Criminological Schools of Thought and Capacity Enhancement

Not surprisingly, gun violence has drawn major attention from the social sciences, criminology, and the helping professions, because of its human and economic costs to society. Four major schools of thought dominate the field: (1) Hospital-Based Violence Intervention (HPVI); (2) Street Outreach (Cure Violence); (3) Focused Deterrence; and (4) Environmental Crime Prevention. Each of these approaches, in turn, can consist of various approaches that can be tapped to take into account local circumstances, including budgets and timeframe.