An examination using the PRECEDE model framework to establish a comprehensive program to prevent school violence

American Journal of Health Studies,  Fall, 2000  by J.Don Chaney,  Barry P. Hunt,  Jeffrey W. Schulz

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Abstract: Recent school shootings have drawn heightened public attention to issues of school crime and safety. It is imperative that education, public health, and other child welfare agencies fashion rational policies and strategies for preventing crime and increasing student safety at school. The purpose of this assessment was to establish the components of a comprehensive program to prevent school violence using the PRECEDE planning model, which assesses factors that contribute to and occur as a result of school violence, as a theoretical framework. The findings underscore the importance of multiple levels of interventions and emphasis on both behavioral and environmental risk factors. This paper identifies effective levels of intervention that must be incorporated into a comprehensive approach to prevent school violence.

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Recent school shootings have drawn heightened public attention to issues of school crime and safety. Unfortunately, public perceptions of school safety are often fueled by media accounts that may exaggerate tragic events and fail to provide a real understanding of the accomplishments of schools or the problems they face. The heightened public attention provides an opportunity to closely examine the genesis of school violence. As with many social/behavioral issues this entails examination of multi-faceted risk factors. One of these factors is a social environment, which facilitates or enables violent behavior. In order to best assess a complex issue such as this it is important to utilize a theoretical framework, which allows for examination of the relationships among social, behavioral, and environmental risk factors.

One such theoretical framework is the PRECEDE (Predisposing, Reinforcing, and Enabling Constructs in Educational/Environmental Diagnosis and Evaluation) model. The PRECEDE model, developed by Green and Kreuter (1974), is based on a theoretical foundation that addresses comprehensive assessment and program planning. It has been field tested in a variety of situations including: a guide to the development of local health department programs adopted by several state health departments; a federal guide to the planning, review, and evaluation of maternal and child health projects; as an analytical tool for health education policy on a national and international scale; as a model recommended by the National Committee on Injury Prevention and Control for planning and evaluating safety programs; by the American Lung Association as a Program Planning and Evaluation Guide for Lung Associations; by the American Cancer Society and the National Caner Institute for a school nutrition and cancer education curriculum; and as an organizational framework for curriculum development or training in health education for nurses, pharmacists, allied health professionals, physicians, and interdisciplinary training for behavioral scientists and health educators (Green & Kreuter, 1999).

The PRECEDE framework focuses on outputs rather than inputs. It is set up so that the question why must be answered before how. This is why the PRECEDE actually appears to read backwards, as can be seen in Figure 1.

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A program planner begins with the desired final outcome and uses the framework to determine which interventions would most likely achieve this goal. There are five basic phases of the PRECEDE model and all are interrelated. Phase 1 is concerned with identifying social indicators, and subjectively defined problems and priorities of individuals and groups that factor into their quality of life. The goal of Phase 2 is to examine epidemiological data that is associated with the particular topic. Phase 3 identifies behavioral characteristics that are linked to the health risks identified in Phase 2. Phase 4 consists of identifying predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors that contribute to the targeted behavior. Phase 5 examines policies that can serve to reinforce the desired behavior change (Green & Kreuter, 1999).

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

There is limited research on the topic of school violence. Several studies have examined profiling characteristics that may be used to characterize students most at risk of committing acts of violence and have identified a number of risk factors associated with violence in schools. Most of these studies also agree that a high correlation exists between male gender and the likelihood of committing a violent act on school grounds (Tomes, 1995; Komro, 1999; Courtenay, 1999; CDC, 1999; Mossie, Atkinson, Pleban, Mouzon, Wycoff, Monge, & Sarvela, 2000; Hill & Drolet, 1999). Several studies have examined community factors that may contribute to violent acts on school grounds (Menacker & Weldon, 1990; Corvo, 1997; Webber, 1997; Williams, Stiffman, & O'Neal, 1998; Bowen & Bowen, 1999; Funk, Elliot, Urman, Flores, & Mock, 1999; Kramer, 2000). All of these studies concluded that community environment does help shape students' attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors regarding violence. Similar studies have been conducted to examine the role of family environment in contributing to a student's violent behavior (Orphinas & Murray, 1999; Webber, 1997; Williams, et al., 1998; Bowen & Bowen, 1999; Kramer, 2000). These studies reached the conclusion that family interventions are an essential element of a violence prevention plan. Two particular studies determined that substance use had an effect on the incidence of violence in schools (Lowry & Cohen, 1999; Williams, et al., 1998). School social environments have also been examined and been found to possibly contribute to violence on school grounds (Williams, et al., 1998; Bowen & Bowen, 1999; Kramer, 2000). Peers have also been proven to have an effect on students who commit violent acts on school grounds (Howell, 1994; Williams, et al., 1998; Bowen & Bowen, 1999; Kramer, 2000). Funk, et al (1999) conducted a study that examined the desensitization of youth towards violence. They placed responsibility for desensitization on repeated exposure to violence through life experiences, as well as news media, and entertainment media.