U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Overcoming Boundaries: A Cross-Cultural Inventory of Primary Prevention Programs Against Wife Abuse and Child Abuse

NCJ Number
187138
Journal
Journal of Primary Prevention Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: Summer 2001 Pages: 455-475
Author(s)
Alberto Godenzi; Jacqueline De Puy
Editor(s)
Martin Bloom Ph.D.
Date Published
2001
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This article reviews exemplary prevention programs in the field of violence against women and children in the United States, France, and the French speaking regions of Canada. A qualitative overview of the programs addresses the aims, contents, focus, and intervention levels.
Abstract
This article attempts to overcome the language barriers to spread the knowledge and awareness on prevention methods in the field of violence against women and children on the international level. The article stresses the connection between program aims in relation to risk and protective factors, and suggests a conceptual plan that can classify ongoing and new programs. The resulting inventory makes it easier to establish where there are serious gaps in prevention programs and consequently where to place future efforts. The data used was gathered on programs in existence during January to June 1997. The total number of programs studied was 138. Overall there were more English-speaking programs. The compilation of this inventory showed that the vast majority of intervention programs have been developed in the English-speaking American context. Only recently have French-speaking regions made efforts to take up the discussion and test answers to the prevention of domestic violence. The models in use tend to make families and schools shoulder a large part of the responsibility of prevention. This study provided a category system in which ongoing and new programs can be classified. The system identifies common dimensions and approaches among programs. It is important to work out a global response to violence by integrating primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. References