Crime prevention in schools: a multi-disciplinary intervention research project

Youths are both perpetrators and victims of crime. However they are involved, society as a whole has to assume responsibility for breaking the cycle of crime and violence. Literature and evidence from existing programmes indicate that crime prevention should begin with children and young people and that the school is the ideal locus for such programmes. This paper describes a Crime Prevention in Schools Project which aims to bring together a multi-disciplinary group of academics and researchers to develop and implement an intervention research model for crime prevention in schools. The academics are drawn from a newly formed faculty at the University of Natal in Durban called the Faculty of Community and Development Disciplines (CADD). The faculty comprises professional and academic disciplines such as psychology, anthropology, social work, architecture, town planning, adult education, nursing and development studies. The research project forms part of a broader initiative to introduce service learning into the university curriculum. Through direct services, organisational networking, policy advocacy and research, the aim is to develop a comprehensive integrated, multi-disciplinary intervention research programme aimed at crime prevention in schools.