Prevention
Key Studies
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. 2001 (January). From America's Frontline Against Crime: School and Youth Violence Prevention Plan. Washington, DC: Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. Available online: http://www.fightcrime.org.
Summary: Based on the latest research, this report makes four key recommendations to reduce school and youth violence. These strategies are: after-school, weekend and summer youth programs to cut down on prime time for youth crime; quality educational child care programs; counseling for troubled children and training for parents and schools; in-home services for parenting and reducing child neglect and abuse.
Hamilton, R. and K. McKinney. (1999). Job Training for Juveniles: Project CRAFT. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Available online: http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/fs99116.pdf.
Summary: This Fact Sheet highlights the Community Restitution and Apprenticeship Focused Training program (Project CRAFT), a vocational program for high-risk youth and juvenile offenders, that provides these youth with social, personal, and vocational skills and employment opportunities. Project CRAFT can be used as a prevention or intervention program or as an alternative to incarceration.
Lipsey, M. et al. 2000 (April). Effective Intervention for Serious Juvenile Offenders. Bulletin. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Available online: http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/jjbul2000_04_6/contents.html.
Summary: This Bulletin describes the intervention programs that showed the strongest, most consistent impact on recidivism for serious juvenile offenders. The most effective interventions were interpersonal skills training, individual counseling, and behavioral programs for noninstitutionalized offenders, and interpersonal skills training and community-based, family-type group homes for institutionalized offenders.
Mendel, R. (1995). Prevention or Pork? A Hard-Headed Look at Youth Oriented Anti-Crime Programs. Washington, DC: American Youth Policy Forum. Available online at http://www.aypf.org or by calling 202/775-9731.
Summary: A report on the effectiveness of the types of youth-oriented prevention strategies based on research and evaluation of existing programs and services.
___. (2000). Less Hype, More Help: Reducing Juvenile Crime, What Works - and What Doesn't. Washington, DC: American Youth Policy Forum. Available online at http://www.aypf.org or by calling 202/775-9731.
Summary: A new report demonstrating that trying youthful offenders in adult courts -- "adult time for adult crime" -- is a counterproductive fad that actually exacerbates juvenile crime. It unveils alternative approaches that are far more effective in preventing teens from committing crimes -- and in protecting the communities in which they live.
Muller, J. and S. Mihalic. (1999). Blueprints: A Violence Prevention Initiative. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Available online: http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/fs99110.pdf.
Summary: A description of 10 prevention and intervention programs that the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) at the University of Colorado at Boulder has identified as model programs in reducing adolescent violent crime, aggression, and substance abuse.
Newman, S. and J. Fox. 2000 (October). America's After-School Choice: The Prime Time for Juvenile Crime, Or Youth Enrichment and Achievement. Washington, DC: Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. Available online: http://www.fightcrime.org.
Summary: The report shows that after-school hours are the prime time for crime and that after-school programs have been proven to reduce crime, prevent other risky behavior, and teach values and skills. For example, high school boys and girls in four cities randomly selected from welfare households to participate in the Quantum Opportunities after-school enrichment and incentives programs showed that they were two and one half times more likely to go on to further education after high school. Boys and girls left out of the program were twice as likely to drop out of high school and were 50 percent more likely to have children during the high school years.
Roth, J. (1994). Understanding and Preventing Violence. National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice. Available from NIJ by calling 202/307-2942.
Summary: A review of research in violence, focusing on the extent and nature of violence in this country; promising opportunities for prevention; and areas in which further research and better measures are needed, particularly to identify causes and additional opportunities for prevention.
Sherman, L. et al. (1998). Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising. National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice. Available from NIJ by calling 202/307-2942.
Summary: The study evaluates the results of crime prevention efforts in seven settings: communities, families, schools, labor markets, places, policing, and correctional agencies. These proven results can be used to guide the expenditures of crime prevention funds with the best data currently available.
Shure, M. (1999). Preventing Violence the Problem-Solving Way. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Available online: http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/172847.pdf.
Summary: This Bulletin describes the use of interpersonal cognitive problem-solving skills, as a primary prevention program for children ages 4 to 7 and their parents. These skills relate to high-risk behaviors that may develop into serious problems such as violence and substance abuse.
Thorton, T. et al. 2000. (September). Best Practices of Youth Violence Prevention: A Sourcebook for Community Action. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Available from NCIPC website order form (http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/pubs.htm), by calling 888/252-7751.
Summary: This sourcebook is the first of its kind to look at the effectiveness of specific violence prevention practices in four key areas: parents and families; home visiting; social and conflict resolution skills; and mentoring. These strategies are among those with the strongest evidence base for reducing youth violence.
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Building Blocks for Youth
For a fair and effective youth justice system
...a comprehensive effort to protect minority youth in the justice system
and to promote rational and effective juvenile justice policies...
