Fight Navigator: Exploring the Feasibility of a Retaliatory Violence Prevention Program to Help Youth Manage the Code of the Street

Abstract

Violence remains the leading cause of injury and death for people between the ages of 15 and 24 and presents a challenge for communities of color. Better understanding of the context surrounding violence is critical in order to develop effective prevention interventions. We conducted a two-phase, qualitative, feasibility study to develop and initially evaluate a retaliatory violence program, Fight Navigator. Focus groups (n=20) and semi-structured case vignette interviews (n=20) were conducted with the target population that were analyzed using a consensual qualitative research approach. Findings suggest that participants were more likely to believe that conflicts could be resolved without violence and were better able to identify specific face-saving techniques to respond to threats after participating in the intervention. Our results demonstrate the value of incorporating youth perspectives into violence prevention efforts and pave the pathway for future research and practice.

Keywords

• youth
• retaliatory violence
• prevention
• qualitative