January 2007

General Resources

Introduction

This knowledge path about adolescent violence prevention has been compiled by the Maternal and Child Health 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 recent, 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 such as bullying, firearms, gangs, media violence, school violence, and violent-crime victimization. This knowledge path is aimed at health professionals, policymakers, educators, community activists, and families, and it will be updated periodically.

Please refer to Knowledge path: Domestic violence for resources about dating violence among adolescents and family violence involving adolescents. Also see our knowledge paths about children and adolescents with emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges and Social and Emotional Development in Children and Adolescents.

Hotlines

• National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC). Offers a hotline for information and referrals to service providers for victims of all types of crime. Information is available in more than 180 languages. The hotline phone number is (800) 394-2255 (FYI-CALL) or (800) 211-7996 (TTY).
  
  
• SPEAK UP. Offers a hotline to anonymously report a weapon threat at school. SPEAK UP is a national campaign by PAX. The hotline phone number is (866) 773-2587 (SPEAK-UP).
  

  

Overview

• See Youth violence: Fact sheet, rev. ed. (2006) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This fact sheet describes the problem of adolescent violence in the United States. It outlines the occurrence and consequences of adolescent violence; the groups at risk; and the risk and protective factors in individuals, families, peer groups, schools, and communities. The fact sheet also links to key resources for more information about adolescent violence prevention.
  

  
  

Web Sites: A-Z

• ACT -- Adults and Children Together -- Against Violence. Offers information, training and education materials, and public service announcements for this violence-prevention project that focuses on adults who raise, care for, and teach infants and children from birth though age 8. The program is designed to prevent violence by helping these adults to be positive role models and to learn the skills to teach children nonviolent ways to resolve conflicts, deal with frustration, and handle anger. Some materials are available in Spanish. ACT is supported in part by the American Psychological Association (APA).
  
  
• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). Offers a set of fact sheets for families in English, Spanish, and several other languages on a variety of parenting topics including bullying, firearms, television violence, and violent behavior.
  
  
• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Contains violence prevention resources that include policy statements, patient-education materials, and a bibliographic database on topics such as bullying, firearms, and media violence. AAP has also collaborated on the ASK Campaign (Asking Saves Kids), the Media Matters Campaign, and Health, mental health and safety guidelines for schools (2004).
  
  
• American Medical Association (AMA). Contains violence prevention resources that include physician guidelines, policy statements, reports, program information, and violence-prevention-related links.
  
  
• American Psychological Association (APA). Offers a resource page on violence-related topics that include risks for adolescent violence, prevention strategies, adolescent aggression, and media violence. Publications include

  Preventing violence: Research and evidence-based intervention strategies. (2005). See description and ordering information for this book.

• Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV). Provides publications, databases, and program information to assist with the development and evaluation of effective violence prevention programs. A set of fact sheets focuses on a range of topics including school violence, bullying, gangs, and firearms. CSPV is a research center at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Programs include

  Blueprints for Violence Prevention. Contains 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). Contains information and resources about preventing adolescent violence in schools, homes, and communities. Initiatives include

  Guide to Community Preventive Services: Violence Prevention. Contains recommendations for population-based interventions to reduce or prevent violence by and against children and adolescents.

  National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC). Presents information and resources about adolescent violence that include a fact sheet, data systems, program descriptions, and links to resources and organizations that can be helpful in planning adolescent violence prevention and education programs. Publications and initiatives include

  • Best practices of youth violence prevention: A sourcebook for community action, rev. ed. (2002). Also available in Spanish.
    
    
  • CDCynergy: Violence prevention edition. (2006). This health communication planning tool is designed to help violence prevention program planners conceptualize, plan, and develop health-communication programs about child abuse, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and adolescent violence.
    
    
  • Fatal injuries among children by race and ethnicity -- United States, 1999-2002. (2007).
    
    
  • Measuring violence-related attitudes, behaviors, and influences among youths: A compendium of assessment tools, 2nd ed. (2005).
    
    
  • National Academic Centers of Excellence (ACE) on Youth Violence Prevention. Describes 10 research centers funded to work with community members and many educational, justice, and social work partners to develop action plans, partnerships, and priorities to prevent adolescent violence in a local community.
    
    
  • Preventing youth violence: Program activities guide. (2005).
    
    
  • School associated violent deaths. (2006). [Fact sheet].

  Also see CDC's Healthy Youth! Injury and Violence.

• Children's Safety Network (CSN): National Injury and Violence Prevention Resource Center (NIVPRC). Offers publications, news, and conference information about adolescent violence prevention. CSN provides information, training, and assistance to the maternal and child health (MCH) community to reduce child and adolescent injuries and violence. A recent publication is

  Injuries and violence in rural areas: Facts and resources from CSN. (2006).

• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Offers crime data and crime-prevention resources on topics that include violent crimes involving adolescents. Publications include

  2005 national gang threat assessment. (2005).

  Crime in the United States, 2005. (2006). Includes a table depicting adolescent arrests by age and type of crime.

• Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. Provides reports, policy recommendations, program information, legislative news, and advocacy tools about crime-prevention topics, including adolescent violence prevention. This national anti-crime organization is led by more than 3,000 law-enforcement leaders and victims of violence. Recent publications include

  Detroit's after-school choice: The prime time for juvenile crime or youth enrichment and achievement. (2006).

  From America's front line against crime: A school and youth violence prevention plan, rev. ed. (2006).

• Healthy People 2010. Describes this national health-promotion and disease-prevention initiative created by a broad coalition of experts from many sectors to improve the health of all Americans, eliminate disparities in health, and improve years and quality of healthy life. Healthy People contains 467 objectives in 28 focus areas. Focus area 15 presents the adolescent violence prevention agenda. Healthy People 2010 provides background information on the initiative; the complete text (online and searchable), Healthy People 2010: Understanding and improving health, 2nd ed. (2000); data; a list of the Healthy People partners and related sites; and other publications. It is coordinated by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP). Also see the HP2010 Information Access Project for access to published literature related to the Healthy People 2010 objectives about injury and violence prevention.
  
  
• MedlinePlus: Teen Violence. Contains a list of select, authoritative health-information sources about adolescent violence for families and health professionals. Includes links to overview articles, an automatic search in PubMed, and information about coping, diagnosis, symptoms, prevention, screening, and research. MedlinePlus is a health-information service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM).
  
  
• Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA). Provides an electronic clearinghouse of links to violence-related resources, including published research, funding sources, and individuals and organizations that serve as resources. Bullying, school violence, gangs, and firearms are some of the adolescent violence topics addressed. MINCAVA is located at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work.
  
  
• National Adolescent Health Information Center (NAHIC). Offers fact sheets, policy briefs, reports, and other materials about adolescent health on topics that include violence. NAHIC is based at the University of California, San Francisco. Recent publications include

  A health profile of adolescent and young adult males. (2005). Topics include violence.

  Improving the health of adolescents and young adults: A guide for states and communities. (2004). This guide extracts Healthy People 2010 objectives that are key to the health of adolescents and young adults. These critical health objectives address mortality, unintentional injury, violence, substance use and mental health, reproductive health, and prevention of chronic disease into adulthood.

  Towards meeting the needs of adolescents: An assessment of federally funded adolescent health programs and initiatives within the Department of Health and Human Services. Content areas include violence.

  Tracking adolescent health policy: An annotated list. (2005). Content areas include violence.

  Violence: Adolescents and young adults. (2007).

• National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). Contains grant and program information, statistics, a bibliographic database, and resource lists on juvenile justice topics, including gangs, gun violence, school violence, and juvenile victims of crime. NCJRS is a federally funded resource focusing on criminal and juvenile justice and drug control.
  
  
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): Children and Violence. Contains publications and research summaries about violence and its effects on children and adolescents. NIMH is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Publications include

  State-of-the-Science conference statement: Preventing violence and related health-risking social behaviors in adolescents -- October 13-15, 2004. (2005). Also see the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality report that presents findings from a review and analysis of longitudinal risk factor research about adolescent violence prevention conducted in preparation for this conference.

• National Mental Health Information Center. Contains many publications about adolescent violence prevention. Some are available in Spanish. Also presents information and materials for two school violence prevention programs, the Safe Schools Healthy Students Campaign and the CMHS Enhancing Resilience Initiative, and a parent-child communication campaign called 15+ Make Time to Listen -- Take Time to Talk, which addresses topics such as bullying. The center is a service of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
  
  
• National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health. Offers 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 problems 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. Also presents a set of briefs that describe the work and successes of 29 coalitions for adolescent violence prevention. The center is part of the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development (GUCCHD).
  
  
• National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center. Contains a wealth of information about adolescent violence prevention and intervention programs along with publications, research, and statistics for professionals and families. Includes information about and links to the National Academic Centers of Excellence on Youth Violence Prevention, which were established by CDC to address the injury and violence prevention goals of Healthy People 2010. Also includes databases of adolescent violence prevention materials and organizations, an electronic guide to Spanish-language resources, and links to listservs and electronic newsletters. The center is a collaboration between CDC and several federal partner agencies working on adolescent violence.
  
