Reducing Juvenile Crime

¶ … Power of Myth: Chapter 2 before referencing Reducing Juvenile crime through community-based involvement strategies Prevention As with so many things in life, when it comes to preventing juvenile crime, an 'ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.' In other words, the ideal method of containing juvenile crime is to make a life of crime less attractive to potential young offenders.

This is important not simply to reduce rates of criminality amongst the most vulnerable population of our society, but also to reduce crime later on, as youthful criminals are likely to become more hardened, career criminals after they age out of the juvenile justice system. Most chronic juvenile offenders are under the age of 15 when they commit their first offense (Sprague 2003:5). After-school programs uniquely tailored to the demographic needs of the community are one effective way to reduce juvenile crime.

An estimated eight million school-age children are home alone after school during the hours when violent juvenile crime peaks. Children without family or adult support are more likely to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and sex and engage in criminal activity (Patten & Robertson 2001). However, family, school, and community influences can reduce the dangers of children experimenting in negative behaviors, even in poor neighborhoods.

The Research Institute on Addictions suggests that children from families that that are emotionally supportive and actively monitor children will have lower levels of problem behaviors (Patten & Robertson 2001). When family support is lacking, other adults in the community must step in to help do the job.

Increasing the availability of after-school, community-based programs for recreational activities, staffed by people who are willing to support the development of children during the critical after school hours where children are least likely to be supervised is a first, critical crime prevention first step. Some of these programs must also identify children with risk factors and use schools and other community institutions to target such children, and direct them to the most appropriate community programs.

Risk factors include antisocial behavior, poor family functioning or poor family support, poor performance in school, substance abuse problems, and negative peer associations (Sprague 2003:4). Programs can encompass drug treatment, tutoring, anti-violence or anti-bullying education, anger management classes, or family counseling. It is important to remember that what is suitable for one demographic group is not necessarily suitable for all.

According to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) project director and research associate Brain Bumbarger, "while every community is trying to prevent and reduce juvenile delinquency and drug use, most of what is being done is not grounded in good research and not necessarily proven to work. Prevention programs like D.A.R.E.

(Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and Just Say No...are based on the na vete of teens rather than a sound theory," trying "to prevent drug use by telling children the harmful health and legal effects of drug use...For that approach to work, it would have to mean that the reason kids use drugs is because they don't know that drugs are illegal or bad for them" (Jackovitz 2008). Treating the cause (family problems, peer pressure, etcetera) not just the symptom (crime).

Step 2: Reducing Recidivism Even for children who do commit a first offense, family involvement in some cases can prevent recidivism. One recent study in California found that 70% of juveniles leaving state custody were re-arrested within three years, but intensive therapies for serious juvenile offenders and their families cut repeat arrests by as much as half. California provides three therapy-based programs "that have been scientifically shown to cut repeat arrests by serious offenders": Functional Family Therapy (FFT), Multisystemic Therapy (MST) and Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) (Derryck, 2007).

Part of the program's efficacy is that it involves the entire family, when possible, with the treatment of the juvenile offender's specific needs. It also targets first-time offenders as well as chronic delinquents, and provides special services for children in the foster care program if no family support is present. The state of Oregon has created a program in which screens all youthful offenders based upon a risk scale inventory, and refers them to programs within their county as a preventative strategy.

These interventions might include family counseling, anger management classes, substance abuse treatment, case management, or support services to meet basic needs When prior offenses were tracked back 12 months prior to JCP involvement, 79.0% of the youth had had a prior criminal referral, compared to only 28.3% in the 12 months following JCP enrollment (Sprague 2003: 18-20).

Step 3: Treatment for juveniles already in 'the system' For juveniles that have already fallen prey to the temptations of drug abuse, gang membership, or other areas of youth violence, in addition to incarceration, the physical aspects of addiction must be treated, ideally in conjunction with their sentences or terms of their parole. Again, treating the causes of crime, such as family violence or a lack of economic opportunity is must be a.