EARLY-CHILDHOOD INTERVENTION AND JUVENILE-DELINQUENCY - AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS OF THE CHICAGO CHILD-PARENT CENTERS

We investigated the relation between participation in the Child-Parent Center and Expansion Program during preschool to third grade and meas ures of adolescent delinquency for low-income, mostly Black youths in the Chicago Longitudinal Study. eased on analyses of 1,262 program and comparison-group children, duration of program participation (0 to 6 years) md extensive participation in the program were significantly as sociated with lower rates of school-reported delinquency infractions a t ages 13 and 14. Extended program participation was only marginally a ssociated with a lower rate of delinquency infractions over ages 12 to 16 Preschool participation alone had no systematic relation with deli nquency but was marginally associated with delinquency reports at ages 15 and 16 Reductions in school-reported delinquency were due to less frequent school mobility and to post program parent involvement in sch ool. Given the high costs of crime to society even the relatively mode st effects of early childhood intervention on delinquency suggest that such programs can provide another weapon in the war on crime.