Program Profile: Tribes

This is a prevention program for elementary school students, which is designed to reduce aggressive and violent behavior. The program is rated No Effects. There were no statistically significant differences between the treatment and control groups in aggressive behavior, rule-breaking behavior, social problems, or attention problems.

A No Effects rating implies that implementing the program is unlikely to result in the intended outcome(s) and may result in a negative outcome(s).

This program's rating is based on evidence that includes at least one high-quality randomized controlled trial.

This program's rating is based on evidence that includes either 1) one study conducted in multiple sites; or 2) two or three studies, each conducted at a different site. Learn about how we make the multisite determination.

Program Goals/Program Theory

Tribes is an intensive universal prevention strategy administered in elementary classrooms that is designed to reduce aggressive and violent behavior, reduce risk factors for the development of violent behavior later in life, and increase protective factors that enhance resiliency. This universal prevention strategy is based on the idea that intervention programs should build resiliency—not merely reduce risk factors—and should use the classroom environment as an agent of change.

Target Population

The target population for Tribes is elementary school children, specifically children in first through fourth grades.

Program Activities

Tribes is designed to be administered to an entire classroom through the entire academic year; it is integrated into the class curriculum. The key features of the program are to organize children into smaller learning groups called “tribes” and to develop a nurturing classroom climate that includes respect for others, teamwork, building relationships, and individual accountability.

Students and teachers agree to honor four critical agreements while in class:

1. Listen attentively to one another.
2. Show appreciation for one another.
3. Show mutual respect.
4. Agree that students have the right to not participate in Tribes-related activities if they choose not to.

In addition, children are taught to set goals, define expectations for themselves and their learning group (i.e., their tribe), and reflect on what was learned and how it was learned. There are 12 collaborative skills that students learn to work effectively together.

The Tribes program is not curriculum based; rather, it is constructed and implemented as a way to organize classrooms and teach children. Teachers receive 3 days of training, as well as onsite support, to learn how to restructure their classrooms and aid in the implementation of the Tribes program.

Study 1

Hanson and colleagues (2011) used a cluster randomized trial to evaluate the impact of the Tribes program on first through fourth grade students in San Francisco and several other school districts throughout California. Randomization was done at the classroom level, as elementary school teachers are assigned to one class. Because of children’s rapid development, two separate studies were conducted with separate samples of first and second graders and third and fourth graders. The final sample consisted of 79 classrooms receiving the Tribes program and 74 classrooms serving as a control group. In total, 2,309 students were included in the study. Since treatment and control classrooms were contained in the same school, there was a concern that contamination (the Tribes program being used in control classrooms) could occur, but the researchers took every step possible to minimize this threat to the research design. Analyses indicated that the groups were equivalent at baseline.

The student sample was 22 percent Hispanic, 20 percent non-Hispanic white, 14 percent African American, 12 percent Chinese, 11 percent Filipino, and 21 percent “other” (which included those with missing race/ethnicity data). Sixty percent of students were eligible for free or reduced-price meals, and 38 percent were classified as English language learners. Attrition from the study was limited (13 of 166 randomly assigned teachers dropped out of the study).

Outcomes were measured upon completion of the program and 6 months afterward to detect any sustained program effects. Data was collected from multiple sources using a variety of instruments. A specially designed teacher survey was used to measure implementation and fidelity of the program. Items from the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist and the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (the BERS–2) were used to construct a checklist for parents and teachers to rate children’s prosocial and antisocial behavior. Additionally, trained researchers conducted direct observation of classroom environment and child behavior. Children were assessed through individual interviews that concentrated on moral judgment and on academic performance which was collected from archival records. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to conduct analyses. The study authors conducted subgroup analyses to determine the possible effect that student gender had on the impact of the program.

Subgroup Analysis

Hanson and colleagues (2011) conducted subgroup analyses to determine the possible effect that gender had on the impact of the Tribes program. At the 6-month follow up, there were no statistically significant differences between genders in aggressive behavior or rule-breaking behavior in teacher or parent reports. However, there were statistically significant differences in regard to academic scores and attention and social problems. Boys in the treatment group had higher academic scores, compared with boys in the control group; however, boys in the treatment group also had a greater number of attention problems, compared with boys in the control group, according to teacher reports. By contrast, girls in the treatment group demonstrated statistically significant negative program effects for both outcome areas. Girls in the treatment group had lower academic scores, compared with girls in the control group, as well as teacher-reported lower scores on emotional and behavioral strengths.

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

These sources were used in the development of the program profile: