Eva M. Kung

Development and evaluation of school-based violence prevention programs

Discusses key issues in developing and evaluating school-based violence prevention interventions. Schools provide a natural setting for implementing programs directed at teaching youth attitudes, knowledge, and skills to reduce their involvement in violence. Although multitudes of these programs exist, few have been rigorously evaluated. Developers of violence prevention programs need to pay particular attention to the type of violence being addressed, the target population, relevant risk and protective factors, and the target of the intervention. Conducting sound evaluations of such programs requires careful attention to the unit of randomization, treatment conditions, outcome measures, timing of data collection, and potential moderator variables. Efforts to develop effective prevention programs can be greatly facilitated by adopting an action-research strategy in which evaluation findings provide a basis for continual program refinement.

The Role of Parents and Peers in Early Adolescent Substance Use: An Examination of Mediating and Moderating Effects

We examined several models representing the relations among parenting practices, family structure, peer pressure, and drug use in a sample of 443 seventh graders. The setting was an urban school system serving a high percentage of African American students from low-income families. Analyses using structural equation modeling supported a mediation model in which both peer pressure and parenting practices had direct effects on drug use, with peer pressure mediating the influence of parenting. Within this model, family structure had a significant direct effect on parenting, however, contrary to hypotheses, children from two-parent families were more likely to report that they received adequate parenting than were children from single-parent extended families. Several gender differences were also found. Peer pressure was more highly related to drug use for girls than for boys, and the relation between parenting and peer pressure was stronger for boys. Examination of a model that included moderator effects revealed that the relation between peer pressure and drug use increased as a function of poor parenting. Results of our study underscore the importance of drug prevention efforts focused on parenting practices.

Evaluation of the Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways (RIPP) Seventh Grade Violence Prevention Curriculum

We evaluated the impact of RIPP-7, a seventh grade violence prevention curriculum designed to strengthen and extend the effects of the sixth grade RIPP-6 curriculum. Classes of seventh graders at two urban middle schools serving predominantly African-American youth where RIPP-6 had been implemented the preceding school year were randomized to intervention (N = 239) and control groups (N = 237). Compared to students in the control group, students who participated in RIPP-7 had fewer disciplinary code violations for violent offenses during the following school year. A limited number of main effects were found on self-report outcome measures and measures of attitudes. Although significant main effects were not found on self-report measures of physical aggression, drug use, or anxiety, analyses of interactions with pretest scores indicated that intervention effects were significantly moderated by pretest scores for several outcome measures. Students most likely to benefit from the intervention were those who reported higher pretest rates of problem behaviors including violent behavior, nonphysical aggression, and delinquent behavior.

Overview of RIPP-6

This chapter provides an overview of RIPP-6, the 25-session violence prevention curriculum designed for the first year of either middle school (6th grade) or junior high school (7th grade). After the essence and core components of RIPP are described, a description of the manual and the strategies used in the program are presented. A short summary of the goals for each session is provided, followed by a sample workshop. The standardized RIPP-6 instructor manual (approximately 200 pages) is available through the RIPP Project Office and is intended to be used in tandem with the guidance in operations and evaluation that is provided in this monograph.

Knowing whether RIPP Is Working in Your School

This chapter is designed to help individuals implementing the RIPP program determine whether it is producing its desired effects. Although many books conclude with a chapter about evaluation, we placed this chapter closer to the beginning because we believe that it is important to think about evaluation from the very beginning. Too often, evaluation is an afterthought. When this happens, evaluation is likely to be viewed as burdensome, as opposed to something that will improve the entire project. Our hope is that placing this chapter directly after training and before the program descriptions will increase the chance that efforts to prevent youth violence will include a fully integrated evaluative component.

Getting RIPP Running

The task of setting up a violence prevention program may seem a little overwhelming. This may be especially true for schools that are about average in student disruptions and where staff may not perceive that there is much of a problem. Unfortunately, in many such schools the number of student conflicts may be growing and many disagreements may be close to escalating into fights. There are thus good reasons for being proactive and establishing a program such as RIPP within a school before serious problems develop. This chapter was designed to assist in that process. Based on our experiences with RIPP, we have identified six conditions that appear particularly important in making the program effective. Specifically, these conditions are (1) a schoolwide commitment to preventing violence; (2) a core group of school staff who serve as advocates for RIPP; (3) a qualified, full-time violence prevention facilitator; (4) adequate training for the violence prevention facilitator in RIPP and peer mediation; (5) willingness by the school staff to incorporate the RIPP and peer mediation programs throughout the school year; and (6) establishing and evaluating objectives for implementing RIPP.

Selecting and Training Beacons of Nonviolence

In this chapter, we describe the key issues related to selecting and training individuals to implement the RIPP program. As with all school—based health—promotion and social competence programs, adequate selection, preparation, and support of staff is essential. This chapter begins by defining the role of the prevention facilitator. Then, it describes some of the criteria for identifying individuals suited for this position. Finally, we provide an overview of the amount of time and type of activities required for training RIPP facilitators.

Adaptation of RIPP For Cultural and Community Differences

In the previous chapters we’ve discussed the implementation and evaluation of RIPP in an urban and a rural school system. Will RIPP work in other communities? This is a particularly important question for those who are considering implementing RIPP in their community. Although RIPP was developed for a primarily low—income, urban, African—American population, RIPP is not a culture—specific program. This is evidenced by our ability to successfully adapt this program to a vastly different student population in a rural system. Similarly, although RIPP has been evaluated with high—risk populations, the program is not restricted to such populations. The recent outbreak of school shootings in communities considered low—risk, such as Littleton, Colorado, and Jonesboro, Arkansas, has raised our nation’s awareness of the need for violence prevention programs across communities of varying risk levels. Increasingly, schools across the country are realizing the need to address the issue of violence, as well as develop school norms for nonviolence. We believe that the theoretical model upon which RIPP is based and the intervention techniques will be an appropriate violence prevention program for middle and junior high schools that represent different types of communities, cultures, and risk levels.

Background on Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways (RIPP)

Although it is the larger tragedies that make the news, smaller conflicts between students can build up in a school or a community and lead to bigger problems. That is why we believe something horrible should not have to occur before a school or community begins to look at ways to prevent violence. The program described in this book was designed to reduce violence and has been effective in both urban and rural settings.