The multisite violence prevention project: background and overview

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project, a 5-year project to compare the effects of a universal intervention (all students and teachers) and a targeted intervention (family program for high-risk children) on reducing aggression and violence among sixth graders. First, the paper describes the role of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in developing the project. Second, it details the background of researchers at the four participating universities (Duke University, The University of Georgia, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Virginia Commonwealth University) and examines the characteristics of the selected schools (n=37). Finally, the paper summarizes the theoretical perspectives guiding the work, the development of interventions based on promising strategies, the decision to intervene at the school level, the research questions guiding the project, the research design, and the measurement process for evaluating the results of the program.

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Figure 1

The ecologic model showing multiple factors that interact.