CSPV Overview

Violence in America has reached epidemic proportions. Today, all Americans are touched directly or indirectly by violent acts. In response, the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV), a research program of the Institute of Behavioral Science (IBS) at the University of Colorado at Boulder, was founded in 1992 to provide informed assistance to groups committed to understanding and preventing violence, particularly adolescent violence. Since that time, our mission has expanded to encompass violence across the life course.

In an effort to establish more complete and valuable information to impact violence-related policies, programs, and practices, CSPV works from a multi-disciplinary platform on the subject of violence and facilitates the building of bridges between the research community and the practitioners and policy makers. CSPV has a threefold mission. First, the Information House serves to collect research literature and resources on the causes and prevention of violence and provides direct information services to the public by offering topical searches on customized databases. Second, CSPV offers technical assistance for the evaluation and development of violence prevention programs. Third, CSPV maintains a basic research component through data analysis and other projects on the causes of violence and the effectiveness of prevention and intervention programs.