CHAPTER FOUR: STAFF DEVELOPMENT

Working with adolescents can be one of the most rewarding as well as one of the most challenging endeavors an individual can undertake. As a result, it is essential for staff working with adolescents to be provided with ongoing education, training, and support in areas that develop and sustain successful interactions with adolescents.

Research that specifically addresses best practices in staff development as it pertains to adolescent pregnancy prevention programs is scarce. The following chapter incorporates the available research relative to several core competency areas for working with adolescents, but is in no way meant to be exhaustive. In addition, it cannot be said strongly enough that staff require ongoing topic-specific training (for example, updated contraceptive information) to ensure program quality.

Section 1. The Role of Staff in the Lives of Adolescents

The impact staff can have on the lives of adolescents is not to be underestimated. Programs for teens have the potential to foster trust between adult staff and adolescents (Klindera & Pagiliaro, 2001), which is essential if teens at risk for pregnancy are to receive help and support from adults. Teenagers are constantly watching adult behavior and learning from it how they are to view themselves and the world around them. Staff who work with adolescents can have tremendous influence on the lives of their adolescent clients.

It is because of this responsibility that staff must be extremely aware of the messages sent by their words and behavior. In terms of programmatic impact, adolescents will be more likely to be open and receptive if staff are enthusiastic and involved, as well as respectful toward all participants. In addition, staff must be willing to address disrespectful or inappropriate behaviors of adolescents with consistency and firmness. Adolescents will generally respond positively to being held to standards of behavior, especially when they help create the standards by which they are asked to live (Huebner, 1998).

Research Demonstrates

The following are some key points regarding what staff may want to keep in mind when working with adolescents.

• Create and maintain boundaries (Huebner, 1998). Teens respond well to knowing the rules or boundaries within which they can operate.
• Be available to offer guidance and support (Huebner, 1998). While adults may not have all the answers, they do have the ability to help teenagers explore various ways to approach life situations. When addressing pregnancy prevention, role-plays, hypothetical discussions, and chances to practice communication skills are invaluable in preparing teenagers for “real world” situations.
• Evaluate your own prejudices and values in efforts to be nonjudgmental toward your participants (Holmes, Heckel, & Gordon, 1991). It is important to be able to listen to adolescents and encourage open discussion. Because staff may have different values and experiences from the adolescents they work with, it is important that they explore their own values and beliefs in order to remain nonjudgmental in working with adolescents.

Section 2. Adolescent Development

It is essential that staff working with adolescents be familiar with the process of adolescent development. This information should inform all work and program development for adolescents. This section focuses on adolescent development as it relates to what staff need to know in order to create age-appropriate programs. While this section provides a sampling of basic information, staff will benefit from finding materials that address the more specific needs of their particular adolescent population. Research indicates that positive growth is fostered in adolescents when the following components are part of their experience:

• Sense of industry and competency;
• Feeling of connectedness to others and to society;
• Belief in their control over their fate in life; and
• Stable identity (CSR Incorporated [Inc.], 1997).

Teen pregnancy prevention programs can provide all of these components. Such programs can be the cornerstones of positive adolescent development by asking teens to get involved in program design, by treating them with respect, and by providing them with a safe, supportive environment in which they can interact with others.

Especially in the field of teen pregnancy prevention, it is imperative to remember that with the onset of puberty, adolescents experience confusing new feelings (CSR Inc., 1997). Individuals who enter puberty much earlier or much later than their peers, may suffer ridicule, ostracism, or jealousy. Also on a physical level, the increase in sex hormones can create confusing and often distracting new feelings and interests.

Adolescents are also experiencing a neurological shift from concrete thinking to formal-logical thought (CSR Inc., 1997), and each adolescent makes this shift at a different pace. Prior to this shift individuals may have difficulty thinking casually and therefore, may be cognitively unable to consider how being pregnant might alter their lives.

For these reasons and others, program designers may want to consider separate groups for younger and older adolescents. Depending on the modality and subject matter of the group, if the resources are available (staff as well as space), separating adolescents who may still be experiencing the early stages of puberty and are less likely to be sexually active from those who are more physically, developmentally, and sexually mature may be beneficial for both groups. Research shows that there is a significant drop-off in program participation after early adolescence (Quinn, 1999; Smith, 2001), and older adolescents may be more likely to continue participating in programs that are tailored to their specific needs and interests.

Research Demonstrates

Although all adolescent groups have different needs, here are a few things staff should keep in mind.

