RICHMOND YOUTH AGAINST VIOLENCE - A SCHOOL-BASED PROGRAM FOR URBAN ADOLESCENTS

The Richmond Youth Against Violence Project teaches middle-school stud ents in the Richmond Public Schools knowledge, attitudes, and skills f or reducing their involvement in violence. These students are primaril y African Americans, many of whom come from low-income, single-parent households in neighborhoods with high rates of crime and drug use. The program, ''Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways,'' employs a deve lopmentally anchored health promotion model. Its goal is to promote pe aceful and positive alternatives to interpersonal and situational viol ence, by creating environments that teach and encourage health-enhanci ng behaviors and intrapersonal attributes and weakening supports for h ealth-compromising behaviors and intrapersonal attributes. The 16-sess ion school-based program was implemented by prevention specialists wit h sixth graders during the 1994-1995 school year. Students are taught a seven-step problem-solving model. Program implementation was stagger ed to allow an intervention group to participate during the fall semes ter and a control group to participate during the spring semester. Out come measures include school data and measures completed by students. There were few significant baseline differences between the interventi on and control groups. A high percentage of students, particularly boy s, reported exposure to community violence; more than 92% had heard gu nshots. Many have also engaged in risk behaviors; 70% of the boys and 44% of the girls reported being in a fight in the preceding 30 days. T he impact of the curriculum is being examined. The program has provide d valuable lessons about conducting community-based research, particul arly designing, implementing, and evaluating prevention programs. Medi cal Subject Headings (MeSH): violence, program evaluation, program dev elopment, primary prevention, adolescence, injuries, social problems, health promotion.