PEACEBUILDERS - A THEORETICALLY DRIVEN, SCHOOL-BASED MODEL FOR EARLY VIOLENCE PREVENTION

PeaceBuilders(R) is a schoolwide violence-prevention program for eleme ntary schools (K-5). A coalition of the Pima County Community Services Department, University of Arizona, and Heartsprings, Inc. (a Tucson-b ased company) are conducting a formal evaluation. Children who grow up to commit acts of violence show cognitive, social, and imitative diff erences from their peers. These characteristics can be ameliorated, mo st successfully through interventions that begin at an early age and i nvolve multiple segments of the child's social experiences and interac tions. PeaceBuilders activities are built into the school environment and the daily interactions among students, teachers, and administrativ e staff, all of whom are taught a common language and provided models of positive behavior, environmental cues to signal such behavior, oppo rtunities to rehearse positive behavior, and rewards for practicing it . Four schools, one from each of four matched pairs, were randomly ass igned to begin Peace-Builders in Year 1. The remaining four schools be gin in Year 2. Outcome assessments include student self-reports, stand ardized teacher reports, playground observations, and school and law e nforcement records. Process assessments include school observations an d surveys of teacher practices and satisfaction. Surveys were complete d by 2,736 children. The sample is about 55% Hispanic, 26% Angle, 14% Native American, and 4% African American. Among children in grades 3-5 , during the past week 15% had been sent to the office for disciplinar y problems, 13% tried to start a fight, 27% hit someone, and 12% repor ted being threatened with a gun or knife. Violent behaviors and experi ences are common among the studied children. A valid evaluation is und erway of PeaceBuilders. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH): violence, int ervention studies, primary prevention, program evaluation, child (age 6-12), aggression, education (early intervention).