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Youth Violence: Prevention Strategies
Youth violence is a serious problem that can have lasting harmful effects on victims and their family, friends, and communities. The goal for youth violence prevention is simple—to stop youth violence from happening in the first place. However, the solutions are just as complex as the problem.
Prevention efforts should ultimately reduce risk factors and promote protective factors. Additionally, prevention should address all levels that influence youth violence: individual, relationship, community, and society. Effective prevention strategies are necessary to promote awareness about youth violence and to foster the commitment to social change.
Youth violence prevention—one of the oldest fields in violence—continues to advance rapidly. Many prevention tools have been developed and implemented, with a growing body of data available on the outcomes. This literature has been summarized and promising resources have been identified.
This section links to resources and organizations that can be helpful in planning youth violence prevention and education programs. These and many other resources can be found at the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center. Strategies recommended by these organizations may or may not have empirical evidence supporting their effectiveness, but are provided for
informational purposes.
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National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center
Developed by CDC in partnership with 10 other federal agencies, the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center (NYVPRC) provides current information about youth violence. NYVPRC is a gateway for professionals, parents, teens, and others interested in obtaining comprehensive information about youth violence and suicide prevention.
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Blueprints for Violence Prevention
Blueprints for Violence Prevention is a project conducted by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV), University of Colorado at Boulder, with funding from CDC, the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice, and the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Eleven prevention and intervention programs were identified that meet a strict scientific
standard of program effectiveness. The model programs, called Blueprints, effectively reduce adolescent violent crime, aggression, delinquency, and substance abuse. Another 18 programs have been identified as
promising programs.
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Best Practices of Youth Violence Prevention: A Sourcebook for Community Action is designed to help communities develop and implement youth violence prevention programs. Best Practices presents four key strategies for preventing youth violence: school-based programs, mentoring programs, parenting and family-based
programs, and home visitation. The sourcebook builds upon lessons learned from the first CDC-funded evaluation projects and draws upon the expertise of more than 100 of the nation’s leading scientists and practitioners. It provides communities with information to develop, implement, and evaluate prevention programs. A Spanish version of Best Practices
is available to organizations that address violence in Hispanic and Latino communities.
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Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General
Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General, the first Surgeon General's report on youth violence in the United States, summarizes an extensive body of research and seeks to clarify seemingly contradictory trends. The report describes research identifying and clarifying the risk factors for youth violence; it also describes studies identifying
developmental pathways that may lead a young person into a violent lifestyle. Further, the report explores less well-researched factors that seem to protect youth from viewing violence as an acceptable—or inevitable—way of approaching or responding to life events. Finally, the report reviews research on the effectiveness of specific strategies and programs designed to reduce and prevent youth violence.
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Compendium of Assessment Tools for Youth Violence
Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools—Second Edition provides researchers and prevention specialists with more than 170 measures to assess risk behavior and to evaluate programs to prevent youth violence.
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School Health Index
School Health Index is a self-assessment and planning tool that enables a school to identify the strengths and weaknesses of its health and safety policies and programs; develop an action plan for improving student health and safety; and involve teachers, parents, students, and the community in improving school services.
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School Health Guidelines to Prevent Unintentional Injuries and Violence
The School Health Guidelines to Prevent Unintentional Injuries and Violence help state and local educational agencies and schools promote safety and teach students the skills needed to prevent injuries and violence. It provides guidance for all components of a coordinated school health program for all grade levels. CDC developed the Guidelines in
collaboration with specialists from universities and from federal, state, and local agencies and organizations. This guidance is based on an in-depth review of research, theory, and current practice in unintentional injury, violence, and suicide prevention; health education; and public health.
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U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) administers, coordinates, and recommends policy for improving quality and excellence of programs and activities that support drug and violence prevention activities and activities that promote the health and well being of students in elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher
education.
Disclaimer
Links to organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service. They do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by the Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC), the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), or the Federal government, and none should be inferred. CDC and NCIPC are not responsible for the content of the individual organizations' Web pages found at these links. The strategies recommended by these organizations may or may not have empirical evidence supporting their effectiveness.
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