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National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center

A Federal resource for professionals, parents and youth working to prevent violence committed by and against young people.

Youth Violence Prevention and Intervention Fact Sheet   
(Printable Version)

This document is also available in a portable document format (PDF 67 KB).

Introduction  top

Many programs and services aim to reduce youth violence. Most of these programs are based on the belief that a particular strategy will work to reduce the risk of teens engaging in violent behavior and/or to build resiliency to protect youth from this behavior.

A common misperception of the general public is the belief that youth violence prevention and intervention strategies must solely target young people. However, experts now believe that effective programs build on the understanding that individuals operate within a complex network of individual, family, community, and environmental contexts that impact their capacity to avoid risk. (See Risk & Protective Factors for Youth Violence.) Solutions, therefore, must be designed to strengthen each of these spheres of influence with the goal of reducing overall risk. They can aim to reach individuals directly, or they can attempt to change the systems in which an individual develops.1

Overview  top

The complex nature of violence demands comprehensive approaches. Multiple, rather than single, isolated factors place children at risk of becoming victims or perpetrators of violence. Therefore, to be effective, programs must address multiple risk factors in a variety of settings.

Drawing upon the public health field, violence prevention and intervention strategies can be categorized into three levels: primary, secondary and tertiary. A comprehensive approach addresses violence at each of these levels within a specific community.

Primary Prevention: Creating Safe Environments

Primary prevention looks at root causes, conditions, and environments for ways to proactively eliminate the possibility of disease or injury. Primary prevention attempts to serve those individuals who are not yet part of the problem, and strives to build skills and resiliency so that the problem will not develop.

These strategies can range from individualized programs such as conflict resolution training or mentoring, to public information campaigns designed to reach the general public. Job training programs, adequate housing, community development and improvement initiatives, parenting training, and after-school recreational programs for youth are additional examples of primary prevention programs.

Secondary Prevention: Reducing Risk

Secondary prevention addresses attitudes and behaviors, focusing on early identification and intervention to reverse a disease/injury process or reduce its impact. By targeting individuals at high risk for the problem or who have displayed some form of antisocial or delinquent behavior, secondary prevention aims to keep these individuals from engaging in violent activity. Secondary prevention, such as anger management and family strengthening programs, typically focuses on the individual and his or her relationships.

Tertiary Prevention: Managing Crisis Situations

Tertiary prevention relates to reactive efforts and interventions that correct or treat a problem. Tertiary prevention is designed to serve those individuals who have already become violent or chronic offenders and emphasizes punishment and rehabilitation through the justice system. The objective is to help prevent future violent activity.

Best Practices

Since the field of youth violence prevention is relatively young, few rigorous evaluations (using longitudinal and randomized control study design) have been conducted. However, enough evaluation has been completed to identify those programs that can be considered promising best practices. Best practices are defined as the elements and activities of interventions that are recommended on the basis of the best knowledge currently available. 2

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Best Practices for Violence Prevention identifies four comprehensive strategies for combating the problem of youth violence and offers specific suggestions for implementation. These four strategies are:

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has developed The National Juvenile Justice Action Plan, a comprehensive approach to reducing youth violence that combines violence prevention with graduated sanctions for youth offenders. The Action Plan emphasizes five key areas of best practice for communities developing a response to violence:

Promising Programs

Although conclusive evaluation research is not available, programs modeled on the public health approach of addressing risk factors and introducing protective factors, have been identified by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Study Group on Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders as the most promising prevention and early intervention programs.3 Broader than the medical model, which is concerned with the diagnosis, treatment, and mechanisms of specific illnesses in individual patients, the public health approach offers a practical, goal-oriented, and community-based strategy for promoting and maintaining health, as broadly defined by the Surgeon General's report on youth violence.

Although no single program is perfect for every community, the Study Group identified the following programmatic approaches as having positive effects in both reducing risk and enhancing protective factors:

More information on each of these prevention and intervention strategies is provided in "School and Community Interventions to Prevent Serious and Violent Offending" http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/177624.pdf.

Developing Effective Strategies

It is often difficult to identify which solutions may be best for any given situation. There are several helpful steps to use in planning an effective youth violence intervention. The CDC's Best Practices of Youth Violence Prevention, not only highlights best practices in prevention and intervention, but also outlines a process for planning, implementing, and evaluating prevention and intervention strategies.

Step One: Data Analysis

Understand the scope and nature of the problem in the area you intend to work. Quantitative and qualitative data available from local, state, and federal sources can help you examine who is most affected by the problem in your area and how this compares to other places in the country. Police records, vital statistics from the local health department, hospital or emergency room records, school records, and information from national surveys, such as the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey are helpful.

During the research phase it is important to talk to community members and, especially, young people directly about their opinions of the problem and what could be done at the local level. It is also important to take an inventory and assess the other programs and interventions that exist locally to determine where gaps may exist. This information also can help to identify organizations to partner or collaborate with.

Step Two: Target Population and Setting

Once the specific problems are identified, you can select a population or group to target for the intervention. The data you have collected will help you determine who is most at-risk and where services are lacking. The population can be as general as the youth living in a defined area or as specific as youth in a particular school exhibiting chronic behavioral or delinquency problems. An important step at this time is to determine where the activities or program will occur. The setting should be convenient for participants and should be a place they feel comfortable.

Step Three: Goals and Objectives

A goal is a broad statement of purpose that describes what you hope to achieve with the intervention. Objectives are statements of the things that need to be done to achieve the goal. Objectives are specific, measurable, and attainable with the resources available. They typically describe what will be done, to whom, where, by when, and how the intervention will be measured. They are important because they clearly explain the tasks that will be done and offer a mechanism for evaluation. They also offer clear information about the specific program strategies that will be implemented.

Step Four: Designing the Intervention

Identifying goals and objectives will help direct the intervention strategy you design. However, there are some key steps that need to occur during this part of the process. Involving community members, other organizations, and youth directly will help build credibility in your work and investment in the project. Coordinating with other groups that are interested in implementing similar programs or initiatives and reaching the same target population is also an essential step. This will broaden the reach of the program and decrease the likelihood of competition.

When developing materials and activities, it is important to ensure that they are appropriate and relevant to your target audience. Pre-testing ideas and conducting focus groups are useful ways to determine the potential for success. Also, consider the cultural backgrounds of your participants and make sure the activities planned are inclusive and sensitive to their beliefs and language needs.

Step Five: Monitoring and Evaluation

During implementation, ongoing monitoring and evaluation is essential. This information will indicate whether your activities are helping you reach your objectives and intended goals. Active monitoring will also help to identify areas that could be improved or strengthened. Solicit regular feedback from participants and staff. Design instruments or tools that you can use to measure your objectives.

Publications  top

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
www.edu.gov

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
www.hhs.gov/

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
www.usdoj.gov

Federal Resources  top

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
www.hhs.gov/

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
www.ed.gov

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
www.usdoj.gov

  1. What Works in Reducing Adolescent Violence: An Empirical Review of the Field. Tolan and Guerra. July 1994.
  2. Best Practices of Youth Violence Prevention: A Sourcebook for Community Action www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/bestpractices.htm.
    3. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Violence Prevention. Compiled and Edited by T. Thornton, C. Craft, L. Dahlberg, B. Lynch, and K. Baer. September 2000.
  3. School and Community Interventions to Prevent Serious and Violent Offending. Catalano, Richard F., Ph.D., Rolf Loeber, Ph.D. and Kay C. McKinney. Juvenile Justice Bulletin, October 1999.