This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Budde, S. Articles by Schene, P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Budde, S. Articles by Schene, P. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Informal Social Support Interventions and their Role in Violence Prevention

An Agenda for Future Evaluation

University of Chicago

Patricia Schene

University of Colorado at Denver

There is increasing interest among policymakers and practitioners in tapping the potential of family, friends, volunteers, peer support groups, and mutual aid organizations to help prevent violence. The popularity of these informal social support (ISS) interventions stems, in part, from their flexibility, responsiveness to individual needs, and perceived low cost. However, there is still limited understanding of whether and how ISS interventions can improve social support, reduce violence, or save money. Furthermore, mobilizing and sustaining ISS interventions appears to be difficult, particularly for families living in high-risk environments. Rigorous and creative evaluations of ISS interventions are needed to inform policy decisions and refine program development and implementation. Focusing on the field of child maltreatment, we describe different kinds of ISS interventions and outline an evaluation agenda that includes core research questions and evaluation challenges and strategies.

Key Words: social support • evaluation • child maltreatment • violence prevention

Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 19, No. 3, 341-355 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0886260503261157


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Paterson (Re)Constructing women's resistance to woman abuse: Resources, strategy choice and implications of and for public policy in Canada Critical Social Policy, February 1, 2009; 29(1): 121 - 145. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. E. Murray and J. Graybeal Methodological Review of Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Research J Interpers Violence, October 1, 2007; 22(10): 1250 - 1269. [Abstract] [PDF]