Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Scientifically valid prevention programs cut rates of juvenile delinquency / Eureka Alert, 23 June 2008
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uow-svp062308.php
Joel Schwarz
"The early finding comes from the Community Youth Development Study that is tracking the behavior of more than 4,400 students for five years in the 12 pairs of small-to moderate-size towns. The data come from the third year of the study, which is continuing. "This finding is very important because early initiation of delinquent behavior in children before the age of 14 is a predictor of later substance abuse, chronic criminal behavior and mental health problems," said J. David Hawkins, lead author and director of the study. "It is exciting because we didn't expect to find these community-wide effects until about five years. The seventh grade is still pretty young and this may bode well for other behavioral outcomes." The study is being conducted by the UW's Social Development Research Group, a part of the School of Social Work, with funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Mental Health and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention."
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