NCJ Number
186627
Editor(s)
Adam Graycar
Date Published
2000
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Crime prevention is not the primary objective of sport and physical activities but it may be an extremely positive byproduct, and this paper examines a variety of sporting activities that appear to have kept young people in Australia out of trouble.
Abstract
The paper examines wilderness programs, programs in which young people participate and learn skills, and programs in which the sense of belonging reduces vandalism and develops other pro-social behaviors. Of particular interest are sports carnivals in Aboriginal communities. When the carnivals, organized and run by Aborigines, are held, they act as catalysts for social and traditional cohesion. Harmful behaviors such as petrol sniffing, heavy drinking, and violence are prohibited for the duration of the carnival, and the prohibitions hold in the short term. At another level, elite sporting clubs can reach out to their communities. The example discussed in the paper is the Liverpool Football Club in England, which has been successful in smoking cessation programs, coaching, truancy reduction, and even reducing the number of hoax calls to the local fire brigade. The programs described in the paper suggest it is possible to divert young people from offending behavior to engage in sport and other physical activities and show how the environment and infrastructure in communities can help make pro-social choices easier than anti-social choices. 38 references