This study assesses the effects of three aspects of school organization--student enrollment, student-teacher ratio, and the number of different students taught--on the property and personal victimization experiences of students. It hypothesizes that smaller schools, schools with lower ratios of students to adults, and schools in which the number…

Hypotheses about the association of school organizational characteristics with school crime and disorder were tested in a nationally representative sample of 254 secondary schools. Relatively small intra-class correlations suggest that most of the variance in the individual measures of school disorder result from within-school rather than…

Investigated characteristics associated with program non-completion among families recruited for family-based prevention program. General themes uncovered from analysis of adult survey responses suggested that non-completers were misinformed about content of the program, and lacked accessible transportation. Program content, family illness, and…

This study examines program elements related to reductions in drug use and crime among Drug Treatment Courts (DTC) participants as well as theoretical mechanisms--increased social controls and improved perceptions of procedural justice--expected to mediate the effects of DTC on these outcomes. Data are from 157 research participants interviewed…

Data from a national study of delinquency prevention programs were used to examine the effect of teenage employment on delinquent behavior in preadolescents and adolescents. Models examined suggest working decreases school attendance and dependence on parents for some subgroups, but these effects are not translated into increases in delinquency.…

Adolescent substance abuse efforts often direct prevention at known correlates of substance use. Discusses prevention efforts targeted toward minority populations. Assesses group differences using data from 981 Black and White adolescents and latent variable structural equations techniques. Concludes risk factor measures predict substance use for…

During the last decade there has been a heightened interest in teenage work experience as a partial solution to the problem of an increasingly visible delinquent youth culture. To examine the effect of teenage employment on drug use and other more serious delinquent behavior, students in grades 6-12, from a randomly selected national population,…

A national study of 2,000 secondary school students found that the work experiences available to teenagers have little or no effect on their tendency to delinquency, their academic learning, or their psychological well-being. Earlier studies suggest that coordinating work with education more systematically could provide social benefits. (PGD)

Theory is a useful guide for program design and implementation. This paper uses a large-scale school-based delinquency prevention project to illustrate the use of theory in program design and the need for line staff to have a clear understanding of the program's theoretical underpinnings. Evaluation results for the program show that the program…

This paper provides school district administrators with a structured method for developing school programs aimed at reducing the risk of adolescent dropout. The methodology encompasses problem definition, fact finding, mission management, overcoming inertia, cohering programs tied to theory, feasible goal-setting, and normative personnel…

This report describes approaches used by schools to prevent or reduce gang involvement among schools. The study of gang prevention and intervention builds on a large-scale National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools. A sample of 1,279 schools participated in the study. Overall, 7.6% of the male and 3.8% of the female secondary students…

This project was undertaken to develop a comprehensive account of the levels of problem behaviors in schools. It also looked at what schools do to prevent problem behaviors and how they promote a safe and orderly environment. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the study and explains some school-based interventions such as social competency…

The Survey of School-Based Gang Prevention and Intervention Programs is a study of approaches used by schools to reduce or prevent gang involvement among schools. Principals in a probability sample of 1,287 schools were asked what they were doing in their schools to prevent problem behavior or to promote a safe and orderly school environment.…

Project PATHE (Positive Action Through Holistic Education) was a 3-year delinquency prevention program implemented in seven schools by the Charleston County, Maryland public school system between 1980 and 1983. An evaluation of the PATHE program was conducted which compared PATHE schools to two non-PATHE schools. Year-to-year differences in the…

Results from the evaluation of a large-scale educational intervention designed to prevent school disruption suggest that altering the school organization is a more effective approach to delinquency prevention than treating individuals. Data for this comparison came from the evaluation of a school-based delinquency prevention program, Project…