ABSTRACT

This chapter describes the elements of the ViSC programme, a socio-ecological primary prevention programme that was originally developed, implemented, and evaluated in a high-income country (Austria). The programme defines bullying prevention as a whole school task and aims to change the behaviour of students (at individual and class level) and teachers (at school level). In Austria, the programme was implemented with a cascaded train-the-trainer model as one component of the Austrian national strategy ‘Together against violence’ in secondary schools between 2008 and 2013. Later on, the programme has also been implemented in Romania, Cyprus, Turkey, and Kosovo. To be able to implement the programme in low- and middle-income countries, it was necessary to adapt the programme to overcome several practical obstacles. The evaluation results demonstrate that ViSC programme is effective and shows sustainable effects regarding different forms of victimization, and can be adapted to new countries. However, it is important that well-designed, theoretically sound programmes are implemented sustainably and with high fidelity in practice. The chapter also discusses lessons learned for policy impact through research and introduces a six-step procedure to systematically integrate intervention and implementation research.