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The Implications of Early Intervention Efforts for the Primary Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency
Abstract
Since its inception, the study of childhood intervention has had a variety of goals; some have been realized, and some have not. In addition, research has contributed a wide variety of unanticipated but extremely beneficial outcomes of intervention programs, and, as a result, additional programs have been mounted to produce these once-unexpected benefits. Experiences such as these have taught workers to evaluate carefully not only outcomes, but intent as well. Although our most general goal—to improve children’s lives—has remained constant since the earliest days of intervention plans, in more recent years the emphases of programs and evaluations have changed to reflect our increasingly sophisticated understanding of the broad effects of intervention and of the variables which mediate these effects.
... Finally, the rehabilitation literature is offering a number of helpful policy recommendations for service delivery systems. They are to be found in the early intervention area (Loeber, 1987;Schweinhart, 1987;Wilson, 1987;Zigler and Hall, 1987), the field of alcohol treatment (Miller, 1987), and offender classification (Clear, 1988). Also, the analyses of the absence or presence of therapeutic integrity of programs in such diverse areas as intensive probation supervision (Latessa, 1987) and shock incarceration (MacKenzie, Gould, Riechers, and Shaw, 1988) will no doubt foster sound program policies in the future. ...
From its inception in the 1820s, the American prison was meant to be more than a sturdy cage of high, thick, stone walls in which the wayward could be restrained. The prison’s founders called their invention a “penitentiary,” a label that embodied their optimism that this carefully planned social institution had the power to reform even the most wicked spirit (Rothman, 1971).
... As superb as the Consortium effort is, policy conclusions based on its results should be drawn with caution because substantial expenditures of public funds are at issue. As numerous authors have argued (e.g., Besharov, 1987;Datta, 1983;Zigler & Hall, 1987), these intervention programs were conducted under ideal circumstances: skilled researchers, capable staffs with lots of training, ample budgets, and perhaps in the glow of Hawthorne effects. It seems unwise to claim that the benefits produced by such exemplary programs would necessarily be produced by ordinary preschool programs conducted in communities across the United States. ...
Evidence from model preschool education programs is reviewed to determine what impacts quality programs can have on poor children's intellectual and social competence; evidence from Head Start is reviewed to determine whether preschool programs of national scope have typically produced the same effects as those produced by model programs. Research has shown that both model programs and Head Start have immediate positive impacts on tests of intellectual performance and social competence but that this impact declines over the first few years of public schooling. The evidence of improvement on long-term measures of school performance such as special education placement is substantial for model programs but thin and inconsistent for Head Start. There is limited but provocative evidence that model programs may have positive effects on life success measures such as teen pregnancy, delinquency, welfare use, and employment, but there is virtually no evidence linking Head Start attendance with any of these variables. Benefit–cost studies show that model programs can produce long-term benefits that exceed the value of the original program investment, but it would be premature to argue that Head Start is cost-beneficial. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Research and clinical findings presented in this book suggest that providing quality preschool programs may be an effective way to prevent juvenile delinquency. Unfortunately, this knowledge is not reflected in the orientation of juvenile courts nor, for that matter, of social service agencies. After briefly setting the issue in perspective, Chapter 9 describes how courts and social agencies could make greater use of quality preschool programs as a form of delinquency prevention—within the context of child abuse and neglect proceedings. Included also is a description of how funds for these preschool programs could be obtained as a by-product of needed reform in child protective dispositional practices.
This article reviews available evidence regarding the effectiveness of prevention and treatment programs to reduce juvenile delinquency. A broad range of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention programs are considered. The conclusions reached from this review are that interventions must be broadly based, extend over long time periods of development, and be assessed with fuller characterization of operational regularities.
The relationships between duration of attendance at early childhood education facilities and measures of intelligence, reading comprehension, mathematical reasoning, and school ability up to the age of 13 years were studied in a birth cohort of New Zealand children. Before adjustment for confounding factors, children who had attended early education facilities for more than two years scored from .33 to .80 SDs higher on tests of cognitive ability and school achievement than children who did not attend early education. However, after adjustment for confounding factors, including parental education levels, socioeconomic status, family size, child ethnicity, infant feeding methods, early mother-child interaction, and the child's birthweight, these differences reduced to between .13 and .47 SDs. Nonetheless, in all but one case, significant associations were found between duration of attendance at early childhood education and cognitive ability and school achievement after controlling for confounding factors. It is concluded that these findings are consistent with the view that attendance at early childhood education may be associated with subsequent improvement in school achievement with these associations persisting up to the age of 13 years.
