Reducing Minority Overrepresentation in Juvenile Justice: Results of Community-Based Delinquency Prevention in Harrisburg

• NCJ Number: 177412
• Journal: Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Dated: February 1999 Pages: 87-110
• Author(s): W N Welsh; P H Jenkins; P W Harris
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 24 pages
• Grant Number(s): 94-J-03-5090
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Justice Programs (OJP)
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article evaluates several community-based delinquency prevention programs.

Abstract

To reduce minority overrepresentation in its juvenile justice system, Pennsylvania sponsored nine community-based delinquency prevention programs in Harrisburg and Philadelphia. The article describes results of a 3-year evaluation (1992-1995) of the Harrisburg programs, reporting 2-year follow-up data for the 1992-1993 cohort (N=191). The major objective was to reduce rates of arrest and rearrest for clients; programs also attempted to reduce major risk factors such as educational failure, dropout and truancy. Using quasi-experimental comparison groups based on program attendance (control, low, and high), the article examines program effects using logistic regression and multivariate analysis of variance. Programs reduced recidivism; over 1-year and 2-year follow-up periods, recidivism was lowest for the high-attendance group. Program effects on school outcomes, however, were generally weak. Tables, notes, references