NCJ Number
150484
Date Published
1994
Length
83 pages
Annotation
This report reviews current school, community, and mass media strategies for violence prevention among youth; describes the most promising programs now in operations; and offers recommendations for how police and other criminal justice professionals can become involved.
Abstract
Public health specialists have concluded that the four crucial ways to prevention youth violence are to improve young people's perspective-taking skills, to focus youth on the negative consequences of violence for both themselves and society, to train youth how to negotiate nonviolent solutions to conflict, and to teach youth to be aware of signs that a conflict might spin out of control. An example of an effective school-based approach is the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program, a conflict resolution and mediation program in New York City. The Violence Prevention Project operated by Boston's Department of Health and Hospitals is an example of an effective community-based outreach and education project. Three recent mass media campaigns that have worked in combination with school and community efforts are Walk Away from Violence, sponsored by the Wayne County (Mich.) Department of Public Health; Stop the Violence, cosponsored by Jive Records and the National Urban League; and Family Violence: Breaking the Chain, which was developed and aired by WBZ-TV in Boston. However, most violence prevention programs lack high-profile involvement of criminal justice professionals, especially police officers. Nevertheless, police are taking a leadership role in several violence prevention programs. Figures, photographs, chapter reference notes, and appended program profiles