School‐based interventions for preventing dating and relationship violence and gender‐based violence: A systematic review and synthesis of theories of change

Abstract

School-based interventions for preventing dating and relationship violence (DRV) and gender-based violence (GBV) are an important way of attempting to prevent and reduce the significant amount of DRV and GBV that occurs in schools. A theoretical understanding of how these interventions are likely to cause change is essential for developing and evaluating effectiveness, so developing an overarching theory of change for school-based interventions to prevent DRV and GBV was the first step in our systematic review. Theoretical data were synthesised from 68 outcome evaluations using methods common to qualitative synthesis. Specifically, we used a meta-ethnographic approach to develop a line-of-argument for an overarching theory of change and Markham and Aveyard's (2003, Social Science & Medicine, 56, 1209) theory of human functioning and school organisation as a framework for structuring the concepts. The overall theory of change generated was that by strengthening relationships between and among staff and students, between the classroom and the wider school, and between schools and communities, and by increasing students' sense of belonging with student-centred learning opportunities, schools

Re‐orientating systematic reviews to rigorously examine what works, for whom and how: Example of a realist systematic review of school‐based prevention of dating and gender violence

“…Full results are provided elsewhere. [6][7][8][9] Searches identified 40,160 unique records, of which 793 were screened in full text. Of these, 68 outcome evaluations and 137 process evaluations were eligible for inclusion.…”

“…Full results are provided elsewhere 6–9 . Searches identified 40,160 unique records, of which 793 were screened in full text.…”

“…Synthesis of theories of change was similarly inductive and informed refinements to the above mechanisms. These are reported in detail in an earlier paper 8 . The ‘basic‐safety’ mechanism focused on the prevention of negative behaviours (e.g., by identifying DRV or GBV as unacceptable behaviours).…”

“…These are reported in detail in an earlier paper. 8 The 'basic-safety' mechanism focused on the prevention of negative behaviours (e.g., by identifying DRV or GBV as unacceptable behaviours). For example, the 'DAT-E Adolescence' intervention aimed to provide students with 'basic-safety' knowledge, attitudes and skills needed to stop perpetration or avoid victimisation.…”

“…We provide an overview of the methods and results of this review, and reflect on its implications for understanding and implementing interventions aiming to prevent DRV and GBV. We do not report in detail on the methods used or the empirical results from the various analyses conducted as part of the review because these are already published 6–9 . Instead, we pull together these various analyses together to reflect on how these methods and findings can be harnessed to provide a more nuanced understanding of how school‐based DRV and GBV prevention works and the contexts in which it might work best, and then to reflect on the methodological value of our realist systematic review method.…”