PROGRESS AND PROSPECTS IN YOUTH VIOLENCE-PREVENTION EVALUATION

The evaluation of youth violence-prevention projects using sound metho ds is very important. Up to now, the evaluation literature has (1) ina dequately heeded known epidemiologic patterns of violence, (2) failed to differentiate types of violence, and (3) failed to differentiate th e levels of risk-influence addressed by the intervention. The reports in this supplement have considered these past deficiencies. These repo rts also make some notable advances, such as illustrating the role tha t efficacy trials can and should play in violence prevention, demonstr ating that programs can and should be evaluated and that design charac teristics such as random assignment are plausible, balancing the pract ical and theoretical aspects of violence prevention, and reflecting th e importance of the setting on the style and scope of the intervention . The reports and projects also have remaining limitations. Length of planned follow-up is generally quite brief. In some cases the rational e for the intervention is not adequately explained. Some reports do no t clarify whether the intervention is intended for all youths or selec ted high-risk youth. The next steps for these and similar projects are to determine the program impact and implementation, strive for longer follow-up, document conditions that interact with proximal impact on distal outcomes, and further broaden evaluation efforts into modifying situations instead of modifying only individuals. Finally, we must re cognize that the goal of evaluation is not to declare all earnest effo rts effective, but to determine which efforts merit further considerat ion. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH): violence, program evaluation, in tervention studies.