Dramatic Cures for Juvenile Crime

Abstract

This article describes an evaluation of a prisoner-run delinquency prevention program at Hawaii's major prison. An after-the-fact matched group design was employed to determine the program's effectiveness in the prevention of delinquency in previously arrested youths. Examining the frequency and seriousness of police arrests in the year following exposure to the program, the study found the program had no effect on the delinquent behavior of females. Males who attended the program, however, were arrested at a significantly higher rate than their counterparts who did not hear the prisoners' presentation. The finding of higher recidivism among males who saw the program was further explored, and data are presented to show that this pattern is probably a product of some members of the treatment group's concurrent involvement in long-term delinquency prevention programs, rather than the simple result of exposure to the prisoner-run program itself.