BREAKING THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE AMONG YOUTH LIVING IN METROPOLITAN ATLANTA - A CASE-HISTORY OF KIDS ALIVE AND LOVED

More teenagers in the United Stares die from gunshot wounds than from all natural causes of disease combined. Firearm-related mortality acco unts for almost half of all deaths among African American teens. Resid ents of central cities have the highest probability of experiencing vi olent crimes, This article describes an innovative community-based int ervention designed to break the cycle of violence among youth in metro politan Atlanta. The intervention, Kids Alive and Loved (KAL), emerged from the African American community as one mother's response to the v iolent death of her 17-year-old son. The authors describe how her resp onse to tragedy gave birth to a culturally appropriate intervention fo r youth exposed to violence. This article delineates the evolution of KAL, the role community partners in the design of the intervention, an d how diffusion of innovation theory has implications for understandin g the KAL approach to breaking the cycle of violence.