NCJ Number
172908
Date Published
1998
Length
170 pages
Annotation
Strategies to prevent domestic violence through interventions with adolescents in Australia are discussed in this report, based on the premises that violence is an expression of cultural values rather than individual pathology and that violence reflects important tensions in the social structure.
Abstract
The report includes a review of the literature and an audit of violence prevention programs for adolescents. The literature review focused on three areas: (1) theories of violence prevention and underlying social and psychological processes and the rationale for violence prevention programs; (2) policy responses; and (3) violence prevention programs and their evaluation. The audit of violence prevention programs produced a register of 98 programs, one-third of which were situated in schools. Based on the literature review and the audit, a rural town model of violence prevention is developed that centers around a curriculum-based project run within the school setting and a casework approach for young people who exhibit violent behavior and are deemed to be at risk of committing violent acts. Violence prevention programs are summarized, and interventions with adolescents to reduce violence are suggested. Appendixes contain supplemental information on violence prevention programs for adolescents in Australia. References and tables