Community Prevention and Treatment of Juvenile Delinquency

Abstract

A survey was made of the literature on juvenile delinquency preven tion efforts over the past ten years. From approximately 6,600 abstracts, only 96 reports were found which contained some form of empirical data of project effects. Each report was rated for internal and external validity and for policy utility. Overall, the literature was low in both scientific validity and policy utility. The findings are discussed in relation to three general categories of problems—political, methodological, and theoreti cal. Political pressure may force outcome evaluation when process evaluation would be more appropriate. Methodological problems arise from unclear and varying definitions of prevention, delinquency, and treatment. Simplistic and nonexistent theoretical perspectives lead to unrealistic expectations for success.