The last 30 years have witnessed the development of hundreds of prevention programs purporting to thwart the appearance of aggression and violence, or simply reduce their frequency once they have appeared. However, of the successful programs that have been developed for children and adolescents, many programs overlap in content and methods of delivery. Programs also have been entitled as violence prevention programs but have been more broadly directed toward antisocial behavior, delinquency, or substance abuse in adolescence; worthy goals but not the focus of the present volume. Other programs may have been intended to decrease aggression but have actually increased it (see Dodge, 2006 for a review), or have been simply ineffective in reducing aggression or violence. The current review identifies criteria for effective programs, and examples of programs that have met those standards. Some redundancy among goals, content, or methods presented here may not be superfluous if it helps clarify which ingredients help to make programs most effective.

The current presentation cannot hope to thoroughly review all the excellent and effective programs targeting aggression and violence developed over the past 30 years. The current review can present programs designed for various subgroups of children and adolescents that have, by various creative means, reduced aggressive or violent behavior, or reduced major risk factors for both, and may allow the reader a taste of what has been possible.