TY - JOUR
T1 - What Is Not in the Methods Section
T2 - Challenges, Successes, and Lessons Learned From Conducting School-Based Interpersonal Violence Prevention Research
AU - Edwards, Katie M.
AU - Orchowski, Lindsay M.
AU - Espelage, Dorothy L.
AU - Temple, Jeff R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2023/2
Y1 - 2023/2
N2 - Interpersonal violence (IV)—which includes sexual assault, sexual harassment, teen dating violence, bullying, and other forms of violence—among youth (i.e., individuals 18 years of age or younger) is a public health crisis in the United States. As such, preventing IV among youth is a public health priority. Schools are natural settings for IV prevention among youth. However, conducting school-based IV prevention research with youth in school settings is riddled with challenges, and there is little systematic discussion of lessons learned from doing this work. As such, the purpose of this paper is to outline challenges, successes, and lessons learned from conducting school-based IV prevention research, as ascertained by four researchers with over 75 years of collective experience conducting school-based IV prevention research. Specifically, we focus on the importance of researchers (1) doing research on the school/school district prior to reaching out about potential partnerships; (2) establishing relationships with school partners that are characterized by being present, trustworthiness, and respect as well as the prioritization of school partners’ ideas over one’s research agenda; (3) working collaboratively with school partners to conceptualize and fund school-driven ideas; (4) preparing for pushback, often from parents/caregivers; and (5) embracing reciprocity (i.e., do things to support your school partners that may not directly benefit you). Additional considerations for recruitment, enrollment, and retention; program implementation and data collection; and dissemination are discussed.
AB - Interpersonal violence (IV)—which includes sexual assault, sexual harassment, teen dating violence, bullying, and other forms of violence—among youth (i.e., individuals 18 years of age or younger) is a public health crisis in the United States. As such, preventing IV among youth is a public health priority. Schools are natural settings for IV prevention among youth. However, conducting school-based IV prevention research with youth in school settings is riddled with challenges, and there is little systematic discussion of lessons learned from doing this work. As such, the purpose of this paper is to outline challenges, successes, and lessons learned from conducting school-based IV prevention research, as ascertained by four researchers with over 75 years of collective experience conducting school-based IV prevention research. Specifically, we focus on the importance of researchers (1) doing research on the school/school district prior to reaching out about potential partnerships; (2) establishing relationships with school partners that are characterized by being present, trustworthiness, and respect as well as the prioritization of school partners’ ideas over one’s research agenda; (3) working collaboratively with school partners to conceptualize and fund school-driven ideas; (4) preparing for pushback, often from parents/caregivers; and (5) embracing reciprocity (i.e., do things to support your school partners that may not directly benefit you). Additional considerations for recruitment, enrollment, and retention; program implementation and data collection; and dissemination are discussed.
KW - adolescents
KW - bullying
KW - children
KW - community-based participatory action research
KW - guidance
KW - implementation
KW - lessons learned
KW - prevention
KW - school
KW - sexual assault
KW - teen dating violence
KW - violence
KW - youth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135036044&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85135036044&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/08862605221109881
DO - 10.1177/08862605221109881
M3 - Article
C2 - 35861274
AN - SCOPUS:85135036044
SN - 0886-2605
VL - 38
SP - 4507
EP - 4532
JO - Journal of Interpersonal Violence
JF - Journal of Interpersonal Violence
IS - 3-4
ER -