crisis Manual makes the follo w- ing points for SCRT members:

1. Keep your life in balance. a. Eat well-balanced meals and get plenty of exercise. b. Balance work and rest. c. Stick to a schedule as much as you can. It pro-

vides stability and the comfort of a normal rou- tine when your feelings are out of control.

d. Avoid new major projects or decisions. 2. Be realistic about what you can do. 3. Recognize and acknowledge your own feelings of

loss and grief Give yourself permission to mourn. No matter what the nature of your relationship, there is loss. Give yourself the same latitude you give your students. Meet with fellow SCRT members and be supportive of each other or form a support group.

4. Be kind to yourself You don' t have to get it all together right away. You don't have to do it all, be strong for everyone, or take care of everything. Treat yourself with the same gentleness and understanding you would anybody else.

Demobilizing. Demobilizing occurs when the crisis is finished. It allows the SCRT to integrate the experience into their lives and go back to their regular jobs. An overall evaluation is conducted by the crisis response coordinator with the SCRT. The crisis intervention co- ordinator writes an after-action report that includes a description of the crisis event and the interventions conducted, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the in- tervention, and recommendations for future events. As such it provides the SCRT with a potent learning tool. Furthermore, if questions are raised in the future about what was done or not done, this report documents what happened (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 1996, p. 100).

Bereavement in Schools The sudden death of a student, teacher, or mJ other school personnel may precipitate a bereave- ment crisis for an entire school or school community,

which can lead to posttraumatic stress disorder, high-intensity grief, and complicated mourning. The closer the friendship to the deceased, the more the foregoing is likely to occur. As such it is important to have a grief resolution program in place (Poijula et al., 2001). Many children will be dealing with the reality of death for the first time. They will also be struggling with the significance of the loss and grap- pling with the idea that life is no longer predictable or fair. Further, they may have no idea how to grieve and may receive little help if their parents are also grief stricken (Kraft, 2003). Many of the bereavement pro- cedures in Chapter 12, Personal Loss: Bereavement and Grief, are appropriate for working with children and adolescents. However, because of the social com- munity and culture of schools, there are some spe- cific actions that need to occur when a member of the school community dies.

Individually or in groups, team members may focus on the grief of a specific grade level, provide group discussion for particular subgroups, tempo- rarily relieve bereaved teachers of classroom respon- sibilities, staff mini-counseling centers, or work with parents. Two SCRT members may follow a deceased student's schedule. One member will talk with each class, provide factual information, answer questions, clarify misinformation, provide support, provide in- formation on funeral arrangements, explain what funerals and visitations are like and what to expect, suggest what types of things can be said to family members, and encourage students to talk about their memories of the deceased student. While this class discussion is taking place, the other member can as- sess and identify students who are not coping well and escort them to a support room (Missouri School Counselor Association, 2002).

Assessing students' needs prior to returning to school may help lessen anxiety. A home visit or a phone call that empathically responds to the student's progress can be made. Questions might include "How a re you feeling about coming back to school? What is the most difficult thing for you about returning? Is there something you would like me to do to help you? Are you worried about what other students will t hink?" All these questions are designed to allow the student to talk about his or her fears and trepidation a nd allow the SCRT member to help him or her start to feel less anxious. After the student has been back to school a few days , the crisis worker may discuss with t he child how she or he is doing with questions such as "Now that you are back at school, what has been

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 473

the hardest thing for you? What has been on your mind the most? How has the death affected you at school?" These questions allow the worker to deter- mine how well the child is making the transition back into school (Rubin, 1999).

Kandt (1994, p. 207) suggests that school human services personnel working with grieving adolescents should (1) educate themselves about the grief process; (2) give permission to grieve; (3) allow time to grieve; (4) listen, listen, listen; (5) understand that reminisc- ing is essential; (6) give support for a variety of feel- ings; (7) know they can't "fix" the pain; (8) draw the adolescents out, keep in touch, and don't abandon them; (9) design a support group; and (10) let them know that they are not alone.

Swihart, Silliman, and McNeil (1992) surveyed grieving students and listed the following issues that caregivers should be sensitive to:

1. Many students were affected by the loss, even stu- dents who were not close to the deceased; there- fore, they were reminded of their own mortality.

