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Delinquency Prevention
Chapter 12
Crime Prevention Versus Control
While there is no “right” answer to solving the problem of crime, there are two competing models for combating it:
Prevention and Control
Crime Prevention seeks to correct the underlying sources of criminal behavior, before they manifest themselves into an actual crime
Crime Control seeks to dissuade crime by punishing and reforming those who have already broken the law.
There is no right or wrong approach at play here. Clearly, as a society, we need both. However, society does not have unlimited resources. Decisions must be made in how to allocate resources in each program area.
Evolution of the systems
In the United states, we have adopted a two pronged approach in combating crime, in light of the control versus prevention dichotomy.
The Juvenile Justice System is primarily formulated as a Crime Prevention System. Programs are made to correct the deviance of juveniles before they manifest themselves into adult crime.
Social Service programs are aimed at channeling resources to the identification and prevention of potential criminal conduct.
Juveniles that commit acts that are deemed to be of adult mentality, are tried as adults. They are deemed to be beyond the point for effective crime prevention.
The entire adult criminal justice system is formulated on the concept of Crime Prevention. Constitutionally, you cannot take preemptive actions against an adult to prevent crime.
Examples
Crime Prevention
Home Visitations
Preschool
Child Skills Training
Mentoring
After-school Activities
Job Training
Crime Control
Anti-Gang Police Units
Boot Camps
Wilderness Programs
Probation
Electronic Monitoring
Confinement
Why Prevention?
The obvious answer to this question, is that it is easier to fix a person BEFORE they have become a criminal.
Juveniles, as still in the formative stages of their lives, are particularly easier to change in regards to their behavior, as compared to adults. Of course, that change can be for the better or worse, depending on the influences.
The main reason that prevention is necessary, has to do with the goal of society to reduce harm to victims.
The estimated cost of Juvenile Crime, in regards to property loses, lost wages, pain suffering, etc., is approximately 158 Billion dollars a year in the U.S.
The cost is particularly higher for juvenile offenders, because their victims tend to also be juveniles, and that they commit crime at a much higher rate than the rest of society.
These numbers do NOT include the estimated 70 Billion dollars society spends incarcerating and processing the offenders themselves.
The societal response
Just as there are many competing theories on the causes of crime, there are differing approaches to the most effective way to prevent crime. The two primary models used in the U.S. are:
The Public Health Approach
This model separates prevention activities into three categories: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Prevention.
Primary Prevention focuses on improving the well-being of a child through counseling and education of children and parents.
Secondary Prevention focuses on intervention techniques with children who are at risk for becoming offenders.
Tertiary Prevention focuses on reducing recidivism through treatment and confinement.
Next Approach
Developmental Perspective
This approach focuses on identifying children with developmental risk factors, which preclude criminal deviance at a later point in life. Generally, this system uses community resources through statistical data, tracking and counseling, in order to:
Identify behavioral patterns related to developmental stages ion life
Combat those patterns which have been shown to have a correlation to crime.
Provide governmental programs to combat and intervene in situations where those patterns develop
Reassess children at a continual basis in their varying life stages, for signs of future potential delinquent precursors
Sample Preventive Programs
Programs focusing on early prevention of delinquency begin when the mother is pregnant. Remembering that delinquency is far more pronounced in families of single parent mothers, many of these programs are targeted to that demographic. They include:
Home Based Visitation Programs for pregnant mothers
Education and parenting classes for young and single mothers.
Government subsidized daycare programs for low income single parents (Children from 6 weeks to 3 yrs old)
Government subsidized preschool for children ages 3-5, for low income single parents.
Education and Counseling, Assessment and Food Subsidy services for children that have entered elementary school (HeadStart Program, WIC, EBT)
Prevention after elementary
Of course, we know that most delinquency comes between the ages of 12 and 17 in juveniles. Many programs have been created to reach children in these formative socialization years. These programs focus on school based initiatives:
Mentoring Programs
Project PATHE (Making schools a positive social bond)
Violence Prevention through anti-bullying campaigns
Drugs and alcohol substance abuse education
Prevention outside of school
The following programs focus on prevention of crime outside of the school:
Boys and Girls Clubs of America
Participate and Learn Skills program (PALS) for extra-ciricular activities
Job Corps
YouthBuild USA
CASA Start
Boys and Girl Scouts
YMCA / YWCA
Communities That Care