- Email: [email protected]
Changing Lives: Delinquency-Prevention as Crime-Control Policy
BOOK REVIEWS
Other limitations include an absence of peer-reviewed research of CPS in teenagers, who often need extra convincing to collaborate with adults. The authors also admit that it is unclear whether the skills-training component of CPS produces actual changes in Blacking thinking skills,^ leading one to question whether cognitions are actually key to clinical improvement. It might have been helpful if the authors had matched each Bthinking skill^ to relevant neuropsychological tests, so that clinicians could predict a child`s Bpathways^ and track changes prospectively. Finally, for all of its emphasis on a transactional approach, there is scant space in this book dedicated to teaching Blacking thinking skills^ to parents, whose cognitive deficits sometimes gape wider than those of their offspring. This might be addressed in a developmental overview of how Blacking thinking skills^ manifest over the life span. The unrelenting reality of the explosive child and the true misery of his or her parents demand a close reading of this text. One might even see broader social applications for an approach that, in the face of aggression, offers patience, empathy, and inclusion in problem-solving. Greene and Ablon provide a clear explanation of theory in this book, and one looks forward to its promise being borne out in future clinical work and research. Nicholas Carson, M.D., F.R.C.P.C. Cambridge Health Alliance Department of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School Cambridge, MA DOI: 10.1097/01.chi.0000227877.58027.d9
Disclosure: The author has no financial relationships to disclose. Greene RW (1998), The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, BChronically Inflexible^ Children. New York: HarperCollins Greene RW, Ablon JS, Goring JC et al. (2004), Effectiveness of collaborative problem solving in affectively dysregulated children with oppositionaldefiant disorder: initial findings. J Consult Clin Psychol 72:1157Y1164
Changing Lives: Delinquency-Prevention as CrimeControl Policy. By Peter W. Greenwood. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006, 224 pp., $37.00 (hardcover). The United States is a nation of extremes. We have among the world`s most wealthy citizens, yet our infant mortality rates rival those of developing nations. Similarly, we believe ourselves to be the world`s leading democracy, whereas our crime rates are not only high but also clearly settle along fault lines defined by income, education, and race.
J. AM . ACAD. CH ILD ADOLESC. PSYCH IAT RY, 45:9, SE PTE MBER 2006
Politically, the short history of our democracy has been characterized by slow but steady swings of the pendulum from right to left and back. This is particularly evident in our approach to crime; there has always been a struggle between the forces that advocate prevention and treatment versus those that advocate punishment and revenge. Changing Lives examines delinquency prevention as a viable juvenile crime control policy, placing it in the balance and context of both extremes of crime reduction approaches. Briefly, the book presents the history of prevention as a crime-control concept, the evidence base on what works to reduce juvenile crime (and what does not), the advantages and limitations of cost-effectiveness research as a tool of choice for making program planning decisions, the politics of prevention, and who should make decisions about prevention programming for at-risk youths. The book is well written and organized in such a way as to make it an invaluable tool for a variety of stakeholders in this struggle. At its core, the principles and ideas presented in the book can be loosely placed around a central framework of decision-making. The material presented can be organized to help us address the following questions: (1) How do we decide what outcomes we care about? (2) How do we decide what significantly affects the outcomes we care about versus what is merely politically popular but essentially ineffective? (3) How do we choose among several viable alternatives for effective programming? and (4) How do we decide who should decide? Greenwood presents clear and cogent data and arguments for each of these decisions. First, he eloquently points out that prevention is not popular, particularly given our current political pendulum swing toward the conservative; it has delayed effects, is often perceived as rewarding bad behavior by concentrating resources on those at highest risk, and lacks a heavy enough emphasis on punishment. However, he also points out that prevention and treatment can be balanced between punishment and public safety efforts simultaneously. This may be accomplished, for example, through different agencies (e.g., health and human services versus criminal justice), with different purviews, having programming along various noncompeting areas of the spectrum. He also points out that prevention can be sold as politically viable, if we use the right tools. However, we must also take care to balance enthusiasm for prevention as a concept against available effective interventions. Enter science. To decide what works and to make effective arguments for programs to be funded, methodology must be rigorous, studies must be replicated, work must be peer reviewed in the scientific community, and we must avoid the kind of junk science that keeps politically popular programs alive. Take, for example, the scientific Bevidence^ that was quoted to support California`s Three Strikes laws, wherein a citizen could, under the right circumstances, be imprisoned for life for stealing a Twinkie. However, rigorous scientific
