Introduction

This knowledge path about adolescent violence prevention has been compiled by the MCH Library at Georgetown University. The volume of materials on this topic is vast and covers many disciplines, including public health, medicine, criminal justice, education, and social services. This path offers a selection of current, high-quality resources from these disciplines that measure, document, and monitor the problem; identify risk and protective factors; and report on promising intervention strategies. Separate sections identify resources on specific aspects of adolescent violence: bullying, dating violence, family violence, firearms, gangs, media violence, school violence, suicide, and violent-crime victimization. This knowledge path is aimed at health and social services professionals, educators, policymakers, community activists, and families, and it will be updated periodically.

Overview

See Understanding Youth Violence (2009) by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This fact sheet describes the problem of adolescent violence in the United States and outlines its occurrence and consequences, the groups at risk, and prevention strategies. Also see Youth Violence: Facts at a Glance (2009), which presents data about youth violence and violence-related behaviors, health disparities among victims of violence, non-fatal injuries due to violence, school violence, bullying, and juvenile arrests.

General Resources for Professionals

Websites

• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Violence Prevention. Policy statements and patient-education materials on topics such as bullying and firearms. Resources and initiatives include
  
  Connected Kids: Safe, Strong, Secure. Information about this program to integrate violence prevention efforts in pediatric practices and the community. Includes a clinical guide and brochures for parents, children, and adolescents on topics such as bullying, discipline, interpersonal skills, and television violence.
  
  Also see the ASK Campaign (Asking Saves Kids).
  
  
• Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV). Program information, publications, and databases to assist with the development and evaluation of effective violence prevention programs. Topics include school violence, bullying, gangs, and firearms. CSPV is a research center at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Resources and initiatives include
  
  Blueprints for Violence Prevention. Information and materials about model programs that have been effective in reducing adolescent violent crime, aggression, delinquency, and substance use.
  
  Also see Safe Communities~Safe Schools (SCSS).
  
  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Information and resources about preventing adolescent violence in schools, homes, and communities. Resources and initiatives include
  
  Guide to Community Preventive Services: Violence Prevention Focused on Children and Youth. Recommendations for population-based interventions to reduce or prevent violence by and against children and adolescents. Addresses early childhood home visitation, firearm laws, reducing psychological harm from traumatic events, school-based violence prevention programs, therapeutic foster care, and youth transfer to adult criminal courts.
  
  Mortality Among Teenagers Aged 12–19 Years: United States, 1999–2006. (2010). This data brief indicates that almost 75 percent of all adolescent deaths are attributable to unintentional and violence-related injuries and are considered preventable.
  
  National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC): Youth Violence. Program information, data, assessment tools, definitions, and resources that describe risk and protective factors, consequences, prevention strategies, and the translation of research into practice. Resources and initiatives include
  
  
  • Evaluation for Improvement: A Seven-Step Empowerment Evaluation Approach for Violence Prevention Organizations. (2010). [Manual].
    
    
  • National Academic Centers of Excellence (ACE) on Youth Violence Prevention. Information about 10 university-based research centers that are collaborating with local communities and community-based organizations to develop, implement, and evaluate promising adolescent violence prevention efforts.
    
    
  STRYVE: Striving to Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere. Tools to plan, implement, and evaluate sustainable adolescent-violence-prevention strategies that are based upon the best available evidence. Includes online training modules, data, research documents, educational materials, policies, program information, practice guidelines, and news.
  
  Also see CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), school violence resources, and the Prevention Research Centers (PRC).
  
  
• Children's Safety Network (CSN): Youth Violence Prevention. Publications, presentations, and links to additional resources about adolescent violence prevention, including bullying and school violence prevention. CSN provides information, training, and assistance to the maternal and child health (MCH) community to reduce child and adolescent injuries and violence.
  
  
• Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. Program information, legislative news, and publications about crime-prevention topics, including early education and care, child abuse and neglect prevention, after-school programs, and programs that help troubled adolescents get back on track. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a national anti-crime organization of law-enforcement leaders and violence survivors.
  
  
• FindYouthInfo.gov. Program and funding information and resources to help youth-serving organizations and community partnerships plan, implement, and participate in effective programs for youth. FindYouthInfo.gov was created by the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, which is composed of representatives from 12 federal agencies that support programs and services focusing on youth. See the FindYouthInfo.gov directory of evidence-based programs.
  
  
• Girls Study Group. Research bulletins, presentations, and background materials about female juvenile delinquency and violence. The Girls Study Group is funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
  
  
• Healthy People 2020. Information about this national health-promotion and disease-prevention initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services. View the overview, objectives, and recommended interventions and resources for adolescent health, including adolescent violence prevention.
  
