Assessment of factors influencing violent crime should examine the prevalence of risk and protective
factors at individual, family, and community levels, and should emphasize risk and protective factors
shown in prior research to influence violent crime rates. (See section titled “Risk and Protective
Factors,” below). Needs assessment may or may not include reliance on standardized self-report
surveys such as the Communities That Care (CTC) survey or the Search Institute’s “Profiles of
Student Life” survey, but in any case, should be based on formal, structured analysis of local
conditions