CREATING SAFE ENVIRONMENTS: VIOLENCE PREVENTION STRATEGIES AND PROGRAMS

Supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, NJ

This report provides an overview of promising violence prevention initiatives across the nation, with special focus on the primary prevention of violence affecting youth and adult intimate partner violence. Specific attention is given to initiatives directed at particularly vulnerable populations, including racial/ethnic groups, immigrants, low-income populations, girls and women, and others. Due to the complexity of the issue, comprehensive approaches to the primary prevention of violence affecting youth and adult intimate partner violence are emphasized as preferable to unrelated individual programs. Making a significant impact in a community requires a cluster of effective activities at different levels (e.g., government, community, and training programs).  

We describe specific programs, but also emphasize the large-scale initiatives that we feel will be more effective in responding to the scope and breadth of the problem. Further, we particularly include programs that recognize the importance of collaboration: programs that “work and play well with others.”  Violence is a learned behavior. That being said, it is important to recognize not only the individual skills needed to avoid violence and prevent violent behavior, but also the community linkages required to create comprehensive solutions. In this vein, we were particularly drawn to initiatives that include innovative elements and involve community level prevention efforts, advocacy and/or policy interventions. Further we highlight those which contribute to reframing violence prevention as a community responsibility.

Download the Report:

Executive Summary

Full Document

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

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Putting Prevention at the Center of Community Well Being
www.PreventionInstitute.org