Preventing youth violence: a CISM pre-incident approach

Violence in the United States is a national public health epidemic, and increasingly, much of this violence is committed by the country's young people. Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) approaches emphasize a comprehensive continuum of services from pre-incident training through acute care to post-intervention services. This paper outlines a pre-incident approach to preventing youth violence for parents, teachers, and counselors. The approach includes the identification of a continuum of warning signs and five guidelines to address the underlying needs manifested in the warning signs. The implications are discussed.