The Los Angeles Times (9/17, Mohan) reports a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry has found that “violence prone children who went through a decadelong intervention program grew up to have fewer psychiatric, drug-related and legal problems.” The study was launched in 1991 when “Congress wanted the National Institute of Mental Health to do something about youth violence” amid the crack epidemic occurring during that time.
Results “show modest improvement in psychological markers that predict long-term antisocial behavior and criminality. Program graduates also had fewer legal problems, substance abuse issues and risky sexual behaviors,” the Times reports. Moreover, “the data suggest that intervention can work, and effects can persist over many years.”
Related Links:
— “Intervention lowers drug, crime and behavior problems, but not by much,” Geoffrey Mohan, Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2014.