• Not all adolescents are developmentally at the same place due to life experiences and personal differences (CSR Inc., 1997). Depending on an adolescent’s life experiences, different individuals may react very differently to the same situation. Ideally, a program for teens should help to create trusting adolescent-adult relationships and improve teens’ social skills, but these tasks must be geared to the developmental stage and individual capabilities of the adolescent.
• Even though adolescents may want to be treated like adults and are no longer children, they still require support, guidance, and boundaries for healthy development (Huebner, 1998). Adolescents derive a sense of safety from testing boundaries and seeing that those boundaries remain in place.
• Respond to the adolescent’s actual behavior, rather than preconceived ideas about “adolescent behavior” (CSR Inc., 1997). In this manner, adolescents learn they will be treated fairly based on their actions, which can increase their sense of control over their fate in life and of being able to affect their futures. This, in turn, can foster a sense of hope, even in situations over which the individual may have very little control.

Implementation Tips

• Identify your age group and tailor your program accordingly.
• Make sure your language, activities, and materials are age-appropriate.
• Remember that adolescents may be unpredictable in their behavior.

Section 3. Group Work with Adolescents

Many teen pregnancy prevention programs are group-oriented and there is a great deal of literature pointing to the benefit of a group model for adolescents. Groups can be a highly successful form of support for adolescents (Wood, 2003). Because a predominance of the adolescent life stage involves the evolution of self-identity, a group can be a healthy, supportive environment in which teens gain increased self-esteem and a support network based on authentic interactions (Springer & Orsbon, 2003). Since youth who demonstrate positive behavior would be likely to promote similarly positive behaviors among their peers (Abbott, 2003), it would stand to reason that this “modeling” may have a profound effect in helping adolescents make better, more conscious choices around sexual behaviors. Also, because adolescents place high value on being part of a group (Holmes et al., 1991), watching others model positive behaviors may be the most effective way to help improve behavior and social skills.

The kind of group and the information provided depends greatly on the training of staff. Group leaders should at the very least be well-prepared with correct information regarding pregnancy, anatomy, sexually transmitted infections, or other information depending on the topic of the group. Because so much is changing in this field, it is important that staff receive ongoing and up-to-date “refreshers” on the information. It is also important that staff who lead groups be trained in group dynamics, group facilitation skills, adolescent development, conflict management, boundary setting, and communication skills. Each of these knowledge areas or skills is important to facilitating effective groups.

Consistency on the part of group leaders is of paramount importance. Adolescents are more likely to trust actions than words, and being consistent in terms of timeliness sends a nonverbal yet very clear message of respect. Lateness or inconsistency on behalf of the group facilitator will most certainly result in group attrition and participant acting-out. Teenagers require a level of stability and routine to feel engaged and supported (Abbott, 2003). To be most effective, the group should be held at the same time and same place for the prescribed length of the group.

In a group setting, it is very important that facilitators set and maintain clearly-stated rules and boundaries. Adolescents often test authority and respond well to boundaries that are clear and held firm (Abbott, 2003). In addition, whenever possible, rules will be better followed if created by the teens themselves. Adult leaders should guide the discussion, but the adolescents will feel more empowered if asked to come up with the rules that govern their behavior.

Staff who work with adolescents in group settings will benefit from having conflict
resolution skills. The most important factor in a situation involving conflict is that the group facilitator handles the situation decisively and calmly. Remember that problems among participants will generally escalate if not addressed. Handling the situation effectively means managing the situation by employing a negotiation or problem-solving process (Scott, 2003). Conflict resolution tactics may vary significantly depending on the demographics of your population. It is important to research cultural customs that may affect how individuals communicate or handle conflict, and to assess the frustration tolerance and developmental ability of the group.

The following components have been identified as essential to constructive conflict resolution:

• Ability to articulate one’s own needs and feelings;
• Ability to manage/diffuse one’s own anger;
• Ability to listen to the needs and feelings of another;
• Ability to see the other person’s point of view;
• Ability to reframe conflicting interests into a joint problem to be solved together; and
• Desire to find a mutually beneficial solution.

Resolving conflict utilizing these negotiation-based components allows the involved participant to “save face” (Cooper, 1997). He or she can leave the situation unharmed and without feeling humiliated, but also with some resolution of the problem. This minimizes the risk of losing participants either emotionally, when they “check out” of the process or physically if they leave and do not return.

Group leaders can “set the tone” when it comes to communication and conflict
resolution. Speaking to the group as you would like them to speak to one another models appropriate behavior. Teaching them how to resolve conflict nonviolently is a tool that will help these adolescents throughout the rest of their lives.

