PREVENTING VIOLENCE - Promising Futures

1 – The socio-ecological model, originally created by Urie Bronfenbrenner in the late 1970s to better understand how individuals are affected by a complex range of social influences (University of Minnesota). This model was adapted for the field of violence prevention and is used often by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Socio Ecological Model).

3 – The Prevention Institute’s Spectrum of Prevention, including: Influencing Policy and Legislation; Changing Organizational Practices; Fostering Coalitions and Networks; Educating Providers; Promoting Community Education; and Strengthening Individual Knowledge and Skills (Prevention Institute, Spectrum of Prevention).

Immediate responses after violence has occurred to deal with short-term consequences and prevent future perpetration or victimization (PreventIPV). An example of secondary prevention is Men Stopping Violence’s Tactics and Choices, a one-time class offered to people who cause harm soon after their arrest. The class examines men’s use of abusive and intimidating tactics against women, and tactics used to enforce and maintain power and control.

Another example of a clinical secondary prevention program for children and families is Honoring Children – Making Relatives (HC-MR). HC-MR embeds the practices of Parent-Child Intervention Therapy (PCIT) into a framework that supports American Indian and Alaska Native traditional beliefs and parenting practices that regard children as being the center of the Circle. HC-MR is a treatment model for parents who have difficulty with appropriate parenting skills and for their children who have behavioral issues. It is a 12-16 session curriculum that curriculum addresses implementation and dissemination challenges in rural, isolated and reservation settings. It can be implemented as an immediate response to violence.

In addition to domestic violence, survivors from communities that have experienced systemic violence like colonization, racism and ableism might experience intergenerational trauma. One means to begin addressing intergenerational trauma is through community-led and culturally specific healing practices and programs for Indigenous survivors, Black survivors, survivors with disabilities, and survivors from other oppressed communities.

In the 2022 Healing Indigenous Lives Native Youth Town Halls held by UNITY, Inc.  and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Native youth expressed the importance of belonging and connectedness; elders; being on their ancestral homeland or reservation; talking circles, ceremonies, pow wows, or youth councils to feel a sense of safety in their community (UNITY, Inc). These town halls confirm the need for multi-faceted prevention efforts that not only span across the social ecology and spectrum of prevention, but also promote community, cultural, and spiritual connectedness. These are elements that are not often considered nor fit into simple categories that are commonly seen as primary, secondary, and tertiary violence prevention. This speaks to the need to expand our understanding of violence prevention beyond conventional models and frameworks and the importance of listening to the needs of communities when designing prevention programs.