Question: Which of the interventions mentioned in the section on juvenile delinquency do you think would be most successful and why? Need Assignment Help?
Fast Track is an intervention that attempts to reduce the incidence of juvenile delinquency and other problems (Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, 2019). Schools in four areas (Durham, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Seattle, Washington; and rural central Pennsylvania) were identified as high-risk based on neighborhood crime and poverty data. Researchers screened more than 9,000 kindergarten children in the four communities and randomly assigned 891 of the highest-risk and moderate-risk children to intervention or control conditions. The average age of the children when the intervention began was 6.5 years of age. The 10- year intervention consisted of behavior management training of parents, social cognitive skills training of children, reading tutoring, home visitations, mentoring, and 4 revised classroom curriculum that was designed to increase socioemotional competence and decrease aggression.
The extensive intervention was most successful for children and adolescents who were identified as the highest risk in kindergarten, lowering their incidence of conduct disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, any externalized disorder, and antisocial behavior. Positive outcomes for the intervention occurred as early as the third grade and continued through the ninth grade. For example, in the ninth grade the intervention reduced the likelihood that the highest-risk kindergarten children would develop conduct disorder by 75 percent, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder by 53 percent, and any externalized disorder by 43 percent. The longest follow-up evidence (up to age 25 years) indicates that the comprehensive Fast Track intervention was successful in reducing rates of arrests, criminal convictions, and psychiatric disorder diagnoses (Dodge & others, 2015). Most of the effects appear to be due to positive effects of the intervention on children's and adolescents' social skills and self-regulation capabilities (Sorensen & others, 2016)