Founded in 1994, the Institute for Community Peace (ICP) was established to address the root causes of violence in the United States, particularly youth violence. The ICP is based on the premise that violence is a complex phenomenon arising from individual, systemic, and societal factors. The ICP believes that sustaining primary prevention rests on a community’s willingness and ability to challenge normative behaviors and attitudes that support interpersonal and societal violence and to engage in civic activities to address the insidious effects of greater societal policies and values on community life. During its 10-year existence, the ICP has engaged in two local demonstration projects to determine whether communities can be engaged to prevent violence as it is identified and defined locally and link primary prevention across multiple forms of violence. Across communities, residents were clear on what they perceived to be the root causes of all four forms of violence (domestic violence, child maltreatment, youth violence, and community violence): poverty or stressful economic times, cultural norms that support violent behavior, poor communication, ongoing witnessing of violence in homes and communities, alcohol and other substance abuse, environmental hazards, and intolerance for racial and cultural differences. The two demonstration projects present clear evidence that communities are interested in and able to support community-led efforts to prevent violence. Further community-based work and more extensive research need to be conducted to determine and strengthen the role of communities in preventing violence and promoting peace. References