Prevention at school

Project description

In Germany, all schools are obliged to implement prevention measures to prevent the occurrence or consolidation of a variety of problematic developments (e.g. violence, addiction) in children and young people. At the same time, positive developmental outcomes (e.g. social skills) should also be explicitly promoted in the school context as part of the prevention and/or education mandate. In contemporary theory- and evidence-based, effective school prevention approaches, these two perspectives are combined: Prevention and developmental support should enable adolescents to cope with challenges in an age-appropriate and adequate manner by strengthening their personality and improving their living conditions, thereby both preventing the development of problem behaviour and enabling young people to make an active contribution to a democratic society. In order to fulfil this important and extensive task successfully, i.e. effectively and sustainably, schools need their own cross-thematic concepts that define the school's goals, long-term framework conditions and specific activities with regard to prevention and development promotion and guide behaviour accordingly.

However, schools without suitable, scientifically based guidance and training often do not have the necessary expertise to (further) develop prevention concepts. While very good overviews and catalogues of criteria already exist that can guide the selection of very specific and effective measures, there has so far been a lack of quality criteria, i.e. orientation frameworks for good school prevention concepts. In the first phase (2023/2024), the primary aim was therefore to derive these criteria based on theory and evidence. "Good" concepts are those that enable effective prevention and development promotion work in relation to (school-specific) defined goals. To this end, they must fulfil requirements that relate to both the specific measures and the necessary conditions for systematic and sustainable implementation. In the second phase (2024), the focus was on adding a practical guide to creating school prevention concepts that meet these criteria.

The handout "Cross-thematic school prevention and development promotion concepts. Background and impulses for practice" contains (1) a description of why a cross-thematic school prevention and development promotion concept makes sense and is also necessary in view of limited resources, (2) a description of the theoretically and empirically given reasons for the quality criteria and (3) information and suggestions for the practical organisation of the process of (further) developing the concept. Twelve index cards also offer a condensed presentation of relevant information for concept work.

The final files can be downloaded free of charge at: https://wegweiser-gruene-liste.de/dfk-angebote-fortbildungen/schule/praeventionskonzepte/External link.

Publications
Blumenthal, A. & Weichold, K. (2025). Cross-thematic school prevention and development support concepts. Backgrounds and impulses for practice. Bonn: German Forum for Crime Prevention. https://wegweiser-gruene-liste. de/dfk-angebote-fortbildungen/schule/praeventionskonzepte/External link

Project management
Dr Anja Blumenthal
Associate Prof. Dr Karina Weichold

Financed/supported by
German Forum for Crime Prevention (DFK) & Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJ)