NCJ Number
143841
Date Published
Unknown
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This paper argues that the British Youth Service could play a much greater role in preventing juvenile delinquency in Great Britain by performing a supportive, facilitative, and preventive role rather than a controlling one, and by focusing resources on areas with high concentrations of adolescents at risk rather than on specific or potential offenders.
Abstract
The authors summarize the little research that has been conducted on offending, youth work, and the provision of leisure and recreational facilities in efforts to divert young people from offending. A discussion of the Youth Services and its informal liaisons with the courts and police is followed by an examination of the concerns of the Youth Service and how youth workers could contribute more effectively to the diversion process without compromising the principles which currently guide their work in practice. The authors assess the Youth Service's current work with offenders and those at risk of offending and describe some current developments in youth work upon which a policy framework for developing a community- based approach to diversion from offending could be founded. 1 note and 42 references