Murder is No Accident: Understanding and Preventing Youth Violence in America

Authors Deborah Prothrow-Stith and Howard R. Spivak– two prominent Boston-area public health officials who played leading roles in that city’s turnaround– show that the key to Boston’s success was creating an interdisciplinary citywide movement. The city’s movement– made up of educators, community leaders, police officers, emergency room workers, activist teens, teen and family member survivors of violence, and many others– worked for more than ten years to implement multifaceted preventive programs that confronted each risk factor for youth violence, including Positive Role Models: Peer mentoring and teacher-training programs Healthy and Safe Communities: Youth centers, after-school programs, and other organized recreational activities Poverty: Economic stimulus policies to help reduce poverty in inner-city and rural areas Pro-Social Behaviors: Conflict resolution and violence prevention curricula in schools Domestic Violence: Home visitation programs and screening to protect kids from domestic violence Gun Buybacks: Reduction in the number of firearms on the streets