NCJ Number
140781
Date Published
1993
Length
166 pages
Annotation
These two volumes are intended to help program planners, policy makers, and service providers determine the most effective family-focused and parenting intervention strategies to prevent juvenile delinquency in high-risk youth.
Abstract
The text reviews what is currently known about the impact of family characteristics on the risk for juvenile delinquency as well as the most promising interventions for family change. The guides aim to help providers choose or modify existing programs or create new interventions for high-risk youth. The family factors most closely correlated with juvenile delinquency include poor socialization practices, poor supervision of the child, poor discipline skills, poor parent-child relationships, excessive family conflict and marital discord, family chaos and stress, poor parental mental health, family isolation and lack of community support resources, and differential family acculturation. In addition, several structural factors are positively correlated with family dysfunction. These include poverty; neighborhood disorganization; high-density housing; reduced educational, cultural, and job opportunities; and discrimination. Programs for families should include parent education, family support, family therapy, and many other types of programs that are matched to the needs of the general population, high-risk families, and families in crisis. Twenty-six programs have been identified as exemplary. They are described in terms of their target population, history, objectives, strategies, staffing, resources, and special characteristics. These two volumes are from a conference sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and titled "Strengthening America's Families: Promising Parenting and Family Strategies for Delinquency Prevention." Chart and 106 references