BLUMSTEIN SBR-9513040 This award provides support for a National Consortium on Violence Research located at Carnegie Mellon University. The Consortium will develop a comprehensive and focused program of research on the causes and consequences of violence. It is designed to bring the fullest range of insights and perspectives to improve our understanding and ability to effectively deal with the growing problems of interpersonal violence. The Consortium will coordinate empirical and theoretical research multidisciplinary research and research training across a broad range of individual and societal aspects related to the subject of interpersonal violence. The Consortium is comprised of a team of prominent researchers with a significant variety of disciplinary backgrounds (i.g. biology, criminology, economics geography, operations research, political science, psychology, public health, public policy, sociology, statistics) and extensive research experience and methodological expertise that will be applied to the study of violence. This multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research team consists of 39 individuals at 24 institutions in 11 states and 4 countries. The Consortium will focus on increasing knowledge about the dynamics of violence at three levels of violence: (1) Individual Development Level--how and why people develop into violent individuals, and how and why they cease to be violent; (2) Situational Dynamics Level--how and why some conflict situations escalate into actual violent encounters, while others do not; and (3) Community Dynamics Level, how and why some communities, including public-housing communities in particular, develop high levels of violence. As an integral part of its extensive research agenda, the Consortium is strongly committed to training the next generation of scholars in research on violence. This will be accomplished through a post-doctoral program that emphasizes strong technical and research skills; a decentralized pre-doctoral program; re cruitment of undergraduates to do research with consortium members; and recruitment as research collaborators faculty members from institutions with large minority populations. External communications, especially with practitioners and policy-makers, will also be an important activity. Spurred by the extremely high levels of violence in the United States compared to other industrial nations, and by the dramatic rise in violence among young people in recent years, interpersonal violence has emerged as a highly salient matter of public concern that urgently needs major concerted scientific attention. The search for effective public policy and intervention strategies has made it clear that much more intense effort is needed to develop sophisticated and comprehensive scientific approaches to generate valid and applicable knowledge about the many facets of violence. In supporting this National Consortium, the National Science Foundation seeks to create a vehicle to advance fundamental knowledge on violence and to serve a catalytic and leadership role in stimulating new scientific connections on this issue. ***

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Social and Economic Sciences (SES)
Type
Cooperative Agreement (Coop)
Application #
9513040
Program Officer
Susan Brodie Haire
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
1996-05-15
Budget End
2005-07-31
Support Year
Fiscal Year
1995
Total Cost
$13,196,999
Indirect Cost
Name
Carnegie-Mellon University
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15213