An Integrated Approach to Violence Prevention (From Violence in American Schools: A New Perspective, P 379-386, 1998, Delbert S. Elliott, Beatrix A. Hamburg, et al., eds. -- See NCJ-1855)

• NCJ Number: 185578
• Author(s): Delbert S. Elliott; Kirk R. Williams; Beatrix Hamburg
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 8 pages
• Sale Source: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This discussion of violence prevention summarizes this volume’s 12 previous chapters on violence prevention, explains the reasons for emphasizing the ecological-developmental approach, and discusses the five themes that have emerged from different academic perspectives presented in those chapters.

Abstract

The first theme relates to the ecological nature of the ecological-developmental approach and emphasizes the interconnectedness of family, peer group, school, and neighborhood. The second theme emphasizes the dynamic interaction between individuals and social contexts in the process of development and pertains to the consequences of violence for schools and the functions of violence for individuals within their social settings. Two additional themes are that effective prevention efforts require collaboration and that violence prevention needs a public health approach. The final theme is that effective programs and strategies for preventing violence should include systemic changes for schools, programs for individual youths, and public policy positions. The analysis concludes that prevention efforts also need to be sensitive to varying cultural and community settings and to build relationships among the social contexts most relevant to the lives of the country’s youth.