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Pulling Levers to Prevent Violence: “The Boston Miracle,” Its Adaptations, and Future Directions for Research

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Preventing Crime and Violence

Part of the book series: Advances in Prevention Science ((Adv. Prevention Science))

Abstract

In the early 1990s, crime—and violent crime in particular—peaked in many cities across the USA. This left many cities across the nation searching for new ways to combat violent crime. We describe one of the most prominent strategies used to address this increase in violence, initially referred to as “pulling levers,” the “Boston Gun Project” or “Operation Ceasefire.” Implemented in Boston in the mid-1990s, this approach has grown in popularity and been operationalized in different forms around the world. In this chapter, we first describe the origin of this strategy and its theoretical underpinnings. Thereafter, we discuss the replications of the original initiative, its subsequent divide into two differing types of initiative (criminal justice-based and public health-based), and the results of empirical evaluations of each. Following this review, we discuss the different program components, paying particular attention to those areas requiring further empirical inquiry. We argue that the currently available empirical evidence suggests that criminal justice-based programs demonstrate stronger adherence to the original Boston Ceasefire model, incorporate more evidence-based practices, and as a result, have greater violence reduction effects. As such, they currently present a more promising avenue through which to address violence in the short term than their public health-based counterparts.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Although the Chicago CeaseFire initiative uses a similar name to the original Boston Operation Ceasefire, the projects are not directly affiliated in any way. Additionally, it should be noted that CeaseFire changed its name to Cure Violence in September 2012. This name emphasizes the theoretical roots the program has in epidemiology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Samantha M. Henderson, Samuel S. Peterson & Robin S. Engel

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  1. Samantha M. Henderson
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  2. Samuel S. Peterson
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  3. Robin S. Engel
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Correspondence to Robin S. Engel .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Georgia State University Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Brent Teasdale

  2. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA

    Mindy S. Bradley

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Henderson, S.M., Peterson, S.S., Engel, R.S. (2017). Pulling Levers to Prevent Violence: “The Boston Miracle,” Its Adaptations, and Future Directions for Research. In: Teasdale, B., Bradley, M. (eds) Preventing Crime and Violence. Advances in Prevention Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44124-5_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44124-5_24

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