Youth violence prevention

Expert review

Violence, particularly brutal acts, committed by and against young people continues to be a major source of concern among the general public. These concerns are reflected in the number of motions submitted by members of the Swiss parliament in recent years (Leuthard (03.3298), Amherd (06.3646) and Galladé (07.3665)). In response, the Federal Council announced that one of the goals of its political agenda during the 2007-2011 legislature period will be to examine this problem in depth, with a view to developing a violence prevention strategy directed specifically at young people.

The present report was commissioned following three separate parliamentary motions: Leuthard 03.3298 'Jugendgewalt' (Youth violence); Amherd 06.3646 'Jugendgewalt. Mehr Effizienz und Wirkung in der Prävention (Youth violence: a call for more effective prevention)'; and Galladé 07.3665 'Schutz der Kinder und Jugendlichen vor Gewalt in Unterhaltungsmedien (Protecting children from media violence)'.

In response to these calls, the Federal Council asked the Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) to compile a report on youth violence prevention. Given the complexity of this subject, the FSIO decided to entrust the situation analysis and formulation of recommendations to external experts. Their findings would then form the bases of the FSIO report to the Federal Council.

The present expert report has three aims:

To generate an up-to-date and exhaustive overview of existing knowledge with regard to effective violence prevention measures at three key levels - the family, the school and the local community.
To consider the young person’s entire psychological and social development from birth to adolescence as part of a far-reaching comprehensive children and youth policy.
To examine universal, selective and indicated violence prevention measures and to identify those measures which are most likely to have positive effects for specific target groups.

The report’s key findings and recommendations can be found on pages 34-40.

Click to download the corresponding pdf-document (1.912 MB)

Available on the website since May 26, 2009