Prevention: Juveniles as Potential Offenders

Many juvenile justice efforts aim to prevent minor offenders from escalating into more serious offenders. In the Scared Straight project, prison inmates confronted minor delinquents to threaten them with the consequences of illegal activities. This intervention failed to prevent crime and may have actually increased delinquent involvement by setting in motion a "delinquency fulfilling prophecy" (Finckenauer, p. 169). Other juvenile justice efforts with mixed results (often no better nor worse than institutionalization) include guided group interaction (Empey and Rabow) and diversion (Lemert). Drug courts combining treatment and rehabilitation are one promising system-based approach that may reduce reoffending among first-time drug offenders (Deschenes et al.).