
Murder Is No Accident
Understanding and Preventing Youth Violence in America
Jossey-Bass (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 14. November 2003
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-0-7879-6980-6 (ISBN)
Description
Authors Deborah Prothrow-Stith and Howard R. Spivak- two prominent Boston-area public health officials who played leading roles in that city's turnaround- show that the key to Boston's success was creating an interdisciplinary citywide movement. The city's movement- made up of educators, community leaders, police officers, emergency room workers, activist teens, teen and family member survivors of violence, and many others- worked for more than ten years to implement multifaceted preventive programs that confronted each risk factor for youth violence, including
Positive Role Models: Peer mentoring and teacher-training programs
Healthy and Safe Communities: Youth centers, after-school programs, and other organized recreational activities
Poverty: Economic stimulus policies to help reduce poverty in inner-city and rural areas
Pro-Social Behaviors: Conflict resolution and violence prevention curricula in schools
Domestic Violence: Home visitation programs and screening to protect kids from domestic violence
Gun Buybacks: Reduction in the number of firearms on the streets
Positive Role Models: Peer mentoring and teacher-training programs
Healthy and Safe Communities: Youth centers, after-school programs, and other organized recreational activities
Poverty: Economic stimulus policies to help reduce poverty in inner-city and rural areas
Pro-Social Behaviors: Conflict resolution and violence prevention curricula in schools
Domestic Violence: Home visitation programs and screening to protect kids from domestic violence
Gun Buybacks: Reduction in the number of firearms on the streets
Reviews / Votes
"Written in a clear, personable style, the book is a thoughtful read for anyone working in youth violence prevention." (Youth Today, 12/03) Prothrow-Stith, a Harvard School of Public Health associate dean and professor, and Spivak, New England Medical Center's chief of general pediatrics and adolescent medicine, bring impressive credentials and two decades each of experience in medicine, public health and violence prevention to this essential primer on adolescent violence. In impassioned, colloquial prose, the authors delineate the causes of teen violence (e.g., easy access to weapons; violent entertainment); elucidate past approaches, including police intervention for urban youth and mental health intervention for suburban youth; explain the impact of racism and classism on teen violence; offer first-person testimonies as exhortations; and detail ploys to combat the problem before it hits any more crisis points like the Columbine disaster or Los Angeles's street gang wars. The authors also reveal their backgrounds in order to break down stereotypes about violence: Prothrow-Stith's African-American family was close-knit and nurturing. Spivak's Bronx Jewish family excessively violent. But there's no discussion of the trend toward prosecuting teens as adults or of the fact that the U. S. remains one of only three nations worldwide to execute teens. The nexus of the authors' argument: violence is pr4ventable, but id does "take a village." Demonizing youth, treating teens of color differently from white teens and focusing on crisis intervention rather than preventives are mistakes that have intensified rather than precluded violence, they say, insisting on recognition of violence as a public health issue. This is a solid and heartfelt contribution to a major concern in our country. Agent, Kristen Wainwright. (Nov.)Forecast: Blurbs from Sen. Ted Kennedy and Marian Wright Edelman bespeak support for Prothrow-Stith and Spivak's approach. Prothrow-Stith has discussed teen violence in many public forums, including Nightline and Oprah. (Publishers Weekly, September 8, 2003)
Prothrow-Stith (public health practice, Harvard Sch. of Public Health) and Spivak (pediatrics & community health, Tufts Univ. Sch. of Medicine) begin with the premise that violence is not inevitable. They describe "a world gone mad" where murder and violent death are common aspects of children's lives, citing a recent study of 26 industrialized nations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicating that about 73 percent of all child homicides occur in the United States. Why? Several risk factors are delineated: poverty, alcohol use, guns, media, and witnessing violence. The authors point to the great success of Boston officials in decreasing juvenile murder rates over the last 20 years; also offered are compelling arguments against zero-tolerance policies, TV violence as entertainment, and demonizing young black men. No single explanation as to why the "Boston Model" works as well as it does is given, implying that dealing with youth violence requires sensitivity of thought. A concluding chapter summarizes lessons learned, e.g., that forgiveness is a strategy. An excellent addition to public libraries, this work is far more comprehensive than Betsy McAlister Groves's Children Who See Too Much, which describes Boston's Child Witness to Violence Project. -Linda Beck, Indian Valley Pl., Telford, PA (Library Journal, November 15, 2003)
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
John Wiley & Sons Inc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
573 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7879-6980-6 (9780787969806)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Deborah Prothrow-Stith, M.D., is associate dean for faculty development and professor of public health practice at the Harvard School of Public Health. As a physician working in inner-city hospitals and neighborhood clinics, she recognized violence as a significant public health issue. In 1987 she established the first office of violence prevention in a state department of public health while serving as commissioner for the Department of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Howard R. Spivak, M.D., is chief of the division of general pediatrics and adolescent medicine and vice president for community health programs at New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. He is professor of pediatrics and community health at Tufts University School of Medicine and director of the Tufts University Center for Children. He cofounded the Boston Violence Prevention Program and is nationally recognized for his work in pediatrics and violence prevention.
Howard R. Spivak, M.D., is chief of the division of general pediatrics and adolescent medicine and vice president for community health programs at New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. He is professor of pediatrics and community health at Tufts University School of Medicine and director of the Tufts University Center for Children. He cofounded the Boston Violence Prevention Program and is nationally recognized for his work in pediatrics and violence prevention.
Content
Introduction. Part One: The Problem.
1. A Shocked America: The Epidemic Spreads.
2. Who Are We?
Part Two: Issues and Solutions.
3. What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?
4. Understanding Risk and Resiliency.
5. Guns: Escalating the Consequences.
6. It's the Television, Stupid.
7. The Demonization of Youth.
8. Girls and Violence: Rambettes.
9. Violence at Home.
Part Three: What Happened in Boston.
10. Violence Is Preventable.
11. The Movement Grows.
Part Four: Lessons Learned.
12. There Is No One Model.
13. The System Is Part of the Problem.
14. Going Into the Future.
Notes.
Further Reading.
About the Authors.
Index.
1. A Shocked America: The Epidemic Spreads.
2. Who Are We?
Part Two: Issues and Solutions.
3. What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?
4. Understanding Risk and Resiliency.
5. Guns: Escalating the Consequences.
6. It's the Television, Stupid.
7. The Demonization of Youth.
8. Girls and Violence: Rambettes.
9. Violence at Home.
Part Three: What Happened in Boston.
10. Violence Is Preventable.
11. The Movement Grows.
Part Four: Lessons Learned.
12. There Is No One Model.
13. The System Is Part of the Problem.
14. Going Into the Future.
Notes.
Further Reading.
About the Authors.
Index.