There seems to be great interest around the world in the increase of juvenile delinquency. Many researchers are debating the reasons for this increase in crime among youths. Some social scientists have argued that schooling will always be good for children, not only academically, but also because it assists them in refraining from criminal or delinquent behavior. This paper examines previous research to determine if schooling and poor school performance, together with peer group influences, are not actually encouraging some students to commit crimes more often. Since all children, in most countries, are forced to attend school until about 16 years of age, this compulsory educational environment may actually breed delinquency. Enhanced understanding of these complex relationships between schooling and delinquency should enable us to develop and implement effective prevention methods, strategies and programs.
Current US policy supports neither high-quality infant daycare nor alternatives, such as paid leaves for infant care. Psychologists, on the basis of research showing the importance of quality care for infants, should support measures to protect daycare quality and to help families afford decent care. At the same time, there are compelling child and family health reasons for psychologists to support voluntary, part-paid, 6-mo leaves for infant care. For 4 wks preceding and 6 wks following childbirth, working mothers should be eligible for a fully paid maternity leave. The remainder of the leave would be made available on a part-paid basis to either parent in any combination they chose to facilitate the parent–infant relationship. (16 ref)
Discusses the tenacity of IQ measurement and problems of societal values and goal definition in the light of a discouraging history of attempts to cope with the complexities of human competence. 29 statements defining "social competency" in young children are presented, which involve many important conceptual problems. These problems relate to ecological and population generality of constructs, distinctions between proficiency and performance and between positive components of competency and negative characteristics that obstruct development, discontinuities in the meaning of variables at different scale points, classification of variables by developmental trends, and the importance of dynamic as opposed to static assessment. The implications of the 29 competency statements for measurement, research, and policy relating to young children are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The Westinghouse-Ohio national evaluation of Head Start evoked criticism from both social scientists and statisticians when it was issued last Spring. The authors present a history of Head Start and of the national evaluation. They raise serious questions about the sampling procedures used in the study, and they present the results of a re-analysis which suggest that some full-year Head Start centers were effective, particularly those with black children in urban areas. Policy implications discussed by the authors focus on the relationship between program evaluation and public policy.
Tested 39 institutionalized retarded and 39 noninstitutionalized normal children of 3 MA levels on a simple 2-part satiation game which assessed responsiveness to social reinforcement. Younger Ss were found to be more responsive to such reinforcement than older Ss. Retarded Ss were found to be more motivated for social reinforcement than the normals at each age level. Ss with greater preinstitutional deprivation and those who received relatively few visits were found to be especially responsive to social reinforcement. Implications for the programming of institutions for the retarded are discussed. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examines the recent history of early childhood intervention efforts. Major views and principles that guided the formation of intervention programs in the 1960's and 1970's are considered: the deficit model, the focus on intelligence, the critical period formulation, and the overriding spirit of optimism. A major focus is the Head Start program and lessons learned from its development. Issues involved in evaluating intervention programs are discussed, including the nature of appropriate measures, timing, and persons to be assessed. Intensive and structured programs are compared with ones following a looser family-support approach. (63 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Replies to the comments of L. G. Humphreys and V. G. Cicirelli on the present author's work with W. Berman on early childhood education. It is suggested that the term difference is neutral while the term deficit connotes that the cause of differences is inherent in the individual. It is asserted that Cicirelli and the present author agree on the essential point that the Westinghouse study was inappropriately used in the public policy debate. (9 ref)
Reviews recent research on the father–infant relationship. Those studies documenting changes in parent and infant behavior when the mother–infant dyad is transformed into the mother–father–infant triad are especially important to the study of early human experience, since they highlight the influence of the marital relationship on the parent–infant relationship. These investigations of "2nd-order effects" document the fact that inclusion of the father in the study of infancy creates a family system composed of marital and parent–child relations. The need for "wedding" the disciplines of family sociology and developmental psychology in their respective concerns for marital and parent–infant relationships is emphasized, and a transactional framework for examining early experience in the family system is proposed. Evidence from family sociology and developmental psychology is reviewed to illuminate influences within the family system during infancy and to stimulate interdisciplinary investigation. (3½ ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The IQ score has been the most frequently utilized outcome measure in evaluations of early childhood intervention programs. Reasons for the popularity of the IQ as an assessment tool are discussed, and problems raised by employing the IQ in this manner are noted. The importance of accurate outcome evaluation of programs with clearly defined goals is related to both the social science and policy-making arenas. The authors argue that social competence, rather than IQ, should be the primary measure of the success of intervention efforts. Difficulties in defining and assessing social competence are discussed. An index of social competence is suggested that includes measures of physical health, IQ, school achievement, certain motivational and emotional variables, and such molar social expectancy variables as school attendance and incidence of juvenile delinquency. (59 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Assessed developmental and experiential determinants of self-image disparity in 80 children. 