I’ve been around prevention programs for a long time, with my first forays into the field beginning as a classroom teacher in the late seventies, and expanding into work as a prevention specialist for a dozen years through a big part of the eighties and nineties, and right into the new millennium as a consultant. No matter what the target is – drug and alcohol use, depression and suicide, crime and delinquency, or the arena where I am currently expending energy and effort, bullying and teen dating violence – there is a prescription for success in prevention that is as useful as pain medication and antibiotics are for illness and disease.
“Life-Skills” or “Social Competency” prevention models are tried and true. If anything, these approaches are even better now that we have access to thorough research about “Risk and Protective Factors.” Also, there is still a framework for deploying prevention strategies that is inescapably efficient and effective – despite the fact that results are incredibly difficult to “prove.” “Proof” requires longitudinal studies that can carefully follow subjects over long periods of time in a variety of settings and that is practically impossible.
But here’s what we know: if we can deploy prevention programs that are:
- broad-based, comprehensive, and on-going;
- based on information, skills, alternatives, and clear and clearly supported social policies;
- structured to reduce risk factors for self-destructive behavior; and
- structured to expand protective factors for social competency…
… then we exponentially increase the likelihood of nurturing healthy and successful individuals and relationships.
When we say COMPREHENSIVE, we mean covering all the bases for complex and multi-faceted individuals. Both “Risk Factors” (issues which put us at risk for self-destructive behaviors of all kinds) and “Protective Factors” (the aspects of society that tend to insulate us from self-destructive behaviors) are known. The more, the merrier when it comes to protective factors applied, and these are what counteract the risk factors.
The term BROAD-BASED reflects the wisdom in the African Proverb that says, “It takes a ‘village’ to raise a child.” Collaboration and alignment between empowering entities is what raises us ALL! When we join together the similar positive influences of families, schools, congregations, civic clubs, non-profit groups, youth-serving organizations, businesses and corporations, and more, the kind of empowerment that prevents negative behaviors is coming from every corner of society. It is the “village” that always has, and probably always will make us who we are … for better or for worse depending on how cohesive the village is.
When we speak of the ONGOING nature of prevention we mean the same thing that Zig Ziglar says about motivation: “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” The lessons of prevention are neither one-size-fits-all or available as a life-time vaccine. What we do with prevention we must do constantly until the wisdom of it is internalized; and even then, the empowered individual must stand guard mentally and emotionally against the life circumstances that would make certain self-destructive behaviors attractive for want of more ingrained and better approaches.
These three things tell us HOW to deploy prevention; but we must also know WHAT it is that we are making available. It is basically four things:
- Information … all the FACTS related to the behavior being prevented. The facts should be accurate, with no concerted emphasis on the associated “Fear Factors.” Answer the questions people ask – especially young people – but avoid being judgmental, and don’t expect folks to heed what you say if your behavior is not consistent with your message.
- Skills representing TOOLS for life. There is no substitute for having the right tool; so expose folks to Life Skills, Learning Skills, and Thinking Skills so they can have the easiest possible access to t acquiring, valuing and correctly applying the tools that can truly help us get from where we are to where we want to go with success, satisfaction, and productivity … which is what we all want.
- Alternatives are the OPTIONS available to us that help us to effectively answer the question, “What is there to DO other than current problematic behavior?” Alternatives have to be ACCESSIBLE … meaning that they are available to the person who needs them; VIABLE … meaning they have to seem possible and doable to the person who is seeking a better way; and they must be EFFECTIVE … they have to get us from where we are to where we want to go as well as or better than the behavior we are giving up. And “better” often does NOT mean “easier.” If an alternative is healthier, safer, legal, less controversial, more peaceful and the like then it may, indeed, be better – even if it is more difficult.
- SOCIAL POLICY for our purposes, here, is the last element of prevention that must be in place and it refers to how clearly we draw the line as a society between what is “OK” and what is “NOT OK.” When the line is clear, and everyone knows where it is, most people will not cross it; most of those who do cross the line will know that they have done so (along with everyone else); and even the ones who are anti-social enough to prefer the “NOT OK” side clearly understand that this is where they have chosen to be. In either case, though, society can take steps to ensure that all of us are operating on the “OK” side of things – assuming that we have communicated clearly enough with each other and planned and implemented structures that reflect our agreements.
This is how we do it. We have the technology. We can build a better society and more effective and happier individuals. We just have to find the will to do what we know.
Robert Simon
Violence Prevention Specialist
Start Strong Wichita, a project of Catholic Charities
