Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) recently launched a multiyear study to understand the role that Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of early adolescents. Beyond Safe Havens, a prelude to the larger study, reviews the range of evaluations that have been conducted on Boys & Girls Clubs over the past 20 years. The report identifies the potential…

Recent findings show that children and teens are most vulnerable either to committing or being a victim of crime between 2:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Community organizations with afterschool programs are particularly well positioned to counter some of the hazards that threaten children, especially urban adolescents: drug abuse, gang activity, and…

Through Title V Incentive Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs (Community Prevention Grants), the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) allocated $20 million in fiscal year 1997 to states to complement law enforcement and justice system efforts by helping local communities foster strong families and nurture…

Describes an after-school program which provides academic remediation, socialization, recreation, group therapy, meal preparation and field trips for boys 10-17 with behavior problems. A summer day camp provides prevocational activities. The program's effectivness is characterized by high attendance and testimonials from parents and teachers. (JAC)

Many children do not know enough about the law to make wise judgments about their behavior. Educational strategies for teaching about lawbreaking and its consequences are presented. Six laws commonly broken by young people are described, first in legal terms and then stated more simply. Case histories follow. (PP)

Evaluations of school curricular drug control efforts show they are only modestly successful because they are based on an inaccurate theory of drug taking. Social control theory is suggested as a better model of drug taking and drug resistance. Asserts strong bonds to school decrease the likelihood of interaction with delinquent peers and thereby…

Reports results of meta-analysis to quantitatively summarize prior empirical research on alternative schools. Alternative education programs have a small overall effect on school performance, attitudes toward school, and self-esteem, but no effect on delinquency. Programs that target a specific population of at-risk youth produce larger effects…

Questions the precise impact of family experiences on Hispanic adolescent delinquency. Notes a correlation between time spent with family members on the weekends and evenings and a reduction in delinquent behavior. (Author/GCP)

This article focuses on three-year outcomes associated with a preventive intervention trial in which high-risk youth were aggregated into cognitive-behavioral groups. Analyses of covariance and latent growth modeling revealed that the intervention contributed to three-year escalations in self-reported smoking and teacher-reported delinquency.…

Sexual abuse by juveniles is widely recognized as a significant problem. As communities have become more aware of juvenile sex offending they have responded with increasingly severe responses. This is despite recidivism data suggesting that a relatively small group of juveniles commit repeat sexual offenses after there has been an official…

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…

As disproportionate victims of violence and crimes, young people need to know how to help themselves and their community. This guide is intended to aid law enforcement officers--and those who care about youth--as they teach young people the value of prevention, how to practice prevention, and how to lead prevention efforts. The guide features…

Designed to provide background information and assistance to educators developing arson prevention programs in the schools, this report reviews existing programs and recent research on juvenile firesetting. Following an introduction, information is divided into four sections. Section 1 emphasizes curiosity and emotional disturbances as underlying…

Project PATHE (Positive Action Through Holistic Education) was a 3-year delinquency prevention program implemented in seven schools by the Charleston County, Maryland public school system between 1980 and 1983. An evaluation of the PATHE program was conducted which compared PATHE schools to two non-PATHE schools. Year-to-year differences in the…

The Positive Alternatives to School Suspensions (PASS) program attempts to reduce out-of-school suspension at the secondary level in order to obviate the negative consequences of truancy and interrupted learning. Alternative intervention strategies include the following: (1) isolation from regular classes for varying periods of time; (2)…