Violence Prevention

What you’ll learn in the Violence Prevention (Community Building) Pathway includes: training in conflict resolution, mediation, self-care, and theories & methods for social change. You’ll receive coaching in professional development areas self-identified through a S.W.O.T. analysis (i.e. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) of your life skills as a person, a worker, and citizen; this will be completed every semester.

What you’ll learn here will aid you in moving towards careers in the community organizing fields with community based organizations. Or, you may take advantage of career opportunities in Law (through our Pathway to Law School Track) or into careers in the field of Public Administration. College of Alameda has developed a special relationship with CSU East Bay in the department of Political Science and the Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program, thus enabling us to help students an Education & Career Pathway from your education here at CoA towards a four year degree and then a graduate degree (2+2+2 ) in the public service or in law.

There are Three Program Learning Outcomes with which we seek to prepare you here; you will gain:

• Mastery of a body of knowledge about your world – to see the world more clearly from a larger set of perspectives.
• Proficiency in critical political thinking and “Futures Consciousness” – to use your knowledge more effectively.
• Greater capacity for personal social & political efficacy– to be better able to apply these perspectives as life skills in living a more satisfying life as:
  • a person,
  • a worker, and
  • a citizen.

This program is designed for college ready individuals who are interested in working in the field of violence prevention. Completion of the course sequence and internship experience in the field leads to a Violence Prevention Intervention Specialist Certificate of Proficiency.

Required Courses:

POSCI 35     Introduction to Community Violence Prevention   3

POSCI 36     Applied Peacebuilding and Violence Prevention     3

COPED 451 Occupational Work Experience                                   2 – 4

Students must have a minimum of two units of COPED

to meet the requirements of this certificate.

Total Units 8 – 10

These courses may be used in conjunction with other courses for a degree in Political Science as well.

Career Opportunities in Violence Prevention

For individuals interested in careers and leadership opportunities in the field of violence prevention, Bloomberg Business, Idealist.org and Cal Jobs (State of California) all show an increasing need for skilled employees that have the knowledge and skills to navigate through systems and communities to prevent violence.

A variety of positions can be acquired by someone with a Certificate in Violence Prevention Strategies. According to the labor market data for the State of California, there is a 6.9% projected increase for Child, Family and School Social Workers, an 11.8% increase for Clergy members, a 13% increase among Counselors, Social Workers and other Specialists. Some other potential careers that see an increase, that we also know are directly related to preventing violence in our communities, are Health Educators, with a projected 16% increase and Police and Sheriff Patrol Officers at a 7.7% increase. This certificate program will help prepare individuals in the job market to meet the growing needs of social support and care giving that professions listed above provide.