  
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Offers funding, conference, and program information; statistics; state contact lists; and publications, including an electronic newsletter. Adolescent violence-related topics include gangs, conflict resolution, bullying, and school safety. OJJDP is part of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Recent publications include

  National evaluation of the Title V community prevention grants program. (2006).

• Public/Private Ventures (P/PV). Offers program information about its adolescent violence reduction initiatives. P/PV is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the effectiveness of social policies, programs, and community initiatives, especially as they affect adolescents and young adults. Publications include

  Alive at 25: Reducing youth violence through monitoring and support. (2004).

• RESOURCE Project. Provides a range of tools for faculty from a variety of disciplines to use in enhancing the adolescent-health training of public health students. Resources include a 12-unit adolescent-health curriculum. The violence unit contains a sample syllabus, recommended readings, data sources, suggested assignments, case studies, sample presentations, and links to other resources. The project is a collaborative effort of the Public Policy Analysis and Education Center for Middle Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Health and the Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health.
  

  
  

Additional Electronic Publications 

• Association of State and Territorial Health Officers (ASTHO), State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association (STIPDA). 2006. Making a difference: State injury and violence prevention programs. Atlanta, GA: State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association (STIPDA). This compendium describes the burden of injury and violence and opportunities for prevention. It offers examples of state injury and violence prevention programs from all 50 states.
  
  
• Chan LS, Kipke MD, Schneir A, Iverson E, Warf C, Limbos MA, Shekele P. 2004. Preventing violence and related health-risking social behaviors in adolescents. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment: Number 107. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. A summary of the report is available. The report presents findings from a review and analysis of longitudinal risk factor research conducted in preparation for a National Institutes of Health-sponsored consensus conference. The report summarizes what is currently known about preventing adolescent violence and offers recommendations for future research. The review identified the roles of individual, family, school, community, and peer influences as well as interventional research to evaluate prevention-intervention effectiveness.
  
  
• Cheng TL, Wright JL. 2005. Community-based violence prevention for high risk youth: Comprehensive final report. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University; Washington, DC: Children's National Medical Center. This report describes a project assessing violence prevention interventions provided to adolescent victims of violence in hospital emergency departments (ED) and after discharge.
  
  
• Jellinek M, Patel BP, Froehle MC, eds. 2002. Bright Futures in practice: Mental health. (2 v.). Arlington, VA: National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH). This book contains guidelines on mental health promotion and substance use prevention for infants, children, and adolescents. It is designed to inform primary care pediatric health professionals about the essentials of mental health promotion; to identify the support that infants, children, and adolescents need for good mental health; and to assist in the development and implementation of mental-health-promotion programs and policies. A section is devoted to violence perpetration and exposure to violence in adolescence.
  
  
• Office of the Surgeon General. 2001. Youth violence: A report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This report examines the magnitude, causes, and prevention of adolescent violence from a public health perspective.
  
  
• Turner S, Fain T, MacDonald J, Sehgal A, Imara J, Cotton F, Davies D, Harris A. 2006. Los Angeles County Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act: Fiscal year 2004-2005 report. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. This report to the California State Legislature examines six outcome measures for the Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act program in Los Angeles County. The report will be of interest to researchers, policymakers, and health and social services professionals concerned with the effectiveness of intervention programs for participating adolescents and those involved in the juvenile justice system.
  

  
  

Databases

The databases listed below are excellent tools for identifying data, additional literature and research, and programs about adolescent violence prevention. Many of the entries below contain tips on how to use the databases efficiently. Please note that databases vary in how terms should be entered; for example, some require quotation marks and others don't. Enter search phrases as shown in bold below.

Data

• Child Trends DataBank. Reports on national trends and research on over 80 key indicators of infant, child, and adolescent well-being. Search by age or search alphabetically by topic for data briefs about adolescent violence that include physical fighting; students carrying weapons; adolescent homicide; firearm death; and violent crime victimization. Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and families by providing research and data to inform decision-making that affects families.
  
  
• Data2010: The Healthy People 2010 Database. Contains the most recent monitoring data for tracking Healthy People 2010. To obtain data about adolescent violence prevention, click on the field, Data by Focus Area. Under the field, Select a Focus Area, choose 15 - Injury and Violence Prevention from the pop-up menu. Next, click on the button for Include Related Objectives From Other Focus Areas in the Table. Click on the Submit button. This data set is provided by the National Center for Health Statistics via CDC Wonder.
  
  
• National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC). Offers several systems to capture and present violence-related data:

  Injury Maps. Presents an interactive mapping system to create county-level and state-level maps of age-adjusted, injury-related mortality rates for the United States and for individual states.

