Investigating Effects of Mentoring for Youth with Assault Injuries: Results of a Randomized-Controlled Trial.

Mentoring is considered an evidence-based practice for violence prevention. This study presents a partial replication of the Take Charge! program implemented in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBS). One hundred and eighty-eight early adolescents (M age = 12.87; 61.17% male) who were treated for peer-related assault injury in two urban mid-Atlantic emergency departments were randomly assigned to receive a mentor from two BBBS affiliates. Mentors and organization staff were trained in the Take Charge! violence prevention curriculum, which had previously shown evidence of efficacy. Intent-to-treat analyses showed statistically significant improvements in conflict avoidance self-efficacy for the intervention group at 9 months and reductions in fighting at 21 months, but an increase in parental report of aggression at 9 months. Complier average causal effect models revealed evidence of an additional effect for reduced problem behavior at 21 months for intervention adolescents who received a mentor. No effects were found for youth-reported aggression, retaliatory attitudes, deviance acceptance, or commitment to learning. Sensitivity analyses suggested increased aggressive behavior for adolescents in the intervention group who did not receive a mentor (i.e., non-compliers). These findings extend the evidence-base for Take Charge! as a violence prevention curriculum for youth already engaged in violence to "real-world" implementation settings. However, they also suggest that challenges associated with providing youth with mentors can be consequential and that additional supports may be needed for these youth/parents. Clinical trials number: clinicaltrials.gov NCT01770873.

Urban Students' Perceptions of the School Environment's Influence on School Violence.

This article provides information about the aspects of the school environment students perceive influence the occurrence of school violence. Concept mapping, a mixed methods methodology, was used with two groups of urban, primarily African American high school students (n=27) to create conceptual frameworks of their understanding of the school social and physical environment's influence on school violence. Each group of students identified over 50 different ways they perceived their school environment contributed to school violence. These ideas were categorized into six main topics: Student Behaviors, Norms of Behavior, Relationships with School Staff, Learning Environment, School Safety, and Neighborhood Environment. Students' perceptions supported the current conceptualization of the role of the school environment in school violence. However, this study supplements the current literature by identifying school level aspects of the social and physical environment that contribute to students perceptions of the safety of their school. At this level, differences were seen between the two school environments, indicating a need for intervention tailoring.