NCJ Number
85541
Journal
Urban League Review Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1981) Pages: 4-8
Date Published
1981
Length
5 pages
Annotation
These recommendations for research and program policy designed to prevent juvenile delinquency are oriented toward using the strengths within the families and communities of youth at risk rather than professional bureaucracies to deal with the problems of juveniles.
Abstract
Research relevant to the prevention of youth crime should shift its focus from behavior-centered problems of individual deviant youths and their subculture to an inventory of strengths within populations at risk. The objective should be to assess the successful methods and techniques used by those who have survived in high-crime communities. Also, more attention should be given to the impact of economic conditions on populations at risk. In regard to program policy, programs should be based on an analysis of policies that have worked, as opposed to some presumed cause-and-effect relation. Program initiatives should be derived from empirical studies of neighborhood-based approaches to the control and prevention of crime that appear to be effective. Common elements identified should form the basis for major initiatives and should be shared with other indigenous neighborhood organizations and groups. Four notes are listed.