  
• Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA): Youth Violence. Electronic clearinghouse of links to published research, curricula and other educational material, and organizations. Bullying, school violence, gangs, and media violence are some of the topics addressed. MINCAVA is located at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work.
  
  
• National Adolescent and Young Adult Health Information Center (NAHIC). Fact sheets, policy briefs, reports, and other materials about adolescent health on topics that include positive youth development and violence. NAHIC is based at the University of California, San Francisco.
  
  
• National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health. Program and conference information and other resources about reforming services and building systems of care for children and adolescents who have, or are at risk for, mental health challenges and their families. Offers a matrix of over 50 programs across the country that focus on Asian American/Pacific Islander adolescent development and violence prevention. Presents a set of briefs that describe the work and successes of 29 coalitions for adolescent violence prevention. Also offers a monthly webinar series that covers important and emerging trends in mental health. The center is part of the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development (GUCCHD).
  
  
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Program, conference, and funding information; statistics; state contact lists; and publications, including electronic newsletters. Topics include girls' delinquency and gang violence prevention. OJJDP is part of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Resources include
  
  Socioeconomic Mapping and Resource Topography (SMART) System. A free, web-based geographic information system that communities can use to upload local maps of crime locations and connect them to maps of local intervention programs and community resources. See Get SMART—Mapping Resources for Crime and Delinquency Prevention (2010) for an overview of SMART.
  
  Statistical Briefing Book (SBB). Statistics about juvenile crime and victimization and about youth involved in the juvenile justice system.
  
  Also see the National Gang Center (NGC).
  
  
• Prevention Institute. Program information, policy research and analysis, publications, presentations, and other materials about violence prevention. The Prevention Institute is a national, non-profit organization that promotes policies, organizational practices, and collaborative efforts to improve health and quality of life. Initiatives include
  
  Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth (UNITY) Through Violence Prevention. Background information, program materials, assessment and planning tools, and a webinar training series about this program to strengthen and support cities' violence prevention efforts. UNITY is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  
  
• Youth Alive! Program information and program replication materials for initiatives to prevent adolescent violence and develop adolescent leadership in California communities. Youth ALIVE! provides training to adolescents to build their leadership skills and support them in advocating for solutions to violence for themselves and their communities.

Additional Electronic Publications

• Fox HB, McManus MA, Arnold KN. 2010. Significant Multiple Risk Behaviors Among U.S. High School Students. Washington, DC: National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health. [Fact sheet].
  
  
• Greenwood P. 2010. Preventing and Reducing Youth Crime and Violence: Using Evidence-Based Practices. Sacramento, CA: Governor's Office of Gang and Youth Violence Policy. [Paper].
  
  
• Kaba M, Mathew JC, Haines N, eds. 2010. Something Is Wrong: Exploring the Roots of Youth Violence. Chicago, IL: Project NIA, Chicago Freedom School, and Teachers for Social Justice. [Curriculum].
  
  
• MacDonald J, Bluthenthal RN, Golinelli D, Kofner A, Stokes RJ, Sehgal A, Fain T, Beletsky L. 2009. Neighborhood Effects on Crime and Youth Violence: The Role of Business Improvement Districts in Los Angeles. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. [Report].
  
  
• Office of Applied Studies (OAS). 2009. Violent Behaviors Among Adolescent Females. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). [Report].
  
  
• Office of the Surgeon General. 2001. Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). [Report].
  
  
• RAND Corporation, PolicyLink, Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice, Drexel University Department of Emergency Medicine. 2010. Healthy Communities Matter: The Importance of Place to the Health of Boys of Color. Los Angeles, CA: California Endowment. [Report]. Topics include community violence.
  
  
• Schwarz SW. 2009. Adolescent Violence and Unintentional Injury in the United States: Facts for Policymakers. New York, NY: National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP). [Fact sheet].
  
  
• Stewart EA, Simons RL. 2009. The Code of the Street and African-American Adolescent Violence. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice (NIJ). [Report].
  

Databases

See the following set of MCH Library resource briefs to identify additional data and statistics, literature and research, and programs about adolescent violence prevention.

• Maternal and Child Health Data and Statistics
• Maternal and Child Health Literature and Research Databases
• Maternal and Child Health Programs Databases
  

News and Commentary

• National Criminal Justice Reference Service: JUSTINFO. This biweekly electronic newsletter announces new federally sponsored publications, events, and funding and training opportunities about criminal justice, juvenile justice, and substance abuse.
  
