Visual Arts-Based Interventions to Prevent Violence Against Children and in Schools: A Critical Narrative Review and Perspectives

Violence against children constitutes a global public health emergency, necessitating innovative prevention strategies within the school environment. While the benefits of visual arts on socio-emotional development are well-documented, their specific impact on preventing interpersonal violence remains under-synthesized. This critical narrative review analyzes existing literature (2000–2025) through a corpus of 14 empirical studies (exclusive visual arts interventions and multimodal programs) conducted with children aged 5 to 12. The results reveal a dichotomy: while art-centered interventions demonstrate robust effects on emotional regulation and anger reduction (protective factors), evidence for a direct reduction in violent behaviors primarily stems from large-scale multimodal programs. Although promising as a lever for universal prevention and the facilitation of disclosure, visual arts require further randomized controlled trials to validate their direct behavioral efficacy. This review proposes a conceptual framework for integrating these practices into child protection policies.