Cure Violence: A Public Health Approach to Gun Violence Reduction

• In Event: Gun Violence Reduction Strategies: The Public Health Approach

Abstract

Cure Violence, formerly known as CeaseFire Chicago, uses disease control and public health methods to prevent and reduce violence. The Cure Violence strategy has three core activities that work in concert to disrupt the transmission and reduce the prevalence of violence in communities plagued with gun violence. These activities are: interrupt transmission; identify and change the thinking of highest risk transmitters; and change group norms. This Strategy has been successfully implemented in several cities in the United States including New Orleans, and other countries including Mexico, Honduras, Iraq and South Africa. The approach is designed to shift community norms away from considering gun violence as an acceptable behavior and instead use these norms and social pressures to stop violence before it occurs. Each replication of the model is specifically adapted to address the type and level of violence in each community, and to take into consideration the cultural, political, social, and other social aspects. This presentation will discuss the history of the model, and its implementation domestically and internationally.

Author

• Brent R. Decker, University of Illinois at Chicago