University of Oregon
The University of Oregon's Institute on Violence and Destructive Behaviors (IVDB) has been a member of the Hamilton Fish Institute (HFI) consortium since its inception and has been a consistent leader in the development of HFI research initiatives, publicity, and collaboration with other consortium members. IVDB's work over the first six years has been devoted to developing and sustaining local intervention partnerships, designing and implementing our formative and summative evaluation studies, conducting the research and furthering the mission and goals of the HFI.
In 2003, IVDB designed and tested a comprehensive school and community safety/violence needs assessment, implemented a study to validate a universal screening procedure for identifying potentially violent youth, implemented a treatment-comparison study to evaluate the effects of a combined whole school and targeted violence prevention intervention as well as implemented studies to assess the relationship between school engagement, school failure, dropout and violence in youth of color, as well as a study to assess the qualitative experiences and quantitative effects of a student involvement program called Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE). In addition to the school-wide intervention, an assessment of the violence, perpetration and victimization experiences of adolescent girls were conducted to determine girls’ experiences. A second part of this assessment included the enhancement of existing measures of safety and non-physical violence to make them more appropriate for girls, or determine the need for new instruments.
The purpose of these research activities is to study the functional relationship that exist between implementing a school-wide discipline and selective student support intervention and (a) change in discipline and safety systems in the school, (b) reductions in disruptive and violent behavior, (c) perceived quality of school climate, and (d) improvements in attendance, grades, and dropout rates.
Project Management
Principal Investigator
Dr. Jeffrey Sprague
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Vicki Nishioka
Project Manager
Tom English
Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior
The mission of the Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior is to empower schools and social service agencies to address violence and destructive behavior, at the point of school entry and beyond, in order to ensure safety and to facilitate the academic achievement and healthy social development of children and youth.