NCJ Number
165368
Date Published
Unknown
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper summarizes a review of 500 impact evaluations of crime prevention programs revealed that programs have varying impacts and that the effectiveness of funding from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) depends heavily on whether it focuses on the urban neighborhoods where youth violence is highly concentrated.
Abstract
The review was mandated by Congress in 1996. It concluded that some prevention programs work, some do not, some are promising, and some have not been tested adequately. The review also concluded that substantial reductions in national rates of serious crime can be achieved only through prevention in areas of concentrated poverty, where the majority of homicides occur and where homicide rates are 20 times the national average. However, the specific methods for preventing crime in areas of concentrated poverty are not well developed and tested, Congress can make most effective use of DOJ local assistance by providing better guidance about what works. Therefore, a much larger part of the national crime prevention portfolio must be invested in the rigorous testing of innovative programs, to identify the active ingredients of locally successful programs that can be recommended for use in similar high-crime urban settings nationwide. The review also concluded that most crime prevention results from informal and formal practices and programs in seven institutional settings: communities, families, schools, labor markets, specific premises, police, and criminal justice. Effective crime prevention in high-violence neighborhoods may require interventions in many local institutions simultaneously. Descriptions of the contents of each chapter of the report