Exploring Responses to Community Violence Trauma Using a Neighborhood Network of Programs

Abstract

Responses to community violence should include interventions not just for those who are offenders but also for those who are victims of the violence and community members who are affected by the violence. In this study, one city’s public health response to victims of community violence using a neighborhood trauma team network (NTTN) is explored. Neighborhood trauma teams provide victims and their families with psychological first aid, logistical guidance, and referral to long-term therapeutic services. These teams also provide referral and community meeting support for community residents exposed to violence. To better understand program operations and identify the strengths and challenges of this response model, semi-structured interviews with lead program staff were used as well as a review of program documents. The results show that the NTTN has a clear purpose in meeting immediate client needs, but ambiguity exists in the network’s role in community healing and in community violence prevention. The NTTN response is mapped onto a social–ecological framework of violence prevention to contextualize this community-based public health response in the broader public health–criminal justice setting in which it operates. Implications for NTTN function and coordination are discussed.

Keywords

• community violence responses
• trauma
• public health
• socio-ecological framework
• cross-sector partnerships