R&R2 for Girls and Young Women 

R&R2 for Girls and Young Women was developed  for girls and young women whose antisocial or "at risk" behavior has led to their coming to the attention of specialized schools, social service agencies, psychiatric hospitals, or criminal justice agencies.  

Program Rationale:

Most treatment programs for antisocial females have been ‘broad brush’ treatments designed for males.  Females require female-specific programs that are responsive to their particular characteristics. Assuming that strategies designed for male offenders are equally applicable to females echoes the tendency to ‘make do’. This shortcoming is even more marked in the case of antisocial girls and young women.  R&R2 for Girls & Young Women provides an empirically-based gender-responsive program.

The profiles of women who engage in antisocial behavior highlight their history of victimization, self-harming behaviors and mental health problems.  R&R2 for Girls & Young Women addresses the effects of physical, sexual or emotional abuse but they must also be responsive to issues associated with female adolescence. 

Program Targets:

R&R2 for Girls and Young Women is responsive to several factors: victimization, abuse histories, self-harming behaviors, mental health problems; relationship problems; and family problems. The program focuses on building strengths and it emphasizes the participants' capacity to develop constructive pro-social skills. It is an empowering tool to build self-efficacy and resiliency.

Program Design: 

The program has 16 (90 minute) sessions. Sessions may be delivered in any schedule. The ideal is 2-3 sessions a week. It provides detailed step-by-step instructions and a script to serve as a guide for R&R Trainers; numerous group and individual exercises; audio-visual aids, participant’s workbooks, and "out-of-class" assignments for participants to practice their newly acquired pro-social competence skills in their every-day life. All program materials can be readily modified to fit the particular interests and characteristics (e.g. age; culture) of specific groups.

Trainer’s Kits

The materials for delivering the program are presented in a "Trainer's Kit" that includes the following:

• Program Handbook - describes the research development of the program and its rationale
• Trainer's Guide - describes the teaching principles and methods for effectively delivering the program.
• Program Manual - presents detailed lesson plans and step-by-step instructions for conducting each of the sessions.
• Participant's Journal - each participant is given a Journal which provides her with a summary of each session, a number of in-class exercises and out-of-class assignments (reproducible by Trainers).
• CD – provides PowerPoints for each session.
• Stimulus Cards - for in-class exercises:

                    Problem-Solving cards;

                    Non-verbal Emotion cards;

                    Feeling cards;

                    Role-playing cards.

• Diploma – graduation diploma: a certificate of Achievement for participants (reproducible by Trainers)

Note: COPYRIGHT PURCHASE: exclusive copyright for a Canadian Province, a U.S. State, or a foreign country can be purchased by an approved government, social agency, or University in that country. Doing so enables the purchaser to defray the copyright purchase cost by producing, selling and distributing program materials and training individuals in this program.  Contact the Cognitive Centre of Canada for information.