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Page 1 of 8 The latest research on youth violence; causes, risk factors, and how parents can foster resilience and self-esteem in children.
Foreword
We all have a stake in reducing and preventing youth violence and in promoting the healthy development of the Nation's children and young people. Over the past years, when school shootings made headlines in communities, that imperative became even greater. Local communities recognized that no community is immune from the threat of youth violence. They also recognized that every community has the capacity to do something about it — beginning with families, schools, and other caring adults.
This same imperative led to a report by the U.S. Surgeon General on the topic of youth violence. The report concluded that the tools to reduce and prevent youth violence are known and available — they simply have not yet been used to their best and most productive end. With that recognition, Congress established a program — and the funds to support it — to improve mental health services for children with emotional and behavioral disorders who are at risk for violent behavior. Through those dollars, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — working in collaboration with the Departments of Justice and Education — created the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Program to help improve the capacity of schools and communities to reduce the potential for youth violence and to improve school and community-based drug abuse prevention and mental health promotion efforts as well.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Mental Health Services has taken the lead for HHS in this and other youth violence-related initiatives. One of the most critical activities has been the dissemination of evidence-based programs and knowledge about preventing youth violence. This volume, What you Need to Know about Youth Violence Prevention: An Evidence-Based Guide, takes a first, important step in that knowledge dissemination effort. Built for communities, schools and families, the guide highlights the findings and conclusions of the Surgeon General's Report, as well as data from other research to provide a quick introduction to what is known today about the roots of youth violence and how it can be prevented. It can help concerned communities identify evidence-based programs to adopt and adapt to local needs, and it can serve as a reminder to all Americans that, through action and attention, they can do something to help stem youth violence.
Charles G. Curie, M.A.,
A.C.S.W.
Administrator
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Gail Hutchings, M.P.A.
Acting Director
Center for Mental Health Services
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Introduction
In response to a sudden series of high-profile school shootings, schools and communities across the United States have implemented hundreds of violence prevention programs. Which programs really work? How can we tell? Are any of these programs doing more harm than good?
This guide, based on the state-of-the-science Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General, released in January 2001, and other selected research-informed sources, summarizes the latest knowledge on youth violence. It describes both risk factors that may lead to violence and protective factors that may both prevent it and promote healthy childhood development. It describes evidence-based programs that help prevent youth violence and presents the Surgeon General's vision — suggested courses of action — for youth violence prevention in the future. Publications and organizations that can provide additional information are listed.
Although more research and evaluation of existing youth violence prevention programs are needed, many programs can be implemented now. With the information already available, schools and communities can consider (and perhaps reconsider) their prevention strategies in light of the most current and reliable research findings. This guide can help meet the challenge of directing resources toward effective strategies and programs, disseminating scientifically validated studies, and providing resources and incentives for the implementation and evaluation of programs that are promising.
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