Community Trauma and Resilience
Prevention Institute and Howard Pinderhughes of UC San Francisco are studying trauma as it affects communities. Trauma damages a community’s social networks and distorts norms, for example, which cannot be addressed through trauma-informed care for individuals. Adverse Community Experiences and Resilience presents an innovative framework for understanding and preventing community trauma. Developed with funding from the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Benefits Program, this framework identifies strategies for community healing and resilience. For an introduction to community trauma, read the UNITY publication Addressing and Preventing Trauma at the Community Level.
Preventing Violence through Land Use
Many groups make decisions about how space is used and who gets to access it, and these choices can shape key factors associated with violence. To explore the potential of land use decisions to prevent violence, Prevention Institute developed Community Safety by Design with support from The California Endowment. Land use can either perpetuate historical inequalities or expand access and opportunity, and this project recommends ways to better integrate community safety into these decisions.
Community-Driven Safety Strategies
The most effective safety strategies account for the community’s history, assets and capacities, and Prevention Institute values community and practitioner wisdom on par with research evidence. Community Safety: A Building Block for Community Health showcases nine priority violence prevention strategies recommended by California communities funded by The California Endowment. Notably, many of these community-driven strategies focus on improving systems and places; their scope extends beyond individuals or specific families to benefit all residents.