  National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). Pools data from state and local health agencies that have gathered detailed information from medical examiners, coroners, police, crime labs, and death certificates to better depict the scope and nature of violence.

  WISQARS (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System). Presents an interactive database system that provides customized reports of injury mortality and nonfatal injury for a wide range of age groups.

• Title V Information System (Title V IS). Contains data from annual Title V Block Grant applications and reports submitted by all 59 U.S. states and jurisdictions. To identify information about adolescent violence prevention, conduct two searches. Select Measurement and Indicator Data and go to the State Data section. First, select State Priority Needs Keyword Search and choose Keyword: Intentional/Unintentional Injuries and Population: Adolescents. Click on Start Search. Next, select State Performance Measures and click on Search by Keyword/Population. Select Keyword: Intentional/Unintentional Injuries and Population: Adolescents. Click on Start Search. Title V IS is a service of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB).
  
  
• Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS): Youth Online. Provides comprehensive results from the YRBSS that can be viewed by location (United States, state/territory, or local) and health topic. Choose Unintentional Injuries and Violence and select a category under Violence to view data about adolescent violence. Categories can be compared online. Youth Online is a service of CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH).
  
  
• Also see the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) and the National Youth Gang Survey (NYGS).
  

Literature and Research Databases

• Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) Databases. Contains information about violence-related research and literature; curricula and videotapes; prevention, intervention, and treatment programs; and survey instruments for program evaluation. CSPV is a research center within the Institute of Behavioral Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
  
  
• HP2010 Information Access Project: Injury and Violence Prevention. Provides an automatic search mechanism for published literature indexed in PubMed related to the Healthy People 2010 injury and violence prevention objectives. Also links to the narrative for each objective and the complete chapter about injury and violence prevention in the text, Healthy People 2010: Understanding and improving health, 2nd ed. (2000). This service is provided by the Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce, a collaboration of federal agencies, public health organizations, and health sciences libraries.
  
  
• Maternal and Child Health Library at the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH), Georgetown University. Maintains several databases to collect, manage, and disseminate knowledge about MCH, with special emphasis on knowledge gained from initiatives and programs supported by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). The library's bibliographic database is

  MCHLine®. Comprises an online catalog of materials in the Maternal and Child Health Library. To identify items on the topic, type adolescen violence in the keyword field of the MCHLine® search form. To narrow your search, add keywords (e.g., school) or a publication year or range of years. Also see the library's bibliography about bullying.

  Also see the MCH Organizations Database and the MCH Projects Database.

• National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Abstracts Database. Contains summaries of more than 185,000 criminal and juvenile justice reports, articles, and audiovisual products from the United States and around the world. These resources include statistics, research findings, program descriptions, congressional hearing transcripts, and training materials. To identify items about adolescent violence, select the topic, juvenile justice, from the sidebar list of topics. Choose subtopics such as bullying, gangs, and violent offenders to narrow your search. NCJRS is a federally sponsored resource offering justice and substance use information to support research, policy, and program development worldwide.
  
  
• National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC). Contains evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related materials for health professionals. Identify guidelines by selecting Detailed Search in the Search box. Enter violence in the Keyword field. Scroll down on the search form to select Age of Target Population: Adolescent. The database is an initiative of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
  
  
• National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center Materials Database. Comprises information about youth violence prevention materials tailored to a variety of audiences. Formats include fact sheets, reports, bulletins, brochures, pamphlets, manuals, and training guides.
  
  
• PAVNET (Partnerships Against Violence Network) Online. Contains a set of databases covering federally funded research, promising programs, curricula and teaching materials, funding opportunities, and links to other resources about the prevention, treatment, and enforcement of violence. PAVNET also administers an online discussion group. PAVNET's content is drawn from seven federal agencies.
  
  
• PubMed. Contains over 17 million citations for biomedical articles that date back to the 1950s. These citations are from MEDLINE and additional life sciences journals. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full-text articles and other related resources. To identify citations on the topic, type violence NOT domestic violence in the search box. Then, click on Limits and make the following selections on the page: select a date (e.g. Published in the last 2 years); click on Languages: English; click on Ages and select Adolescent; and select Tag Terms: MeSH Major Topic. To narrow your search further or for additional searches, use MeSH to identify terms (e.g., (violence NOT domestic violence) AND firearms). PubMed is a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM). Also see the HP2010 Information Access Project for access to published literature related to the Healthy People 2010 objectives about adolescent violence prevention.
  
