likelihood of the kinds of positive outcomes that lead to a successful and productive future.”83
The earlier prevention programs are put into place in a child’s development, the higher the
likelihood of positive youth development.84 The child is not only more likely to avoid violence,
but is also more likely to succeed across areas of behavioral, social, and emotional development.85
The evidence reveals the importance of intervening before problem behaviors begin and to help
parents and families raise their children to become healthy and productive adults.86
As children grow, their needs and the demands of their environment change over time
and the nature and extent of exposure to developmental settings shift.87 For example, family is the
most influential system during early childhood, but as children enter school and spend more time
with peers, their behavior becomes increasingly influenced by school and peer contexts.88 Thus,
as children develop, the family must manage both the child’s individual behavior and the
influences of other social settings.89 This is why effective parenting and a strong connection to
family is so important to decrease the likelihood of a child’s involvement with delinquent peers,
which can, in turn, decrease the risk of involvement in violence.90
Understanding the particular developmental and “ecological” (or setting) influences on
the youth and family is important to understanding risk. As stated earlier, a child’s development
is influenced by the social settings in which the child lives or participates, and the extent and
nature of the interaction between these settings.91 Looking specifically at the family setting,
however, neighborhood context matters.92 The same level of family functioning (including
parenting practices) may have different effects on risk for youth violence, depending on the
neighborhood in which the family lives.93 For example, the same level of monitoring that a parent
provides when living in a relatively crime-free neighborhood may not be sufficient when living in
a high-crime urban neighborhood.94
The key implication for family-focused violence prevention is that the impact of
preventive interventions likely depends on the social ecology in which development occurs and
the context within which the intervention is being delivered.95 Just as the social-ecological model
to understanding risk and development emphasizes the influence of the ongoing qualities of the
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83 Deborah Gorman-Smith et al., What Should Be Done in the Family to Prevent Gang Membership?, in CHANGING COURSE:
PREVENTING GANG MEMBERSHIP 75, 76 (Simon et al. eds. 2013) [hereinafter Prevent Gang Membership], available at
https://ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/239234.pdf.
84 Id.
85 LYNN A. KAROLY ET AL., PROVEN BENEFITS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD INTERVENTIONS 1–2 (2005), available at
http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_briefs/2005/RAND_RB9145.pdf.
86 Prevent Gang Membership, supra note 83, at 76.
87 Id. at 77.
88 Id.
89 Id.
90 Id.
91 Deborah Gorman-Smith, Urban Neighborhoods, Families, and Juvenile Delinquency, PREVENTION RESEARCHER, Feb. 2008, at 17.
“Settings” refer to social systems that influence child development, including “family functioning, peer relationships, schools,
communities, and larger societal influences” such as public policies and the media. Id.
92 Id.
93 Deborah Gorman-Smith et al., A Developmental-Ecological Model of the Relation of Family Functioning to Patterns of
Delinquency, 16 J. QUANTITATIVE CRIMINOLOGY 169, 188–89, 193 (2000) [hereinafter Relation of Family Functioning]; Robin L.
Jarrett, African American Children, Families, and Neighborhoods: Qualitative Contributions to Understanding Developmental
Pathways, 2 APPLIED DEV. SCI. 2, 9 (1998).
94 Deborah Gorman-Smith et al., The Relation of Community and Family to Risk Among Urban-Poor Adolescents, in HISTORICAL AND
GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCES OF PSYCHOPA THOLOGY
317, 349 (Cohen et al. eds., 1998).
