Making the Case for Domestic Violence Prevention Through the Lens of Cost-Benefit
A Manual for Domestic Violence Prevention Practitioners
(and the State and Local Policy-Makers They Present to)
Levels Of Prevention
Let’s look at the thinking of the Prevention Institute, based in Oakland, California. The Prevention Institute seeks to move beyond approaches that target individuals to create systematic, comprehensive strategies that change conditions...." (Ibid.)
Because the work of the Prevention Institute is so essential to our understanding of the power and value of coordinating comprehensive prevention, we have included here a few excerpts from the Prevention Institute website. Note that this model can be applied in many different fields and is not limited to domestic violence prevention. We want to highlight two key points:
Complex problems cannot be solved with simplistic solutions.
Injury and disease are not inevitable; they have root causes that can be addressed.
OUR PREVENTION APPROACH
No mass disorder afflicting mankind is ever brought under control or eliminated by attempts at treating the individual.
Dr. G. Albee, Editor
Journal of Primary Prevention
Primary prevention is a proven, effective strategy that can address a range of health and social issues, including widespread youth violence, skyrocketing medical costs, epidemic chronic illnesses, and the ever-expanding gap between rich and poor. These widespread and complex issues demand comprehensive strategies that maximize the benefits of prevention, and have the greatest chance for success.
Because complex problems cannot be solved with simplistic solutions, we must move beyond the notion of prevention as just an educational message, to the implementation of a multifaceted approach that incorporates both individual behavior and social norms. The emphasis in prevention should not be placed on a message, but on a strategy.
Prevention has a demonstrated track record and can be even more effective, but its practice must be central, not tangential. We need a systematic approach to prevention that synthesizes and strengthens knowledge from multiple disciplines, and emphasizes primary prevention as key in addressing major societal concerns.
Prevention Institute is fostering the development and application of this emerging approach. Prevention Institute believes that:
Health is more than healthcare or the absence of injury or disease;
The environment in which we live profoundly shapes our health and well-being;
Injury and disease are not inevitable; they have root causes that can be addressed;
Prevention requires commitment and dedication;
Prevention offers hope by saving lives, money, and misery.
[Italics ours.] Excerpted from
The Prevention Institute
http://www.preventioninstitute.org/tools
Recognizing the interconnectedness of root causes of social conditions such as violence, the Prevention Institute has generated a framework called the “Spectrum of Prevention” that identifies multiple levels on which prevention efforts take place. (Originally developed by Larry Cohen while he was director of the Contra Costa Health Services Prevention Program, the Spectrum is based on the work of Dr. Marshall Swift in treating developmental disabilities. It has been used nationally in prevention initiatives targeting traffic safety, violence prevention, injury prevention, nutrition, and fitness.) The Prevention Institute notes that “these levels are complementary and when used together produce a synergy that results in greater effectiveness than would be possible by implementing any single activity." (Ibid.) At Transforming Communities, we have expanded the spectrum of prevention into a “Spectrum of Community Change” (see following page). This includes two new levels: Cross-Sector Collaboration and Mobilizing Communities and Neighborhoods.
Domestic violence prevention program practitioners can locate their program activities at one or more places on the Spectrum of Community Change. These spectrum levels are places where the domestic violence prevention practitioner works, or where the effects of her or his work are felt. Explaining how one’s prevention program works along this spectrum helps to express that program’s VALUE in systemic terms. Following the Spectrum of Community Change, we have included a worksheet for your prevention program staff and volunteers to identify where your prevention program activities fit on this spectrum.
EXAMPLE
The Lake County Faith to End Domestic Violence Prevention Program contributes to a coordinated prevention effort by training clergy to provide information and respond appropriately to congregants who are in a domestic violence situation, and by facilitating a quarterly county-wide forum for faith leaders to learn about domestic violence and other key issues facing our community. By focusing on the bottom four levels of the Spectrum of Prevention – strengthening individual knowledge and skills; promoting community education; educating providers; and fostering coalitions and networks – our program is laying the groundwork for sustainable changes in our community.
For more information, please contact Rae Eby-Carl, Deputy Director, Lake Family Resource Center (formerly Sutter Lakeside Community Services) at: EbyCarR@sutterhealth.org.