Delinquency Prevention

History of Delinquency Prevention

The history of the prevention of juvenile delinquency in the United States parallels the history of juvenile justice in the United States. Preventing delinquency has been of interest since the first houses of refuge that opened in the early 1800s. More recent developments, including passage of the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, continued to emphasize prevention.

[Page 191]One of the earliest juvenile delinquency prevention programs was the Chicago Area Project, which began in 1933. It was designed to produce social change in communities that suffered from high delinquency rates. Qualified local leaders coordinated social service centers that promoted community solidarity. More than 20 programs were developed. Some evaluations indicated positive results; others showed that this project did not reduce juvenile delinquency.

Another well-known delinquency prevention program was the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study. The program's focus was to prevent the early onset of delinquency. The study was divided into a control group and an experimental group. The experimental group received regular, friendly attention and were given medical and educational services. An evaluation of the program 30 years after it ended found that those in the experimental group committed more crime than those in the control group.

In the 1950s a popular trend of delinquency prevention was to make connections with youth who were unlikely to use community centers. Individuals referred to as “detached street workers” were sent to inner-city neighborhoods to create close relationships with juvenile gangs and delinquent groups. The Boston Mid-City Project was the best-known program that used detached street workers. Trained social workers were dispatched to reach out to gang members in their own areas. The workers attempted to connect gang members to job and educational opportunities. An evaluation of the program found that the program resulted in no significant reduction in delinquency.

During the 1960s more federally funded programs emerged that were based on social structure theory. The best-known program of this era was created in New York City. The program, Mobilization for Youth, received more than $50 million in funds from the U.S. government. The program attempted to provide legitimate opportunities for at-risk youth by providing employment and social service programs; the program also promoted voter registration. The program ended as a result of lack of funding. During this era, Head Start was created (and still exists today) for preschoolers who came from lower-class families to help them improve their social, emotional, physical, and mental development. Evaluations of the program found that participants of Head Start averaged more than 10 points higher on their IQ scores than their peers who did not participate in the program. During the 1980s delinquency prevention was viewed as a positive outcome of Head Start program participants.

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