3 groups of male 5th and 8th graders were investigated: nonmaladjusted Ss, maladjusted Ss whose primary symptomatology was in the sphere of action, and maladjusted Ss whose symptoms were in the sphere of thought. No support was obtained for the Rogerian position that maladjustment per se was related to self-image disparity. Consistent with predictions generated by developmental theory, both age and the maladjusted Ss' position on the action-thought continuum were predictive of the magnitude of self-image disparity. Emotionally disturbed Ss had more negative real-self images, and those with externalizing symptoms had lower ideal-self scores as well. Thus, children's self-images appear to be influenced by experiential factors as well as cognitive-developmental ones. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Compared 26 4th-grade and 22 7th-grade self-care (latchkey) children with 26 4th-grade and 22 7th-grade matched children in adult care to investigate whether the latchkey arrangement has negative consequences for children. Ss were interviewed on demographic and childcare arrangement data and administered the Self-Esteem Inventory, the Personal Reaction Survey, and the Behavior Rating Form. There were no significant differences found between the 2 matched samples on any of the measures. Results suggest that the growing public and professional concern about the negative effects of self-care arrangements may not be warranted. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A longitudinal study examined the relationship between teacher-rated behaviors (the Devereux Elementary School Behavior Rating Scale) in kindergarten through Grade 3 and delinquency and school misconduct throughout adolescence. 659 children who were at risk because of their urban minority living conditions were initially assessed in 1968, and 380 were successfully followed up in 1982. An early high-risk pattern was identified in both sexes that indicated that Ss who were overly and disruptively involved socially and who failed to modulate their own behavior to accommodate others were likely to come into conflict with authority quite early in life and into adolescence. Results are discussed in relationship to other research on temperament, parent–child interaction, and possible preventive intervention. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This report is concerned with behavioral development in an institution whose care of infants is in some respects identical with, and in some respects quite different from, that described in other studies. The data were obtained in a foundling home in Beirut, Lebanon, which, because of inadequate financial support, is able to provide little more than essential physical care. The institution in which the study was conducted will be called the Creche, although this is not the formal name of the home. For the subjects under one year of age the Cattell infant scale was employed. We tested all subjects who fell into our age categories upon two series of testing dates. In summary, the data show that, with respect to behavioral development, children in the Creche are normal during the second month of age, are greatly retarded from 3 to 12 months of age, and almost normal on certain performance tests between 4.5 and 6 years of age. It was found that in terms of developmental quotients, the mean quotient at two months was approximately 100. It is believed that the objective data of other studies, as well as this one, can be interpreted in terms of the effects of specific kinds of restrictions upon infant learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Longitudinal and cross-sectional comparisons were made of 109 economically disadvantaged children in 1 Follow-Through and several non-Follow-Through primary school programs. A longitudinal comparison was also made of the economically disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged children in the Follow-Through program. Clear-cut program effects were found in the 4th yr (grade 3) when Follow-Through children were superior to non-Follow-Through children on IQ, achievement, and social-motivational measures. The Follow-Through program did not result in the economically disadvantaged children attaining the level of intellectual achievement displayed by the nondisadvantaged children. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
ASSESSES REAL-, IDEAL-, AND SOCIAL-SELF PERCEPTIONS OF 5TH-, 8TH-, AND 11TH-GRADE CHILDREN. THE MAJOR PREDICTION WAS THAT SELF-IMAGE DISPARITY IS A FUNCTION OF DEVELOPMENTAL LEVEL. THIS HYPOTHESIS WAS BASED UPON 2 FACTORS THOUGHT TO INCREASE CONCOMITANTLY WITH MATURITY: CAPACITY FOR GUILT AND ABILITY FOR COGNITIVE DIFFERENTIATION. A SUBSIDIARY PREDICTION WAS THAT MEASURING INSTRUMENTS MOST SENSITIVE TO THE ASSESSMENT OF THESE FACTORS SHOULD MAXIMALLY REFLECT DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN SELF-IMAGE DISPARITY. BOTH THE MAJOR AND SUBSIDIARY PREDICTIONS RECEIVED EXPERIMENTAL SUPPORT. SELF-IMAGE DISPARITY WAS FOUND TO BE POSITIVELY RELATED TO CA AND INTELLIGENCE. THIS LARGER DISPARITY IN OLDER AND BRIGHTER CHILDREN WAS ACCOUNTED FOR BY BOTH DECREASED SELF-EVALUATIONS AND INCREASED IDEAL-SELF IMAGES. (24 REF.)
