Delinquency Prevention - The State of the Art (From Mad, the Bad, and the Different, P 57-66, 1981, Israel L Barak-Glantz et al, ed. - See NCJ-84231)

• NCJ Number: 84234
• Author(s): F R Scarpitti
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: Lexington Books
• Publication Type: Best Practice/State-of-the-Art Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Although juvenile delinquency prevention programs have been extensive and of varied types, assessments (few permit reliable evaluation) offer no evidence of their success, so the future of delinquency prevention is unclear.

Abstract

Prevention efforts have generally been punitive (deterrence by the threat of punishment), corrective (attempts to eliminate identifiable causes), and mechanical (making it physically difficult to commit crimes). Prevention programs can also be classified as primary (directed at all potential delinquents in a service area), secondary (targeting of high-risk groups), and tertiary (targets juveniles already in trouble). Most prevention efforts are secondary, with programs usually focusing on preadolescent to early adolescent lower or working class males, frequently of minority status. Corrective prevention has dominated such efforts, usually involving interaction between an adult worker and a juvenile. Groupwork or casework techniques are popular, and psychotherapy and counseling are also used, but not as extensively. The assessment of the effectiveness of prevention efforts is difficult because of the inadequacy of current technology and a general lack of concern with evaluation by program implementers. No reliable assessments provide evidence that prevention programs have been successful, and some appear to do harm, as they tend to brand participants as problems. Many authorities are currently advocating as little intervention as possible and a focus on improving the positive influence of broad social structures and values. A total of 30 notes are listed.