Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention: Implications for Delinquency Prevention

Abstract

Despite its intuitive appeal, the primary prevention of delinquency has received scant attention by theoreticians and program developers. Such programs raise ethical questions, are likely to face considerable public resistance, are expensive to develop and implement, and are likely to show measurable impact only after several years. It is suggested that existing drug and alcohol education programs have successfully dealt with many of these problems. Although not specifically aimed at delinquency prevention, the content of contemporary drug and alcohol education programs is relevant to delinquent behavior. By examining the operation of these programs, much can be learned that is directly applicable to the development of programs for the primary prevention of delinquency.