141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

280800
Save our streets: Findings from the impact evaluation of a cure violence replication project

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Lenore Cerniglia , Research Department, Center for Court Innovation, New York, NY
Sarah Picard-Fritsche , Research Department, Center for Court Innovation, New York, NY
Background: Gun violence is a pandemic—or ongoing public health threat—which disproportionately impacts African diaspora communities, including urban centers in the United States. The SOS project is a replication of the Cure Violence model, a theory-driven model for violence prevention, located in a primarily African-American and West Indian community in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to SOS implementation, the Cure Violence model was found to successfully reduce violence in Chicago and Baltimore. Methods: Based on police data, the researchers utilized time series analysis to measure the impact of the program on gun violence in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, when compared to other precincts with similar socio-demographic characteristics and rates of violent crime. The analysis controls for overall trends in violent crime across Brooklyn and for potential displacement effects. Additionally, researchers measured the impact of a community-wide mobilization campaign on resident attitudes using a representative sample of Crown Heights residents before and after SOS implementation. Results: Findings suggested a statistically significant downward trend in gun violence in Crown Heights attributable to the SOS Program. They also showed increased confidence in the potential of community mobilization among residents. Conclusions: There are several relevant policy implications for practitioners working on domestic and global violence prevention efforts, including the applicability of public health theory to the problem of gun violence and the importance of model fidelity to success.

Learning Areas:
Epidemiology
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Explain the public health model of gun violence prevention as originally implemented in Chicago in 1999 (the Chicago Ceasefire or “Cure Violence” Model), including how the approach differs from other, enforcement-oriented community based programs. Explain methods for measuring the impact of the Cure Violence model on levels of community violence, social norms, and confidence in the potential of community mobilization. Demonstrate the success of the Save Our Streets in the context of recent trends in gun violence in the United States, particularly trends in youth violence in African-American communities. Analyze the policy implications, domestic and international, of the cure violence approach in the context of growing evidence for its relative effectiveness.

Keywords: Violence Prevention, Minority Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I’m an Associate Research Director with the Center for Court Innovation and was one of the two investigators of the recently published study: Testing a Public Health Approach to Gun Violence. I’m in charge of research at the Center’s demonstration projects including those who are using and evaluating risk-need assessments and community-based violence prevention programs. I am also the co-investigator on projects funded by the federal government and NY concerning criminal justice and public health.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.