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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
Peace and Nonviolence Curriculum Grades 1-6 This curriculum focused on nonviolence in daily life provides profiles of 12 peacemakers and provides suggested activities and a bibliography with suggested readings. The peacemaker profiles include Franz Jagerstatter, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Anwar Sadat, Eleanor Roosevelt, Dag Hammarskjold, Thomas Woodrow Wilson, Albert Einstein, Albert Schweitzer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Will Rogers.
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."
How to intervene to stop bullying: tips for on-the-spot intervention at school Pdf document with instruction on dealing with bullying at school, how to intervene and follow-up procedures.
VOV activities: Taking responsibility for the violence in your environment, grades 7-12 1-page PDF activity sheet for 7-12 graders to "reinforce the idea that one person can make a difference in challenging the root causes for violence."
Cultivating Peace - Taking Action This 66-page pdf is a curriculum packet developed for use in Canadian classrooms. "This resource encourages students to examine their own beliefs regarding the need for change in our world and their personal responsibility in taking action. The preconditions necessary for a culture of peace are explored through the examination of global issues in sustainable development, economic disparity, fair trade, human rights and consumerism. Students are given opportunities to explore the range of actions possible, the ways in which change occurs, the barriers to participation and the factors that support youth involvement. The resource includes a teacher's guide, a video, a poster series and a student guide to taking action. It is designed for use in grades 10-12."
School-based violence prevention programs: A resource manual 199-page pdf manual which "provides practical research- and expert-based information on school-based programs to prevent interpersonal violence. We review 79 prevention programs. Each has research evidence, addresses unique "at-risk" populations, such as children with disabilities, or uses innovative approaches to engaging youth."
Creating schoolwide prevention and intervention strategies: Effective strategies... 55-page PDF document which is "intended to put the issue of schoolwide violence prevention in context for educators and outline an approach for choosing and creating effective prevention programs. The guide covers the following topics: 1. Why schoolwide prevention strategies are critical, 2. Characteristics of a safe school, 3. Four sources of vulnerability to school violence, 4. How to plan for strategies that meet school safety needs, 5. Five effective response strategies and 6. Useful Web and print resources."
STOP: On-the-spot bullying intervention Word document presenting actions and statements for on-the-spot intervention of bullying behavior.
Peer mediation programs: An end to school violence? On-line journal article which "focuses on the ineffectiveness of PMPs [Peer Mediation Programs] to combat higher-levels of school violence, part I discusses school violence, both past and present, part II explores the shift from traditional methods of discipline to more proactive and education-based methods that are used in many schools today, part III addresses the fundamentals of peer mediation including what it is and how it is implemented, part IV examines which students PMPs should be targeting and why PMPs fail to prevent them from committing violent acts on their schools, finally, the conclusion recommends ways to reduce conflict in schools."
Preventing, Assessing and Intervening in Teen Dating Abuse This training guide and related slides and handouts aims to provide school Specialized Instructional Support Personnel with information and skills to identify, assess, effectively intervene in, and prevent teenage dating abuse; as such, it is appropriate for upper middle school and high school communities (and some lower middle school communities). The full training kit with powerpoint and handouts is available at http://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov
Let's Resolve Conflicts Together: Elementary School Classroom Activities A 30-page guide filled with suggested activities designed to be used during Conflict Management Week (May 1-7, 2000) in Ohio Elementary Schools. This activity booklet/guide first offers ideas for how schools can engage in school-wide activities. The guide then describes a process for improving the overall climate of the school through the use of the classroom meetings. Six steps to conflict resolution are offered in the guide, as well as activities for helping students become aware of underlying causes of conflict. According to the guide, in addition to learning steps of a conflict management process, teachers may also work with students to enhance the communication skills used in conflict management; these include understanding blocks to communication, being aware of nonverbal communication, using "I" statements, and using active listening skills. The guide is divided into four broad sections: School-Wide Activities; Learning about Conflict; Communication Activities; and Conflict Management across the Curriculum.
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.
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
Cyber bullying Word document examining bullying in cyberspace, with advice to parents and young people from Aman Batheja.
CRE vs. violence prevention This document compares Conflict Resolution Education with related violence prevention work.
Doing anti-rape work: One man's perspective Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 6, Number 1, (Nov 2005), which discusses the author's "anti-rape prevention work with men [which] means trying to reduce the likelihood that the men who attend a workshop will behave in ways that are assaultive."
Something is Wrong - Exploring the Roots of Youth Violence A 382-page pdf curriculum guide addressing violence in the lives of youth. From the introduction:" The Chicago Freedom School, Project NIA and Teachers for Social Justice have partnered along with other volunteers to develop a curriculum guide in order to contribute to the ongoing efforts by young people and their adult allies to analyze the root causes of youth violence and to create local solutions"The authors "wanted to create a curriculum that would provide a holistic view of violence in the lives of young people across a number of arenas. Through this curriculum, we want to challenge youth to think about a) the roots of violence in their lives; b) the enforcers and victims of violence; c) the effects of violence on both victims and perpetrators; and d) how violence can ultimately be minimized through systemic changes."
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."
International network on school bullying and violence: March 2007 overview Powerpoint presentation overview of the work of the International Network on School Bullying and Violence whose aim is to, "stimulate and support more effective measures against school bullying and violence."
Exploring the nature and prevention of bullying: Significant identifying characteristics for victims Word document that lists 21 characteristics of victims of bullying.