Community Violence Intervention Publications

Research & Publications

1. Practice Analysis · 2026

   What Is Community Violence Intervention?

   How a community-based public safety approach concentrates outreach on the people and conflicts most closely associated with gun violence.

   M. McDaniel, M. McDaniel

   Community violence intervention concentrates relationships, services and follow-up on the small number of people and disputes most likely to produce gunfire. This analysis sets out a working definition, describes the daily practice, explains why violence concentration makes focused outreach viable, and outlines how Non Stop Growth carries out the work in Akron, Ohio.

   Subject areas: Community Violence Intervention · Violence prevention · Street outreach · Public safety

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2. Practice Analysis · 2026

   Credible Messengers and Curbside Counselors: Understanding the Distinction

   Distinguishing a broad field term from Non Stop Growth's defined professional outreach model.

   M. McDaniel, M. McDaniel

   Credible messenger is a broad term used across community violence intervention for people whose experience, relationships or community standing create trust. Curbside Counselor is Non Stop Growth's defined professional role, requiring demonstrated community credibility, structured training and state-recognized certification. This analysis sets out the distinction and its practice implications.

   Subject areas: Credible messengers · Curbside Counselors · Curbside Counseling · CVI outreach workers

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3. Research Review · 2026

   The Akron Street Team Independent Evaluation

   What the independent evaluation of the Akron Street Team examined and reported.

   M. McDaniel, M. McDaniel

   The Akron Street Team is a community violence intervention initiative carried out by Non Stop Growth with the Minority Behavioral Health Group and the City of Akron. This review summarizes what an independent evaluation examined, its two central reported findings, and how those findings should be read.

   Subject areas: CVI research and evaluation · Akron Street Team · Violence reduction outcomes

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4. Field Analysis · 2026

   PRISON, STREET AND COMMUNITY VIOLENCE

   Why effective Community Violence Intervention cannot treat correctional institutions and neighborhoods as separate worlds.

   M. McDaniel, M. McDaniel

   In communities deeply affected by incarceration, people, relationships, conflicts, information and culture move between institutions and neighborhoods. This analysis examines that movement, describes what structured institutional engagement involves, and considers the period following release as a violence prevention window.

   Subject areas: CVI in correctional institutions · Reentry · Justice-involved populations · Community safety

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5. Commentary · 2026

   Workforce Development as Violence Prevention

   Why income, employment and legitimate opportunity belong inside a community violence intervention strategy rather than beside it.

   M. McDaniel, M. McDaniel

   Interrupting a conflict changes what happens tonight; it does not change the conditions a person returns to tomorrow. This commentary describes the limits of interruption alone, the sequence required to move someone from crisis to employment, and how Non Stop Growth structures that connection.

   Subject areas: Workforce development · Violence prevention · Youth opportunity

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6. Research Review · 2026

   Measuring Community Violence Intervention Outcomes

   What can honestly be measured in community violence intervention, and how to read violence numbers carefully.

   M. McDaniel, M. McDaniel

   Counting contacts, mediations and sessions describes effort rather than outcome. This review distinguishes activity from outcome measurement, sets out what independent evaluation adds, and offers cautions for reading violence data in small areas and short periods.

   Subject areas: CVI research and evaluation · Measuring outcomes · Public safety data

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7. Conceptual Analysis · 2026

   Beyond Trauma: Psychological Adaptation and Relational Deprivation During Prolonged Incarceration

   Implications for the Conceptualization of Post-Incarceration Syndrome

   M. McDaniel, M. McDaniel

   The psychological consequences of incarceration are frequently examined through established psychiatric diagnoses, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety. These conditions are prevalent among incarcerated and formerly incarcerated populations and remain important to assessment and treatment. They may not, however, account for the full range of psychological, relational and behavioral changes associated with prolonged incarceration. Correctional environments alter more than exposure to traumatic events. They regulate autonomy, privacy, interpersonal contact, emotional expression and participation in ordinary family and social life. This conceptual analysis considers what becomes visible when trauma, prisonization, family separation, bereavement, social isolation, autonomy and post-release adjustment literatures are examined together. Particular attention is given to relational deprivation despite continued social contact, constrained mourning, emotional adaptation, autonomy and development across prolonged periods of incarceration. The paper considers whether the interaction of these experiences may help explain aspects of Post-Incarceration Syndrome (PICS) that are not adequately characterized by PTSD, depression or anxiety alone. PICS is not presented here as an established diagnosis. Rather, this analysis identifies distinctions requiring empirical investigation before PICS can be meaningfully evaluated as either a distinct clinical construct or a constellation of phenomena better accounted for within existing diagnostic frameworks.

   Subject areas: Post-Incarceration Syndrome · Prolonged incarceration · Relational deprivation · Reentry · Community Violence Intervention · Correctional institutions

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