STRATEGIES
When it comes to preventing crime, our justice system hasn't wanted
for innovative ideas. What it has lacked is proof that any of these
initiatives have been truly effective.
Until now. A report commissioned by the National Institute of
Justice takes a hard look at what stops crime and what doesn't. "This
study is an attempt to make scientific evidence, not political
philosophy, the primary basis for saying what works to prevent crime,"
says Lawrence Sherman, Ph.D., professor of criminology at the University
of Maryland and lead author of the report.
The strategies that are most effective have a psychological
bent--and they begin early. Some of the findings:
What Works
o Nurses' visits to the homes of high-risk infants
o Head Start-type programs, especially those that include weekly
visits by teachers to students' homes
o Establishing anti-bullying programs in schools
o Family therapy and parent training about delinquent and at-risk
preadolescents
o Life-skills classes taught in elementary and high schools
o Training or coaching in thinking skills for high-risk
youth
o Rehabilitation programs that are focused on offender risk
factors, such as illiteracy
What Doesn't
o Arrests of juveniles for minor offenses
o "Scared Straight" programs, which take juvenile offenders on a
tour of maximum security prisons to show them the severity of prison
conditions
o Military-style correctional boot camps
o Shock probation, shock parole and split sentences, in which
offenders are incarcerated for a short period at the beginning of the
sentence and then supervised in the community
o Detention at home with electronic monitoring
o Increased arrests or raids on drug markets
o Intensive supervision on parole or probation
o Gun buy-back programs
ILLUSTRATION (COLOR)
Tags:
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