What is violence? Is it limited to the behavior of the intimidating school yard bully who beats up other children in search of milk money? Or could it also be the aggressive driver who speeds down the highway, flashing his brights so other motorists will move out of his way?
Identifying violent behavior and finding ways to stop it is the intent of a five-year-old project in Ramsey County, Minn. that turns to the community rather than government for answers.
Violence is ingrained in our culture, explained Shirley Pierce, coordinator of The Initiative for Violence-Free Families and Communities, and “we need to look at how we’re feeding it.” It’s so easy to blame others for propagating violence, like the media, she said. “We’re all part of the problem and we’re all part of the solution.”
Drawing on the resources of the community is the most effective way to carry out the initiative’s mission, county officials agree. They believe the community best understands the problems they face and the strengths they have for addressing them. Changes initiated by a community have more of an impact than change promoted by government, they concede.
“This has to be kept alive by the communities and neighborhoods,” said Commissioner Rafael Ortega. “It gives people a sense of control,” and “by being in on the ground floor, they’re already the experts.”
Prior to the initiative’s conception, the Ramsey County board was already investigating ways to improve its family violence services. In the early ’80s, an Abuse Council was formed, new programs were created, and old ones expanded.
Then, in 1989, after the murder of a young boy in protective custody by his parents, county officials reconsidered their efforts. Although an internal review revealed the county had met all of its responsibilities in helping the family, there was a realization that the county alone didn’t have the ability or capacity to prevent violence.
The board approved a recommendation by the Abuse Council to promote family violence prevention in a way that involved the larger community.
The county as provider of intervention services is in a “reactive position,” said Pierce. It’s important to look at what’s further upstream, and “be thinking about root causes.”
Prevention hasn’t been “an equal partner,” acknowledged Ortega. “Prevention should be our number one goal for the future,” and it is done “a lot better by a neighbor than a government official.”
The initiative brings together more than 500 individuals and 100 organizations that work through 10 Action Teams. The teams take on different themes and issues, such as workplaces, religious institutions, neighborhoods, schools, the media, health and social service delivery systems, communities of color, child abuse prevention and the legislature.
Team members come from various sectors of the community, including battered women’s and children’s advocacy programs, schools, private businesses, hospitals, social service agencies, churches and synagogues, television stations and newspapers, state and city officials, neighborhoods, cultural and community organizations, law enforcement and the courts, and all levels of county government.
This program is unique “in the way it engages people,” said Pierce. “They’re free to design their own plan. They’re free to implement their own plan. ... They’re the creators and designers and doers.”
The work of the action teams is evident in many parts of the community. Some of their accomplishments include:
• violence prevention training packages for the workplace
• a workplace violence policy adopted by the Ramsey board of commissioners for county offices
• a Violence-Free Campus Campaign in the Twin Cities
• violence awareness and prevention projects in the African American, Chicano-Latino and Native American communities
• domestic violence screening systems for primary care medical clinics
• a “Role Models” handbook for youth workers in daycare, camp and school settings
• legislative and educational initiatives to prevent gun violence
• violence prevention curricula and programs in all Ramsey County schools and resource development for private schools, and
• a series of televised public service announcements.
Through the efforts of the Media Action Team, the University of Minnesota, two years ago, pulled its football ads which boasted: “Pain, Suffering, Brutality. Get all 3 for $8.” Team members had expressed their concern to university officials that they were “belittling the experiences of victims of domestic violence,” recalled Dave Mathews, head of the Action Team.
The media team has also encouraged local news stations to run more positive pieces on what neighborhoods are doing to prevent violence to counter the “If it bleeds, it leads” mentality in newsrooms. Mathews believes continual coverage of violence increases isolation within communities and a sense of being overwhelmed when citizens don’t hear what citizens are doing to prevent it. When the media says, “We’re only reporting what’s out there,” Mathews remarked, he counters with, “You’re only reflecting part of the story.”
One area where change has been most evident is in Ramsey County offices and its employees.
“We’ve changed to a deliberative and collaborative model of management” with more of an emphasis on employee safety, commented Rob Fulton, director of public health. All employees now carry cellular phones when they’re out in the field, he noted, and they’re advised not to enter building if they perceive them as unsafe. They’ve also been trained to ask clients about whether they feel safe in their home and to direct them to resources where they can get help.
There needs to be change even at a commissioner level, added Commissioner Ortega. “It’s not just hitting somebody, it’s how we behave,” he said. “We can be assertive without being aggressive.”
The county’s role in the initiative is very limited. Pierce and her staff provide a continual vision and serve as a convener, community partner and facilitator. The county provides any necessary resources, such as printing, product design and layout, and coordinate Action Team mailings. County staff are also encouraged to support and participate in the initiative’s work. The authority to plan strategies, made decisions, and act resides in the community, Pierce stressed.
We knew we had to emphasize the county’s limited role, she said, in order to get the support of private sector and nonprofit organizations who were asking, “Was this one more government program?” Pierce said “there was a lot of suspicion.”
Funding for the program comes from the county and the state. Ramsey County contributes about $140,000 annually, but Pierce points out that more than 10,000 volunteer hours per year are donated by members for meetings, Action Team events and product development. The state provided $11,000 to the initiative in 1996.
Although a formal evaluation measuring the impact of the program is just getting underway, Pierce can see how attitudes are changing. “People are defining violence on a spectrum,” she observed.
Before, any talk of violence was assumed to be about violence in the streets or bullying behavior in the workplace and schools, she said. Five years ago, she continued, aggressive driving may not have been labeled as violence.
“People are talking more about doing simple things,” she added, like being courteous and saying “Good morning” to neighbors. People are also making connections between behavior at home and the workplace. But the telltale sign of its long-term success she put in the form of a question, “Do we raise a less violent generation? Will that be the case in 10 years?”