BACKGROUND: School violence is a worldwide public health issue with negative effects on education. Official statistics and reports do not include daily occurrences of violent behavior that may precede severe incidents. OBJECTIVES: This project aimed to engage school community members in the development, validation, and implementation of an observation instrument to identify characteristics of school violence in two Puerto Rican schools. METHODS: The role of school community members in all phases of the research is described. RESULTS: The input of community partners contributed to enrich the process by providing insight into the problem studied and a more informed framework for interpreting results. CONCLUSIONS: Taking into account distinctive features of each particular school made results meaningful to the school community and fostered a sense of empowerment of community members as they recognized their knowledge is essential to the solution of their problems.
BACKGROUND: School violence is a worldwide public health issue with negative effects on education. Official statistics and reports do not include daily occurrences of violent behavior that may precede severe incidents. OBJECTIVES: This project aimed to engage school community members in the development, validation, and implementation of an observation instrument to identify characteristics of school violence in two Puerto Rican schools. METHODS: The role of school community members in all phases of the research is described. RESULTS: The input of community partners contributed to enrich the process by providing insight into the problem studied and a more informed framework for interpreting results. CONCLUSIONS: Taking into account distinctive features of each particular school made results meaningful to the school community and fostered a sense of empowerment of community members as they recognized their knowledge is essential to the solution of their problems.
Authors: Suzanne Christopher; Vanessa Watts; Alma Knows His Gun McCormick; Sara Young Journal: Am J Public Health Date: 2008-06-12 Impact factor: 9.308
Authors: Julia Dickson-Gomez; A Michelle Corbett; Gloria Bodnar; Maria Ofelia Zuniga; Carmen Eugenia Guevara; Karla Rodriguez; Verónica Navas Journal: Health Promot Int Date: 2014-07-28 Impact factor: 2.483