Evaluation of Violence Prevention Programs in Middle Schools

Adolescents are at high risk for violent crime. Because crimes against adolescents are likely to be committed by offenders of the same age (as well as same sex and race), preventing violence among and against adolescents is a twofold challenge. Adolescents are at risk of being both victims and perpetrators of violence. Evaluation of Violence Prevention Programs in Middle Schools discusses a 16-month evaluation sponsored by the National Institute of Justice that compared the separate and combined impact of the following two New York City middle school violence prevention programs from February 1993 to June 1994. The study showed that students at high risk for personal experiences with and exposure to severe forms of conflict sought participation in these programs. One program led students to use reasoning more frequently to resolve conflicts, and the other program changed their beliefs in the necessity of violent retaliation.