  
• SafetyLit: Injury Prevention Abstracts Online. Provides abstracts of English-language reports and journal articles from researchers in 35 disciplines relevant to preventing unintentional injuries, violence, and self-harm. To identify literature about adolescent violence, select Archive Search and enter a text word (e.g., guns). Under the section, Limit your search to these categories, click on Deselect All. Then select Age: Adolescents and Violence and Weapons Issues. Click on View Abstracts to get your results. Subscribe to the SafetyLit Update and receive a weekly e-mail notice about new additions to the database. SafetyLit is presented by the San Diego State University, Graduate School of Public Health in collaboration with the World Health Organization.
  
  
• Violence Intervention and Prevention Program (VIPP) Database. Comprises an online catalog of educational materials and assessment tools for health professionals, teachers, and families on a variety of topics related to child and adolescent violence. VIPP is a service of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
  
  
• Also see see the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA), the Center on Media and Child Health (CMCH) Database of Literature, and the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Database.
  

Programs Databases

• MCH Organizations Database. Lists over 2,000 government, professional, and voluntary organizations involved in MCH activities, primarily at a national level. Organizations focusing on adolescent violence prevention appear in a list produced from the database. The database is presented by the Maternal and Child Health Library.
  
  
• MCH Projects Database. Comprises an online catalog of projects funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) through October 1, 2002. To identify projects that focus on the topic, type violence in the abstract field of the database search form. The database is presented by the Maternal and Child Health Library.
  
  
• National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). Presents information about interventions for the prevention and treatment of mental health problems and substance use disorders. Search the database by clicking on Violence prevention under Areas of interest, and Adolescent under Age. Click on Search to get your results. NREPP is a service of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
  
  
• National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center Organizations Database. Comprises information on hundreds of organizations (most of which are federal organizations) related to adolescent violence prevention. Entries list a general description of each organization, and include information about resources, services, and Web sites.
  
  
• USCM Best Practices Database. Contains information about successful practices of city governments across the country. Enter the term youth violence and click on All Words to identify many resources on the topic. Best Practices is a service of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
  
  
• Also see the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) Databases, CDC's Registries of Programs Effective in Reducing Youth Risk Behaviors, the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA), PAVNET, and the Directory of Crime Victim Services.
  

  
  

Electronic Newsletters and Online Discussion Groups

• National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention E-newsletter. This monthly electronic newsletter offers information about conferences, funding, resources, and other news regarding adolescent violence prevention and mental health.
  
  
• OJJDP E-News. This list describes and offers subscription information for three electronic newsletters that focus on juvenile justice issues. This list is published by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
  
  
• PAVNET (Partnerships Against Violence Network) Mailgroup. This online discussion group is for violence prevention professionals to communicate and share resources.
  
  
• Youth Violence Listservs and E-Newsletters. This list describes and links to several electronic newsletters and online discussion groups about adolescent violence prevention for professionals. It is compiled by the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center.
  
  
• Also see GANGINFO and SafetyLit.
  

  
  

Special Topics

Bullying

• 15+ Make Time to Listen… Take Time to Talk. Offers the About Bullying initiative to promote healthy child development and to prevent adolescent and school-based violence. Includes booklets, tip sheets, public service announcements, posters, resource guides, and other resources for parents, caregivers, educators and school personnel, community organizations, health professionals, and children and adolescents about reducing or preventing bullying behavior and improving peer relations at school. 15+ is presented by the National Mental Health Information Center.
  
  
• ABCs of Bullying: Addressing, Blocking, and Curbing School Aggression. Presents an online course that examines the causes and effects of bullying, prevention techniques and programs, screening, treatment options, and the legal and ethical issues surrounding bullying. The information is relevant to educators, health and mental health professionals, parents, and caregivers. The course is presented by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP).
  
  
• Cyberbullying. Offers resources for educators and parents about cyberbullying (i.e., the sending or posting of harmful or cruel text or images using the Internet or other digital communication devices). This Web site is a service of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use (CSRIU). Recent publications include

  Educator's guide to cyberbullying and cyberthreats. (2007).

  Parent's guide to cyberbullying and cyberthreats. (2006).

• Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Offers resources to support school gay-straight alliances, teacher-training tools, and other materials for families, teachers, and school administrators to provide a more in-depth understanding of how to address anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender bias in their schools and to make schools safer for all students. GLSEN is a national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. Recent publications and initiatives include

  From teasing to torment: School climate in America. A survey of students. (2005).

  No Name Calling Week. Offers lesson plans, a bibliography, materials for families, and other resources for this annual week of educational activities aimed at ending name calling of all kinds and providing schools with the tools and inspiration to launch an on going dialogue about ways to eliminate bullying in their communities.

• Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA): Take a Stand. Lend a Hand. Stop Bullying Now! Contains information and materials for this national public health campaign designed to reduce and prevent bullying among children and adolescents. Includes resources for children, adolescents, parents, professionals, and the media. Spanish-language materials are available for parents and educators. The campaign was developed by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in partnership with more than 70 health, safety, education, and faith-based organizations.
  
  
• MedlinePlus: Bullying. Contains a list of select, authoritative health information sources about bullying for families and health professionals. Includes links to overview articles, an automatic search in PubMed, and information about prevention, coping, and research. MedlinePlus is a health-information service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM).
  
  
• Safe Schools Coalition (SSC). Presents fact sheets, guidelines, and other materials for education and health professionals, parents, and students to reduce bias-based bullying and violence in schools and to help schools better meet the needs of sexual minority adolescents and of children and adolescents with sexual minority parents or guardians. SSC is a public/private partnership based in Washington and serving as a resource locally, nationally, and internationally.
  
  
• See the Maternal and Child Health Library's bibliography about bullying.
  
  
• Girl's Best Friend Foundation, Advocates for Youth. 2005. Creating safe space for GLBTQ youth: A toolkit. Washington, DC: Advocates for Youth. This toolkit contains 12 lesson plans, tips and strategies, and other resources aimed at helping professionals who serve adolescents create a climate in their organizations that will make young people of all sexual orientations and gender identities feel safe.
  
  
• Also see ACT -- Adults and Children Together -- Against Violence, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV), Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA), National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), National Center for Education Statistics: Crime and Safety Surveys (CSS), National Mental Health Information Center, National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), and Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Database.
  

  
  

Firearms

• ASK Campaign (Asking Saves Kids). Offers brochures and posters for this campaign to encourage parents to ask their neighbors if the neighbor has a gun in the home before allowing their child to play at the neighbor's house. ASK is a collaborative effort between AAP and PAX.
  
  
• Brady Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. Contains legislative news, program information, and reports for families and education, health, and law-enforcement professionals about the scope of gun violence in the United States and the risks and responsibilities associated with gun ownership. The center is a national, nonpartisan, grassroots organization focusing on gun violence prevention. Initiatives include

  Steps To Prevent Firearm Injury in the Home (STOP 2). This program aims to help health professionals speak with children and their families about the dangers of keeping a gun in the home. Included are a kit of materials for various age groups and populations; family-education brochures and posters; and online games for children, including the most recent game, A day in the neighborhood. Items are available in English and Spanish.

• Doctors Against Handgun Injury (DAHI). Contains position statements, fact sheets, brochures, legislative news, and other resources for health professionals and the public about the causes, treatment, and prevention of handgun injury. DAHI is a coalition of 12 clinical and professional medical societies and is organized and sponsored by the New York Academy of Medicine.
  
  
• Harvard Injury Control Research Center (HICRC). Offers information about research programs, conferences, and seminars on adolescent violence, particularly involving firearms. HICRC is a multidisciplinary unit based at the Harvard School of Public Health. Note the following print publications by HICRC faculty:

  Hemenway D. 2004. Private guns public health. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Description and ordering information.

  Prothrow-Stith D, Spivak H. 2003. Murder is no accident: Understanding and preventing youth violence in America. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley and Sons. Description and ordering information.

  Prothrow-Stith D, Spivak H. 2005. Sugar and spice and no longer nice: Preventing violence among girls. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Description and ordering information.

• Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research. Offers information on gun violence legislation as well as fact sheets, policy briefs, and other resources about gun violence, gun policy, and prevention strategies.
  
  
• National Emergency Medicine Association (NEMA). Offers In a Flash (2002), an adolescent gun violence prevention videotape and activity book for middle school-aged adolescents.
  
  
• PAX Real Solutions to Gun Violence. Contains information and materials for its two national campaigns, ASK (Asking Saves Kids), a collaborative initiative with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and SPEAK UP, both of which address gun violence as a matter of public health and safety. PAX is a nonprofit organization working with all Americans to help bring an end to gun violence against children and families. PAX also helps to coordinate National Safe Schools Week to create awareness about school safety issues, including gun violence.
  
  
• Kellermann AL, Fuqua-Whitley D, Parramore CS. 2006. Reducing gun violence: Community problem solving in Atlanta. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Justice. This report describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of Atlanta's Project PACT (Pulling America's Communities Together), a program to reduce adolescent gun violence. See the list of other reports in the Reducing Gun Violence series.
  
