Abstract
We examined the immediate, short- and long-term effectiveness of the SNAP™ Under 12 Outreach Project (ORP)—a community-based program for children under the age of 12 at risk of having police contact. Sixteen pairs of children were matched on age, sex and severity of delinquency at admission, and randomly assigned to the ORP or to a control group which received less intensive treatment. Level of antisocial behavior was assessed pre and post intervention (immediate effects) and at three follow-up periods (up to 15 months post treatment) to investigate maintenance of possible treatment effects. A search of criminal records was also performed to assess long term effects. Results indicated that ORP children decreased significantly more than controls on the Delinquency and Aggression subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist pre- to post-intervention, and these effects were maintained over time. For statistically significant differences, effect sizes were large (.79 to 1.19). Fewer ORP children (31%) had criminal records at follow-up compared to controls (57%), although this difference was not statistically significant. Overall, the ORP appears to be an effective cognitive-behavioral program for antisocial children in the short term, with possible effects that extend into adolescence and adulthood.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the child behavior checklist/4-18 and 1991 profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
Brooks, R. B. (1994). Children at risk: Fostering resilience and hope. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 64, 543–553.
Earlscourt Child and Family Centre. (2001a). SNAP™ children's group manual. Toronto: Earlscourt Child and Family Centre.
Earlscourt Child and Family Centre. (2001b). SNAP™ parent group manual. Toronto: Earlscourt Child and Family Centre.
Farrington, D. P., & Welsh, B. C. (2003). Family-based prevention of offending: A meta-analysis. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 36, 127–151.
Howell, J. C. (2003). Preventing and reducing juvenile delinquency: A comprehensive framework. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hrynkiw-Augimeri, L., Pepler, D., & Goldberg, K. (1993). An outreach program for children having police contact. Canada's Mental Health, 41, 7–12.
Kazdin, A. E., Mazurick, J. L., & Siegel, T. C. (1994). Treatment outcome among children with externalizing disorder who terminate prematurely versus those who complete psychotherapy. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 549–557.
Levene, K. (1998). SNAPP stop-now-and-plan parenting: Parenting children with behavior problems. Toronto: Earlscourt Child and Family Centre.
Loeber, R., & Farrington, D. P. (2000). Young children who commit crime: Epidemiology, developmental origins, risk factors, early interventions, and policy implications. Developmental Psychopathology, 12, 737–762.
Lösel, F., Beelmann, A. (2006). Child social skills training. In B. C. Welsh & D. P. Farrington (Eds.), Preventing crime: What works for children, offenders, victims, and places (pp. 33–54). Dordrecht: Springer.
Malik, N. M., & Furman, W. (1993). Practitioner review: Problems in children's relations: What can the clinician do? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 34, 1303–1326.
Moretti, M. M., Emmrys, C., Grizenko, N., Holland, R., Moore, K., Shamsie, J., & Hamilton, H. (1997). The treatment of conduct disorder: Perspectives from across Canada. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 42, 637–648.
Scott, S., Knapp, M., Henderson, J., & Maughan, B. (2004). Financial cost of social exclusion: Follow up study of antisocial children into adulthood. British Medical Journal, 323, 1–5.
Tremblay, R. E., Pagani-Kurtz, L., Masse, L. C., Vitaro, F., & Pihl, R. O. (1995). A bimodal preventive intervention for disruptive kindergarten boys: Its impact through mid-adolescence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 560–568.
Webster-Stratton, C., & Hammond M. (1997). Treating children with early-onset conduct problems: A comparison of child and parent training interventions. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65, 93–109.
Welsh, B. C., & Farrington, D. P. (2006). Evidence based crime prevention. In B. C. Welsh & D. P. Farrington (Eds.), Preventing crime: What works for children, offenders, victims, and places (pp. 1–17). Dordrecht: Springer.
Williams, S., Waymouth, M., Lipman, E., Mills, B., & Evans, P. (2004). Evaluation of a children's temper taming program. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 49, 607–612.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Trisha Beuhring, Kathryn Levene, and Paola Ferrante for their contributions to this article. Funding for this evaluation was originally provided by Justice Canada under file #6114-20.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Augimeri, L.K., Farrington, D.P., Koegl, C.J. et al. The SNAP™ Under 12 Outreach Project: Effects of a Community Based Program for Children with Conduct Problems. J Child Fam Stud 16, 799–807 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-006-9126-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-006-9126-x