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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this paper by Gainer et al. was to provide a description and to evaluate and youth violence primary prevention program.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors undertook a quasi-experimental approach to an existing intervention program and applied research design, measurement tools, data collection, and data analysis to ascertain the effectiveness of the program in preventing violent behavior among targeted public school students in a high-risk environment. The authors evaluated a course applied by the Washington Community Violence Prevention Program (WCVPP) for primary and secondary prevention purposes of violent behavior patterns. Primary prevention was defined as intervention aimed at preventing adoption of high-risk behaviors and belief systems, particularly among children and young adolescents; secondary prevention identified, educated, and redirected youth who had already demonstrated a propensity toward violence. The WCVPP course was taught to public school students in grades 5 through 9 in high-crime areas of Washington, DC and to juveniles incarcerated in District of Columbia correctional facilities. The course consisted of fifteen 50-minute sessions, conducted on consecutive weekdays during a 3-week period. Session 1 introduced students to distinctions between types of violence (differences between homicide and manslaughter, and stranger and acquaintance violence). Session 2 explored factors associated with increased risk of injury by violence (drug use, carrying a weapon, anger-arguments, socioeconomic status). Sessions 3, 4, and 5 focused on the relationship between drugs and violence and detailed the physical and psychological effects of prevalent illegal drugs.
The authors addressed three research questions to the WCVPP course. First, did training in social problem-solving skills associated with nonaggression 1) enhance students' abilities to avoid interpreting ambiguous social cues as hostile; 2) provide alternative solutions to social problems; and 3) anticipate negative consequences resulting from acts of violence? Second, did participation in WCVPP promote a set of beliefs among the targeted students that rejected the use of aggression? Finally, did participation in WCVPP increase students' perceived risk of weapon carrying and drug involvement?
The authors conducted a quasi-experiment insofar as the students were not randomly assigned to study groups. The intervention group consisted of all fifth-grade students in two Washington public elementary schools and three classes of seventh graders at a junior high school who had previously participated in the WCVPP course. The control group consisted of fifth and seventh grade students enrolled in the same three schools during the subsequent term. The authors applied data measurement procedures and analyses to measure behavior outcomes as related to information gained from course attendance. Specifically, application was made of Marsh's Interpersonal Problem Solving Analysis and application of the Guerra Violence Beliefs Scale.
The similarity of the study groups at baseline was compared using a multivariate analysis of variance, univariate analysis of variance, and the Mantel-Haenszel statistic to control for grade level. Program effects on continuous variables were assessed by analyzing between-group differences in post-test scores by multivariate analysis of variance and subsequent analyses of covariance using pretest scores as covariates to control differences between the groups not associated with the intervention. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess differences in dichotomous post-test measures between the treatment and control groups after controlling for relevant baseline measures.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The program demonstrated that there was a significant positive influence fo experimental group on knowledge and on some attitudes and social skills shown to related to aggressive behavior. However, no overall or significant changes to st value systems were measured. In other words, they knew the negative values associated with violence, but did not change their attitudes or behavior systems authors did find a significant shift towards less acceptance for resorting to vi a reduced tendency to provide hostile or violent solutions to a social problem. authors concluded that perhaps that attitudinal change may have been the most important effect of the WCVPP course.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors noted that as the number of youth violence prevention programs continues to grow, the need for large-scale longitudinal studies to evaluate long-term effects of well-designed prevention programs should be addressed by researchers and funding agencies interested in resolving the epidemic of youth violence.
(CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - District of Columbia
KW - Grade 5
KW - Grade 6
KW - Grade 7
KW - Grade 8
KW - Grade 9
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Prevention Program
KW - Program Effectiveness
KW - Program Evaluation
KW - Intervention Program
KW - Violence Intervention
KW - Violence Prevention
KW - Child Offender
KW - Child Violence
KW - School Based
KW - Elementary School Student
KW - Junior High School Student
KW - Late Childhood
KW - Early Adolescence
Language: en |