2. Teachers should not expect peak performance from students who are still too numb the first week following the death.

3. Teachers should be allowed to express their own grief to students who are willing to simply listen.

4. Students should be allowed to grieve in different ways- some in groups, some in their individual ways.

5. After-school activities should be provided for stu- dents to work off their grief by expending physical energy.

6. Students should be brought together in commem- orative activities so that students who were not very close to the deceased one are not excluded.

7. Students should be permitted to discuss grief is- sues; denial of the opportunity to openly discuss their thoughts and feelings may cut the teenagers off from an open forum of support.

8. School administrators should be cognizant of the deceased student's role in the school; if the deceased was in a leadership role, the school will need to have administrative leadership in filling the role vacated by the deceased.

9. The school should be prepared to respond to the loss for a considerable length of time.

Group Work An accident following the prom in early May re- sulted in the deaths of four Cedar Grove High School students: Phil, age 16, the driver of the car; Jerry, age 17;

4 7 4 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trench es

LaTara, age 16; and Tracey, age 17. A group of seven classmates at school, representing the four young- sters' closest friends, appeared to be stuck in their grief Keena, Lee, Samantha, and Rashid, all 17, and Eddie, Amber, and Tarunda, all 16, requested the help of the school counselor in reaching some understand- ing and resolution of their fe elings of anguish and grief

The following intervention strategies were pro- vided and issues explored with these adolescents by the school counselor during the days and weeks im- mediately following the burial of the four teenagers who died.

1. Individual counseling and intervention. Assessment of individual stress levels. Providing individuals a safe place to release stress energy. Helping adoles- cents feel comfortable in expressing how they feel. Providing death education for adolescents.

2. Group grief work. Providing an atmosphere for the seven adolescents as a group to deal with the deaths of their four classmates in particular, and with the area of death and dying in general. Providing for group sessions and projects that commemorate the deceased classmates. Group exploration of unfinished business through written or role-playing exercises. Provision for students to deal with the deaths outside the group within the school environment through peer support groups. (Samide & Stockton, 2002)

Gray (1988) reported that bereaved teens in sup- port groups found peers to be "most helpful," com- pared to other school-related workers, and that bereaved adolescents did not want to be singled out or treated in special ways (pp. 187- 188). In cases of sudden death, grief, and bereavement among adoles- cents, a great deal of shock, vulnerability, remorse, and other emotions quickly emerge. Because most adolescents lack experience dealing with the death of their peers and because social influence is powerful and pervasive in a setting such as a high school, the use of adolescent group grief work is an ideal strategy for controlling distortions and rumors and for help- ing young people release grief energy and begin to re- solve their feelings ofloss.

The counselor, meeting with the group in the group guidance room, served as the crisis worker. She met with several grief work groups during the days immediately following the deaths of the four students. The counselor set the tone by introducing the topic and encouraging members to share their

emotional responses to the loss. Later during the ses- sion, after the release of students' grief energy, the counselor began to use structured techniques to help them sharpen their memories and focus on reality.

CW: I really appreciate all the expressions of your fe el- ings you've given so freely. Before the session begins today, I asked Samantha to go by the yearbook of- fice and pick up a copy of this year's Wildcat. I also asked her to pick up some leftover photographs that the yearbook staff did not use. Samantha, would you like to share some of them with the group?

Samantha: I put filing cards in the pages of the annual that I thought we'd like to look at. Oh, and I've got some great shots of LaTara, Jerry, and Tracey. I only found one of Phil, and that was in a group. But Phil's class picture is in there (pointing toward the yearbook), and all four of them look so real and alive and so happy in the activities section.

The students in the group showed a great deal of interest and released a great amount of stress energy while examining the photographs of the decease d students. The crisis worker let the students take thei r own individual time in reminiscing and talking about their grief from 2 minutes to 20 minutes. Because ev- eryone grieves differently, allowing students to take as much time as they need is important in moving beyond the grief (Tillman & Rust, 2011). Later in the session, the group discussed death in general, the impact of death on the living, and their own deaths. The counselor then used a technique called Memory Moments. Students finished off sentences such as "When I heard you died, I ... ," "Our last conversa- tion was . .. ,""My head feels ... ,""My heart feels .. . ," "I wish I had said . ... " All of these sentence stems allow students to openly speak to the wide range of emo- tions they are carrying (Counce & Sommer, 2003).