Research Demonstrates

The following are important components of effective group work with adolescents:

• Begin any group with ground rules to clarify how participants should treat one another (Cooper, 1997). Ground rules or group norms should ideally come from the adolescent participants themselves. Adolescents are much more likely to respect the rules if they created them in the first place. As the leader, you may have some ideas of ground rules you would like included. You can try to see if the group will come up with them on their own, or suggest them yourself if the group does not.
• Use trust-building activities and exercises to enhance group cohesiveness. Adolescents are more likely to remain in a group where they feel a sense of trust and belonging (Stone, 2001). Using trust-building activities can increase participant engagement and commitment to the group.
• Develop responses to negative adolescent behaviors that help them understand their behavior and its effects on others (CSR Inc., 1997). Simply forbidding a particular behavior misses the opportunity for learning that is provided by explaining why the behavior was offensive or inappropriate. Giving the target of the behavior an opportunity to express how it felt to be treated or spoken to in a hurtful manner can create empathy and understanding among participants.
• Teach adolescents to give and receive feedback in a helpful manner. Groups that allow interpersonal interaction between participants are more likely to foster behavioral change (Springer & Orsbon, 2003). Groups provide an opportunity for feedback from other group members. Hearing this feedback from other adolescents can decrease defensiveness and increase incentive to change negative or destructive behaviors. Staff need to be skilled in giving and receiving feedback in order to demonstrate and teach this process to adolescent participants.
• Encourage interaction among adolescent participants in order to help them learn social skills. Groups provide an ideal environment in which to practice and develop social skills (Wood, 2003). Participants in adolescent group programs are given an opportunity to explore basic identity questions such as “Who am I?” “With whom do I identify?” “What are my values/beliefs?” and “Where am I going?” In groups, they must also learn to deal with envy, aggression, cooperation, and compromise, and are given a chance to compare their ideas and responses with those of their peers.

Section 4. Program Planning and Design

The term “positive youth development” has gained a lot of currency over recent years. It refers to a focus on the positive outcomes desired for adolescents, rather than the negative outcomes we hope to prevent (CSR Inc., 1997), and utilizes a “strengths perspective” that incorporates the adolescent’s whole identity. Increasing research points toward the greater success of this approach rather than a “preventive” or “deficit” model. Programs that solely seek to “fix” a problem rarely engage participants and have a much narrower target audience (Quinn, 1999; Hollister, 2003). While certain groups may benefit from the targeting of specific behaviors, such a focus runs the risk of stigmatizing participants and reinforcing negative risk factors (Hollister, 2003).

Whenever possible, involving adolescents in program development has a demonstrated effect both on the relevance and the success of the program (McLaughlin, 2000). Giving adolescents a significant role in program planning and design helps ensure that your program targets actual rather than perceived needs of adolescents, improves the likelihood of attendance, and contributes significantly to the positive youth development approach by empowering adolescents to create the resources they need most (McLaughlin, 2000).

Research Demonstrates

The following points represent the most definitive keys to success in program planning and design:

• Tailor your material to the needs and interests of your target population (Quinn, 1999). Focus groups, surveys, and other instruments can be used to determine the needs of your target audience. A program that is not relevant to the needs of its participants will not be well attended.
• Recognize, value, and incorporate the diverse backgrounds of your target audience (Quinn, 1999). Good programs are sensitive to the diversity of their audiences, particularly regarding race, religion, family income, gender, and sexual orientation.
• Reach out to families, communities, and schools for program support (Quinn, 1999). Strive to maintain positive working relationships with community institutions in order to get maximum support, funding, and advertisement of your program. Make families feel welcome in your agency, and find ways for them to get involved if they are interested.
• Involve youth in the planning stages of the group (McLaughlin, 2000; Smith, 2001). This accomplishes several goals: it makes adolescents feel valued and that their perspective matters; it gives them a sense of purpose as well as something to occupy after-school hours; and it helps ensure that your program is relevant to the needs of their peer group. When young people have a voice in what they are learning, it increases their commitment dramatically.
• Specify and evaluate intended program outcomes (Hollister, 2003). A program is more likely to receive funding if the intended goals are clearly stated and measurable. It is important to devise instruments to measure the adolescents’ progress in order to demonstrate the merit of the program.
• Consider the possibility of offering a stipend to participants (Paine-Andrews et al., 1999). If the program you are offering is education-based or involves an internship component, explore the possibility of receiving funding that can offer a stipend to adolescents who remain committed to the program. A financial incentive–no matter how small–can improve attendance and increase commitment to the program.

Section 5. Comprehensive Staff Development

It is beyond the scope of this work to list all areas of staff development that are pertinent to working with adolescents. The specific training staff need will depend on the specific tasks they will be performing. One tool managers can use to determine these specific training needs is a task analysis. A task analysis involves looking at the specific tasks staff perform, and determining the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to complete those tasks. By completing a task analysis, you can determine:

• Whether or not current staff can provide the services;
• Which current staff need increased training to provide the services;
• Whether or not new staff will need to be hired to provide the services; and
• What services you will need to make referrals for.

To complete a task analysis:

• Determine and list the major tasks that staff perform in each area of client services;
• List the information needed to perform each of these tasks;
• List skills needed to perform each task; and
• List the attitudes or personal qualities needed to complete each task

Once you have completed the task analysis, analyze the information and compare it to the knowledge, skills and attitudes staff currently have. Then, determine what additional training staff need to competently provide services to adolescents. The task analysis can be completed whenever new staff are hired, when staff take on new responsibilities, when new services are planned, or at other times, to assure that staff have the competencies needed to effectively provide services.