TESTED THE HYPOTHESIS THAT RETARDED AND NORMAL CHILDREN OF THE SAME MA DIFFER IN PERFORMANCE ON A PARTIALLY REINFORCED 3-CHOICE LEARNING TASK BECAUSE THEY HAVE DIFFERING EXPECTANCIES OF SUCCESS. THE PERFORMANCE OF 60 NORMAL LOWER-CLASS (LOW EXPECTANCY) AND 60 NORMAL MIDDLE-CLASS (HIGH EXPECTANCY) SS WAS COMPARED WITH THAT OF 60 NONINSTITUTIONALIZED RETARDATES. 1/3 OF THE SS IN EACH GROUP WERE ASSIGNED TO A SUCCESS, FAILURE, OR CONTROL CONDITION WHICH THEY EXPERIENCED PRIOR TO PERFORMING ON THE CRITERION TASK. 1/2 OF THE SS IN EACH GROUP WERE PENALIZED FOR MAKING ERRORS. NORMAL LOWER-CLASS SS SHOWED THE MOST MAXIMIZING (CORRECT RESPONSES) AND THE LEAST LEFT, MIDDLE, RIGHT PATTERNING OF RESPONSES, WHILE NORMAL MIDDLE-CLASS SS SHOWED THE LEAST MAXIMIZING AND MOST PATTERNING. RETARDED SS FELL BETWEEN THESE 2 GROUPS ON BOTH MEASURES. (29 REF.)
Assessed the current status of 61 4th–6th graders seen 2–5 yrs earlier in an intervention program for children experiencing school adjustment problems. Based on comparisons of teacher ratings of Ss' problems and competencies at 3 time points (referral, termination, and follow-up), program Ss were found to have maintained initial intervention gains. At follow-up, they were significantly better adjusted than a demographically comparable, teacher-identified group of current problem children (n = 61), but not as well adjusted as a randomly selected, demographically matched "never-seen" group (n = 27). The 3 groups did not differ systematically on measures of self-esteem or academic achievement. The absolute placement of the seen sample on those measures was at the midpoint of the normal range. Thus, the immediate gains shown by young, maladjusted Ss seen through the early intervention program endured over time. (20 ref)
This chapter focuses on the Primary Mental Health Project (PMHP), a school-based program for early detection and prevention of adjustment problems. Several of PMHP's structural-evolutionary qualities influence how the chapter is written. First, PMHP is 23-years-old. During that period it has grown and changed considerably. Second, it is a complex project-less a single, fixed entity and more a federation of conceptually linked approaches. Thus, PMHP - type programs are located in many schools in the Rochester, New York, area and in some 40 other districts around the country (Cowen, Davidson, & Gesten, 1980). Those programs are, as they must be, individualized. Third, the project's research history and structures are equally complex. No single design or experimentum crucis is sufficient to evaluate it.
Several years ago I had a provocative lunch discussion with an argumentative, methodologically sophisticated colleague of mine. After we disagreed about the effects of Reaganomics on the poor, the value of the nuclear freeze, and whether Wayne Gretsky was an established hockey star,1 he began talking about the many shortcomings of school-based social problem-solving (SPS) program evaluation research (!).
To understand the way children develop, Bronfenbrenner believes that it is necessary to observe their behavior in natural settings, while they are interacting with familiar adults over prolonged periods of time. His book offers an important blueprint for constructing a new and ecologically valid psychology of development.