The counselor was able to use another technique that is sometimes effective in group grief work- the epitaph exercise. Each group member was given four index cards and was instructed: "If you were given the responsibility for writing the epitaphs for Phil, Jerry, LaTara, and Tracey, write down the exact words on the cards that would appear on their gravestones." The group shared their epitaphs and discussed them. When it is difficult to say or write words about dead classmates, Tillman and Rust (2011) propose making Feeling Hearts by drawing large hearts and having students print their feelings inside it and then pass the hearts around and have the group discuss thos e feelings.

Eddie: I thought Tarunda's was really good when she wrote-about Jerry-"Here lies the Martin Luther King of Cedar Grove," because he really did like and care for everybody. (Students nod in agreement.)

Keena: I almost cried when I wrote Tracey's, and then I did when Amber read LaTara's. I just felt like I couldn't stand it. It's so true. I'm really going to miss that girl. (Students nod in agreement. Longperiod of silence; thoughtful look on all faces.)

CW: I think what we've done is to write down, in the briefest form, what we want to remember most about each of our beloved classmates.

Before the session ended, the counselor led the group in identifying the positive contributions that each of the deceased students had made and in verbal- izing their good-byes to each of their departed class- mates. Grief doesn't always have to be, nor should it be, only sadness. Having students remember the good times is a powerful way to balance memories of loved ones who have died (Tillman & Rust, 2011). The coun- selor was attempting to use the power and social in- fluence of the group setting to enhance the emotional impact on each member and to prepare each member to say good-bye, let go of the deceased, and begin to get ready to go on living.

Ending any counseling group after a bond has been formed is difficult. Loss and grief groups are even tougher because they are now truly saying good- bye to the loved one. Saying good-bye should include some simple symbolic ceremony such as releasing balloons, setting small paper boats with candles in them adrift on a river, or writing good-bye letters . Generally, letting the group decide on what simple memorial service to do will work best (Tillman & Rust, 2011). Tillman and Rust propose discussing in age appropriate terms that endings are a natural part of the life cycle. They further propose that the group summarize and discuss what they have learned from the group. Our own group ending goes something l ike this: After summaries of the experience have been given, state specifically:

CW.· I want all of you to stand up and clasp hands with one another so we have a circle. This group was about remembering our dead classmates who are gone but not forgotten from our lives. Because we are living, we owe it to them and ourselves to move on with our lives, just as they would if we were gone from theirs. We are going to say one last good-bye in the circle, then we are going to spread the circle until our hands drop, let the spirits of

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 475

our friends go out of this circle and on their way as we do the same with our own lives.

Defining the Boundaries Probably one of the toughest jobs of an SCRT and the school administration is to discourage parents, stu- dents, or various other interest groups in the com- munity from honoring the death by conducting a commemorative service or other memorial at the school. Unequivocally, suicidal students should not be formally memorialized by the school because of possible copycats (Capuzzi, 2002). It cannot be over- emphasized that the school administration and the SCRT should be the ones to make decisions about the response to school tragedies in which deaths occur. Overall, it is probably best for the school not to memo- rialize any kind of deaths in any fashion-assemblies, yearbooks, trees planted, rooms or fields named, and so on- because of the perception of differential treatment.

Bluntly stated, schools are in the education busi- ness not in the funeral home or memorial business (Trotter, 2003). Trotter recommends that after the funeral, all of the drawings and other eulogies and epitaphs be collected and given to the family and not kept on display in the school. She also recommends that the student's chair be left alone until the day af- ter the funeral, but then all chairs in the room need to be rearranged. She proposes that immediately upon notification, a member of the SCRT should go to the student's locker and collect all personal items when students are not present and prevent memorializing the locker.

The student's locker should be left vacant for the remainder of the year, but then be merged into the standard locker assignment for next year's class. Louvre (2002) believes that with younger children, the desk should be left in the room until the other stu- dents want it moved out. She further proposes that a suitable memorial be constructed by the children such as positive epitaphs or a signed teddy bear that the class might give to the parents when they come to school to collect the dead child's things.

