Evaluation of the National Youth Gang Drug Prevention Program (From Modern Gang Reader, P 266-275, 1995, Malcolm W. Klein, Cheryl L. Maxson, et al., eds. - See NCJ-173280)

• NCJ Number: 173299
• Author(s): M I Cohen; K Williams; A M Bekelman; S Crosse
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: Roxbury Publishing Co.
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Prevention and intervention projects developed to intervene in youth gang and drug problems were evaluated with respect to the types of services that were most effective in achieving these goals.

Abstract

The evaluation used a quasi-experimental, retrospective pre-post design to compare project outcomes for participants and nonparticipants in 13 projects funded under the Omnibus Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. Data were collected from September 1992 through February 1993. Results revealed that the projects produced positive effects in the reduction of delinquency behavior, the use of illegal drugs and alcohol, and problematic behavior in school. However, the programs had little effect in keeping most youths from becoming involved in gangs. They also had little influence on the gang involvement of youths who were gang members when the projects began. Instead, factors that distinguished gang and nongang youths included whether the youths had friends or family in gangs, had been in trouble in school, used alcohol or other drugs, or had negative or positive attitudes about gangs. Many participants who avoided gang involvement seemed to have generally negative attitudes toward gangs and to be concerned about some of the potential negative consequences of gang involvement. Tables