A violence-prevention and evaluation project with ethnically diverse populations

• Published in: American journal of preventive medicine Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 48 - 55
• Main Authors: Alkon, Abbey, Tschann, Jeanne M, Ruane, Susan H, Wolff, Mimi, Hittner, Amy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 2001
• Subjects: Child; child care; Child Care - manpower; Child, Preschool; Cultural Diversity; culture; Curriculum; Data Collection; Ethnic Groups; family; Humans; parents; Parents - education; Personnel Selection; primary prevention; United States; violence; Violence - prevention & control; United States; child care; culture; ethnic groups; primary prevention; family; research; child; parents; violence
• ISSN: 0749-3797; 1873-2607
• DOI: 10.1016/S0749-3797(00)00274-9

The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the challenges encountered and lessons learned while providing and evaluating a violence-prevention program for and with ethnically diverse populations in child care settings. The paper discusses Safe Start, a violence prevention education program for child care staff and parents, and the evaluation of the program. Safe Start was designed to include culturally relevant content to increase cultural awareness for child care staff and parents from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The evaluation project enrolled child care centers with families representing the ethnically diverse communities in which they were located. Violence prevention research involving children from diverse ethnic backgrounds presents new methodologic challenges, but also provides new opportunities for creative, novel methods. This paper describes some of the challenges encountered with curriculum development, staff recruitment, instrument selection, and data collection procedures.