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Violence Prevention

Violence prevention programs often include a conflict resolution education component, but are more likely to include increases in safety and security issues relevant to the prevention of serious violent behaviors that are, luckily, still quite rare in schools (Burstyn et al, 2001). Violence prevention efforts seek to decrease serious risk behavior, including violence toward self and others, risky sexual behavior, and substance abuse (Wilson, Gottfredson & Najaka, 2001). Conflict resolution education is focused more on the development of important life skills, and especially communication skills, that help students find nonviolent ways to handle their problems and, thereby, may decrease violent behavior.

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Sample Catalog Resources

Below you'll find a randomized listing of up to 20 related items (we may have more...) drawn from our Resource Catalog.

Resource Title Description Links
Bullying in out-of-school time programs: tips for youth-serving professionals and volunteers Pdf document that examines bullying in extracurricular activities with tips for professionals and volunteers.
Non-Violent Conflict Management: Conflict Resolution, Dealing with Anger, Negotiation and Mediation This 95-page pdf training guide is designed to support the development of conflict resolution skills for people involved in social work activities. "This module teaches conflict management through a combination of skill-building and philosophical discussion to enable participants to become invested in the idea that non-violent conflict management is better, more effective, and more efficacious in the long run than either conflict avoidance, or an aggressive approach that produces 'winners' and 'losers.' The material can be presented in training sessions of varying lengths from one class to an entire semester. The author recommends separating the three modules over time to allow time for integration of skills."
Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths (2nd Ed) This 373-page compendium, available as a pdf, provides researchers and prevention specialists with a set of tools to assess violence-related beliefs, behaviors, and influences, as well as to evaluate programs to prevent youth violence. Although this compendium contains more than 170 measures, it does not claim to be an exhaustive listing of available measures. Most of the measures in this compendium are intended for use with youths between the ages of 11 and 24 years, to assess such factors as serious violent and delinquent behavior, conflict resolution strategies, social and emotional competencies, peer influences, parental monitoring and supervision, family relationships, exposure to violence, collective efficacy, and neighborhood characteristics. The compendium also contains a number of scales and assessments developed for use with children between the ages of 5 and 10 years, to measure factors such as aggressive fantasies, beliefs supportive of aggression, attributional biases, prosocial behavior, and aggressive behavior. When parent and teacher versions of assessments are available, they are included as well.
Ferdinand the bull: The story of a bull who wouldn't fight: Resource guide for teachers on NV 23-page pdf study guide created to accompany "The Hudson Vagabond Puppets’ production of Ferdinand tthe Bull [which] can serve as a focus point for an indepth look at conflict resolution in the classroom. The performance will end with a brief lecture-demonstration developed in conjunction with ENACT, a not-for-profit organization that teaches social skills to young people."
1st Report to the Nation on Youth Courts and Teen Courts This national report (43-pages in MS Word format) documents significant highlights and events over a fifteen (15) year period of unprecedented and historic growth of this groundbreaking American juvenile justice prevention and intervention program that utilizes volunteer youth to help sentence their peers. The report begins in 1993, when fewer than seventy-five (75) local youth and teen courts existed in just about a dozen states. The report concludes fifteen (15) years later in 2008, when more than a record 1,000 local communities in 48 states and the District of Columbia now operate these local juvenile justice programs. Historic numbers of youth and adults are now involved, as more than 111,868 juvenile cases were referred to local youth and teen courts and more than 133,832 volunteers to include both youth and adults who volunteered to help with the disposition and sentencing of these juvenile cases.
Men stopping rape exercises Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 6, Number 1, (Nov 2005), which presents a "list of some of the exercises developed by the members of Men Stopping Rape in Madison, WI, for use in anti-rape workshops, I compiled this list for use in Syracuse at a Man-to-Man training program entitled 'Practical Strategies for Ending Abuse: A Skill Training for Educators.'"
Educating for Peace and from the University: Memorial Anthology of a Decade 488-page pdf in Spanish. The UNESCO Chair in Education for Peace was created in November 1996 from a cooperation agreement between the University of Puerto Rico and the Organization of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This Anthology provides an overview of the essays and documents developed in the first decade of activity seeking to promote reflection and attention to the problems of violence and hope and to encourage and provide direction for non-violent action towards peaceful coexistence. The Anthology was released on a commemorative CD and as this downloadable pdf.
Peace and Non-Violence Curriculum - Grade 12 Social Studies This 218-page curriculum guide is designed for use with grade 12 Social Studies classes, but can be adapted for grades 7-11. It provides a 12-week structured curriculum exploring topics related to Peace and Nonviolence. Weekly themes include Poverty as a Form of Violence; Violence and Conditioning; Non-violent Change; Working Together; Oriental Philosophies; Western Philosophies; The United Nations; The Ethics of War and Peace; The Science of Matter and Energy; The Problems of Disarmament; Economic Conversion; and One World Beyond War.
Youth & conflict: A toolkit for intervention 35-page PDF toolkit which is, "part of a series that explores how development assistance can address key risk factors associated with conflict. One area that is receiving increasing attention is the relationship between young people and violence ... This document: 1) examines key issues related to youth participation in violence; 2) discusses lessons learned in developing programs for at-risk youth; 3) presents a range of program options; 4) includes illustrative monitoring and evaluation tools; and 5) identifies relevant USAID mechanisms and partners. Together, the elements of this toolkit are designed to help raise awareness about the linkages between young people, development aid, and conflict; and to help officers integrate a conflict perspective into their development programming."
