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Violence Prevention Program Recommendations and Considerations By Tiffany Veinot, Coordinator of Information Services, Education Wife AssaultViolence prevention program
recommendations have been previously published by: Burkell (1) and Ellis (1995); Haskell, Randall and Chen (1999) (2); the American Psychological Association (1993) (3); and the Centre for Disease Control (1992) (4).
Recommendations for creating community-based youth violence interventions have also been published (5). As a supplement to these, recent research suggests that the following issues/factors warrant consideration: Only
two studies have shown an actual reduction in levels of dating violence amongst youth (6). One of these studies tracked the changes in youth that produced these results. This study showed that changes in gender
stereotyping, dating violence norms, and awareness of services were responsible for decreased levels of dating violence (7). Violence prevention programs should therefore contain specific content in these areas.
At-risk youth, aged 14-16, have exhibited reduced coercive behaviour as a result of 18-week intensive curriculum. This curriculum has focused on building on current strengths and providing healthy role models. (8)
Similar approaches with at-risk youth may be helpful. One sexual violence education program has decreased rates of sexual victimization with a specific focus on reducing risk-taking behaviour in college-aged women
(9). However, sexual victimization rates did not decrease in women with histories of sexual victimization. This population continues to be at high risk, experiencing greater levels of post-intervention victimization in
every study, regardless of intervention (10). There is a strong need for research to discover what kinds of programs and interventions are effective with women with sexual victimization histories. Attitude backlash is
a major concern in violence prevention programming. Young men and boys seem to respond differently to similar content than girls (11). In particular, young men who have perpetrated intimidation and violence have
demonstrated a very strong backlash in one study (12). This suggests that male perpetrators of violence require different interventions from girls. Attitude backlash in young men was greatest in response to messages
that focus on consequences of violence to the perpetrator. In comparison, messages which focus on the experiences of girls and women who have been victimized had much more favorable results with a similar audience (13).
Youth have been shown to be unlikely to seek help regarding dating violence from teachers, guidance counselors or social services, even in one study where specific youth programs were offered (14). They are most
likely to speak to friends or parents (15). This suggests that interventions should focus on building support and intervention skills amongst youth and teens themselves. One American dating violence program with
racially mixed participants showed higher drop-out rates amongst Black youth (16) . Programs must therefore ensure that they are relevant to all youth. While not specifically about dating violence, a culturally specific
violence program for Black youth has resulted in reduced aggression and reduced conflict with the law amongst participants (17). The program for Black youth used tested and validated intervention methods, complemented
by cultural components. This approach has been recommended in work with ethnically and racially diverse youth (18), and has relevance for work with adult women as well. In a study where students were exposed both to a
large assembly and classroom workshops, students increased their knowledge about violence as a result of the workshops, but not the assembly (19). Longer interventions are required to have a long-term impact on
knowledge, attitudes and behaviour (20). In particular, attitude change seems to require more intensive intervention. The longest-term impact demonstrated to date has been for a four-month, intensive university course,
where participants demonstrated more favorable attitudes regarding sexual assault than a control group two years after the course (21). An advocacy intervention with adult women leaving shelters has reduced the level
of violence in the lives of abused women throughout a two-year follow-up period (22). This was the case with both the partner who initially abused them and
subsequent partners. This one-on-one intervention focused on helping abused women access to community resources. Attrition in violence prevention programs is of great concern because people who do not complete (or
attend) anti-violence programs are frequently those who most need them. Programs should address the issue of attrition in their program design and evaluation (23). As a result of one program, youth were more likely to
say they would intervene in hypothetical situations of dating violence. (24) However, incomplete knowledge of when and how to intervene effectively presented barriers. Violence education programs with youth should
attempt to build intervention skills. Violence prevention programs have been shown to increase social activism around the issue of violence. (25) This can be an effective program element in violence prevention
programs. Academic level of students may have an effect on increased knowledge as a result of violence prevention programs (26). To address this, researchers have suggested that there should be review sessions to
reinforce learning as a result of violence education programs (27). Women who blame themselves for violence they experience are more likely to forgive a partner for violence and remain in a violent relationship (28).
Therefore, anti-violence education programs should emphasize women's lack of responsibility for the violence they experience. Back to Top of DocumentSummary of Recent Violence Prevention Evaluation ResearchDecember 1999 References
1 Jacquelyn Burkell and Kathleen Ellis. Principles of Effective Anti-Violence Education: A Review of Prevention
Literature. London, ON: Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children, 1995 2
Lori Haskell, Melanie Randall and Linda Chen. Educating for Change II: Recommended Materials on Violence Against Women and Children. London, ON: Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children, 19993 American Psychological Association. Commission on Youth and Violence Summary Report. Volume 1: Violence and youth: Psychology's response. Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association, 1993 4
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Environmental Health and Injury Control Division of Injury Control, Office of the Assistant Director for Minority Health.
