Research impact: Researcher partnership with youth charity and schools boosts empathy and decision-making skills in young people

British Academy-funded researcher, Dr Neema Trivedi-Bateman of Loughborough University, partnered with the youth work charity Romsey Mill to help young people identify and integrate prosocial behaviours and attitudes into their everyday lives.

Prosocial behaviours are described as social behaviours that benefit other people or society as a whole, for example, helping or cooperating with others, or feeling empathy and concern for others.

The programme, titled The Compass Project (TCP), began as a study designed to determine whether a series of specially designed group activities could promote and encourage prosocial behaviours and moral attitudes and discourage antisocial behaviours in people aged 11-17. These prosocial behaviours and attitudes include empathy for others, balanced decision-making, consideration of the consequences of actions, and improved quality of relationships.

The study aimed to achieve these goals through a series of morality-strengthening and emotion-regulating exercises. Combining facilitator-led discussions with practical interactive exercises, the programme includes creative tasks such as drawing, reflecting on music and videos, real and imagined scenario discussions, moral dilemmas and debates, and mindfulness. This guides participants through topics including empathy, emotion management and regulation, and peer resistance.

The exercises in this British Academy-funded youth charity study were well received by participants. Youth practitioners involved in the study endorsed the project, praising its novel content, rigorous scientific approach, and forward-thinking methods. One practitioner noted: ‘students have been discussing how they personally relate to the issues covered in the activities. This is a real step forward.’

Participants also reported that the experience encouraged them to open up more, helped them understand different perspectives, and increased their sense of empathy. One participant remarked that the programme ‘taught me about the consequences of my actions.’

Participants shared that they would apply the new skills they learned in the workshops to real-life situations, with one individual reflecting on their participation: ‘when I get into a negative spiral, I now know how to find my way out.’

Following this overwhelmingly positive feedback, the project is now being piloted and evaluated in multiple schools across the UK under a new initiative called SATNAV Compass in collaboration with Dr Beth Hardie, University of Cambridge. The wider SATNAV programme aims to replace traditional punitive behaviour management practices with approaches that integrate prosocial moral values within school environments.

SATNAV seeks to transform the broader school environment by developing positive teacher-student relationships, carefully training and developing staff, and actively engaging with the community to help guide the support that children need.

Dr Trivedi-Bateman said: “I am interested in why young people think, feel and act in certain ways - and how this develops through childhood and beyond. I am excited to hear that the young people and staff facilitators involved in Compass find the experience transformational and hope we will continue to provide children with the support and opportunities they need."

Jon Sanders, Youth Development Team Coordinator at Romsey Mill Youth Work Charity, said: “We enjoyed partnering with the Compass Project on their pilot projects with some of our young people. Neema and the team were really flexible and happy to adapt to the young people's varying needs; the course had a really positive impact on them.”

Dr Trivedi-Bateman’s project, “A randomised controlled trial examining the effect of a morality-strengthening programme on positive behavioural outcomes and the reduction of crime” was funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants scheme, which supports primary research in the humanities and social sciences.

Through this project, Dr Trivedi-Bateman has also developed The Compass Project Programme Handbook, an evidence-based guide which is available for youth practitioners and academics to use worldwide.