Intervening To Prevent Childhood Aggression in the Inner City (From Violence and Childhood in the Inner City, P 256-312, 1997, Joan McCord, ed. - See NCJ-172275)

• NCJ Number: 172282
• Author(s): N G Guerra
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 57 pages
• Sale Source: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Possible intervention strategies to prevent juvenile violence in urban neighborhoods are discussed, with emphasis on the need for research trials to assess outcomes of programs developed in cultural contexts to determine whether or not they are effective in inner cities where stress, social disorganization, and violence are prevalent.

Abstract

Children growing up in inner cities are a population at risk for developing serious aggressive behavior in childhood and later in life. This elevated overall risk requires primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention programs. Such programs should be driven by theoretical models of aggressive behavior that incorporate empirical data on risk factors. Intervention strategies include prenatal services, preschool enrichment, elementary school interventions, programs for adolescents, parent training programs, family therapy, and strategies for working with peers, teachers, and school organizations. Some well-intentioned and carefully designed programs have had harmful outcomes. Therefore, large-scale prevention research trials are needed to assess the impacts of different interventions. The available findings suggest the need to target young children and to provide school-based programs that give children opportunities to learn and practice effective social relations skills. Approximately 200 references