The Prevention of Youth Violence: A Framework for Community Action. Atlanta, GA: Centre for Disease Control, 1992 5
Joseph L. Wright and Tina L. Cheng. "Successful Approaches to Community Intervention and Prevention". Pediatric Clinics of North America. Vol. 45, No.2 (April 1998), 459-467 6
Vangie A. Foshee, et. al. "An Evaluation of Safe Dates, an Adolescent Dating Violence Prevention Program". American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 88, No. 1 (January 1998), 45-50 and Anna-Lee Pittman,
David A. Wolfe and Christina Wekerle. "Prevention during Adolescence: The Youth Relationships Project". Handbook of Child Abuse Research and Treatment. John R. Lutzker, ed. New York, NY: Plenum Press,
1998, 341-356 7
Vangie A. Foshee, et. al., 1998. For more information on this program, see also Vangie A. Foshee, et. al. "The Safe Dates Project: Theoretical Basis, Evaluation Design, and Selected Baseline Findings".
American Journal of Preventitive Medicine. Vol. 12, No. 5 [Supp.] (September/October 1996), 39-47 8 Pittman, Wolfe and Wekerle, 1998 9
K.A. Hanson and C.A. Gidycz. "An evaluation of a sexual assault prevention program". Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Vol. 61 (1993), 1046-1052 10
For other studies of this, see: K.H. Breitenbacher and C.A. Gidycz. "An empirical evaluation of a program designed to reduce the risk of multiple sexual victimization". Journal of Interpersonal Violence
. 13 (1998), 471-487 and K.H. Breitenbacher and M. Scarce. "A Longitudinal Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Sexual Assault Education Program". Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Vol. 14, No.5
(1999), 467 11 see Jaffe, et. al, 1992 12
Frans Willem Winkel and Esther De Kleuver. "Communication Aimed at Changing Cognitions About Sexual Intimidation: Comparing the Impact of a Perpetrator-Focused Versus a Victim-Focused Persuasive Strategy".
Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Vol. 12, No.4 (August 1997), 513-529 13 ibid 14
Peter Jaffe, et. al. "An Evaluation of a Secondary School Primary Prevention Program on Violence in Intimate Relationships". Violence and Victims. Vol. 7, No. 2 (1992), 129-146 and Foshee, 1998 15 Foshee, et. al., 1998 16 ibid 17
Betty R. Yung and W. Rodney Hammond. "Breaking the Cycle: A Culturally Sensitive Violence Prevention Program for African-American Children and Adolescents". Handbook of Child Abuse Research and Treatment
. John R. Lutzker, ed. New York, NY: Plenum Press, 1998, 319-340 18
J. Coatsworth, et. al. "Culturally competent psychosocial interventions with antisocial problem behaviour in Hispanic youth". In D. Stoff, J. Breiling and J. Maser, eds. Handbook of Anti-Social Behaviour
. New York: Wiley, 1997, 395-403 19 N. Zoe Hilton, et. al. "Antiviolence Education in High Schools: Implementation and Evaluation". Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Vol.
13, No. 6 (December 1998), 726-742 20 See Jaffe, et. al., 1992 and Breitenbacher and Scarce, 1999 21 Lonsway, 1998 22
Cris M. Sullivan and Deborah I. Bybee. "Reducing Violence Using Community-Based Advocacy for Women with Abusive Partners". Journal of Counselling and Clinical Psychology. Vol. 67, No. 23, 43-53 24 Hilton, et. al., 1998 25 Jaffe, et. al., 1992 26
Kimberly A. Lonsway, et. al. "Beyond 'No Means No': Outcomes of an Intensive Program to Train Peer Facilitators for Campus Acquaintance Rape Education". Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Vol. 13, No.
1 (February 1998), 73-92. Increased social activism is also a component of Pitman, Wolfe and Wekerle's program - op. cit, 7 27
Mark J. Macgowan. "An Evaluation of a Dating Violence Prevention Program for Middle School Students". Violence and Victims. Vol. 12, No. 3 (1997), 223-233 28 ibid
29 Jennifer Katz, Amy Street and Ileana Arias. "Individual Differences in Self-Appraisals and Responses to Dating Violence Scenarios". Violence and Victims. Vol. 12, No. 3 (1997), 265-275 Page Created on January 29, 2000. Evaluation Research | Teachers |
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