Intervention program to reduce deviant behavior in students

Oesterle, S, Hawkins, J, Fagan, A, Abbott, R, & Catalano, R. (2010). Testing the universality of

 the effects of the communities that care prevention system for preventing adolescent

 drug use and delinquency. Society for Prevention Research, 11, 411-423.

Rubin, A, & Babbie, E. (2008). Research methods for social work. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole,

 Cengage Learning.

 The Communities that Care (CTC) Prevention System is an intervention program designed to “prevent adolescent drug use and delinquency community-wide and universally across individuals and subgroups in the community” (Oesterle, Hawkins, Fagan, & Catalano, 2010, p. 419).  The study discussed within the article was conducted by separating children ranging from 5^th to 8^th grade into different groups based on risk factors within their lives, such as interactions with delinquent children, unusual family structure, and general emotional problems.  Trained counselors held sessions over the course of a year in order to educate the students involved within the study on ways to avoid peer pressure that could potentially lead to deviant behavior.  A control group was implemented in the study in order to compare the results of those involved in the counseling sessions with the results of students who underwent no such intervention.  The results revealed a more substantial decrease in potential deviant behavior of the male students involved in the study as compared to the female students, specifically in regards to marijuana use and underage drinking – the male students in the examined CTC community revealed a lessened frequency of use in comparison to the control groups while use within the female groups remained the same in prevalence across the board.

 Although the study showed a promising outcome in regards to lessening the potential of deviant behavior within the pre-teen student population involved, various aspects of the study brought to question the general accuracy of the observed data.  First, although anonymity was maintained through written surveys proctored by the trained counselors, the idea of confirmation bias – the tendency for subjects to manipulate their answers toward what would be expected or favored as an outcome within the study (Rubin & Babbie, 2008, p. 188) – brings to light the question of whether the participants were affected more so by the program or by their own thoughts of what was expected of them.  Second, the group chosen to participate was characterized by young students who portrayed signs of being exposed to risk factors within their environment that would trigger their deviant behavior; students showing few or relatively no signs of risk factor exposure were not included within the study.  Finally, this was the first community implemented trial of the Communities that Care program and therefore mistakes and inaccuracies may have altered the outcome simply due to a lack of preparation and no past studies of the program to reference.

The research process within the article as a whole contained various outside variables that may inadvertently have affected the outcome of the study.  All weaknesses of this study set aside, it did show a substantial amount of potential in terms of continuing to develop the CTC program.  This was the first program of its kind that focused on at-risk youth within specific communities and drew upon community leaders as allies in the process of reducing deviant behavior within school-aged kids and concluded with an overall positive outcome.