Prevention of Serious and Violent Juvenile Offending Approaches to Prevention Approaches to prevention may be universal, selected, or indicated. Universal programs address an entire population of children, such as those in classrooms, schools, or neighborhoods, and usually address a community-level risk factor such as neighborhood poverty rather than a delinquency outcome. Selected programs, on the other hand, target high-risk children who may have already shown some antisocial behavior. Indicated programs are for those children who have been identified as showing clear signs of delinquent or antisocial behavior. A program can address a specific population at one of three levels of prevention.
Primary prevention addresses the disease or disorder, such as antisocial behavior.
One example of primary prevention would be to decrease low-weight births by eliminating maternal smoking. Secondary prevention detects early signs of a disorder, such as ADHD or academic underachievement, and curtails or cures the problem. Tertiary prevention addresses the disabilities or damages caused by a disorder, for example, treatment of academic difficulties resulting from chronic depression. 1 Parent management training. This method attempts to influence child behavior by teaching parents better parenting strategies.