# Youth Participatory Action Research to Prevent Community Violence among Black youth

> **NIH ALLCDC R01** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $400,000

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
Anti-Black racism contributes to disproportionate community violence exposure among Black youth through
structural violence including residential segregation, concentrated poverty, and limited access to education and
employment opportunities. This structural violence creates a cumulative and collective experience of trauma
that manifests as racial trauma. While researchers have called for novel methods to address the violence-
related consequences of racial trauma, many current violence prevention practices do not explicitly address
this fundamental contributor to community violence inequities. Multilevel approaches that promote individual
and collective healing processes and recognize community as an asset and agent of change are needed. We
will continue our community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to addressing community violence
inequities by implementing and evaluating a multilevel intervention, Youth Empowered Advocating for Health
(YEAH), designed to promote individual and collective healing processes to reduce risk for community violence
among Black youth ages 12-17. YEAH guides youth through identifying factors that influence health in their
community using photovoice, a participatory research methodology that uses photography to examine
community concerns, generate ideas to address them, and translate those ideas into social action. Based on
our formative CBPR focused on community violence we have adapted YEAH to include strategic storytelling
through theater arts as anti-racist community violence prevention strategy. We will evaluate the effectiveness
of YEAH on youth prosocial behavior and aggressive behavior, assess racial identity and future orientation as
mediators of prevention effects, and explore potential community-level outcomes including Boys and Girls Club
enrollment and community youth critical consciousnesses and political and civic mindedness. This project
aligns with violence prevention priorities set by NCIPC by evaluating the effectiveness of multi-level strategies
that reduce the likelihood of different forms of youth violence.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10770095
- **Project number:** 1R01CE003580-01
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Briana Woods-Jaeger
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $400,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-09-30 → 2026-09-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10770095

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10770095, Youth Participatory Action Research to Prevent Community Violence among Black youth (1R01CE003580-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10770095. Licensed CC0.

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