Transcrisis Intervention with Individuals and Total School Systems For those children who are in need of assis- Im ranee beyond psychological first aid, transcrisis in- tervention uses many of the approaches detailed in

476 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

the chapters on PTSD and sexual assault. Use of drawings , modeling clay, and other manipulative play materials is particularly helpful in empower- ing children to take control of a situation that may seem beyond their ability to do so. Initially, the child should be allowed to use the materials to construct whatever he or she desires. The crisis interventionist uses this time to build trust and rapport.

Invariably the crisis will be manifested in the child's play and will provide clues to the source of the child's anxiety and means of coping (Pynoos & Eth, 1986, p . 307). At some time during the process, a child who has been numbing and repressing the crisis event is going to have an emotional release that may be shocking and unsettling to the crisis worker (Pynoos & Eth, 1986, p. 308). At that point, the worker must be

calm, cool, and collected and be able to psychologi- cally and physically comfort the child.

The use of guided imagery and the employment of superheroes as helpers in those images (Lazarus, 1977), conscious dreaming to help stop recurring nightmares (Garfield, 1984), and relaxation and desensitization techniques to teach anxiety control (Thompson & Rudolph, 1992, p. 173) are all potent ways of helping children empower themselves and take back control over their feelings , thoughts, and behaviors.

The Case of Josh Josh is a 7-year-old second grader who has just recov- ered from a bite from a brown recluse spider (one of the most poisonous spiders in North America). Josh was bitten in the leg, and the necrosis that developed required reconstructive surgery. He now walks with a cane and a limp. He is embarrassed by his disabil- ity and feels his classmates are making fun of him behind his back. For a time, it was feared that Josh might lose his leg. What has compounded the prob- lem is that recently thousands of brown recluses were discovered in the steam tunnels ofJosh's school. This discovery set off a panic, because the children had seen what happened to Josh and had also viewed news items on television about the brown recluses' movement into their geographic area. Although the school district im- mediately hired exterminators to rid the school of the spiders, the children's fears were not allayed.

Josh is now hypervigilant in regard to any insects, is afraid to sleep in his own bed, has developed school phobia, and shrieks and screams in terror at going to school. He has recurrent nightmares about hoards of huge, hairy spiders covering his body. He is very sure he is going to die from a spider bite. His academic achievement

has fallen, and he is in danger of failing second grade. H is parents have talked to him about switching schools, bm he is sure that all schools now contain brown recluses. Most of his conversation is centered on insects. He avoids outdoor activities for fear of getting bitten. T he duration of his symptoms is now into its sixth week. After an interview with the school psychologist, Josh is given a diagnosis of acute traumatic stress disorder.

Because many other children at the school a re manifesting symptoms of traumatic stress due to t h e brown recluse infestation, the SCRT has a me eti ng and determines that intervention is necessary wit h both the student population as a whole and Josh in - dividually. Josh's parents are called, and they agree to individual intervention. The team's media person p re - pares a number of press releases and goes on radio a n d television news shows to explain what is being done to control the situation. In coordination with the parent liaison, bulletins are also sent home to all parents.

The medical liaison has classroom meetings wit h every homeroom in the school. She provides detailed information about what brown recluse bites look like and what medical care is needed, and answers t h e students' questions in a truthful, no-nonsense m an- ner. Another classroom meeting is held with the high school biology teacher, who shows the students what the spider looks like, describes its habits, and also in- dicates to them that although the brown reclus e is poisonous, it is a very shy spider that tries to avoid contact with people. Question-and-answer sessio n s follow, and students get a good idea of what they n eed to do at both school and home to avoid being bitten .

Parents are invited to a special parent-teacher meeting where all the SCRT staff are present to p ro - vide information about helping children cope with the sudden siege of arachnophobia (fear of spiders and similar creatures). After completing the psycho - logical first aid program, the SCRT staff poll t h e teachers , who indicate the students seem to have con- quered their fears of spiders . But Josh has not!

