JuvenileCrime Prevention Program
JuvenileCrime Prevention Program
Juvenile crime continues to be a fundamental issue in the community.Programs enacted to oversee the entire process of reducing incidencesof juvenile delinquency seem not adequate to address the issue(Siegel, & Welsh, 2014). Juvenile delinquency continues to beexecuted in the community. Because of the same, it is essential tocome up with a program that seeks reduce and hopefully eliminatesjuvenile crime in the community. The program would aid in theprevention and fight against juvenile delinquency. The program wouldbe compared with the past initiatives regarding successes andfailures of those used previously.
Numerous juvenile crime prevention programs have been introduced in abid to help lower cases of delinquencies. Fundamental among them isthe Positive Youth Development program. The program aimed ataddressing the individual needs of the youth who were at risk ofengaging in criminal activities. Notably, the program focused oneducation, creativity, health, relationships and community affairs(Ferrer-Wreder, 2014). The system made it possible for the youth toaccess such facilities as a way of encouraging them toward notengaging in criminal activities. Early Intervention Program was theother employed in a bid to help prevent the likelihood of youngpeople taking part in criminal activities. The program was focused onthe development of young people’s assets and resilience in a bid toensure that they do not find themselves in disruptive behavior(Stockings, Hall, Lynskey, Morley, Reavley, Strang, & Degenhardt,2016).
The identified programs have aimed at ensuring that young people arenot tempted into taking part in the crime. However, despite thepresence of the program, it has been impossible to weed completelyout the vice of engaging in crime among the young people. Many ofthem continue to commit crime at will and end up in juvenilecorrective institutions. Because of the same, it could be crucial tohave a program that addresses the problem to reduce the overallnumber of young people engaging in criminal activities.
A community awareness program on healthy behaviors would be the mostappropriate when it comes to dealing with the issue of juvenilecriminal activities. The increase in juvenile delinquency behaviorscan be attributed to lack of knowledge on the detrimental effectsassociated with such behaviors. Many young people are not aware ofthe effects their criminal behaviors could have in theirdevelopmental process. Because of the same, they engage in criminalactivities under the disguise that they are young and may not beaffected by the law. However, through the introduction of theawareness program, it would be possible for the young ones tounderstand the effects that are associated with crime (Morgan, &Homel, 2013).
Further, the decision of a particular young individual to engage incriminal activities could result from the fact that friends lure themdue to peer pressure. Shelving the effect of peer pressure byengaging young people in a community awareness program would bebeneficial since they would realize the need not to engage in crime.The program that would entail having relevant community securityofficials, church leaders, educators and individuals who have beenpart of the juvenile correctional scheme. Testimony from persons whohave been part of the program would be helpful in helping deter thoseconsidering participating in criminal activities that would end themup in the correctional facilities. The program can be executedperiodically to help many young people desist from engaging indelinquent behaviors. Through the awareness program, it would bepossible to witness an increase in the number of youth in thecommunity have a reformed attitude against engaging in crime (Morgan,& Homel, 2013).
A community awareness program that brings all young people togetherhas significant benefits when it comes to assisting them to desistfrom criminal activities. Compared to the Positive Youth DevelopmentProgram and the Early Intervention program, a community awarenesssystem stands to encourage the development of good behavior among theyoung people. Particularly, it focuses on bringing all stakeholderson board to educate on the need for young people to conductthemselves in a manner that does not subject them to criminalproceedings. The participation of educators, church leaders, formerjuvenile offenders who have reformed and the rest of the communitycould serve a good deal in encouraging the development of goodbehavior. Focus would be on how best the young people can use theirabilities to transform their lives and that of the rest of thecommunity (Morgan, & Homel, 2013). The program is run on periodicbasis meaning that educational awareness would have different groupsof young individuals being educated on how to conduct themselves. Thebenefit of such a program is that a gap on educational awareness doesnot emanate. If one group were to participate in the program, anotherwould take over in a period of three months. Through the same, itwould be possible to come up with a community having upright youngpeople focused on realizing their dreams.
Overall, juvenile crime prevention in the community depends on howthe young ones are brought. The manner in which they conductthemselves is dependent on the upbringing negating the need to have acommunity awareness program that addresses the issue.
References
Ferrer-Wreder, L. (2014). Advancing child and adolescent well-beingthrough positive youth development and prevention programs. InHandbook of child well-being (pp. 3025-3041). SpringerNetherlands.
Morgan, A., & Homel, P. (2013). Evaluating crime prevention:Lessons from large-scale community crime prevention programs.
Siegel, L., & Welsh, B. (2014). Juvenile delinquency: Theory,practice, and law. Cengage Learning.
Stockings, E., Hall, W. D., Lynskey, M., Morley, K. I., Reavley, N.,Strang, J., … & Degenhardt, L. (2016). Prevention, earlyintervention, harm reduction, and treatment of substance use in youngpeople. The Lancet Psychiatry, 3(3), 280-296.