ASSESSMENT OF EVALUATIONS OF DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION PROGRAMS

• NCJ Number: 66334
• Author(s): R L JANVIER; D R GUTHMANN; R F CATALANO
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 54 pages
• Grant Number(s): 77-NI-99-0017
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice
• Corporate Author: University of Washington
• Sale Source: Superintendent of Documents, GPO; National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: REPORTS OF THE NATIONAL JUVENILE JUSTICE ASSESSMENT CENTERS

Annotation

A TOTAL OF 52 EVALUATIONS OF DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION PROGRAMS WERE ANALYZED FOR PROGRAM STRATEGY, TYPE OF DRUG ADDRESSED, TARGET POPULATION, AND THE EVALUATIONS' DESIGN AND OUTCOME MEASURES.

Abstract

THE RESULTS OF THIS LITERATURE SEARCH SHOWED THAT (1) EITHER ONE OR A COMBINATION OF INFORMATIONAL, VALUES-ORIENTED, STUDENT-PARTICIPATION-IN-ALTERNATIVES, AND COUNSELING STRATEGIES WERE USED. MOST PROGRAMS FOCUSED ON DRUGS IN A COLLECTIVE WAY, AND THE TARGET POPULATION RANGED FROM FOURTH GRADERS TO ADULTS WITH SENIOR HIGH GRADES PREDOMINATING. CONCLUSIONS COULD NOT BE DRAWN FROM OVER HALF OF THE EVALUATIONS BECAUSE OF DESIGN INADEQUACIES, AND ONLY HALF OF THE EVALUATIONS USED AT LEAST ONE OUTCOME MEASURE PERTAINING TO DRUG ABUSING BEHAVIOR. OF THE 52 EVALUATIONS, 9 ARE DISCUSSED WHICH USED BOTH AN ADEQUATE DESIGN AND AT LEAST ONE OUTCOME MEASURE OF DRUG ABUSING BEHAVIOR. OF THE FOUR PROGRAMS FOUND TO BE EFFECTIVE IN PREVENTING DRUG ABUSE, TWO USED ONLY A VALUES-ORIENTED STRATEGY, ONE USED STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN ALTERNATIVES AS ITS SOLE STRATEGY, AND ONE USED A STRATEGY COMBINATION (INFORMATIONAL, WHICH WAS DISCONTINUED; COUNSELING; AND STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN ALTERNATIVES). OF THE FOUR PROGRAMS FOUND TO BE INEFFECTIVE, ONE USED A VALUES-ORIENTED STRATEGY, TWO USED AN INFORMATIONAL STRATEGY, AND ONE USED ONLY A COUNSELING STRATEGY. THE LAST OF THE NINE EVALUATIONS CONCERNING THE IMPACT OF A DETERRENT STRATEGY--THE 1973 NEW YORK STATE DRUG LAW--FOUND THE LAW TO BE INEFFECTIVE BECAUSE OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM'S INABILITY TO IMPLEMENT IT. OVERALL, THE REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT FOUND THAT FEW ADEQUATE EVALUATIONS OF DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION PROGRAMS ARE PERFORMED, PROGRAM STRATEGIES AND TARGET POPULATIONS NEED TO BE DISCUSSED IN GREATER DETAIL AND LINKED TO THE PRESUMED CAUSES OF DRUG ABUSE, AND STRATEGIES THAT ARE VALUE ORIENTED AND PROVIDE FOR STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN ALTERNATIVES APPEAR TO WARRANT FURTHER EXPERIMENTATION. TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE GIVEN. APPENDIXES INCLUDE A LITERATURE SEARCH AND SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF 52 EVALUATIONS OF DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION PROGRAMS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)