The Detroit Handgun Intervention Program: A Court-Based Program for Youthful Handgun Offenders

This Research in Progress Preview summarizes an NIJ-sponsored study designed to change attitudes and behavior toward carrying and using handguns among more than 6,000 offenders who had been arrested for carrying concealed weapons. As a condition of pretrial release, the Handgun Intervention Program (HIP) required that offenders attend a class in which they would learn the negative consequences of gun use and be challenged to take personal responsibility for reducing those consequences. Early results from the study showed that as a result of HIP, attitudes toward gun use improved significantly in the short term. Many participants, however, questioned whether their behavior would change because they felt the dangers of the street required them to carry a gun.