To receive a master's degree (M.A.) in clinical psychology

Dissertation for Master's Degree (M.A)

Trend: Clinical Psychology

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of individual metacognitive treatments in increasing self-esteem and reducing aggression among juvenile delinquents. For this purpose, 40 juvenile delinquents from correctional centers in Tehran using systematic random sampling were divided into two random groups (metacognitive treatment group and control group) with An equal amount (20 people) were used. Using the Cooper Smith and Perry aggression tests, it was used by a clinical psychologist in two stages. b) Metacognitive therapy was effective in increasing the social and family self-esteem of adolescents.        c) The effectiveness of metacognitive therapy in reducing aggression has been higher compared to increasing self-esteem.  By replacing the patterns of behavioral and cognitive adaptation in the individual, these interventions allow him to have a broader and more appropriate behavioral treasury in facing the situation and act in response to problems with planning and foresight. Therefore, by using psychological interventions, especially individual interventions, the self-esteem of delinquent teenagers can be increased and their aggression can be reduced. Key words: metacognitive intervention, self-esteem, aggression, delinquent, teenager Negative self-concept is associated, which reduces natural activities and social interactions. A teenager with low self-esteem will be confused and inconsistent in the path of life's forced adversities and the ability to deal with problems. According to Sigmund Freud: (human dignity) emerges when the child realizes that he cannot have sex with his parents, and as a result, this leads to a relentless feeling (I can't do anything). According to Alfred Adler, the feeling of inferiority first arises due to the appearance of physical fitness or bodily inferiority. Then he is faced with the fact that others are bigger, stronger and bigger.

At the same time, a teenager who has emotional problems in the family environment is provoked by every small stimulus and becomes aggressive. Therefore, when he enters the society, he cannot adapt to any situation. Aggression can easily disrupt the social relationships of teenagers and generally cause their lack of growth in social and psychological dimensions. In general, some psychologists consider aggression as behavior that causes harm to others or has the potential to harm others (Cooper-Smith, 1967). This injury can be physical such as beating, kicking and biting, or verbal such as cursing and shouting, or legal, such as taking something by force.

Metacognitive therapy is an emerging approach that emphasizes reducing unhelpful cognitive processes and facilitating metacognitive processing instead of focusing on the content of the patient's thoughts. Therefore, in this research, we are trying to answer this question, whether the effect of metacognitive therapy increases the self-esteem and reduces the aggressiveness of delinquent teenagers or not? Self-esteem is the single most important key to human motivation. In general, self-esteem refers to an aspect of each of us that we are aware of, in fact, it is called self-esteem. It is believed that there is a reciprocal relationship between favorable personal adjustment and high self-esteem (Kata and Junior [1], 2002). Self-esteem in teenagers has a special role and importance. However, adolescence is associated with confusion and low self-esteem due to certain issues. As a result, increasing self-esteem is necessary to prevent problems that may arise as a result of low self-esteem for teenagers (Terry[2], 2002).

More precisely, it can be said that the two dimensions of social and family self-esteem in teenagers present a more obvious manifestation of their vulnerability (Long and Zolten, 2002, translated by Haider Fathi, 2013).

But the second variable in the present study is aggression.The validity of the title of aggression on a specific behavior depends on the type of culture that prevails in a society. For this reason, nowadays in western societies, any type of hot temper is referred to as aggression. Whereas, in the past, in these societies, the concept of aggression was associated with attacking a person or an object directly or indirectly. Just like today in Asian countries, the concept of aggression is like this. Also, what causes anger and aggressive behavior depends on the type of culture of the society in which a person lives. In other words, people get angry all over the world, but their anger is in accordance with the cultural rules of the society in which they live.

Another significant point in the field of aggression and cultures is that, in all cultures, the existence of necessary benefits for human life in aggression is accepted, but it is also acceptable to everyone that if aggressive behavior is not controlled, irreparable dangers such as murder may occur. Therefore, all societies must find ways to prevent their members from killing or harming each other. All people control aggressive behavior to some extent, but in terms of the value they place on it, they differ in the extent to which they limit it. For example, among the American Indian tribes, the Comanches raise their children to be warriors, while the Hopi and the Zuni teach their children to be peaceful and non-aggressive. In contemporary America, Hutterites emphasize peace as a way of life and raise their children to be non-aggressive. Basically, in American culture, aggressiveness and stubbornness are valued (Bandura, 1973).

In Islamic culture, although aggression and aggression against others is considered an example of aggression and is considered undesirable, it allows people to defend themselves if they are attacked by others, of course, in a way that does not lead to aggression and oppression. Today, this behavior causes many problems that require investigation and treatment of this problem.

Although many treatments have been done to increase self-esteem and reduce aggression, all these treatment methods have some kind of shortcomings. Therefore, the current research is an attempt to use an effective and new metacognitive treatment method. One of the capabilities of the metacognitive approach is the possibility of using it as a single standard treatment that is effective for various disorders. The advantage of this work is the simplification of treatment: in this there is only one model as a basis for formulation and treatment that can be applied to most disorders (Wells, 2009).

The metacognitive model was first proposed by Wells and Matthews (1994) and then modified by Wells in (1997-2000). Metacognition refers to beliefs and processes that are used to evaluate, regulate, examine and review thought. Metacognitive beliefs such as the need to control thoughts and the importance of thoughts are specifically categorized in the group of beliefs related to thinking. The metacognitive approach believes that people are trapped in emotional distress because their metacognition leads to a pattern that perpetuates negative emotions and reinforces beliefs. It becomes negative in these people. This approach is called cognitive-attentional syndrome [3]. which includes worry, rumination, fixed attention and self-regulatory strategies with incompatible coping behaviors. Metacognitive therapy is an emerging approach, which instead of focusing on the content of the patient's thoughts, emphasizes reducing unhelpful cognitive processes and facilitating metacognitive processing. Metacognitive therapy is based on the fundamental theory (executive functioning model of self-regulation). This model models the reason for vulnerability to emotional disorders. Extreme self-focused attention - the activity of incompatible metacognitive beliefs and specific reflexive processes (Wells-2000). This process is activated when a person feels disharmony between his internal goals and external conditions. Therefore, certain strategies such as absorbing information into beliefs, suppressing thoughts, rumination and worry in order to prevent disturbing stimuli from entering consciousness or to solve problems caused by inconsistency in monitoring states. Physical-psychological and preparedness against danger is used in order to reduce this dissonance by the self-regulating executive function. Today, cognitive and metacognitive therapies are used to solve many disorders.