1143
Copyright @ 2006 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
BOOK REVIEWS
methods must be balanced against the realities of political context; that is, funding decisions must be able to be defended as affecting constituents positively. Once we have several effective approaches to juvenile crime prevention that affect particular outcomes of choice, it remains to be decided how to choose among these alternatives. Greenwood suggests that the best tool to use in this process is cost-effectiveness research. When done rigorously and with valid and defendable assumptions, cost-effectiveness research can have great impact because it Bhits `em where it counts.^ Both outcomes (number of muggings of grandmothers prevented) and costs (dollars per mugging prevented) are visceral and politically accessible to constituents. Finally, whom can we entrust with making these decisions? Here we see again the perennial struggle of politically right against politically left, the need to balance human services against crime control. Greenwood clearly advocates for health and human services agencies to be responsible for delinquency prevention programs of all sorts, except when issues of public safety are operating (in which case, purview would shift to the justice system). Unfortunately, funding for health and human services agencies is always overshadowed by a seemingly neverending call for more police officers, harsher sentences, and more prison cells. This book can serve as a valuable tool to those engaged in this process. To researchers trying to establish and strengthen the evidence base for prevention programs the book gives an excellent summary of the evidence base. To program planners and expert consultants asked to recommend or establish programs, the book helps to give context to the decision and provides valuable tools to assist in the process. Finally, to leaders in all three branches of government, the book helps to conceptualize the issue of prevention as sound policy, provides tools to assist in the prioritization of needs and the effective allocation of scarce resources, and emphasizes the absolute necessity to monitor outcomes and provide feedback to the system that will allow for continuous improvement. With a strong evidence base, the right tools, and the right voices, prevention programs may yet become viable as one aspect of a balanced crimecontrol policy. Rani A. Desai, Ph.D., M.P.H. Department of Psychiatry Yale University School of Medicine New Haven, CT DOI: 10.1097/01.chi.0000235078.09791.2c
Disclosure: The author has no financial relationships to disclose.
1144
Juvenile Delinquency: Prevention, Assessment, and Intervention. Edited by Kirk Heilbrun, Naomi E. Sevin Goldstein, and Richard E. Redding. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005, 368 pp., $49.95 (hardcover). As the title suggests, there is a great deal of ambition in this book. Indeed, it covers a broad scope of relevant topics, ranging from identification to adequate handling of the problem. The objective of the book is clearly delineated from the outset, namely, to improve decision making and implications for policy and practice through good information that is analyzed critically. Importantly, this volume puts considerable emphasis on mental health issues in juvenile delinquents: Because professionals in the field have long neglected this population, this focus alone is an undeniable merit of the volume. During the past several years, plenty of volumes have paid attention to the issue of juvenile delinquency and the broader concept of antisocial behavior. Therefore, although much research is being conducted in the field, compiling yet another volume that offers substantial additional value is not an easy task. However, this volume has to some extent succeeded in this task, mainly because chapters were added that offer a different scope, such as the emphasis on mental disorders and elaboration on the impact of school violence. However, because experts in those fields wrote specific chapters, some descriptions may go beyond the subject of juvenile delinquency as traditionally defined. For example, the chapter on school violence also handles the topic of bullying: Although this is definitely worth discussing, it is in a way outside the explicit purview of the volume.A main criticism of the book is the difficulty in recognizing a connecting thread throughout its different chapters. This in turn may relate to three different aspects. First, the core issues (i.e., prevention, assessment, intervention) are not clearly delineated throughout. Although this definitely relates to the fact that most chapters focus on different combinations of these issues, the chapter sequence does not impress the reader as coherent. Second, there is a great deal of overlap concerning content between chapters. For example, risk factors for delinquent behavior are discussed in detail in three different chapters (2, 4, and 6). Third, although prevention is deemed a main topic, only a couple of chapters elaborate on the issue, and rather briefly at that. For this reason, it can be asked whether this aspect should be emphasized as an important focus of the volume. In contrast to these remarks, the final chapter by the editors has succeeded in offering a structured, clear, and stimulating summary of the work, including relevant suggestions for future research. Despite these limitations, the value of this volume is not in doubt. Especially for forensic mental health experts or for professionals acquainted with the subject, the
J. AM. ACAD. CHILD ADOLESC. PSYCHIATRY, 45:9, SEPTEMBER 2006
