Developing a Social Interest Therapy Program and Evaluating its Effectiveness in Promoting Adolescent Bullies and Victim's Social Skills

The aim of the present study was to develop a social interest therapy program and evaluate its effectiveness in promoting adolescent bullies and victims’ social skills. The statistical population of this semi-experimental study comprised all male bullies and victims studying in the eleventh and twelfth grades in Abarkooh in academic year 2015-1016. Through sociometric method, the students were categorized into bullies (N=40) and victims (N=40) and then in each group the students were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. In the next step, the Social Skills Questionnaire was administered to the participants. The experimental groups received a total of 12 social interest therapy sessions (2 weekly sessions). After completion of the training and also in the follow-up phase the Social Skills Questionnaire was administered to the subjects again. Results of mixed MANOVA in the posttest and follow-up phases showed that the social interest therapy program significantly increased social skills in the two experimental groups. Results were indicative of the fact that social interest therapy was an effective method for promoting adolescent bullies and victims’ social skills so that sympathy, accountability, cooperation, communication, and participation can be boosted among them.