Murder Is No Accident Understanding and Preventing Youth Violence in America

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

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.