The crisis worker goes to Josh's home and, after mak- ing Josh's acquaintance, sets up the following exercise:

CW: I want you to draw me the feeling of wh at "scared" looks like, Josh .

Josh: (Takes markers and poster board and draws a picture of a very large tarantula-like spider with huge dripping fangs about to pounce on a small boy cowering in a cor- ner. While drawing, Josh gives the crisis worker a blow- by-blow gruesome description of what the spider is going to do to the little boy.)

CW: Boy! That's scary all right. I wonder what we could do to make that big nasty spider run away and hide?

Josh: I dunno. Nothin', I think.

CW: Well, that is pretty tough with a spider that big, but you know, I've got an idea. It takes a spider to catch a spider. And I've got just the guy to do it. (pulls out a Spider-Man comic book) Have you ever read a Spider-Man comic? He is way cool.

Josh: (eyes light up and takes the comic book and starts look- ing at it) Yeah, and I've seen him in the movie. He is cool!

CW: So let's get him to help us. Takes a Spider-Man to catch a spider, right?

Josh: Well, I guess that's right.

CW: All right! Let's jump Spider-Man off the comic book and onto your poster board. Can you draw him on there and tell me what's happening?

Josh: Well, OK. (draws Spider-Man casting a big net over the spider) Spider-Man throws this big net over him, see, and the spider doesn't like it. But the more it strug- gles, the more it gets tangled up. Ha! Ha! Caught in a spider net. That's cool! He can't get out, but he's still there, though . I don't like him right there.

CW: OK! How could we get rid of him?

Josh: Well, we could take him to the bug-man, and let him douse him with bug juice.

CW: Fine. Go ahead and do that. (gives Josh another piece of poster board)

Josh: (continues to draw Spider-Man pulling the spider over to an exterminator who looks very much like Josh)

CW: Nowwhat?

Josh: I'm gonna douse him good.

CW: Good! Do that! What does that spider look like now?

Josh: He's gonna shrivel up and blow away. (Continues to draw the spider all shriveled up; he and Spider-Man triumphantly hold the spider up as a trophy.)

Over the course of the next several sessions, the crisis worker continues to use modeling clay and d rawing to give Josh and Spider-Man increasing control over his environment (Webb, 2007). The cri- sis worker uses the superhero to help empower this frightened and traumatized little boy. The crisis worker now moves further to help Josh regain control over more of his environment by taking him outside ro the backyard. Although Josh is somewhat timid

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 4 77

about going outside, he goes with the crisis worker, one hand clutching the worker's hand and the other clutching a Spider-Man figurine.

CW: Boy! We're outside here. How do you feel?

Josh: Yeah, I think the backyard is where I got bit.

CW: And you're back out here. That's pretty coura- geous, almost like Spider-Man.

Josh: Well, it's OK 'cause Spider-Man's here with me .. . and well ... you too.

CW: Josh, I wonder if Spider-Man could help us with those nightmares too. What I'd like you to do is just sort of have a daydream, you know like let your mind wander like there was sort of nothing to do and you were just kind of relaxing, and just shut your eyes and instead of having a nightmare, just imagine yourself and Spider-Man. Just you and Spider-Man out on patrol, saving the world from those huge spiders. Can you picture yourself and Spider-Man like that? Now just lie back and listen to me and just let yourself relax. (The crisis worker deeply relaxes Josh and then helps him create an image of him and Spider-Man.)

The crisis worker uses a combination of relaxation training and guided imagery to decrease Josh's anxi- ety and help him build a mental image of himself and his powerful friend taking control of the nighttime environment.

Josh: (with his eyes closed) Yeah, me and Spider-Man are scaling up a tall building, looking for big old hairy spiders. Uosh goes on to explain how they are out on pa- trol catching all kinds of spiders.)

The crisis worker helps keep Josh on track, and when he gets stuck trying to catch a really huge, fast, fluorescent chartreuse spider, the crisis worker gives him a can of superstrong glue, and Josh and Spider- Man spread it out and get the spider stuck in it.