Preparing pre-service educators to break up fights -- before they happen Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 4, Number 1, (Oct. 2003), which discusses a project by the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention -- Center for the Prevention of School Violence (DJJDP Center), to prepare future teachers to effectively manage conflict.
Involvement of law enforcement officers in bullying prevention Pdf document examining ways in which law enforcement personnel can be involved in the prevention of bullying.
Nonviolence playlets 25-page MS Word document providing examples of nonviolence in action. "These short playlets are intended to dramatically reconstruct actual experiences in which nonviolent direct action has been used, successfully, to overcome violence." Designed for use with youth of different ages.
Peace education in UNICEF: Working paper 52-page PDF paper "produced to describe Peace Education programmes in UNICEF. Peace education programmes have been developed in a number of UNICEF country offices and National Committees for UNICEF over the past decade. Ideas are continually evolving about how to use the full range of children's educational experiences to promote commitment to principles of peace and social justice. The purpose of this working paper is to stimulate further discussion and networking among UNICEF colleagues, to move towards a clearer articulation of good practice in Peace Education, and to pave the way for further exploration of how best to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of this area of UNICEF activity."
Peaceful Conflict Resolution Guide for Primary and Secondary Schools (Croatia) This training guide for schools consists of three primary modules: 1. damiri/ice - Conflict and Communication 2. spajalice - Peer Mediation 3. kazimiri/ice - Peer Education The guide is the result of the work on the project Peaceful Problem Solving in Schools and Trauma Alleviation, Youth for Youth - Peer Mediation, initiated and supported by UNICEF Office for Croatia in co-operation with Croatian Ministry of Education and Sports. The Project was carried out by NGO "Mali korak" - Centre for Culture of Peace and Non-violence Zagreb. In the school year of 1999/2000 it was implemented in 52 primary schools, most of which were schools of special social care in previous war affected areas. The purpose of this program model was to change attitudes, behaviors and experiences related to conflict and violence: improve coping with problem and conflict situations, develop awareness of prejudice, of one’s own rights as well as the rights of others both in those who participate in the program (students) and those who deliver it (teachers).
Conflict Management Week High School Activity Guide A 30-page guide filled with suggested activities to be used during Conflict Management Week (May 1-7, 2000) in Ohio High Schools.
Youth and Conflict: Best Practices and Lessons Learned Mercy Corps, as an international NGO focused on "saving and improving lives in the world's toughest places" believes youth are a force for positive change -- the generation that can help transition their countries into productive and secure nations. However, youth are the primary participants in conflict today. The reasons they participate in conflict are multi-dimensional - they lack economic opportunities, political voice and a sense of belonging or connection to their communities. Often the only way young people can imagine changing their predicament is through violence. In Mercy Corps programs the focus is on catalyzing youth's desire for change into positive outlets. This 11-page pdf publication is a sample of Youth and Conflict Best Practices and Lessons Learned drawn from Mercy Corps' programs, other agencies, donors, think tanks and researchers. It is divided into six sections: * General Program Design and Implementation. This section includes advice on training, as it is a central part of many of our youth programs. * Economic Engagement * Political Participation * Youth-to-Community Connections * Youth-to-Youth Connections * Addendum: Lessons from Our Colleagues
Marital and partnership communication Powerpoint presentation discussing communication in relationships: including gender differences, nonverbal communication, marital communication, marital conflict and domestic violence.
Human Total: A Violence Prevention Learning Resource Human Total is a 303-page pdf manual created by Human Rights Education Association (HREA), the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP) and the Instituto Mexicano de Investigación Familia y de Población (IMIFAP). Targeted towards young people between the ages of 10 and 14, the manual helps learners understand attitudes that promote violent behavior (often brought about by the misuse of alcohol) by males and cultivates methods to minimise these behaviors' harms and prevent their perpetuation. Human Total contains 32 adaptable lesson plans, including ways to recognise and understand violence in social contexts and techniques for minimising violence through education about human rights and active participation in the community. The manual also features a note for facilitators on how to use it, tools for outreach to parents and guardians, recommendations for additional resources, and eight annexes with supplemental information. The resource was piloted in El Salvador and Kenya. Human Total: A Violence Prevention Learning Resource is currently (July 2013) available in English and will soon be available in Spanish.
Evaluation of a School-Based, Universal Violence Prevention Program: Low, Medium, & High-Risk Research article summarizing a violence intervention initiative. The investigation examined the differential effectiveness of PeaceBuilders, a large-scale, universal violence prevention program, on male and female youth identified as low, medium, or high risk for future violence. It included eight urban schools randomly assigned to intensive intervention and wait-list control conditions. The sample included N = 2,380 predominantly minority children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Results indicated differential effectiveness of the intervention, by level of risk; high-risk children reported more decreases in aggression and more increases in social competence in comparison to children at medium and low levels of risk. Findings add to a growing number of promising science-based prevention efforts that seek to reduce aggression and increase social competence; they provide encouraging evidence that relatively low-cost, schoolwide efforts have the potential to save society millions in victim, adjudication, and incarceration costs.
Children at risk, violence in our home Two diagrams, one outlining the ways in which children may be at risk, such as physical, sexual and emotional abuse, the second diagram shows ways in which at risk children have problems in school, such as acting out, falling asleep, and no respect for authority.