  
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
  
  JUVJUST. This service sends announcements about juvenile justice and other youth service-related publications, funding opportunities, and events.
  
  OJJDP News @ a Glance. This bimonthly electronic newsletter highlights OJJDP activities, publications, funding opportunities, and upcoming events.
  
  
• SafetyLit Update Bulletin. This weekly newletter lists new additions to SafetyLit: Injury Prevention Literature Update and Archive Database, which contains abstracts of reports and journal articles about injury prevention and safety promotion.
  
  
• Also see GANGINFO, the HELP for Victim Service Providers Web Forum, and the Safe Start Center e-Newsletter.
  

Resources for Families

• See the MCH Library family resource brief Teen Violence Prevention.
  

Resources for Schools

• See the MCH Library school resource brief, School Violence Prevention
  

Resources on Specific Aspects of Adolescent Violence

• Firearms
• Gangs
• Media Violence

Firearms

• Center to Prevent Youth Violence (CPYV). Information and materials for its national initiatives:
  
  ASK Campaign (Asking Saves Kids) encourages parents to ask if there are guns in the homes where their children play. ASK is a collaborative effort with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
  
  National Safe Schools Week aims to empower students to keep their schools safe by encouraging them to speak up against school violence, including gun violence.
  
  SPEAK UP. Hotline and awareness campaign that makes it safe and easy for students to anonymously report threats of violence, while working to turn around negative social norms that prevent young people from "speaking up." Telephone: (866) 773-2587 (SPEAK UP).
  
  
• Harvard Injury Control Research Center (HICRC). Information about research programs, conferences, and seminars on adolescent violence, particularly involving firearms. Resources and initiatives include
  
  Firearms Research Digest. Citations for journal articles from the social science, criminology, legal, medical, and public health literature concerning firearms.
  
  Gun Violence: A Public Health Crisis. (2013). [Webcast].
  
  Means Matter: Suicide, Guns, and Public Health. Program information, education materials, and research about the relationship between firearms at home and increased risk of suicide.
  
  
• Also see the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV).
  

Gangs

• National Gang Center (NGC). Research and program information and tools to assist in developing and implementing effective community-based gang prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies. Includes training information, gang-related state legislation and municipal codes, and an updated list of newspaper articles on nationwide gang activity. NGC is supported by the Department of Justice. Resources include
  
  GANGINFO. This electronic forum is for professionals working with adolescent gangs.
  
  National Youth Gang Survey Analysis. Analysis and findings from the ongoing survey of law-enforcement agencies to assess the extent of adolescent gang problems by measuring the presence, characteristics, and behaviors of local gangs in jurisdictions throughout the United States.
  
  
• National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education, and Families. 2010. Preventing Gang Violence and Building Communities Where Young People Thrive. Washington, DC: National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education, and Families. [Toolkit].
  
  
• See the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) fact sheets, Trauma in the Lives of Gang-Involved Youth: Tips for Volunteers and Community Organizations (2009) and Your Child and Gangs: What You Need to Know About Trauma. Tips for Parents (2009).
  
  
• Also see the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV), Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA), and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
  

Media Violence

• Center for Media Literacy (CML). Articles and educational materials about media violence. CML is a nonprofit membership organization supporting media-literacy education for families and schools nationwide.
  
  
• Center on Media and Child Health (CMCH). Online catalog of research articles examining the relationship between media exposure and health-risk behaviors, including violence. CMCH is a joint project of Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health.
  
  
• Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Brookings Institution. 2008. Children and Electronic Media. Princeton, NJ: Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs; Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. (The Future of Children; v. 18, no. 1; Spring 2008). Media violence is addressed. An executive summary, policy brief, and article summaries accompany the publication.
  
  
• Also see the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA).
  

Related MCH Library Resources

• Bullying resource brief
• Child Maltreatment resource brief
• Children and Adolescents Exposed to Violence resource brief
• Community Services Locator: An Online Directory for Finding Community Services for Children and Families knowledge path
• Dating Violence Among Adolescents resource brief
• Emotional, Behavioral, and Mental Health Challenges in Children and Adolescents knowledge path, family resource brief, school resource brief
• Intimate Partner Violence knowledge path, family resource brief
• Reaching Out to Children and Youth Following Disasters resource brief
• Social and Emotional Development in Children and Adolescents knowledge path, family resource brief, school resource brief
• Suicide Prevention resource brief
  

Adolescent Violence Prevention: Knowledge Path, 6th ed. (September 2010). (Updated: April 2013).
Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., MCH Library.
Reviewers: Olivia K. Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Library; Lissa Pressfield, M.H.S., Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs.
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A., MCH Library.