CW: Good. Now what I want you to do is get that image real clear in your mind. You and Spider-Man giving each other high-fives for catching that really monstrous spider. If you start to have that same old nightmare tonight, I want you to change that nightmare, and do just what you and Spider-Man did. That's what I want you to dream. I'll bet you can do that! (gives and returns a high-five from Josh)

The power of suggestion and use of guided imag- ery to enable a child to change his dreams may seem farfetched, but it must be remembered that children

478 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

work out their problems through fantasy and play. As the crisis worker continuously reinforces Josh for get- ting back in control of his environment through the help of the superhero, Josh can start to feel safe not only in his backyard, but also in his sleep.

Finally, to expedite Josh's return to school, the cri- sis worker sets up a classroom meeting with his class- mates . Josh tells his classmates about his real spider bite and all the things that happened to him in the hos - pital. The rest of the children are very curious about all this and ask him many questions. Josh has been em- barrassed about his scar and his limp, but now he's in the limelight and eagerly starts to tell them what went on while he was in the hospital and doesn't hesitate to tell them some of the more gruesome details with accompanying "Oohs," "Aahs," and "Ughs" from the class. He also shows them the pictures he drew and tells them, with the help of the crisis worker, how he's "not afraid of any darned old spiders anymore." An ex- amination of]osh's drawings indicates just how potent serial drawing can be (Gumaer, 1984). Over a series of sessions, the spiders get smaller and smaller, and Josh and Spider-Man get bigger and bigger until the spider is in realistic proportion to Josh in the drawings, no more than a spot on the poster board. In the course of 8 weeks, Josh was able to return to school, his night- mares of spiders went away, and he was able to resume the life of a normal 7-year-old boy.

Epilogue If you are planning on being a school counselor and are reading this book in a formal graduate class, you are probably ahead of most of your peers. That statement probably holds as well for social workers and school psychologists. There is a reason that the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Educationally Related Programs (CACREP) is mandating crisis intervention in its new standards for school counseling. Wachter (2007) has done a comprehensive study on school counselors and crisis, and what she found is sobering. Although school psychologists, school social workers, police officers, other in-school staff, and community mental health workers may well be involved in crisis in- tervention, the typical first responder in a school will be a school counselor. Particularly in a school shooting, school counselors are most likely to become the leaders in their school building. Many are unprepared to take on such a task, but they get it anyway when a building or district has not done the preplanning it needs to do (Fein, Carlisle, & Issacson, 2008).

Wachter found that more than half the school counselors (53.1%) reported dealing with all the cri- ses discussed in this chapter plus sexual and physical abuse. About a fifth of the counselors (21.7%) reported that they had received no training at all during their master's degree program for any kind of crisis inter- vention. Forty-four percent reported that after ob- taining a master's degree they had picked up training in areas such as suicide intervention and critical in- cident stress debriefing on their own. Interestingly, these counselors perceived their on-site staff and re- sources to be more helpful than external sources of support. The school counselors identified assessment for suicidal and homicidal ideation and the provision of support for students who are at risk for both as critical knowledge components.

To further make the life of a school counselor more exciting, there will not only be the once-in-a- year, or 5 years, or once-in-a-lifetime megacrises to make one's life more self-actualized. There will als o be the daily mini-crisis, the constant transcrisis, and each of these will have the ability to metastasize into really big ones.

To that end Robertson (2013) provides her coun- seling interns with a simple SRSR acronym to base their decision making when confronted with a crisis. Sis for safety. Do I feel safe in this situation? Do I nee d help maintaining a safe environment? Is this person in danger of hurting himself or herself or someone else? Do I need to notify anyone else if the answer to the foregoing questions leaves a reasonable doubt in my mind about safety? R is for role. Is it within the scope of what you are professionally competent to do? You will be confronted with all kinds of human dilemmas and many will be beyond your scope of practice. While on the one hand, "It's not my job! " is not acceptable, neither is thinking you are a drug or trauma therapist. Don't be afraid, embarrassed, or too proud to refer.

Interestingly, Robertson (2013) adds skills, bm emphasizes having faith in and using basic listen - ing and responding skills to defuse and de -escalate most crisis situations. And sometimes, because yo u do have advanced crisis intervention skills from read- ing this book and or taking a crisis course, you may even use some of the "stuff" you have learned here . Finally, Robertson speaks to cultivating resources. Having a ready list of people and numbers you can call to get specialized help that ranges from getting food and clothing to a burned out family to finding out someone who knows how to do eye movemen t

desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for PTSD should be a first priority when entering new territory.

