Reading as a transformative strategy against youth violence

An evaluative proposal based on the CIPP model for university institutions

Abstract

Violence among university students has emerged as a critical challenge in Latin America and around the world, manifesting itself in everything from verbal aggression to physical incidents that damage the institutional climate and hinder holistic development. In the face of this phenomenon, reading, traditionally considered an academic skill, is positioned as a pedagogical strategy with transformative potential for peacebuilding. This article proposes Stufflebeam's CIPP (Context, Input, Process, Product) model as a referential and evaluative framework for universities to systematically design, implement, and evaluate reading initiatives aimed at mitigating youth violence. Based on the analysis of an experience gained in a single-case qualitative study, framed within the interpretive paradigm with a hermeneutic method, aimed at understanding students' onto-axiological vision of reading as a tool for peace, implemented at the Andrés Eloy Blanco Territorial Polytechnic University of Lara State (UPTAEB), it is demonstrated that activities such as reading circles, literary workshops, and contests contribute to fostering values ​​such as respect, empathy, and solidarity, reducing aggressive behaviors and strengthening coexistence. The CIPP model allows for coherent articulation of the needs of the environment, available resources, participatory implementation, and observed impacts, becoming a strategic tool for institutional decision-making. It is concluded that reading, evaluated and managed from this perspective, can be a fundamental pillar of peace education in university education, not only in Venezuela but possibly worldwide.