Citation

Kelder SH, Orpinas P, McAlister A, Frakowski R, Parcel GS, Friday J. Am. J. Prev. Med. 1996; 12(5, Suppl): 22-30.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Students for Peace is a three-year project (October 1993-September 1996) designed to evaluate a comprehensive, school-based intervention that seeks to prevent violence among sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students in a large urban school district in Texas. This study examines the hypothesis that students exposed to a two-year multiple-component intervention will reduce aggressive behavior compared to students who receive the district's "usual care" of violence prevention activities. Students for Peace is based largely on Social Learning Theory (SLT), which addresses both the psychosocial dynamics underlying health behavior and the methods of promoting behavior change, while emphasizing cognitive processes and their effect on behavior. SLT explains human behavior in terms of a model in which three factors ó behavior, social-environmental influences, and personal factors (such as personality, perceptions an expectations, and affect) ó all interact. Theoretically, an individual's behavior is uniquely determined by a combination of these factors; thus, these factors become the elements for intervention strategies. The intervention program includes four main components: (1) modification of the school environment, (2) a violence-prevention curriculum, (3) peer leadership, and (4) parent education. Students for Peace is using a nested cross-sectional and cohort design in which school is the unit design, allocation, and analysis. Eight schools, four intervention and four control, are participating. In May 1994, a questionnaire was administered to all students in school the day of the survey. A posttest evaluation was taken in the spring of 1995 and will be followed by a final posttest in spring 1996. A total of 8,865 students responded to the baseline survey. Nearly all variables indicated comparability between treatment and control conditions. As a population, Students for Peace participants are largely Hispanic (65%) or African American (19%). Violence-related variables indicated 30-day fighting prevalence, 23%; 12-month prevalence of injuries due to fighting, 14%; 30-day handgun carrying prevalence, 11%; 30-day prevalence of taunts and threats at school, 27%; and threats going to and from school, 26%. Overall, the data from Year 1 activities indicate a population in need of violence-prevention intervention. The challenge is to mold existing district resources into a theoretically sound program of interventions. If that program is found effective, the district will already have the necessary documentation, personnel, and skills for broader dissemination. (Abstract Adapted from Source: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 1996. Copyright © 1996 by Elsevier Science)

Child Offender
Child Violence
Late Childhood
Early Adolescence
Juvenile Violence
Juvenile Offender
Junior High School Student
Grade 6
Grade 7
Grade 8
Violence Prevention
Prevention Program
Urban School
School Based
Texas
Program Evaluation
Program Effectiveness
Health Promotion
Social Skills Learning
Prosocial Skills
Program Description
Curriculum
Intervention Program
Violence Intervention
African American Child
African American Juvenile
African American Offender
African American Violence
Hispanic Juvenile
Hispanic Offender
Hispanic Violence
Hispanic Child
07-05