USA Youth Violence Prevention Initiative

The University of South Alabama (USA) Youth Violence Prevention Initiative supports basic and applied research to 1) identify the causes and correlates of youth violence; 2) evaluate intervention programs and evidence-based alternatives that can reduce youth violence; and 3) assess prevention initiatives which can minimize youth violence. Virtually all of the studies included in this initiative involve collaboration with one or more community organizations. The researchers will report on performance measures relevant to the goals and objectives of the initative, such as: the number of university-initiated projects approved by the initiative's expert advisory panel; the number of requests from local organizations, agencies and programs to which the initiative effectively responds; and the percentage of adolescents participating in the initiative's violence prevention programs who show increases in social skills and decreases in aggressive behavior. NCA/NCF