Preventing Youth Violence
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This session of Grand Rounds explored the societal burden of youth violence, and the evidence-based approaches and partnerships that are necessary to prevent youth violence and its consequences. Homicide, the third leading cause of death among young people 10 to 24, is responsible for more deaths in this group than the next six leading causes of death combined. Each day, there are 13 homicides in this age group and an additional 1,700 youth treated in U.S. emergency departments for assault-related injuries, resulting in an estimated $17.5 billion in total costs per year. While many prevention programs have been found to significantly reduce youth violence, the available evidence-based approaches are often not used in communities because of real and perceived challenges to implementation. Some communities and public health departments have successfully built the capacity to take advantage of what we know works and are seeing substantial declines in youth violence.
Dr. John Iskander and Dr. Howard Spivak discuss youth violence prevention strategies. Effective prevention should involve a combination of strategies that focus on several levels of influence:
- Individual – wraparound services and mentorship
- Parents – modeling proper conflict resolution
- Community – development of green space and volunteerism activities
- Policy – economic development and economic empowerment zones
- Howard Spivak, MD
- Director, Division of Violence Prevention
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC
- Deborah Gorman-Smith, Phd
- Professor, School of Social Service Administration
University of Chicago
- Sheila Savannah, MA
- Division Manager, Community Health Development and Program Improvement (CHDPI) Unit
Houston Department of Health and Human Services
- Robert L. Listenbee, Jr., JD
- Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
U.S. Department of Justice
- John Iskander, MD, MPH
- Scientific Director
- Susan Laird, MSN, RN
- Communications Director
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