  
• Also see American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA), National Center for Education Statistics: Crime and Safety Surveys (CSS), National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, Child Trends DataBank, Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Database, and SafetyLit: Injury Prevention Abstracts Online.
  

  
  

Gangs

• National Youth Gang Center (NYGC). Contains information and resources about gang-related legislation, literature, research, and promising program strategies. Offers findings and analysis from the National Youth Gang Survey (NYGS), an annual 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. NYGC is a project of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Recent resources include

  Impact of gangs on communities. (2006).

  GANGINFO. This electronic forum is for professionals working with adolescent gangs. Participants can exchange information about effective strategies for identifying and countering gang crime; prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies; working with victims of gang crime; and promoting professional education and research.

• Also see Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA), National Center for Education Statistics: Crime and Safety Surveys (CSS), National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
  

  
  

Media Violence

• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Media Matters Campaign. Contains information and program materials about this effort to help pediatricians, parents, and children become more aware of the influence that media has on child and adolescent health. Issues of concern include the use of aggression and violence in the media.
  
  
• Center for Media Literacy (CML). Includes articles and educational materials about violence in the media. CML is a nonprofit membership organization supporting media-literacy education for families and schools nationwide.
  
  
• Center on Media and Child Health (CMCH): Database of Literature. Comprises an 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.
  
  
• Kaiser Family Foundation: Children, Health, and the Media Report and Fact Sheet Series. Presents a series of reports and fact sheets on topics related to children, media, and health that pull together the most relevant research on issues such as television violence, adolescents online, media ratings, and children and video games. A recent report is

  The effects of electronic media on children ages zero to six: A history of research. (2005).

• National Institute on Media and the Family. Offers resources for parents and educators about the impact of the media on children and families. Includes KidScore®, a content-based rating system that evaluates television, movies, videotapes, and DVDs, and computer games from a family-friendly perspective, including ratings for the amount and portrayal of violence. The institute is a nonprofit organization founded by David Walsh, Ph.D., a psychologist, educator, family therapist, and author concerned about the impact of media on children.
  
  
• Also see American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and American Psychological Association (APA).
  

  
  

School Violence

• Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV): Safe Communities~Safe Schools (SCSS). Offers a planning guide, fact sheets, and other materials to assist schools with the development, implementation, and assessment of an individualized safe school plan. The goal of this model is to create and maintain a positive and welcoming school climate, free of drugs, violence, intimidation, and fear.
  
  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Healthy Youth! Injury and Violence. Offers fact sheets, information about school health policies and programs, and guidelines for developing school health programs to prevent violence. Also presents the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), which is designed to assess health-risk behaviors among young people, including behaviors that may result in violence. Initiatives include

  Registries of Programs Effective in Reducing Youth Risk Behaviors. Presents a list of programs deemed effective by various federal agencies in reducing adolescent risk behaviors, including violence.

  School Health Index (SHI). Presents a self-assessment and planning guide that enables schools to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their school-health-promotion policies and programs; develop an action plan for improving student health; and, involve teachers, parents, students, and the community in improving school policies, programs, and services. Violence prevention is one of the health topics covered.

  Also see CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC).

• Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Database. Covers all aspects of education-related issues through journal articles, research reports, teaching guides, curricula, conference papers, and books. To identify resources on the topic, type adolescents AND violence in the Search Term(s) box. Click on the Search button. Click on Search Within Results to narrow your search. You may also search on related keywords, such as Bullying or Weapons. Use the ERIC Thesaurus to identify terms. ERIC is sponsored by the Department of Education.
  
  
• National Association of School Nurses (NASN): School Violence Prevention and Management. Offers position statements, guidelines, training information, and links to additional resources about school violence prevention and management. NASN collaborated with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and 30 other organizations in the development of the Health, mental health and safety guidelines for schools (2004).
  
  
• National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). Offers position statements, research reviews, and other resources for school personnel and parents about predicting and preventing school violence, bullying, conflict resolution, crisis response, and violence toward gay and lesbian adolescents. Some materials are available in Spanish.
  
  
• National Center for Education Statistics: Crime and Safety Surveys (CSS). Presents school crime and safety data and reports on topics that include victimization, gangs, bullying, and weapons. NCES is part of the U.S. Department of Education. Two recent reports are

  Indicators of school crime and safety. (2005).

  Student reports of bullying: Results from the 2001 school crime supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey. (2005).

• National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention. Includes program, funding, and conference information; research briefs; evidence-based intervention fact sheets, an electronic newsletter; and other resources. The center provides technical assistance and training to 118 school districts and communities that receive grants from the SAMHSA. These programs and their grantees seek to increase the capacity of schools and communities to meet the mental health needs of students and their families; create and expand coalitions to prevent adolescent violence, suicide, substance use and other mental health and behavioral problems; and prevent violence in schools.
  
