Research SummaryFirearm violence continues to be a leading cause of death in the United States. As alternatives to law enforcement intervention, community‐based violence prevention programs, such as Cure Violence, have become increasingly popular across U.S. cities. This article documents the results of a multiyear, mixed‐methods, quasi‐experimental study of the implementation and impact of Cure Violence in St. Louis, Missouri, from 2020 to 2023. We analyzed data from semistructured interviews, a two‐wave community survey, and police records of neighborhood violence, finding limited evidence of program effectiveness. Although some interview participants stated that the program had a positive impact, we observed no change in community norms/perceptions of violence, and our analysis of police data suggests that program implementation was associated with declining violence in only one of the three intervention sites.Policy ImplicationsThis article highlights challenges of implementing and evaluating community‐based violence prevention. More work is needed to unpack the mechanisms responsible for turning program activities into measurable impacts in both the short and long term. Implications for planning and evaluating community‐based violence prevention programs are discussed.

中文翻译：

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Cure Violence St. Louis 的短期评估：挑战、胜利和经验教训


研究摘要枪支暴力仍然是美国的主要死亡原因。作为执法干预的替代方案，以社区为基础的暴力预防计划，例如 Cure Violence，在美国城市越来越受欢迎。本文记录了 2020 年至 2023 年密苏里州圣路易斯市 Cure Violence 的实施和影响的多年、混合方法、准实验研究的结果。我们分析了来自半结构化访谈、两波社区调查和社区暴力警方记录的数据，发现项目有效性的证据有限。尽管一些访谈参与者表示该计划产生了积极影响，但我们没有观察到社区规范/对暴力的看法发生了变化，我们对警方数据的分析表明，该计划的实施与三个干预地点中只有一个的暴力减少有关。政策影响本文重点介绍了实施和评估基于社区的暴力预防所面临的挑战。需要做更多的工作来解释负责将项目活动转化为短期和长期可衡量影响的机制。讨论了对规划和评估基于社区的暴力预防计划的影响。