You can get as many different answers to that question as people you ask. For this entry I will utilize the work of The Prevention Institute, because not only is it a California resource, but the institute is one of the leaders in the field in developing collaborative partnerships to research and implement a promising prevention approach.

Prevention (and Primary Prevention) involves taking action to prevent problems from occurring before the onset of symptoms. It focuses on environmental or systemic changes that are aimed at entire populations, such as an entire community, rather than treating one individual at a time. This is important to remember as gangs and gang involvement are more the symptom of other underlying issues. Law enforcement is often the answer to treating the symptom - a response after the crime has occured, whereas prevention seeks to get at the root causes before the crime occurs. While prevention may start with education and strengthening knowledge, it is much more then focusing on the behaviors of the individual and seeks to change policies, organizations, and systems. I'll give two short stories to illustrate. The first involves a stream and is a story that has been told at many a conference and in many ways 

Moving Upstream  While walking along the banks of a river, a passerby notices that someone in the water is drowning. After pulling the person ashore, the rescuer notices another person in the river in need of help. Before long, the river is filled with drowning people, and more rescuers are required to assist the initial rescuer. Unfortunately, some people are not saved, and some victims fall back into the river after they have been pulled ashore. At this time, one of the rescuers starts walking upstream. “Where are you going?” the other rescuers ask, disconcerted. The upstream rescuer replies, “I’m going upstream to see why so many people keep falling into the river in the first place.” As it turns out, the bridge leading across the river upstream has a hole through which people are falling. The upstream rescuer realizes that fixing the hole in the bridge will prevent many people from ever falling into the river in the first place. 

My Dog Rex    I have a dog named Rex, who I love dearly. Lately I noticed Rex has fleas and is constantly scratching to make himself feel better, but the flea bites become more and more uncomfortable and I need to find Rex some help. At first I give him a flea bath and he seems much happier, but then a few weeks later he is being bitten again and just miserable. That is when I noticed that Rex’s bed and doghouse, and even the yard have fleas. I could go on giving Rex a bath every few weeks, but ultimately if I keep putting him back in the same environment he will continue to be plagues with fleas. I will need to treat the environment as well as Rex if I am to prevent future outbreaks of fleas.

The institute uses a model called the Spectrum of Prevention, which starts with Step 1) Strengthening Individual Knowledge and Skills and progresses through stages to Step 6) Influencing Policy and Legislation; although a community effort can find themselves in different spots on the continuum at any given time. For a one-page primer on the Spectrum of Prevention click the link, or for more information click here.

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