Arlene Weisz and Beverly Black interview practitioners from more than
fifty dating violence and sexual assault programs across the United
States to provide a unique resource for effective teen dating violence
prevention. Enhancing existing research with the shared wisdom of the
nation's prevention community, Weisz and Black describe program goals
and content, recruitment strategies, membership, structure, and
community involvement in practitioners' own words. Their comprehensive
approach reveals the core techniques that should be a part of any
successful prevention program, including theoretical consistency, which
contributes to sound content development, and peer education and youth
leadership, which empower participants and keep programs relevant.
Weisz and Black show that multisession programs are most useful in
preventing violence and assault, because they enable participants to
learn new behaviors and change entrenched attitudes. Combining single-
and mixed-gender sessions, as well as steering discussions away from the
assignment of blame, also yield positive results. The authors
demonstrate that productive education remains sensitive to differences
in culture and sexual orientation and includes experiential exercises
and role-playing. Manuals help in guiding educators and improving
evaluation, but they should also allow adolescents to direct the
discussion. Good programs regularly address teachers and parents.
Ultimately, though, Weisz and Black find that the ideal program retains
prevention educators long after the apprentice stage, encouraging
self-evaluation and new interventions based on the wisdom that
experience brings.
