In response to this research,
the ARKGroup created the ARK (Adults Relating to Kids)
Program. Utilizing a small-group, peer-mentoring format, ARK combines
cutting-edge self-esteem research with the very best in current parenting
and teaching theory. The result is a learning environment in which adults
can appropriate new parenting and teaching skills and can increase their
ability to give young people the unconditional love and the nurture that
allows children to value themselves. ARK helps parents to address the
practical aspects of parenting--dealing with topics such as homework,
sibling rivalry, and bully-proofing. Meeting once a week, ARK Groups
teach adults how to discipline the behavior while still affirming the
worth of the child.
Parenting behaviors typically are passed on from generation to generation
within families, usually without anyone stepping back and evaluating
those behaviors and deciding upon new and more appropriate ways of relating
to their children. ARK is a tool for encouraging a process of evaluation,
thereby enabling families to set in motion new parenting patterns that
will enhance the lives of their children and their children’s children
for generations to come. The program can be life-changing for prison
inmates who have been victimized by abusive, conditional parenting behaviors
that have been passed down in their families for generations.
ARK in Texas State Jails
The ARKGroup was invited by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice, the world’s third-largest penal
system (behind Russia and China) to conduct an ARK Program at State
Jails throughout Texas.
Research performed by Sam Houston State University at Kegan State Jail
and Plane State Jail has produced some astonishing results. On a
Self-Esteem scale of 0-100, the average score of inmates increased
from 70 (pre-ARK)
to 86 (post-ARK). While the inmates took the 16-week ARK course to
learn how to give unconditional love and elevate the self-esteem
of their children upon their release from prison, the research shows
that
the self-esteem of the adult participants was dramatically elevated
as a result of their participation in ARK. The importance of this
finding is enormous because parents cannot give to their children
what they
themselves do not possess.
For more information, please contact the ARKGroup at
888-ARK-0744 (toll-free).
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