Exposure to violence is a human rights issue and is commonly defined as the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development, or deprivation (WHO, 2014).

Although there has been a reduction in recoded youth violence since the 1990’s, it remains a global public health concern (Densley et al, 2020). Homicide is the fourth leading cause of death in young people aged between 10 and 29 years of age, with non-fatal youth violence having serious and often lifelong impacts on the young person’s physical, psychological, and social functioning (WHO, 2020). Despite a decade of declines (Densley et al, 2020) the UK government has also noted a rising trend in serious violence. For example, the Home Office (2022) noted an 84% increase in violent incidents involving a knife or sharp implement between 2014 and 2020.

Recently, a more robust approach has been used to design and test evidence informed responses for young people with a history of violence (e.g., Mihalic and Irwin, 2003; Durlak and Dupre, 2008). This has contributed to a change in the way in which we view youth violence services which are moving away from the criminal justice system toward a public health approach (YEF, 2023).

Given the potential impact, and burgeoning interest in evidence supported interventions, the Research Hub identified a need to capture those interventions with the most promise in reducing violence and its impact among children and young people. The objectives of this evidence and gap map were to systematically identify and describe existing evidence that considers the effectiveness of community-based interventions implemented in non-custodial and non-mandated environments that are designed to prevent serious youth violence (e.g., van Ruitenburg & Ruiter, 2023; Ellis et al, 2021), and to identify gaps in the evidence where new primary research could be conducted in the future.