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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this report by Fagan was to evaluate a prevention program for the reduction of violent juvenile crime, based in the theoretical frameworks of social control and social learning theories.
METHODOLOGY:
This was a non-experimental, explanatory study, aimed at the evaluation of a federally sponsored research and development program of crime prevention in the Bronx, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Orleans and San Diego between 1981 and 1986. The foci of the program were the high crime rates, physical deterioration and poverty found in many neighborhoods across the United States, the social institutions or formal agencies that residents have turned to for help in maintaining the community, and the organization of neighborhood residents to solve the many problems that are often associated with juvenile crime. The notions of social control and social learning provided the conceptual basis for the program development, with the result that neighborhood residents were considered as a primary source of socialization for the community adolescents. All of the areas in which the program was implemented over a 36 month period had to include each of the following components: 1) a neighborhood based organization which took on the responsibility of implementing the program; 2) a mobilization of residents to increase supervision over youths' behavior; and 3) the development of a violent crime intervention program, mediation between youth and schools and law enforcement agencies, provision of a network of family support and organization of activities to develop youth skills. The inclusion of these components allowed for the testing of four types of program intervention: violent crime intervention, institutional mediation, family support networks and youth skills development. Each neighborhood program also involved an ongoing needs assessment to evaluate progress and update program efforts. Data were collected from police reports of crime, self-report surveys and household victimization surveys in order to determine whether the programs actually reduced crime and the fear of victimization. Each measure was based upon well validated systems of reporting and measurement - the youth survey used the self-reported delinquency scales from the National Youth Survey, the household survey made use of the victimization measures of the National Crime Survey, and official measures of police information were taken from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reports.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
After four years of program activity, the neighborhood organizations found that the mobilization of residents was a viable approach for solving community problems. Serious crime rates declined in the target areas in San Diego, the Bronx and Los Angeles, compared to their respective cities. The neighborhoods were characterized by stability of residents - any movement that did occur was within the neighborhood, rather than outside to other areas of the city. This stability was seen as providing the bonds and attachments of people to their neighbors that could facilitate resident mobilization. Leadership structures and untapped youth potential within the neighborhoods were also seen as critical factors in the development of successful programs of crime prevention. Schools and local child protection agencies were seen as closed institutions that were not inclined to involve residents in crime prevention or to participate in community prevention programs. However, police departments and juvenile courts were open to suggestions and were cooperative with the resident program planners. The author concluded that the results from the programs implemented confirmed the critical nature of the link between residents and their social institutions - the institutions influence the neighborhood youth, whilst the residents influence the institutions.
AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS:
The author emphasized the need for mobilization in neighborhoods to include the reeducation of residents to view problems actually as problems, and not as inevitable conditions of existence. Community organizations also must attempt to enter such closed institutions as schools, in order to fully realize the potential for change that exists within the community. Sustained efforts would be needed to bring about more lasting behavioral changes, with programs institutionalized within neighborhood agencies that would be flexible enough to anticipate and react to changes in youth culture. These agencies would also be required to adopt more community advocacy and outreach activities to become more a part of the residents' lives. Crime prevention strategies that focus only on the occurrence of crime are not sufficient to address the developmental sequences that might help to avoid criminal behavior - that are found within the family, school and social networks of the individual. The author concluded that crime control policies must extend beyond the notion of criminal justice to also support the economic and social structures of the communities.
EVALUATION:
The paper presents an interesting examination of the value of various prevention programs that might be useful in reducing the incidence of violent juvenile crime. Its detailed description of the program components allows for the replication of the interventions and for further research into the area of crime prevention. The paper should be viewed as a useful tool in policy and prevention planning. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - California
KW - Louisiana
KW - New York
KW - Illinois
KW - Texas
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Violence Prevention
KW - Prevention Program
KW - Program Effectiveness
KW - Program Evaluation
KW - Intervention Program
KW - Neighborhood Based
KW - Community Based
KW - Juvenile Crime
KW - Crime Intervention
KW - Crime Prevention
KW - Policy Recommendations
KW - Social Learning Theory
KW - Social Control Theory
KW - Juvenile Offender |