Chapter 11 Flashcards
Delinquency prevention refers to
intervening in young people’s lives before they engage in delinquency (non-justice)
delinquency control or delinquency repression
Involves any justice program or policy designed to prevent the occurrence of a future delinquent act.
Some examples of nonjustice delinquency prevention or alternative delinquency prevention:
YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs of America
Public health approach:
Preventing diseases and injuries
Primary prevention (public health approach)
focuses on improving the general well-being of individuals through such measures as access to health care services and general prevention education, and modifying conditions in the physical environment that are conducive to delinquency through such measures as removing abandoned vehicles and improving the appearance of buildings.
Secondary prevention (public health approach)
focuses on intervening with children and young people who are potentially at risk for becoming offenders, as well as the provision of neighborhood programs to deter known delinquent activity.
Tertiary prevention (public health approach)
focuses on intervening with adjudicated juvenile offenders through such measures as substance abuse treatment and imprisonment. Here, the goal is to reduce repeat offending or recidivism
Developmental perspective:
Interventions, risk and protective factors, designed to prevent the development of criminal potential in individuals
Prevention activities are organized around different stages of the life course:
Childhood and adolescence
Early childhood delinquency prevention
Aims at positively influencing the early risk factors of delinquency and criminal offending that continue into adulthood
Some of these early risk factors of childhood delinquency:
Poverty, hyperactivity or impulsiveness, inadequate parental supervision, and harsh or inconsistent discipline
Home-based programs:
Involves the provision of support for families
Example of home visitation:
Nurse-family partnership started in Elmira, New York
Improve the outcomes of pregnancy, quality of care that parents provide to their children, and women’s own personal life-course development
Another study showed that early family/parent training is an effective intervention for reducing
antisocial behavior and delinquency
Most widely cited parenting program:
Oregon Social Learning Center (OSLC)
Some of the key features of preschool programs are:
Developmentally appropriate learning curricula
A wide array of cognitive-based enriching activities
Activities for parents
Programs targeting teenagers include:
Mentoring
School-based programs
Job training
Mentoring
Nonprofessional volunteers spend time with at-risk youth
Jolliffe and Farrington found a…reduction in delinquency, and the program is more effective when the duration of contact between mentor and mentee is longer
10%
Tolan and his associates found that the two elements most heavily influenced by mentoring were
reduction of delinquency and reduction of aggression
Research shows that the most successful school programs target an array of risk factors:
Family and school environment
Target youth with highest risk for future delinquency
School-based programs need to be intensive
Engage parents in helping student to learn Reducing negative peer influences through information about gun carrying, drug use, and gang involvement
Job corps
A federal program established in 1964 for disadvantaged, unemployed youths to improve the employability of participants by offering vocational skills training, basic education and health care
YouthBuild U.S.A.
Started in 1978 by a group of young people in NY
Focuses on building or renovating affordable housing and provides educational services
Delinquent offenders
Those who fall under the jurisdictional age limit and commit an act that violates the penal code
Status offenders
Persons in need of supervision (PINS or CHINS)
Age of jurisdiction varies by states
Others set the upper limit at age 17, and others set it at under age 16
Juvenile justice systems exist in…states
all
Juvenile justice process: police investigation
Have authority to investigate and release or send to juvenile court (file petition)
Juvenile justice process: Detention
If petition is filed, juvenile is referred to court
Decision as to whether the child should be allowed to remain in the community, or be placed in secure facility
Requires a detention hearing
Pretrial procedures
Adjudication hearing involves informing juveniles of their rights, voluntary plea, and understanding of charges/consequences of plea