Crisis and burnout go hand in hand. Fein and his associates (2008) found that indeed school counsel- ors suffered from the stress of being leaders in an un- known and chaotic situation where they had to make fast decisions. They learned how to do debriefing on the fly, which would be unthinkable for emergency re- sponders such as police, EMTs , or firefighters. They also engaged in decisions they had never figured they would be involved in doing and suffered traumatic symptoms as a result. While Wachter found no sig- nificant difference in burnout symptoms and indi- vidual exposure to crisis, she did find significance in higher burnout rates when physical abuse was the precipitating crisis event. Wachter also determined that master's level training in the kind of course you are now taking with this book is significantly re- lated to reducing burnout rates in school counselors. Finally, Wachter noted that building internal support systems and getting continuing education in crisis intervention is helpful in preventing burnout.

While every school district in the United States most likely has at least some kind of crisis plan that goes beyond fire , tornado, and earthquake drills , and some of those school districts may go to great lengths to detail how crisis teams will operate in large-scale

The rise of school violence perpetrated by the es- tranged violent student has caused a great deal of public concern and received widespread media cov- erage because of its perceived senselessness and its occurrence in communities where residents previ- ously thought they were immune from such horrific events. Although the focus has been on the tragedy of estranged students who act out their frustration and anger in lethal ways, the growth and spread of gang-initiated violence in urban, suburban, and rural communities far exceed the tragedies the estranged juvenile has perpetrated.

Homicides are not the only lethal malady to afflict schools and cause crises. The suicide rate h as risen to epidemic proportions among children and adolescents. School personnel face a wide va- r iety of crises that reach far beyond the normal

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Crises in Schools • 479

disasters, the simple fact is that school personnel who deal with the day-in and day-out grinding crises that afflict many students don't have a lot of resources to help them (Heath & Sheen, 2005). So if you are a school counselor or other school professional tak- ing this course, you may find that Heath and Sheen's (2005) book, School-Based Crisis Intervention: Preparing All Personnel to Assist, and Kerr's (2009) book, School Crisis Prevention and Intervention, would be very help- ful in training the people you most likely will have to count on, your fellow professionals. Heath and Sheen's book goes into specific detail about the basic, hands-on crisis intervention skills and activities that teachers , secretaries, custodians, and bus drivers will need to help you out. Kerr's book has more to do with laying out the larger operational picture. Along with Scott Poland's (1999) book, Coping with Crisis: Lessons Learned, which deals with the logistical, tactical, and strategic problems of a crisis, it is especially appropri- ate for administrators. And make no mistake about it, you will need their help. Going it alone in a school building when dealing with the kinds of "stuff" this chapter is about will make you an odds -on favorite to be what the burnout chapter in this book is about. So, if you are an aspiring school counselor, be assured that what's in this book is "stuff" you are going to need. The question is absolutely not "If" but "When? "

developmental issues and crises of childhood and adolescence. Schools have been called upon to de- velop wide-ranging prevention strategies for pro- filing, screening, and preventing acts of violence both to oneself and to others. Contemporarr crisis strategies in schools deal not only with preven- tion, but with intervention and postvention as well. Crisis workers interact with students, faculty, and parents who have been associated with, witnessed, or suffered from traumatic events originating within the school or with students.

Although no known intervention plan will guar- antee that tragedies will not take place, there are ap- proaches that hold promise in dealing with a variety of crises that can afflict schools. These approaches call for everyone-community service organizations, child welfare agencies, mental health facilities, local,

480 • PART TWO Handling Specific Crises: Going Into the Trenches

state, and national governments, the courts, law en- forcement agencies, and all of the staff in schools-to work cooperatively in developing and implementing crisis intervention plans. Most important, no school should be without a crisis plan and a well-trained crisis response team.

Visit CengageBrain.com for a variety of study e tools and useful resources such as video ex- ~ amples, case studies, interactive exercises, ftas~~: W I cards, and quizzes. _J