Preventing school violence ten years after Columbine

The Social Research Unit will host it's annual lecture at the Royal Commonwealth Club on July 2009. Guest speakers include Professor Delbert S. Elliot, director of the Center for the Study of Prevention and Violence and Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado.

The murder of 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado on April 20, 1999, and the suicide of the two shooters, caused shock and consternation all over the world, spurring efforts to prevent similar catastrophic events. In the wake of the tragedy, the Columbine Review Commission made recommendations aimed at understanding, predicting and preventing violence in schools and communities. A decade later what can be said about progress in this area? The Social Research Unit at Dartington invites you to join them on Thursday, July 2 in London for the 2009 Dartington Annual Lecture: "Lessons from Columbine: Effective School-Based Violence Prevention Strategies and Programmes" to be given by Professor Del Elliott. The event, which is free of charge, will open with a reception at 5.30pm in the Commonwealth Club (25 Northumberland Avenue, London, WC2N 5AP) to be followed by the lecture from 6-8.00pm in the Commonwealth Club's auditorium. As space is limited, please reserve your free place as soon as possible by sending an email to lecture2009@dartington.org.uk or phoning Kay Turner or Rosanne Spalton at 01803 762400. Del Elliott is Director of The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado. The Center is home to Blueprints for Violence Prevention, a project that has carried out rigorous scientific reviews of over 800 drug and violence prevention programmes and has certified 11 as having strong evidence of effectiveness and sustainability. His recent books include Good Kids from Bad Neighborhoods (2006) and Violence in American Schools (1998). He has won numerous awards for his extensive scientific and public service work, including the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention at the US Department of Justice.