NCJ Number
177624
Date Published
Publication Series
OJJDP Serious and Violent Juvenile Offending Series
Annotation
The Study Group on Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders
concludes that timely comprehensive school-based and
community-based interventions hold the greatest potential for
preventing serious violent juvenile offending.
Abstract
The Study Group examined five types of school interventions:
structured playground activities, behavioral consultation,
behavioral monitoring and reinforcement, metal detectors, and
schoolwide reorganization. These interventions varied in
effectiveness. Programs that monitored student behavior and
reinforced attendance and academic progress increased positive
school behavior and academic achievement while decreasing
delinquency. Although metal detectors reduced the number of
weapons brought into schools, they did not apparently decrease
weapon carrying or violence outside schools. The Study Group also
examined eight types of community interventions: citizen
mobilization, situational prevention, comprehensive citizen
intervention, mentoring, afterschool recreation programs,
policing strategies, policy changes, and mass media
interventions. Several of these interventions showed positive
results in reducing risk and enhancing protective factors.
Studies with long-term follow-up show that certain programs were
effective in reducing juvenile crime and substance abuse. 88
references
Date Created: August 13, 2014