Saturday, September 08, 2007

Victims & Offenders Abstracts, Part One

Abstracts via Psychology and Crime News (which provides the links to all three volumes, which have many other interesting articles on victimization if you want to see more)

Saving Children from a Life of Crime: Toward a National Strategy for Early Prevention
Authors: Brandon C. Welsh; David P. Farrington
DOI: 10.1080/15564880601087233
Victims & Offenders, Volume 2, Issue 1 January 2007 , pages 1 - 20

Abstract
A great deal has been learned about childhood risk factors for offending and about effective interventions targeting these risk factors that reduce later delinquency and criminal offending. The time is right to implement a risk-focused, evidence-based national strategy for early prevention in the United States. A National Council on Early Prevention could provide technical assistance, skills, and knowledge to state and local agencies in implementing prevention programs; could provide funding, continuity, coordination, and monitoring of local programs; could provide training in prevention science for local people; could commission systematic reviews of the effectiveness of interventions; and could maintain high standards for evaluation research. The main aim of this article is to outline a national strategy for the prevention of delinquency and later offending. It identifies and discusses critical lessons learned from Western countries, such as Canada and Sweden, about the development of national crime prevention agencies.

Crime Victimization: Assessing Differences Between Violent and Nonviolent Experiences
Authors: Diane L. Green; Elizabeth Pomeroy
DOI: 10.1080/15564880600922117
Victims & Offenders, Volume 2, Issue 1 January 2007 , pages 63 - 76

Abstract
Experiencing a criminal victimization is among one of the most stressful human experiences. A cross-sectional study of victims of violent crime and victims of nonviolent crime suggests that there are statistically significant differences in experiences in the initial aftermath of the crime event and a few common effects. This article describes the common effects that are associated with criminal victimization in the context of intense distress and discusses the theoretical implications of well-being in the coping process. One hundred seventy-five victims of violent or nonviolent crime were interviewed. Implications for social work practice and theory and future research are delineated.

Scientific Support for Early Prevention of Delinquency and Later Offending
Authors: Brandon C. Welsh a; David P. Farrington
DOI: 10.1080/15564880701263114
Victims & Offenders, Volume 2, Issue 2 April 2007 , pages 125 - 140

Abstract
There is a growing body of high-quality scientific evidence on the effectiveness of early intervention programs designed to tackle the most important early risk factors for crime. At the individual level, preschool intellectual enrichment and child skills training are effective in preventing delinquency and later offending. At the family level, parent education (in the context of home visiting and parent education with daycare services) and parent management training programs are effective. At the environmental level, a number of school-based interventions are effective in preventing delinquency among youths in middle school and high school, while after-school and community-based mentoring hold promise as efficacious programs. This research evidence needs to be translated into local and state efforts with the support of a comprehensive national strategy on early prevention.

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