Comprehensive School-Based Violence Prevention Training: A Developmental-Ecological Training Model

Although it may not be a popular perspective to articulate, the history of the United States clearly suggests that we are a violent nation. There is much evidence to support this disconcerting claim. Historically speaking, the roots of this violence can be traced to the genocide-like treatment imposed on the indigenous peoples of America by White, European settlers and the establishment of slavery that incurred horrific forms of physical and psychological violence among millions of persons from African descent. Today, new forms of violence surround us. This includes but is not limited to domestic and sexual violence that women and children in all segments of our society experience, violent images that are portrayed in the media and video games, and violence that is manifested in a variety of ways in school settings (e.g., teasing, bullying, fistfighting, shootings). Commenting on the extent to which these and other forms of violence are deeply embedded in our society, Walker and Gresham (1997) pointed out that Violence in America is a social toxin that is pervasive in every aspect of our society that has lowered the quality of life for everyone. For the first time since 1970 violent acts against strangers account for a higher proportion of violent acts than those committed against acquaintances (Hughes & Hasbrouk, 1996). This development among others, means that our public safety has declined precipitously and that no one has complete immunity from the possibility of physical victimization by violent acts. (p. 199) The pervasive problem of violence continues to be manifested in many different ways in contemporary American society. However, during the past several years, national attention has been focused on several well-publicized acts of violence that have caused serious injury to or the death of students in this country's public schools. Students, parents, teachers, and school administrators commonly turn to counselors for assistance when violence erupts in our communities, in general, and when it occurs within the context of the school setting, in particular. Although these practitioners are expected to provide counseling services for both the victims and the perpetrators of violent acts, they are being called upon increasingly to provide the sort of professional leadership that is necessary to develop and implement comprehensive violence prevention initiatives in schools. To provide the kind of leadership that is necessary to successfully develop and implement violence prevention programs in the school setting, counselors need to be able to answer four important questions that are relevant for such an undertaking. 1. What does the term violence mean in the context of planning school-based violence prevention programs? 2. Why is it important to support violence prevention programs in the schools? 3. What types of service components are included in a comprehensive school-based approach to violence prevention? 4. What training models have been effective in fostering the development and implementation of comprehensive violence prevention programs in school settings? Although the following sections of this article address each of these questions, particular attention is directed to describing a developmental-ecological violence prevention training model that was used at four elementary schools in Hawaii. This section of the article discusses the results of an evaluation of that training model. The data that were generated from this evaluation component suggest that the training model used in the Hawaii study is a useful training approach that other counseling practitioners can use to assist school personnel in acquiring the knowledge and skills that are necessary to develop and implement a broad range of violence prevention strategies in their schools. DEFINING VIOLENCE The term violence has been defined differently by various violence prevention theorists and researchers. …