Out with Reactive Methods and In with Prevention Programs

          Preventing crime before it happens may seem like something only plausible in the movies, like the Matrix; however the concept of prevention is much more realistic than some may think.  Law enforcement methods are transitioning from the traditional use of reactive measures to more proactive measures of crime control.  No longer are law enforcement waiting for 911 calls to begin addressing crime, delinquency, and investigation of criminal allegations.  Instead, law enforcement and the juvenile justice system are beginning to implement prevention programs that identify risk factors within individuals that increase the likelihood of delinquency, and begin providing protection factors that help to prevent delinquency through skills training.  Especially within the juvenile population, prevention programs are an excellent ways to provide at risk juveniles with the necessary skills to avoid delinquency, become productive members of society, and ultimately help keep delinquent juveniles from becoming adult criminal offenders.  The future of the juvenile justice system is shifting towards the use of more prevention methods rather than reactive methods, because of empirical evidence that supports the success of prevention programs in avoiding delinquency.

According to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 prevention programs are, “…any program or activity designed to reduce known risk factors for juvenile delinquent behavior, provides activities that build on protective factors for, and develop competencies in, juveniles to prevent, and reduce the rate of, delinquent juvenile behavior” (OJJDP)  Prevention programs are used to address the many risk factors that increase the likelihood of delinquency involvement and provide pro-social behavioral skills and examples to combat the risk factors.  The more common risk factors that have been linked to increased likelihood of delinquency include: dysfunctional home life, absent parents, substance abuse by juvenile or parents, examples of antisocial behavior, exposure to domestic violence, and examples of problem solving through use of violence.  Juvenile exposure to such risk factors dramatically increases the probability that a juvenile will become involved in delinquency.  Prevention programs focus on involving the family, communities, schools, and peers to help provide pro-social behavioral skills, educational skills, cognitive skills, and positive emotional management skills to the delinquent juvenile.  Providing these skills to all juveniles, especially those exposed to higher levels of risk factors, give juveniles the tools necessary to lead a productive and successful life all the while avoiding delinquency.  Prevention programs focus on those juveniles at risk for involvement in delinquency, and have much higher success rates for the correction of the delinquent behavior over those programs that are strictly reactive, or after the fact.

Several preventative programs have been implemented across the United States and have proven to be extremely successful.  As acknowledged by the journal of American Psychologist, “The science-based research and evaluation literature has consistently shown that a number of prevention programs are beneficial in helping youth avoid numerous problems.” (Davino, et al.)  One such program is The Juvenile Intervention and Prevention Program (JIPP).  This program was created in 2006 and focused on known at risk children in the Los Angeles Unified School District.  These children were taught pro social and cognitive behavioral skills, attention focusing, personal guidance, and how to communicate successfully without the use of violence. (Koffman, Ray, Berg, Covington, Albarran, & Vasquez)  The results of the prevention program were reviewed by the independent journal of Children and School, who concluded that improved outcomes were visible within the children who participated in the program.  The overwhelming majority of the students were successfully able to avoid delinquency, or further delinquency, after completing the program.

A Second Chance is another example of a youth prevention program.  The program addressed potential and established juvenile gang members and attempted to intervene and prevent youth gang involvement.  The prevention program recreated dramatizations of gunshot victims and had the participants observe.  The idea behind the program was to make the risk the juveniles were taking by being involved in a gang more realistic and comprehendible by creating a visual aid of the potential consequences.  The program experienced significant results of decreased gang involvement, improvement of grades and attendance at school, and improvement in behavior at home. (Hughes, Griner, Guarino, Drabik-Mederios, & Williams, 2012)

A subsequent prevention program that also proved successful in decreasing delinquency rates is Project Northland.  Project Northland:

…consisted of school-based curriculum in sixth through eighth grades, parental involvement and educational activities, peer leadership opportunities, and community-wide task force activities.  At the end of eighth grade, students in intervention communities had significantly reduced their alcohol use, and baseline nondrinkers (about two thirds of the sample) also reported significant reductions in cigarette and marijuana use.  Analyses demonstrated that the effects of Project Northland, … by change in peer norms toward more pro-social behaviors and less support for alcohol use. (Wandersman, Abraham, &Florin)

The goal of Project Northland was to decrease the use of tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol use amongst primary school students.  After implementation the program wheeled successful results in the dramatic decrease of substance abuse by about two-thirds.  The success is partly accredited to the involvement of school personal, parents, and community members.  This community oriented intervention and prevention program proved successful.

          Decreased delinquency rates found after the implementation of prevention programs provide strong support for the success and use of such programing.  The most useful aspect of a prevention program is that the program can be implemented before, which is ideal, or after delinquency has already occurred and still successfully decreased delinquency rates.  However, the implementation of prevention programs as a new standard of treatment for juvenile delinquents may have some negative consequences.  Prevention programs tend to be very costly to create and implement.  Because prevention programs address large audiences including family, community, and peers the programs will require more staffing, larger budgets, and more time, all of which result in more cost.  The latent consequences of resulting to the use of prevention programs may be an increased financial burden on budgets that are already strained.  Financial strain could add to state deficits and possibly take resources away from other departments.  Although implementing prevention programs may prove costly, if effective, in the long run prevention programs will ultimately cost than incarceration or probation of juveniles.

          The future of the juvenile justice system will likely begin to heavily relying upon prevention programs to decrease delinquency rates of juveniles, especially considering the overwhelming empirical evidence in support of the increased success rates over the traditional approaches of reactive methods.  Although the prevention programs may prove to be initially more costly than reactive methods, in the long run prevention programs have the potential to decrease overall spending on incarceration, probation, and other aspects of the juvenile justice system.

                 

References:

DeLisi, M. (2006) Career criminals in society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

DOJCA, . Department of Justice Canada. Youth Justice. Police Discretion with Young Offenders. Department of Justice, 2012. Print.

Hughes, K., Griner, D., Guarino, M., Drabik-Mederios, B., & Williams, K. (2012). A Second’s Chance: Gang Violence Task Force Prevention Program. American Surgeon, 78(1), 89-93.

Katrina Davino, et al. "What Works In Prevention: Principles Of Effective Prevention Programs." American Psychologist 58.6-7 (2003): 449-456. PsycARTICLES. Web. 8 Nov. 2012.

Koffman, S., Ray, A., Berg, S., Covington, L., Albarran, N., & Vasquez, M. (2009). Impact of a comprehensive whole child intervention and prevention program among youths at risk of gang involvement and other forms of delinquency. Children & Schools, 31(4), 239-245.

Newburn, Tim. Handbook of Policing. 2nd. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis, 2008. 434. eBook.

OJJDP. United States Department of Justice. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act 1974. Washington, DC: United States Government, 2002. Web. <http://www.ojjdp.gov/about/jjdpa2002titlev.pdf>.

Slowikowski, J. (2009). How OJJDP is building a better future of America’s youth: annual report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Wandersman, Abraham, and Paul Florin. "Community Interventions And Effective Prevention." American Psychologist 58.6-7 (2003): 441-448. PsycARTICLES. Web. 8 Nov. 2012.

Weissberg, Roger P., Karol L. Kumpfer, and Martin E. P. Seligman. "Prevention That Works For Children And Youth: An Introduction." American Psychologist 58.6-7 (2003): 425-432. PsycARTICLES. Web. 8 Nov. 2012.