NCJ Number
177243
Date Published
1995
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This report examines out-of-school activities for British youth -- defined as "diversionary alternatives" -- and asks whether they are effective in diverting vulnerable youth from drug abuse and whether they are a suitable means for bringing drug prevention messages to youth.
Abstract
The findings are based on six varied projects that offer activities for children and youth. The projects aimed to provide alternatives to drug use by engaging youth in leisure, recreation, or other community-oriented activities. Among the issues explored were the content, explicitness, and context of drug prevention messages within these diversionary initiatives. The first phase of the Home Office Drugs Prevention Initiative from 1990-95 involved 20 local drug prevention teams in Britain, four of which had responsibility for the six projects monitored and all four of the projects visited. Toward the end of the first phase, the Initiative identified six main approaches or themes in their work: education and training, information and awareness raising, community development, the criminal justice system, diversionary alternatives, and working with racial and cultural diversity. The study found that the greatest success is achieved when a desirable, highly rewarding activity incorporates explicit drug prevention messages from the outset. Youth tend to accept a message delivered by credible figures through a medium with which they identify. The activity offered must interest youth, for example, music, sports, or computer technology. It is even more effective if it has some prospect for ongoing use in their lives, even offering eventual employment. Project workers must gain credibility through relevant skills and local knowledge. Essential qualities are an envied level of talent and skill in the activity and local experience and knowledge that gives them an understanding of current pressures on youth. 6 references