At the Rock Solid Project we believe that the outward behaviour exhibited by people is a reflection of their inner emotional state; if they are in an unresourceful state such as anxiety or fear they may display negative behaviour. If they are in a positive state, such as joyful or happy, their behaviour is usually positive, and may be judged as good.

However society tends to judge people by their behaviour, and furthermore tends to respond aggressively to behaviour seen as bad, which often leads to a more negative emotional state and further negative behaviour. Predictably this leads to downward spirals from seemingly unconnected events, which tends to be reinforced by the blame culture we often adopt.

If a child “misbehaves”, we tell them what not to do, usually in a way that increases confusion and dilutes or dissipates the message we want to give. When a child screams in frustration we raise our voices and shout back louder telling them not to shout! When they lash out and hit, we hit them, but tell them that hitting is wrong! To reinforce the deterioration in communication, we then attach blame to the child, so that we can feel that it is entirely their fault and accept no responsibility ourselves.

When a youth club or recreational resource is lost, young people often mill about on the street feeling frustrated and unwanted. This sometimes leads to bad behaviour such as aggression or vandalism. However the response from society, the police and criminal justice system is to the behaviour, rather than the emotional state from which it came. Yet the people who call for the groups to be moved on (often labelled gangs because it is more emotive) were likely to be in the silent majority when the youth club was demolished, and vociferous objectors to a proposed skate park if it was likely to be anywhere near them.

Some people cannot see a way out of their current situation and are focused on external things such as poverty, limited education, unemployment and other social factors which are holding them back. This is an unproductive strategy and needs an external stimulus to break the cycle, and positive role models to demonstrate a better way. This is where we bring in the tools of neuro-linguistic programming and pro-social modelling.

Pro-social Modelling and Pro-social Behaviour
Pro-social modelling refers to the process by which a person acts as a good motivating role model in order to bring out the best in other people. The best youth workers often demonstrate this, as they engage the subject in an empathetic relationship within which they actively reinforce pro-social behaviour and attitudes and discourage anti-social behaviour and attitudes.

This is coupled by celebrating success, loudly and publicly, which tends to result in an upward or virtuous cycle; celebration leads to positive feelings, which in turn lead to better behaviour.

At the Rock Solid Project we celebrate success and achievement while we promote education and self-development. We use the best techniques of neuro-linguistic programming and pro-social modelling to bring about changes in the self image of young people while teaching them skills which can help them succeed in life after formal education. We teach them how to make a choice.