TheInCredible Messenger
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Episode insights

Diagnose the Violence Before Choosing a Model

A program tested elsewhere still needs to fit the violence happening here, the people affected, and what local partners can deliver.

What this resource explains

Cities often request a familiar model by name before they have completed a local assessment. The evidence describes what worked under particular conditions; it does not establish that the same design will fit every place.

Selection should follow diagnosis: identify who is most affected, how violence is occurring, what resources already exist, and what the local system can actually deliver.

Put the insight to work

Five checks before choosing a model

A program with credible results still has a defined population, mechanism, delivery requirements, and measured outcomes. Use these questions with people who understand the local pattern and those responsible for putting the response into practice.

  1. 01

    Name the harm

    Which incidents, people, places, and period are in scope? Separate firearm homicide, nonfatal shootings, partner violence, and other harms before combining data.

  2. 02

    Trace the pattern

    What do local incident records, residents, survivors, outreach workers, and service providers each know? Check where their accounts agree and where they do not.

  3. 03

    Test the mechanism

    Who would the proposed model reach, what would staff do, and why should those actions change this pattern? Compare the model’s evaluated population, outcomes, and setting with yours.

  4. 04

    Check delivery

    Can the partners identify and reach people, staff the work, respond at the needed hours, protect information, fund it, supervise it, and repair failed handoffs?

  5. 05

    Make a review decision

    What early signs would show reach and quality? Which outcomes take longer? Name the person who can change or stop the approach when those signals do not hold.

Illustrative choice

A city asks for group violence intervention.

First check whether a locally identified group dynamic accounts for the priority shootings, whether affected people can be reached safely, and whether outreach, support, and enforcement partners can carry out their roles. If the local pattern instead centers on partner homicide or suicide, that name alone does not make the model fit. Keep the distinct harms in view and choose responses for each.

This is a hypothetical planning example. It does not diagnose any city or establish that one intervention will work there.

Use the GVI reference to examine that model’s mechanism, then compare it with your actual pattern. The National Network for Safe Communities describes its strategy and operating partners. For broader community violence prevention, consult the CDC approach.

Follow the question

From this idea to a local decision

Use the part you need next. A guest’s account, research finding, local pattern, and implementation plan answer different questions.

Understand the concept

Community Violence

Intentional violence between individuals in public spaces, ranging from fights to shootings and usually involving people who are not closely related.

Read the reference

Check the evidence

Resource & Evidence

Define the type of harm and place, inspect the data, and check what research can and cannot establish.

Examine sources

Work through the decision

From Safety Council to Violence Reduction Plan

An overview of how a community safety council can turn shared priorities into an accountable violence-reduction plan.

Open the worksheet

Bring the right people together

Assess the landscape with Jonathan

Bring the local pattern, existing capacity, and model choice into one decision.

Explore the engagement
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