  
• National Parent Teacher Association (PTA): Safety. Provides articles and other resources for parents on school safety topics that include bullying, gangs, security, and violence prevention. The National PTA is an association of parents, teachers, school administrators, students, and other child advocates that work to improve the welfare of children and adolescents.
  
  
• Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). Offers a collection of school safety and youth violence prevention publications on topics that include bullying, gangs, school crime prevention, and community policing services in schools. COPS is a component of the Department of Justice. Publications include

  Gun violence among serious young offenders. (2004).

• Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS). Contains program information and news and reports about reducing violence and drug, alcohol, and tobacco use through education and prevention activities in our nation's schools. OSDFS is part of the Department of Education (ED).
  
  
• School Mental Health Project (SMHP). Contains a wealth of resources for mental health professionals, educators, and parents about safe schools and violence prevention, including model program descriptions, resource packets, fact sheets, and policy reports. SMHP is part of the University of California, Los Angeles.
  
  
• Jaycox L, Morse L, Tanielian T, Stein B. 2006. How schools can help students recover from traumatic experiences: A tool-kit for supporting long-term recovery. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. This toolkit shows how to provide school-based mental health programs for students exposed to violence, natural disasters, and other traumatic events.
  
  
• RAND Center for Domestic and International Health Security. 2005. Helping children cope with violence: A school-based program that works. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. This research brief describes the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) program, an evidence-based intervention for students traumatized by exposure to community violence.
  
  
• Taras H, Duncan P, Luckenbill D, Robinson J, Wheeler L, Wooley S, eds. 2004. Health, mental health and safety guidelines for schools. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; Castle Rock, CO: National Association of School Nurses. This online compendium is designed to help community and school leaders determine the breadth of school health, mental health, and safety issues and set priorities for future action. The compendium was developed by health, education, and safety professionals from more than 30 different national organizations; parents; and other collaborators with support from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). The compendium draws upon published guidelines on specific components of school health and safety programs and on overall coordination of these programs. Violence-related topics are addressed.
  
  
• White House, Office of the Press Secretary. 2006. School safety resources for parents, schools, law enforcement officials, and communities. Washington, DC: The White House. To further the goals of the October 2006 Conference on School Safety, this resource guide for parents, schools, law-enforcement officials, and communities lists resources to help schools and communities prepare for and prevent school violence and cope with and respond to instances of violence. The list also includes statistics and research on school safety.
  
  
• Also see SAMHSA Model Programs; Fight Crime: Invest in Kids; Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA); National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS); National Mental Health Information Center; National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center; and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Also see the Bullying section.
  

  
  

Violent Crime Victims

• Directory of Crime Victim Services. Comprises an online database to help health and social services professionals and individuals locate non-emergency crime victim services in the United States and internationally. Search by location, type of victimization, service needed, and agency type. The directory is a service of the Office for Victims of Crime as part of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS).
  
  
• National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC). Includes program information and resources such as statistics, reports, bibliographies, and outreach materials for crime victims, their families, and those who help crime victims cope. Topics include gangs, school violence, dating violence, and parallel justice for victims of crime. NCVC serves victims of all types of crime with resources and a toll-free hotline.   NCVC also provides public-policy advocacy, training, and technical assistance to victim service organizations, counselors, attorneys, criminal justice agencies, and service providers.
  
  
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). Provides resources for families, professionals, schools, and the media about child and adolescent traumatic stress, effective interventions, data, and terrorism and disaster preparedness to lessen traumatic effects. Some materials are available in Spanish. NCTSN aims to raise the standard of care and improve access to services for traumatized children and adolescents, their families, and communities throughout the United States. NCTSN is funded by the Center for Mental Health Services and jointly coordinated by the University of California, Los Angeles and Duke University.
  
  
• See the Maternal and Child Health Library's resource guide, Reaching out to children and youth following disasters.
  
  
• Also see American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), National Mental Health Information Center, Child Trends DataBank, and two publications by RAND, (1) Helping children cope with violence: A school-based program that works and (2) How schools can help students recover from traumatic experiences: A tool-kit for supporting long-term recovery. Also see the Bullying section.
  

  
  

Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., Maternal and Child Health Library.
Reviewers: Elise DeVore Berlan, M.D., F.A.A.P., Childrens Hospital Boston; Marie C. D'Amico, M.P.H., Educational Services, Inc.; Olivia K. Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., Maternal and Child Health Library.