Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising

This Research in Brief discusses a congressionally mandated evaluation of State and local crime prevention programs funded by the U.S. Department of Justice. What works to prevent crime, especially youth violence? Out of all the hundreds of different strategies used in communities, families, schools, labor markets, places, police, and criminal justice, which ones succeed, and to what extent? What does the scientific evidence suggest about the effectiveness of federally funded crime prevention? Very few operational crime prevention programs have been evaluated using scientifically recognized standards and methodologies, including repeated tests under similar and different social settings. Based on a review of more than 500 prevention program evaluations meeting minimum scientific standards, the report concludes that there is minimally adequate evidence to establish a provisional list of what works, what doesn't, and what's promising.