Copyright @ 2006 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
Other limitations include an absence of peer-reviewed research of CPS in teenagers, who often need extra convincing to collaborate with adults. The authors also admit that it is unclear whether the skills-training component of CPS produces actual changes in Blacking thinking skills,^ leading one to question whether cognitions are actually key to clinical improvement. It might have been helpful if the authors had matched each Bthinking skill^ to relevant neuropsychological tests, so that clinicians could predict a child`s Bpathways^ and track changes prospectively. Finally, for all of its emphasis on a transactional approach, there is scant space in this book dedicated to teaching Blacking thinking skills^ to parents, whose cognitive deficits sometimes gape wider than those of their offspring. This might be addressed in a developmental overview of how Blacking thinking skills^ manifest over the life span. The unrelenting reality of the explosive child and the true misery of his or her parents demand a close reading of this text. One might even see broader social applications for an approach that, in the face of aggression, offers patience, empathy, and inclusion in problem-solving. Greene and Ablon provide a clear explanation of theory in this book, and one looks forward to its promise being borne out in future clinical work and research. Nicholas Carson, M.D., F.R.C.P.C. Cambridge Health Alliance Department of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School Cambridge, MA DOI: 10.1097/01.chi.0000227877.58027.d9
Disclosure: The author has no financial relationships to disclose. Greene RW (1998), The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, BChronically Inflexible^ Children. New York: HarperCollins Greene RW, Ablon JS, Goring JC et al. (2004), Effectiveness of collaborative problem solving in affectively dysregulated children with oppositionaldefiant disorder: initial findings. J Consult Clin Psychol 72:1157Y1164
Changing Lives: Delinquency-Prevention as CrimeControl Policy. By Peter W. Greenwood. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006, 224 pp., $37.00 (hardcover). The United States is a nation of extremes. We have among the world`s most wealthy citizens, yet our infant mortality rates rival those of developing nations. Similarly, we believe ourselves to be the world`s leading democracy, whereas our crime rates are not only high but also clearly settle along fault lines defined by income, education, and race.
J. AM . ACAD. CH ILD ADOLESC. PSYCH IAT RY, 45:9, SE PTE MBER 2006
Politically, the short history of our democracy has been characterized by slow but steady swings of the pendulum from right to left and back. This is particularly evident in our approach to crime; there has always been a struggle between the forces that advocate prevention and treatment versus those that advocate punishment and revenge. Changing Lives examines delinquency prevention as a viable juvenile crime control policy, placing it in the balance and context of both extremes of crime reduction approaches. Briefly, the book presents the history of prevention as a crime-control concept, the evidence base on what works to reduce juvenile crime (and what does not), the advantages and limitations of cost-effectiveness research as a tool of choice for making program planning decisions, the politics of prevention, and who should make decisions about prevention programming for at-risk youths. The book is well written and organized in such a way as to make it an invaluable tool for a variety of stakeholders in this struggle. At its core, the principles and ideas presented in the book can be loosely placed around a central framework of decision-making. The material presented can be organized to help us address the following questions: (1) How do we decide what outcomes we care about? (2) How do we decide what significantly affects the outcomes we care about versus what is merely politically popular but essentially ineffective? (3) How do we choose among several viable alternatives for effective programming? and (4) How do we decide who should decide? Greenwood presents clear and cogent data and arguments for each of these decisions. First, he eloquently points out that prevention is not popular, particularly given our current political pendulum swing toward the conservative; it has delayed effects, is often perceived as rewarding bad behavior by concentrating resources on those at highest risk, and lacks a heavy enough emphasis on punishment. However, he also points out that prevention and treatment can be balanced between punishment and public safety efforts simultaneously. This may be accomplished, for example, through different agencies (e.g., health and human services versus criminal justice), with different purviews, having programming along various noncompeting areas of the spectrum. He also points out that prevention can be sold as politically viable, if we use the right tools. However, we must also take care to balance enthusiasm for prevention as a concept against available effective interventions. Enter science. To decide what works and to make effective arguments for programs to be funded, methodology must be rigorous, studies must be replicated, work must be peer reviewed in the scientific community, and we must avoid the kind of junk science that keeps politically popular programs alive. Take, for example, the scientific Bevidence^ that was quoted to support California`s Three Strikes laws, wherein a citizen could, under the right circumstances, be imprisoned for life for stealing a Twinkie. However, rigorous scientific
1143