Theory and data are presented which indicate that certain alternative educational programs are a promising means of preventing and treating delinquent behavior. The theory proposes that delinquent behavior is a manifestation of a psychological defense against threats to self-esteem, and a substantial part of those threats originates in school experiences. Individualized educational programs that maximize success experiences and provide for more personal teacher-student relationships have the potential to reduce the provocations for and strengthen the controls against delinquency.
Weighs the risks and opportunities of latchkey children, who must supervise themselves after school because their parent or parents work. Suggests some school/community alternatives for supervising these children and/or teaching them self-care skills. Condensed from "Vital Issues," v30, n3, p1-4. (SJL)
Replies to the article by M. S. Smith and J. S. Bissell (see 44:8). Both the criticisms of the methodology of the Westinghouse-Ohio Head Start evaluaion program and the reanalysis of the data are disputed. To question the effectiveness of the Head Start program does not imply an attack upon the idea and purpose of Head Start. The present authors emphasize that the opposite is the case. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Social problem-solving (SPS) skills training is an approach to primary prevention and competence-building designed to promote children's abilities to resolve interpersonal conflicts, and consequently, their adjustment. Although initial SPS interventions with inner-city preschoolers and kindergartners suggested that training facilitated problem-solving skill acquisition which in turn mediated improved adjustment, recent studies with older children have yielded equivocal findings. Suggestions are presented for conducting more effective elementary school-based SPS training programs. The discussion focuses on the key issues of (a) curriculum content and instructional formats, (b) program structure, (c) instruction and supervision of SPS trainers, and (d) teaching cognitive behavioral SPS skills effectively. The Rochester SPS training program (Weissberg, 1981, Gesten, 1982) for 2nd–4th grade children is discussed with respect to these issues. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Theorizes that variations in learning and the level of learning of students are determined by the students' learning histories and the quality of instruction they receive. Appropriate modifications related to the history of the learners and the quality of instruction can sharply reduce the variation of students and greatly increase their level of learning and their effectiveness in learning in terms of time expended. (7 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Evaluative research into the effects of various educational methods on various outcome measures is limited in value by a lack of (a) clear educational goals and (b) the necessary empirical research into the worth of these measures. 3 potentially remedial strategies are examined, and the 1st 2-the child-centered "romantic" stream of thought (stemming from Rousseau and currently represented by the followers of Freud and Gesell) and the various society-centered "cultural transmission" conceptions-are found inadequate. Only progressivism (John Dewey), with its contemporary cognitive-developmental psychology (e.g., Piaget), its interactionist epistemology, and its philosophically sophisticated ideology is considered adequate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Pages numbered 1-34 Includes bibliographical references (p. 31-33) Supported in part by the National Institute of Education under contract no. NIE-400-81-0030
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Microfilm. s
Concern about the existence of abnormality or the reality of the distinction between sanity and insanity is in large part philosophical puzzlement. It can be alleviated by an analysis of the meaning and significance of scientific concepts and facts. The question whether insanity and its causes reside in people or in their environments relates to psychologists' preferences among psychological theories differing in terminology and in . assumptions about the usefulness of phenomenological and behavioral concepts. Psychodiagnostic concepts, like all dispositional concepts in psychology, concern behavior in a given context. Statements of relations between behaviors and their correlates have the same logical status as psychodiagnoses and are subject to the same validation;tl tests. The reliability of psychodiagnostic classification is limited by our knowledge of the laws of behavior and the training of clinicians; even so, it is not demonstrably poorer than many useful diagnostic groupings. in general medicine. One cannot establish the unreliability or uselessness of any diagnostic method by showing that pathological symptoms can be faked, and one augbt not judge the effectiveness of psychiatric treatment solely by the impressions of those who know they are normal and suspect many other patients also are normal.
The delivery to impoverished mothers of a coordinated set of medical and social services, including day-care for their children, had effects that were evident a decade after the intervention ended. Intervention mothers were more likely to be self-supporting, and they had higher educational attainment and smaller family sizes than did control mothers. Intervention children had better school attendance, and boys were less likely to require costly special school services than were corresponding control children. The financial implications of these results were considerable, totaling about $40,000 in extra estimated welfare costs and documented school service costs needed by the 15 control families in the single year in which these follow-up data were gathered. There were no indications that the intervention had lasting effects on the children's IQ scores. The results suggest that family support procedures, including quality day-care, have considerable promise as a general model for intervention programs.