“Adapting the Safe Communities Safe Schools Program in violence-prone urban areas in Indonesia” is 6-year research and implementation collaboration between Danish Institute against Torture (DIGNITY), Center for Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) at University of Colorado Boulder, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Universitas Indonesia (UI) and Universitas Syiah Kuala (USK), to promote pro-social inclusion and wellbeing of marginalized children and adolescents. The objective of the collaboration is to develop a contextually relevant adaptation of the Safe Communities Safe Schools (SCSS) Model, designed and implemented in the USA, and implement the adapted model in two secondary urban areas in Indonesia, namely Depok City and Banda Aceh, with the aim of enhancing the wellbeing of children and their families and improve community safety and cohesion, through interventions at local schools.

The project addresses two questions;

1) how to break cycles of violence and reduce, inhibit or remove their detrimental effects on individuals, families and communities in the digital age, and;

2) how to promote health, prosocial behavior, inclusion and community cohesion.

The ultimate aim is to prevent recruitment of children and adolescents into violent organizations such as organized crime, and/or mobilization for political and/or religious radicalization and extremism, and to help them to see new possibilities for the future, including using the benefits of digital media.

It is the first time that the SCSS program will be adapted for use in a new and different cultural setting, outside of the USA. The project will therefore include substantial “translational research and implementation science” elements to support the process of adaptation, implementation and evaluation. The knowledge gained on developing, implementing and evaluating the translocation and translation of a contextual appropriate model will help future projects in their adaptation of interventions across contexts to preempt or estimate for challenges, drawbacks and changes in the progress of an intervention that may occur, and which we can learn from to improve practices.

Safe Communities Safe Schools (SCSS) is an adaptive model for school safety, which means it can be used in different schools around the world.* SCSS Model was originally developed by the Center for Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) at University of Colorado Boulder in the USA in 1999, following the notorious Columbine High School Massacre. The model focuses on community engagement, capacity building, and data-based decision making. It is possible to adapt the model to different contexts because it is designed to build on the specific school’s resources to promote social, emotional, and physical safety.