Community Violence Intervention Programs on Social Media - A Comparative Study

• In Event: A Review of Community Violence Intervention Programs in the Greater Philadelphia Region: A Multi-Study Panel

Abstract

Why is social media important for community violence intervention programs? This study uses social media content analysis of formal CVI programs in three cities within the Philadelphia region combined with interviews with CVI specialists and support staff to demonstrate the importance of social media to CVI. Previous studies have shown how community violence plays out on social media with some studies showing how it can be utilized within the disruption of violence. This study will show that social media is also an important part of the ecological structure of CVI programs that is in need of further study and inclusion with the study of CVI. Social media is a key resource and environment for CVI, mobilizing and connecting community responses to violence, building trust within the community, ensuring the community feels involved in CVI and also professionalizing the space of CVI. Through comparison between cities and types of social media this study will also show how lack of social media engagement with and by CVI programs is detrimental to the successful implementation of violence intervention strategies. One major finding of this study shows that women involved in violence intervention are leading the way in successful social media use within CVI programs.

Authors

• Michelle Lyttle Storrod, Widener University

• Jay Szkola, Rowan University

• Devon Ziminski, Rutgers University

• Kwan-Lamar Blount-Hill, Arizona State University