Violence Defied? A Review of Prevention of Violence in the Public and Semi-public Domain

The combating of violence in the public and semi-public domain remains high on the agendas of the government, municipalities, companies, schools and other institutions. The prevention of violence plays an important role in the steps taken, but, in general, little is known about the question of what works and what does not work in preventing violence.This report describes the results from a synthesis of 48 studies into the effects of the prevention of violence in the public and semi-public domain. The object of this synthesis was to gain an overview of effective or promising measures for the prevention of violence in the public and semi-public domain in the Netherlands and abroad. Added to this, this study was intended to generate insights into the mechanisms underlying effective or promising prevention measures and into the circumstances and contexts in which these are found to be effective. Different themes are discussed. Is it better to offer prevention programmes at an early stage (during early childhood) or is it more effective to implement programmes in the first classes of secondary education? Is a measure more effective if it is implemented throughout a school, or is a more individual approach more appropriate?Although this study shows that the effectiveness of many prevention measures is not studied, a number of recommendations are made with regard to the prevention of violence in the public and semi-public domain.van der Knaap, L. M. is the author of 'Violence Defied? A Review of Prevention of Violence in the Public and Semi-public Domain', published 2006 under ISBN 9789054547570 and ISBN 905454757X.