Prevention or Intervention

By : TCC Staff

The recent Denver Post article, “Gangs: Prevention or Intervention?” (3.12.07), details two approaches that Denver area agencies are attempting to handle and avoid gang violence in Denver: prevention and intervention.  These two approaches work in very distinct ways.  Programs that use the prevention model aim to reach younger kids “before they ever sport gang tattoos and throw gang signs.”  On the other hand, intervention programs seek to reach out and provide alternatives to youth already entrenched in the violent cycle of gang life.             

Staff writer Greg Osher notes that prominent anti-gang activists, such as Rev. Leon Kelly, have shifted their focus away from intervention to prevention.  In the article Osher quotes Kelly as saying, "It's easier to mold and build a kid than to fix an adult." This is in line with the Conflict Center’s approach. Our programs focus on giving youth the skills they need to make effective decisions, manage their emotions and think into the future about consequences for their actions. If we can give these youth the skills at an early age we can prevent violence later in life.

Additionally, the article details that the intervention model has large pitfalls.  He cites the example of Operation Reconstruction that during its heydays in the 1990’s counseled gang members and provided its clients with training in construction trades. 

This program eventually went by the wayside after “some of those who benefited from the program became involved in homicide.” Additionally, Osher notes that those who worked in these intervention programs burnt out, and could not stand to bury another youngster.          

The clear delineation between these two approaches is highlighted by the fact that there is a limited funding pool for anti-gang programs and that agencies need to provide a best practice to violence prevention to gain access to these funds.

However, should this limited funding pool cause one model to become extinct?  We, at the Conflict Center, believe that instead of simply choosing one model we need to look at violence prevention as a continuum. This approach allows us to plant the seeds of violence prevention in young kids, much as we do with our in-school programs, while providing opportunities for people who have committed violent acts to learn alternatives violent behavior in the face of conflict.   We in this community need to rally support around funding for prevention so that programs can be sustainable and grow.