Global Network for Violence Prevention

The Global Network for Violence Prevention (GNVP) is a network of academic researchers and practitioners in the area of child protection from different parts of the world. The mission of the network is to prevent violence against children in their families, schools and communities through the adaptation, evaluation and dissemination of the preventative intervention Interaction Competencies with Children (ICC).  With ICC, we are trying to reduce violence against children in low-resource contexts in which violent discipline is culturally accepted and by that, increase children’s well-being, their social and cognitive functioning and learning achievements.

Our vision

Our vision is to contribute globally to a societal change towards violence-free upbringing and education of children through the development, evaluation and dissemination of evidence-based interventions.

Interaction Competencies with Children

Interaction competencies with children (ICC) aims at preventing violence against children, increasing positive adult-child interactions, and fostering healthy adult-child relationships. It is based on attachment, behavioral, and social learning theories and on the parenting guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics (1999) as well as on the work of Dreikurs et al. (2004). It is developed for settings in which violent discipline is socially accepted and widespread. To date the intervention Interaction Competencies with Children is available for caregivers in institutional care (ICC-C), teachers (ICC-T), and parents (ICC-P).

Key publications

• Kirika, A. & Hecker, T. (2022). Interaction Competencies with Children - Development and theory of change of a preventative intervention for teachers in the context of socially accepted violence]. Verhaltenstherapie, doi: 10.1159/000525241
• Ssenyonga, J., Hermenau, K., Mattonet, K., Nkuba, M., & Hecker, T. (2022). Reducing teachers’ use of violence toward students: A cluster-randomized controlled trial in secondary schools in Southwestern Uganda. Children and Youth Services Review, 138, 106521. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106521
• Nkuba, M., Hermenau, K., Goessmann, K. & Hecker, T. (2018). Reducing violence by teachers using the preventive intervention Interaction Competencies with Children for Teachers (ICC-T): A cluster randomized controlled trial at secondary schools in Tanzania. PLOS ONE, 13(8), e0201362. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201362
• Hecker, T., Mkinga, G., Kirika, A., Nkuba, M., Preston, J., & Hermenau, K. (2021). Preventing maltreatment in institutional care: A cluster-randomized controlled trial in East Africa. Preventive Medicine Reports, 24, 101593. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101593
• Hecker, T., Mkinga, G., Hartmann, E., Nkuba, M., & Hermenau, K. (2022). Sustainability of effects and secondary long-term outcomes: One-year follow-up of a cluster-randomized controlled trial to prevent maltreatment in institutional care. PLOS Global Public Health, 2(5), e0000286. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000286

Contact

Chairpersons:

Tobias Hecker (tobias.hecker@uni-bielefeld.de)

Mabula Nkuba (mabula.nkuba@duce.ac.tz)