Learnings From Youth-led Community Events to Address Community Violence in Washington, DC

We are Break the Cycle, a team of young researchers (ages 15-18) from Wards 7 and 8 in Washington, DC. For the past 6 months, we have learned about community violence and problem solving, and have focused on finding recommendations to combat violence in our neighborhoods.

This research topic was important to us because there have been high rates of community violence in urban neighborhoods across the country. With support from Sasha Bruce Youthwork and Child Trends, we have explored these challenges in community outreach events, called hackathons, to see how community members suggest we combat violence in our community.

Conducting youth-led community events

This Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project is about finding recommendations to combat community violence experienced by Washington, DC residents in Wards 7 and 8. We planned two community events to understand what members of our community suggest as recommendations to address community violence. The first event included 30 youth participants while the second engaged 21 adult participants. During the events, participants were asked to create boards that discovered, dreamed, developed, and delivered recommendations to tackle community violence. We analyzed the boards to identify common themes about community recommendations for violence. The most prevalent themes that came up in our analysis are described in the next section.

Community Violence Prevention Themes

Community members emphasized that improving public safety starts with strengthening relationships and trust among neighbors. They expressed a strong desire for greater unity: bringing people together through shared activities, events, and intentional efforts to rebuild connections that have been fractured by violence and trauma.

Participants highlighted the urgent need for community healing, especially in neighborhoods where tensions or “beefs” between groups have fueled cycles of conflict. They stressed that addressing the emotional and psychological impacts of violence is critical to breaking these cycles and creating lasting peace.

Community members also saw safe, clean, and accessible community spaces as being vital. These spaces give residents—especially youth—places to gather, build positive relationships, and engage in structured activities that keep them away from dangerous environments. Participants described how creating opportunities for connection, joy, and healing is a key strategy for reducing violence and strengthening the fabric of the neighborhood.

Participants believed that stricter gun laws are necessary to address the ongoing violence in their communities. They emphasized their belief that limiting access to firearms would reduce shootings, save lives, and make public spaces safer for everyone.

There was also support for proactive strategies like gun buyback events, seen as practical ways to remove unwanted or illegally owned firearms from the streets. Participants expressed that, without meaningful action to control guns, violence will continue to threaten the well-being and stability of their neighborhoods. Gun control, they emphasized, is not just a legal issue but a vital step toward community healing and violence prevention.

Youth consistently voiced the need to transform schools and the broader education system as part of a vision for safer, more supportive communities. They identified schools as a cornerstone of their ideal community, alongside recreation centers, green spaces, shopping centers, and other essential infrastructure. (Child Trends’ research refers to these resources and supports as “protective community resources”; see box.) However, the youth also emphasized that current schools often fall short, contributing to the cycles of instability and violence they see in their communities. They shared how schools often lack curricula that prepare students for adulthood, offer inadequate mental health supports, and use punitive measures instead of supporting constructive recommendations to address students’ challenges.

Youth called for schools that offer not only better food and more after-school programming, but also therapeutic mental health resources and more engaged, supportive teachers. These changes, they argued, would give students the emotional support and structure they need to stay focused and connected, thereby reducing the likelihood that young people will become involved in violence.

Participating youth also stressed the need for education to include life skills, financial literacy, and job training—tools that could open up real opportunities and reduce the economic insecurity that often underlies community violence. In addition, youth advocated for schools to adopt positive youth development approaches, which emphasize strengths-based, empowering relationships rather than punitive or neglectful systems.

Finally, youth identified safety in schools as a top priority. They highlighted that when schools are unsafe—physically or emotionally—they become breeding grounds for conflict, fear, and disengagement. By transforming schools into places of safety, belonging, and opportunity, youth believe that communities can address root causes of violence and build stronger, more hopeful futures.

Participants emphasized that individual growth—through self-reflection, personal responsibility, and willingness to change—is essential for creating safer neighborhoods. The promise of this growth is not just for youth, but for all community members. When individuals commit to bettering themselves, they are more likely to resolve conflict peacefully through understanding others’ perspectives and to contribute positively to their surroundings.

Participants also spoke about the importance of creating spaces for people to socialize and connect in healthy, respectful ways. Personal growth fosters empathy and accountability, which are key to breaking cycles of violence and building trust in communities—especially in neighborhoods like Wards 7 and 8, where disconnection and trauma have often fueled instability. By investing in personal development, individuals become catalysts for broader community change and healing.

Participants emphasized the need for a cultural shift in how families engage with youth. They noted that when parents are actively involved—for example, by offering guidance, setting examples, and mentoring their children—youth are more likely to make positive choices and less likely to be influenced by harmful messages on social media or drawn into violence. A strong family presence can counteract negative external influences and serve as a protective factor against community violence.

Youth and adults also called for reducing the stigma around asking for and receiving mental health support, emphasizing that healthy families are built on strong communication and coping skills. They viewed mental health services not only as a tool for individual well-being but also as a way to strengthen entire households by helping families navigate stress, resolve conflict, and build resilience.

However, participants noted significant barriers to accessing mental health services, including cost, transportation challenges, and doubts about effectiveness. The participants believe that addressing these access issues and normalizing the use of mental health support would help families heal and thrive, thereby reducing the household stressors that often contribute to violence in the broader community.

There was no clear consensus on the desired role of police in addressing community violence. Some participants supported an increased police presence, believing it could deter crime and make neighborhoods feel safer. Others, however, strongly opposed this view, citing personal and collective experiences of racial profiling, excessive force, and lack of accountability.

For many, the relationship between police and the community is deeply strained—so much so that some respondents felt that a police presence could escalate tensions rather than reduce them. This mistrust creates uncertainty around whether policing helps or harms efforts to build safer neighborhoods.

Participants emphasized that unless this fractured relationship is addressed, efforts to reduce violence will remain incomplete. Building real community safety, they argued, requires investing in alternatives like violence interruption programs, community-led safety efforts, and healing justice approaches that center accountability, trust, and care.

Final Thoughts

These six themes reflect a shared community vision for reducing violence by addressing its root causes: disconnection, trauma, and lack of opportunity. From stronger schools and supportive families to safe spaces, personal growth, and community healing, residents emphasized that lasting safety will come from investing in people and relationships. Real change, they stressed, requires trust, unity, and community-led recommendations.

This project was supported by Award No. 15PNIJ-22-GG-01420-RESS, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.