Effects of Early Educational Intervention on Crime and Delinquency in Adolescence and Early Adulthood (From Prevention of Delinquent Behavior, P 220-240, 1987, John D Burchard and Sara N Burchard, eds. -- See NCJ-112840)

• NCJ Number: 112849
• Author(s): J R Berrueta-Clement; L J Schweinhart; W S Barnett; D P Weikart
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 21 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Carnegie Corporation of New York; National Institute of Mental Health; US Dept of Education
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report summarizes a study of delinquency and crime from childhood through early adulthood for 123 youths born each year between 1958 and 1962 in one neighborhood of Ypsilanti, Mich., based on both self-report data and official records of juvenile and adult involvement in the criminal justice system.

Abstract

The neighborhood consisted predominantly of low-income black families. Children with IQ's between 60 and 80 and no evidence of organic handicap were selected for the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to a group that went to preschool and another that did not. Overall, preschool was associated with a reduction in the proportion of persons ever arrested or charged, from 51 percent to 31 percent. Preschool also had a favorable impact on school success, earnings and employment, and teenage pregnancy. Under conservative assumptions, early education more than pays for itself in returns to society. Study results argue for the broad extension of early educational interventions to low-income children and other persons at risk for educational failure. 4 tables, 1 figure, and 39 references.