Copyright @ 2006 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
BOOK REVIEWS
methods must be balanced against the realities of political context; that is, funding decisions must be able to be defended as affecting constituents positively. Once we have several effective approaches to juvenile crime prevention that affect particular outcomes of choice, it remains to be decided how to choose among these alternatives. Greenwood suggests that the best tool to use in this process is cost-effectiveness research. When done rigorously and with valid and defendable assumptions, cost-effectiveness research can have great impact because it Bhits `em where it counts.^ Both outcomes (number of muggings of grandmothers prevented) and costs (dollars per mugging prevented) are visceral and politically accessible to constituents. Finally, whom can we entrust with making these decisions? Here we see again the perennial struggle of politically right against politically left, the need to balance human services against crime control. Greenwood clearly advocates for health and human services agencies to be responsible for delinquency prevention programs of all sorts, except when issues of public safety are operating (in which case, purview would shift to the justice system). Unfortunately, funding for health and human services agencies is always overshadowed by a seemingly neverending call for more police officers, harsher sentences, and more prison cells. This book can serve as a valuable tool to those engaged in this process. To researchers trying to establish and strengthen the evidence base for prevention programs the book gives an excellent summary of the evidence base. To program planners and expert consultants asked to recommend or establish programs, the book helps to give context to the decision and provides valuable tools to assist in the process. Finally, to leaders in all three branches of government, the book helps to conceptualize the issue of prevention as sound policy, provides tools to assist in the prioritization of needs and the effective allocation of scarce resources, and emphasizes the absolute necessity to monitor outcomes and provide feedback to the system that will allow for continuous improvement. With a strong evidence base, the right tools, and the right voices, prevention programs may yet become viable as one aspect of a balanced crimecontrol policy. Rani A. Desai, Ph.D., M.P.H. Department of Psychiatry Yale University School of Medicine New Haven, CT DOI: 10.1097/01.chi.0000235078.09791.2c
Disclosure: The author has no financial relationships to disclose.
1144
Juvenile Delinquency: Prevention, Assessment, and Intervention. Edited by Kirk Heilbrun, Naomi E. Sevin Goldstein, and Richard E. Redding. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005, 368 pp., $49.95 (hardcover). As the title suggests, there is a great deal of ambition in this book. Indeed, it covers a broad scope of relevant topics, ranging from identification to adequate handling of the problem. The objective of the book is clearly delineated from the outset, namely, to improve decision making and implications for policy and practice through good information that is analyzed critically. Importantly, this volume puts considerable emphasis on mental health issues in juvenile delinquents: Because professionals in the field have long neglected this population, this focus alone is an undeniable merit of the volume. During the past several years, plenty of volumes have paid attention to the issue of juvenile delinquency and the broader concept of antisocial behavior. Therefore, although much research is being conducted in the field, compiling yet another volume that offers substantial additional value is not an easy task. However, this volume has to some extent succeeded in this task, mainly because chapters were added that offer a different scope, such as the emphasis on mental disorders and elaboration on the impact of school violence. However, because experts in those fields wrote specific chapters, some descriptions may go beyond the subject of juvenile delinquency as traditionally defined. For example, the chapter on school violence also handles the topic of bullying: Although this is definitely worth discussing, it is in a way outside the explicit purview of the volume.A main criticism of the book is the difficulty in recognizing a connecting thread throughout its different chapters. This in turn may relate to three different aspects. First, the core issues (i.e., prevention, assessment, intervention) are not clearly delineated throughout. Although this definitely relates to the fact that most chapters focus on different combinations of these issues, the chapter sequence does not impress the reader as coherent. Second, there is a great deal of overlap concerning content between chapters. For example, risk factors for delinquent behavior are discussed in detail in three different chapters (2, 4, and 6). Third, although prevention is deemed a main topic, only a couple of chapters elaborate on the issue, and rather briefly at that. For this reason, it can be asked whether this aspect should be emphasized as an important focus of the volume. In contrast to these remarks, the final chapter by the editors has succeeded in offering a structured, clear, and stimulating summary of the work, including relevant suggestions for future research. Despite these limitations, the value of this volume is not in doubt. Especially for forensic mental health experts or for professionals acquainted with the subject, the
J. AM. ACAD. CHILD ADOLESC. PSYCHIATRY, 45:9, SEPTEMBER 2006
Copyright @ 2006 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.