In the United States, involvement with the juvenile justice system can have a long-lasting negative impact on one's life. Young people who are placed in detention facilities are removed from their homes, their families, and their communities. Their education, their ties to society, and their lives are disrupted. Involvement with the justice system…

Postcode Criminals was the second phase of an international participatory community arts project challenging negative stereotypes of urban youth. Concerned with the impact of zero tolerance community policing strategies in the UK and USA, artists Joann Kushner and Dread Scott developed an art-based project with a social justice agenda. To give…

This study explores the clinical epidemiology of children's exposure to violence as addressed by a program in which mental health clinicians work with law-enforcement agents in 10 U.S. cities. Data were collected on all participants contacted by the Child Development Community Policing Program (N = 7,313 individuals involved in 2,466 community…

Crime prevention works. This simple fact is often forgotten in the ongoing debate over crime and its causes. Prevention works when individuals take common-sense actions to protect themselves, their families and property. The theme from Crime Prevention Month 1995 goes back to these basics: good home security, self-protection skills for kids and…

The Hartford project, an experimental effort to reduce residential burglary, street robberies, and fear of those crimes in an urban residential neighborhood, is described. Its most distinctive feature is its integrative approach in which police, community organization, and physical design changes were used to increase the willingness and ability…

Universities have responded to increasingly imperative societal demands by expanding their public service activities, often in the form of social action programs. This development has not extended to the field of psychology, in which the university psychological center could effectively serve to collaborate on university-community efforts. Such a…

Recent social unrest has widened the communications gap between police and community. Police-community relations programs are designed to establish a better relationship and understanding between police officers and the citizens. This requires coordination with schools and other community agencies in providing information on the goals and…

Both courts and police departments have had difficulty in coping with increased juvenile crime. This paper describes a program of collaboration between law enforcement and social services which illustrates a developing trend in the management of youthful offenders. In a suburban Conneticut community (Hamden), the police department regularly…

This report describes an experimental program in which civilians and police officers work as two-person teams, patrolling fixed "beat" areas in selected urban neighborhoods. These teams work in responding to service calls, aiding regular mobile patrols in their duties, deterring criminal activity and civilian victimization, and…

Community policing and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) are evolving initiatives that can respond to changing social problems and demands. However, many of the challenges faced by both programs arise out of the fundamentals of human nature. Among the greatest barriers to overcome are: (1) the resistance to change that affects law…

Public information campaigns have become a staple of contemporary crime prevention efforts. While formal research on such campaigns has been limited, some important lessons may be learned from evaluation of the national "Take a Bite Out of Crime" or "McGruff" crime prevention campaign initiated in 1979. A large-scale formal…

The Woodlawn Organization (TWO) is a community organization on the south side of Chicago which grew out of cooperative efforts of clergymen in the area, members of the Greater Woodlawn Pastor's Alliance, in 1959. TWO's approach to community problems, influenced by the thinking of Saul Alinsky, was directly to confront unfair business practices,…

This journal issue is a contribution to the development of caretaking strategies to help young victims of violence, and is intended to provide support for those who are helping the victims. Four main articles are: (1) "Parenting in Violent Environments" (Joy Osofsky and Beverly Roberson Jackson); (2) "Infants, Toddlers, and…

Community groups, volunteers, and local businesses helped a small North Carolina town initiate many programs for at-risk youth including Head Start, DARE, after-school programs at community centers and the library, summer programs, park development, and reduced swimming pool fees. A program that informs crime victims of the status of their cases…