Youth violence is a significant public health concern as over 20% report being in a fight, 19% reported bullying someone, and 16% reported weapon carriage. Violent victimization among youth includes mental health sequelae in addition to the physical injury caused by violent behavior, with the heaviest burden on non-white youth. Homicide is the leading cause of death for 10-24 year old African Americans and one of the top 3 causes of death for Hispanic and Native American youth. Racism, the exercise of power against a racial group defined as inferior, is associated with aggression and violence against racial minority youth. Researchers have identified two pathways by which racism affects youth violence: 1) as a stressor leading to violence; and 2) as a structural factor resulting in more exposure to community-level risk factors. Racial prejudice may also increase interracial mistrust, hostility, and violence. Yet, strategies that integrate undoing racism with violence prevention that also engage youth in change efforts have not been studied systematically.~Positive development can be achieved by engaging youth in community improvement activities designed to empower them to avoid risky behaviors. Building on prior research and guided by previous studies of empowerment processes, the investigators developed an afterschool violence prevention program for middle-school students called Youth Empowerment Solutions (YES) for Peaceful Communities. Prior studies have described how YES engages youth in assessing neighborhood assets and liabilities for violence prevention and designing and implementing neighborhood or school projects to reduce violence. Results from prior YES evaluations found the YES program reduced violent behavior and increased positive behaviors in a comparison group design through the process of empowering youth to think critically about their community, develop plans for change, and implement their plans (i.e., program effects were mediated through empowered outcomes).~The existing YES curriculum was adapted to empower youth from diverse backgrounds to address racism and discrimination as a way to reduce violent behavior. YES for Engaging youth for anti-Racism And Cultural Equity (YES-ERACE) focuses on middle school students because this is a developmental period when racial identity development becomes a central developmental task, awareness of racism develops, ideas about interpersonal relationships are formative, and bullying behavior is at its peak. Empowering youth to address racial prejudice and racist behaviors may, in part, contribute to reductions in violent behaviors. Working with an Advisory Board involved in undoing racism work, the investigators modified the existing YES curriculum to integrate the Teaching Tolerance (TT) curriculum from the Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the oldest civil rights organizations in the U.S. A unique feature of YES-ERACE is that youth design and implement projects with a focus on undoing racism or discrimination.~The study includes two phases: 1) adapting YES and 2) testing YES-ERACE effects. Phase 1 included piloting and evaluating curriculum revisions through testing new modules and obtaining feedback from youth and teachers. Phase 2 tests the effects of YES-ERACE using a group-randomized trial in after-school programs across 6 middle schools. The investigators examine the effects of the curriculum on individual youths' sense of empowerment, racism attitudes, and violent behavior. Finally, dose-response and sustainability of YES-ERACE effects are examined.~The Specific Aims are:~AIM 1: adapt the YES curriculum to integrate several modules from the TT curriculum and study the adaptation and implementation process for the new curriculum for racially diverse groups of middle school students~AIM 2: test the efficacy of the YES-ERACE curriculum in a randomized design on empowered outcomes which will mediate the effects of YES-ERACE on perpetration of racist attitudes and behavior~AIM 3: investigate if empowered outcomes are the mechanism by which the YES-ERACE curriculum reduces racist behavior and aggressive and violent behavior (especially those motivated by racism) over time.~AIM 4: study the effects of dose-response over time on the outcomes from AIMS 2 and 3.~Findings from this study will provide evidence for a racial tolerance program based on empowerment that will reduce discrimination and racially motivated aggression in racially diverse middle school youth.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of YES-ERACE (Youth Empowerment Solutions for Engaging Youth for Anti-Racism and Cultural Equity) compared to regular after school programming in increasing youth empowerment, promoting anti-racist behaviors, and decreasing youth violence.~Through the evidence-based YES (Youth Empowerment Solutions) program, youth design and implement projects to help improve their communities. In the current study, investigators adapted the existing YES curriculum to empower youth from diverse backgrounds to address racism and racial discrimination to reduce violent behavior, including race-based victimization. The adapted curriculum, YES-ERACE, focus on middle school students.~The investigators test the effects of YES-ERACE using a group-randomized trial in after-school programs across 6 middle schools, examining the effects of the curriculum on youths' sense of empowerment, racism attitudes, and violent behavior. Dose-response and sustainability of YES-ERACE effects are also examined.