NCJ Number
197490
Date Published
2002
Length
159 pages
Annotation
This document examines the development of juvenile delinquency in Western Europe; prevention and intervention policy in some European countries; and strategies and programs that have proven effective elsewhere in the world, not only in Europe.
Abstract
Official figures in the Netherlands, Germany, and England show a steady rise in juvenile delinquency, especially in violent crime, in all three countries throughout the 1980's and 1990's, and a certain degree of stabilization or a slight decrease from 1998 onwards. The document describes prevention and intervention policy in some European countries; German and English legislation; German and English policy; and comparison with the Netherlands. It offers a "survey of surveys" of interventions that have proved to be either effective or ineffective. Interventions whose effectiveness is unknown have not been taken into consideration. The most effective programs directly address various risk- and protective factors to which children may be exposed in each of the social domains they successively enter (family, school, neighborhood), especially if more than one domain is tackled at the same time. This is strong support for developmental criminology. Programs effective in reducing recidivism have certain characteristics in common, including: (1) target medium- to high-risk juvenile populations; (2) target criminogenic risk factors (e.g., association with delinquent peers, school truancy, substance abuse) amenable to intervention; (3) are individualized, family-based, and delivered in community settings; (4) have well-trained staff, and a program director who is an effective advocate for the program with courts, parents, and community leaders; (5) ongoing collaboration between the probation officer and treatment providers; and (6) provision of aftercare services to prevent recidivism. Many risk and protective factors for the (non)development of delinquent behavior have been identified. The report suggests a large-scale, prospective, longitudinal research project be designed to examine the relationship between risk factors and the success of certain interventions. References