Research-Based Practice Guide to Address Gang Violence

This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law. This program furthers the Department’s mission by supporting the development of a comprehensive, research-based practice guide to provide local governments, law enforcement, and communities with measurable steps they can take to prevent and reduce youth-perpetrated gun and gang violence.

Under the Initiative To Develop a Research-Based Practice Guide To Prevent and Reduce Youth Violence in Communities, OJJDP is funding the development of a research-based practice guide for local government and law enforcement agencies that will help them implement effective community-based youth gun and gang violence prevention, reduction, and control strategies. This project will guide agency decisionmaking toward the most effective and efficient strategies, develop measurable steps to monitor progress, and support the improvement of local public safety efforts.

To achieve these goals, Urban Institute has assembled a multidisciplinary team composed of researchers from its Justice Policy Center with expertise in gang violence, gun violence, and policing. Urban Institute will assemble and engage an expert panel; conduct a comprehensive literature review on impact and implementation research on gang violence prevention, reduction, and control; conduct one or two targeted systematic reviews on related topics; conduct an environmental scan of focused-deterrence, community-based approaches and comprehensive gang reduction models; conduct semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in such programs; develop a protocol for synthesizing and translating findings from these activities; and produce and disseminate the practice guide. The primary deliverable will be the practice guide, but Urban Institute will collaborate with OJJDP to determine and produce additional deliverables of value to the field.

CA/NCF