Preventing Violence: The Importance of Early
Intervention with Very Young Children
The American Psychological Association (APA)
supports initiatives to address violence prevention with very young children
(0-5 years). These early years are the time at which children are most
vulnerable for learning aggression as a means of social interaction. Programs
are needed that employ multiple strategies for providing supportive
environments, developing pro-social skills, and accommodating ethnic, cultural,
and economic diversity.
Violence is a major social and health problem that affects
large numbers of children. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
juveniles accounted for 17% of all violent crime arrests in 1997. Juveniles
are victims in nearly 25% of all violent crimes.
Violent behavior is relatively stable over time and across
social domains. Aggressive behavior in early childhood is the single best
predictor of aggression in later life. Early childhood offers a critical
period for overcoming risk factors for violent behavior and providing
supports for the development of pro-social skills and behavior.
Research has demonstrated that aggression is primarily a
learned behavior that develops through observation, imitation, direct
experience, and rehearsal. Children's likelihood to engage in violent
behaviors is determined through a complex system of individual, family, peer
group, community, and societal factors. Thus, violence prevention requires
comprehensive solutions that address the multiple causal factors and the
multiple contexts of violence.
Violence occurs across ethnically, culturally, and
economically diverse groups who differ in values, beliefs, education,
parenting techniques, and socialization practices. Violence prevention
efforts must therefore include flexibility in order to incorporate
individual differences.
Violence prevention efforts directed toward very young
children (0-5 years) provide resources, activities, and system changes to
ensure that children have constructive role models, emotional support, and
opportunities to gain the necessary skills (e.g., problem solving, emotional
expression, communication, anger management, and self-control) for
effectively relating to others without violence.
Violence prevention programs for very young children yield
economic benefits. Through the promotion of individual and family health and
stability, these programs may reduce expenditures for medical care, special
education, and involvement with the judicial system.
Violence prevention programs for very young children also
enhance the quality of family life and help children grow physically,
mentally, emotionally, and socially in environments that promote and support
their development.
Recommendations
Establish violence prevention initiatives for very young
children involving the individual, the family, and the community in a
variety of contexts.
Incorporate violence prevention initiatives for very young
children into existing violence prevention efforts and other education and
health-related programs such as Safe and Drug Free Schools programs, Head
Start, Healthy Start, Even Start, etc.
Dedicate resources to the development and long-term
evaluation of violence prevention programs so that the programs can be
improved as more is learned about effective prevention.
For more information about violence prevention with very young
children or violence prevention generally, please contact
APA's Public Policy Office at (202) 336-6062.
