Promoting early interventions in violence prevention
Ariel Trust delivers violence prevention & safeguarding programmes that take an evidence-based approach, by focusing on skills-development in addition to raising awareness about the challenging issues that children face in their communities. This approach is supported by a wide range of academic studies
“focusing exclusively on attitudinal or educational components will likely not be effective in changing behaviour, as such the skills building component of Safe Dates is a crucial component” (Foshee & Langwick, 2004).
“Opportunities to practise skills are identified as important by a number of reports (UNODC, 2004; Jones, 2010; Thomas et al., 2015)”. Key Principals of effective prevention education, PSHE Association 2016
Our education resources focus on an early intervention approach designed to deliver a long-term impact through reducing children’s involvement in violence. You can see videos showing how these resources work in the classroom here.
The logic model underpinning our approach can be accessed here. Liverpool John Moores University Public Health Institute have evaluated our work over two years, using validated scales to measure intermediate impacts, particularly in relation to ‘Help-seeking behaviour’ and ‘Bystander Intentions’.
Liverpool John Moores University have found positive impacts, including a number that are statistically significant. These include that, “In the post-programme survey, a larger proportion of students have indicated that they were more likely to seek help from parents (pre, 84.5%, post, 91.3%) ; trusted adults (pre, 37.3%, post, 39.2%) and a helpline or a website (pre, 21.4%, post, 26.2%).” Read the full report here.
Ariel is working with key partners, including Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership, to use this evidence to promote positive change at a policy level. Our key aim is to influence the Serious Violence Action Plans of the local authorities in Merseyside. These currently include little or no mention of the role education can play in violence reduction. Our aim is to get a commitment to early intervention and universal prevention education written into these plans.
