The text is a report on the research which was undertaken in a corrective institution for underage criminals. The starting point is one thesis: one of the sources of criminal activities is low self esteem and unsettled picture of yourself. The feelings of social rejection and lack of acceptance, hostile attitude to the world - they are closely…

How and why do many serious adolescent offenders stop offending while others continue to commit crimes? The Pathways to Desistance study, a multidisciplinary investigation that attempts to answer this question, followed more than 1,300 serious juvenile offenders for 7 years after their conviction. In this bulletin, the authors investigate the link…

In a study of 5285 8th graders from the Gang Resistance and Education Training (G.R.E.A.T.) research, this study applied Travis Hirschi's social bonding theory to examine the curriculum's efficacy in increasing conventional bonding (friends with positive peers, succeeding at education etc.) and decreasing non-conventional bonding (drug…

Problem. The number of delinquent female youth across the country is on the rise (U.S. Department of Justice, 2007). These young women present unique challenges for their schools, communities, and homes. A Midwest suburb created a diversion program, a Youth Justice Initiative, to address the entire family system of the youth who were committing…

The aim of this research was to investigate the approaches being taken by local authorities (LAs) and partner organisations to improve how young people are perceived, especially in relation to crime and antisocial behaviour. The study also looked at the challenges for and benefits of activities aiming to improve public perceptions of young people,…

This article outlines the evidence about education, schooling and young offenders of secondary school age. Education and experiences of schooling are shown to be potentially risk or protective factors in relation to offending behaviour by young people. The victimisation and vulnerability of more serious young offenders is highlighted in the case…

Over the past decade researchers have identified intervention strategies and program models that reduce delinquency and promote pro-social development. Preventing delinquency, says Peter Greenwood, not only saves young lives from being wasted, but also prevents the onset of adult criminal careers and thus reduces the burden of crime on its victims…

Although subjective evaluations of a program designed to prevent delinquency by those who received its benefits would suggest that the intervention had been helpful, comparisons between the treatment and control groups indicate that the program had negative side effects. (Author/AM)

Ten delinquency prevention studies are reviewed that incorporated rigorous evaluative procedures (specifically the classic experimental design) for assessing programmatic outcomes. Following an introduction, the evaluation mechanisms built into each project are described, since they were used for determination of the effectiveness of the…

We examined the immediate, short- and long-term effectiveness of the SNAP[TM] Under 12 Outreach Project (ORP)--a community-based program for children under the age of 12 at risk of having police contact. Sixteen pairs of children were matched on age, sex and severity of delinquency at admission, and randomly assigned to the ORP or to a control…

Describes the EQUIP Program, a new psychoeducational model that teaches antisocial youth to think and act responsibly through a peer-helping approach. Highlights the challenges presented by antisocial youth, reviews the development of earlier psychoeducational methods, and outlines basic program components. Initial research shows significant…

This article presents long-term effects of a preventive intervention for young children at high risk for antisocial behavior. Ninety-two children (M age = 4 years) were randomly assigned to an 8-month family intervention or no-intervention control condition and assessed 4 times over a 24-month period. Intent-to-treat analyses revealed significant…

This paper evaluates the extent to which certain program activities such as discussion activities, "it" games, group games, swimming, arts and crafts, special events, written activities, or transitional activities measurably decrease anti-social and non-social behavior among anti-social children and, likewise, increase the incidence of pro-social…

Elements of a treatment program, Comprehensive Vocationally Oriented Psychotherapy, are presented in terms of youth contact efforts, job opportunities, community outreach, individualized teaching, program administration and job matching activities. An initial program evaluation, conducted on three levels of the boys' functioning (personality…

A variety of approaches to preventing antisocial behavior in children have ranged from infant schools to residential treatment centers, from social training to psychological therapies, with evaluations that have typically been little more than testimonials to current fashions. By introducing experimental approaches to the study of intervention…