The rate at which juvenile violence is increasing in America is alarming. Various prevention programs have been put in place in order to rectify this prevailing problem as well as promote pro-social establishments. All efforts made to prevent the youth and redirection of their interests from involvement in criminal and anti-social activities form the broad term of prevention of delinquent behavior. Among all intervention strategies, the most effective ones are those that deter the youth from ever engaging in delinquent behavior. These programs may be either environment-based, whose purposes are to eliminate the likely responsible socio-economic conditions for delinquency or individual-based programs which aim to deter delinquent behaviors through proper counseling, education and/or psychotherapy
The most indisputable ways to prevent delinquent behavior of juveniles is to intervene in families as early as when they are young children. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6, The New King James Version) . Intervention not only ensures reduced cases of criminal activities but also saves children from wasting their lives. Educational and recreational programs are key to guiding and protecting children from the adverse effects of delinquent behavior even in their youth years. These programs equip parents with information on how to raise emotionally healthy children. In addition to this, they instill values in children and raise awareness that every action has consequences. Parents, with the help of therapists, are able to effectively assess and respond to their children’s behaviors.
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Recreational programs are among other forms of environment-based programs. Recreational programs, applied alongside education programs ensure that after-school time gap is filled with beneficial activities, thus children and the youth do not engage in criminal activities during this unsupervised time. These activities may include sports, art, and community volunteering activities, among others. Recreational programs promote a safe social environment for the youth and children to interact in, consequently preventing delinquent behavior (Taheri, 2016).
References
Taheri, S. A., & Welsh, B. C. (2016). After-school programs for delinquency prevention: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Youth violence and juvenile justice , 14 (3), 272-290.
