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CeaseFire Program: Overview

The CeaseFire, which is an evidence-based program, is founded on public health strategies to reduce violence incidences by using highly skilled outreach personnel. The program’s personnel, popularly known as violence interrupters, employ mediation tactics to disrupt potential violent fights before they can escalate to gunfire ( Whitehill, Webster, Frattaroli & Parker, 2014 ). Launched in 1999, the program by 2004 had been implemented in over 20 CeaseFire sites in Chicago and other Illinois cities ( Nordli, 2018 ). Most of the program’s approaches are borrowed from the field of public health, which is renowned for its accomplishments in changing dangerous behaviors. The program focuses its efforts on small groups within a population at a time rather than on large groups of people, for example, drug users and sellers. The group identified can either comprise of possible perpetrators of violence or recipients.

Violence interrupters are expertly prepared to preempt imminent or ongoing fights in a locality before the aggressors cause bloodshed or even deaths. The workers are selected to work in their usual communities since they are familiar with them. Most of the CeaseFire personnel have, in the past, been members of gangs, while others have been involved in other criminal activities ( Nordli, 2018 ). It is thus believed that they understand violence patterns in their localities, a factor which is crucial to the program's agenda. The program is hinged on a three-point methodology to violence deterrence and mediation. The first is the reliance on statistically generated information and street knowledge to detect, identify, and prevent cases of violence. Consequently, workers can isolate areas that are more prone to violence. Second, interruption, intermediation, and risk reduction involves workers intervening during crises, mediating disputes in the society, and interceding on group disputes, thus averting violence. Last, personnel who work to change risky behaviors of the youths have enough working knowledge of their community ( Ritter, 2009 ). If the magnitude of violence escalates to dangerous levels, the personnel are provided with the necessary tools.

CeaseFire Program Cognitive Factors

A primary characteristic of the program’s personnel is having background knowledge of their locality. Also, being conversant with an area’s criminal gangs, drug users, and sellers and other derelicts is a plus to the program. Knowing the red areas in the city, the norms, and behaviors that can trigger violence helps the violence interrupters achieve their agenda (Decker, Wilcox, Holliday & Webster, 2018). The workers acknowledge that most violence in the street is unplanned. For example, men can disagree on women or debts, resulting in fierce shootouts ( Nordli, 2018 ). The operating principle of Ceasefire is that its personnel are independent and thus can make informed decisions during profiling and interruption of violent incidences. Violence interrupters are trained on how to leverage their locality background information to create rapport with gang leaders and other youths with violent behaviors (Decker et al., 2018 ). With this strategy, violence interrupters can disrupt the cycle of vengeful attacks since they know the aggressors and those on revenge missions. Tactfulness, resilience, and interpersonal skills are crucial characteristics required of the program’s personnel.

CeaseFire Program's Environmental Factors

Frequent incidences of violence in Chicago necessitated the establishment of the CeaseFire Program. Regions, where the program has spread, are characterized by violence, illegal drugs, firearms, poverty, and high crime rates ( Ritter, 2009 ). Despite the programs suffering several setbacks over the years, its success has hugely been felt among the masses. The reliance on former gang members has attracted criticisms since some of them have been charged with crimes. By using such individuals, the designers of the program aimed at establishing trust with members of local communities because they had reformed and had information on patterns of violence. The ability of the outreach group to identify and respond to violent situations depended on their capacity to encourage the involvement of the locals (Nordli, 2018).

Constructs of a Behavior Theory

Factors affecting human behavior can be explained through the social-ecological model (SEM). SEM provides guidance for developing and implementing behavioral programs within social environments ( Tekkas & Betrus, 2018 ). Two fundamental concepts form the bedrock of this model. The first is that an individual’s conduct affects and is impacted by varying degrees of influence while the other concerns how a person’s character shapes and is also influenced by their social circles ( Decker et al., 2018 ). A person can become violent by being influenced by their peers; on the other hand, one's behavior can shape their social circles. With the help of the model, the personnel will be able to understand the risk factors of violence. Through their nonviolent methods of resolving conflicts, CeaseFire workers are in a better position to map out relationships and social factors that contribute to violent incidences. For example, they can approach a young person who is beginning to engage with gangs and ask them to reconsider their decision.

Methods for Modifying the Behavior

The CeaseFire Program is a success with shootings and killings decreasing significantly. Behavior modification aims to shape and enhance the use of alternative behaviors (Sharma Malawade & Shrikhande, 2018). When violence interrupters identify a person who is on the verge of causing harm to another, they approach them before they cause any harm. Replacement behaviors are constructive alternatives that a person can assume to achieve an agenda without harming others. Crime mapping can be used to identify persons on the verge of causing mayhem. After mapping out possible crimes and their probable perpetrators, the team uses social network analysis to ascertain social factors that could be the future triggers to the crimes ( Clifton & Webster, 2017 ). Working with the information gained counselors in the team different behavior modification techniques such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) (Easterbrook & Meehan, 2017). Through SBT, patients can understand the thoughts and emotions that influence queer behaviors. For instance, if thoughts to indulge in drugs cause one to react violently, an individual can learn to identify it and disrupt such thought patterns (Easterbrook & Meehan, 2017). CBT can be used in conjunction with meditation sessions to help a person alleviate the urge to harm others or desists from using violent means to achieve an objective.

References

Clifton, A., & Webster, G. D. (2017). An introduction to social network analysis for personality and social psychologists.  Social Psychological and Personality Science ,  8 (4), 442-453.

Decker, M., Wilcox, H., Holliday, C., & Webster, D. (2018). An Integrated Public Health Approach to Interpersonal Violence and Suicide Prevention and Response.  Public Health Reports ,  133 (1_suppl), 65S-79S. doi: 10.1177/0033354918800019

Easterbrook, C. J., & Meehan, T. (2017). The therapeutic relationship and cognitive behavioral therapy: A case study of an adolescent girl with depression.

Nordli, B. (2018). CeaseFire fights gun violence in Chicago by treating it as an epidemic. Retrieved 14 November 2019, from abeautifulperspective.com/2018/05/ceasefire-reducing-chicago-gun-violence-epidemic/

Ritter, N. (2009). CeaseFire: A Public Health Approach to Reduce Shootings and Killings. Retrieved 14 November 2019, from nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/ceasefire-public-health-approach-reduce-shootings-and-killings

Sharma, A., Malawade, M., & Shrikhande, S. (2018). Effectiveness of Behaviour Modification Strategies in School Going Children for Specific Classroom Behaviour.  Pediatrics & Therapeutics ,  08 (02). doi: 10.4172/2161-0665.1000347

Tekkas Kerman, K., & Betrus, P. (2018). Violence against women in Turkey: a social-ecological framework of determinants and prevention strategies. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse , 1524838018781104.

Whitehill, J. M., Webster, D. W., Frattaroli, S., & Parker, E. M. (2014). Interrupting violence: how the CeaseFire Program prevents imminent gun violence through conflict mediation.  Journal of urban health: bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine ,  91 (1), 84–95. doi:10.1007/s11524-013-9796-9