A Prevention Primer for Domestic Violence: Terminology, Tools, and the Public Health Approach by Linda Chamberlain with contributions from Julie Ann Rivers-Cochran (March 2008).

In Brief:

Domestic violence (DV) advocates have expanded the scope of their work to include a wide range of prevention activities. With mounting evidence that DV is a leading determinant of health, DV has become a public health priority. The health disparities and social injustices of DV provide common ground for advocates and public health practitioners to work together to promote prevention. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of prevention concepts and terminology that can be applied to DV. The four basic steps of a public health approach to prevention are introduced followed by a discussion of the two classification systems that are used to categorize prevention strategies. Definitions and examples of DV-specific strategies are discussed for each of the classification systems. The importance of understanding prevention terminology relative to grants and funding opportunities is emphasized throughout the paper.

Public health promotes comprehensive, multi-level approaches to prevention. The Spectrum of Prevention is introduced as a planning tool to develop broader initiatives for preventing DV. Strategies to reduce childhood exposure to violence against women in the media are outlined for each of the six action levels of the spectrum to demonstrate how this tool can be used to develop comprehensive prevention initiatives that reach beyond educational strategies and work to change institutional practices and policies. The paper closes with a discussion of the tremendous potential for building public health-advocacy partnerships. A collaborative initiative between the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and domestic violence coalitions called DELTA (Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancements and Leadership Through Alliances) is highlighted as an important step in building innovative prevention partnerships.

About the author: Linda Chamberlain is the founding director of the Alaska Family Violence Prevention Project. A frequent keynote speaker at domestic violence and public health conferences, she uses her dog team to demonstrate “lessons from the trail” on leadership and teamwork to promote a coordinated community response to domestic violence.

• A Prevention Primer for Domestic Violence: Terminology, Tools, and the Public Health Approach

• Assessment for Lifetime Exposure to Violence as a Pathway to Prevention By Linda Chamberlain with contributions from Peggy Brown (February 2006)
• Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault By David A. Wolfe and Peter G. Jaffe (January 2003)
• Poised for Prevention: Advancing Promising Approaches to Primary Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence by Lisa Fujie Parks, Larry Cohen, and Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz, Prevention Institute (January 2007)
• Primary Prevention and Adult Domestic Violence By Jeffrey L. Edleson (February 2000)