Alternative schools have the potential to reduce dropouts, improve student achievement and parental involvement, reinforce class integration, and provide support for students dissatisfied with traditional programs. (Author)

Presents a secondary lesson in which students participate in a role-playing exercise to determine whether or not a juvenile should be remanded to an adult court. Includes learning objectives and step-by-step implementation procedures. Also includes four student handouts representing legal issues, briefing sheets, and a mock police report. (CFR)

Researchers believe an ecological perspective that considers multiple factors as impacting delinquent behavior is important, and early intervention can effectively reduce delinquency. Four studies have shown reduced delinquency in children receiving early intervention services. The article examines several perspectives and suggests children must…

Reanalyzed data from Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck's study of 500 delinquents and 500 nondelinquents from low-income neighborhoods of Boston between 1924 and 1935. Found that low supervision, weak parent-child attachment, and erratic, threatening, and harsh discipline, contributed to delinquency. Suggests that strong family social controls may serve…

Presents an overview of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act, a key federal program that provides funding directly to states and local educational agencies to facilitate drug and violence prevention programs. The Gun-Free Schools Act is also examined, and the major challenges communities face in correcting school safety problems are…

A study investigated the impact of in-service training on the use of assertive discipline in a school for pupils with emotional/behavioral difficulties. Results indicate improved rates in on-task behavior and reduced numbers of disruptive incidences. Changes in pupil behavior mirrored an increase in teachers' use of positive feedback and praise.…

An award winning project for teaching economics at the fifth-grade level is described. Content is based on the theme of the economic repercussions of petty crime. As an initial activity, students examine the economic effects of local vandalism on the community and the taxpayers. Throughout the year, rap sessions provide a vehicle for class…

The Youth Development Project is a school-based delinquency prevention project which incorporates intervention strategies of social skills training, student team learning, and community liaison between home and school. Subjects in the project are fourth, fifth, and sixth graders of one experimental (N=315) and one comparison (N=196) elementary…

Results of a 3-year evaluation of a national law-related education (LRE) project involving five organizations (the American Bar Association, the Constitutional Rights Foundation, Law in a Free Society, the National Institute for Citizen Education in the Law, and the Phi Alpha Delta Public Service Center) are presented. Beginning in 1981,…

This paper compares two approaches to teaching a course on alcohol abuse to high school students. The importance of the teacher's basic personal beliefs in selecting a theme and determining the goal of the course are described in terms of the two directions a course can take, i.e., that drinking is morally wrong, or that moderate, controlled…

This paper is intended to help program developers to initiate or refine school-based, self-contained delinquency prevention programs. These programs are limited, short-term efforts to minimize delinquent behavior among youth by creating school situations in which the factors that contribute to delinquent behavior are reduced. Designed as an…

The focus in this anthology is on practical approaches to school crime prevention and control. The collection begins with two papers describing approaches to the study of crime in schools. One of these outlines a strategy for basing prevention programs on the findings of research tailored to a particular school, while the other offers a conceptual…

TWO STUDIES ARE REPORTED AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS DISCUSSED. IN THE FIRST STUDY AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO AVERT DELINQUENCY IN CHILDREN (AGED 12 AND 13) BY IDENTIFYING THE DELINQUENCY PRONE AND TREATING A PORTION OF THEM BY FAMILY CASEWORK METHODS. THROUGH USE OF THE DELINQUENCY PREDICTION INSTRUMENT AND THE BRISTOL SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT GUIDES, 33…

A Title I/ESEA project designed and conducted to meet the needs of educationally deprived children (K-12) in Wichita, Kansas, is described and evaluated. The major focus of the project was on improvements in reading, but additional objectives included improving the children's verbal functions, self-image, attitude toward school and education,…

Twenty-three California school districts responded to a burglary and vandalism survey conducted by the Fresno Unified School District Burglary and Vandalism Prevention Project, which represents the first phase of a developing program to reduce vandalism occurrences and improve recovery of losses. This summary compiles survey data on 18,000…