Sport and crime reduction : the role of sports in tackling youth crime / Geoff Nichols.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nichols, Geoff, 1955-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Juvenile delinquency--Prevention.

Juvenile delinquency.

Sports--Social aspects.

Sports.

Physical Description:

xiii, 221 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2007.

Summary:

Can sport help to create an environment that dissuades young people from crime? How can we better measure the effect of sport-led initiatives against crime? Around the world a number of different sport-led initiatives have aimed to reduce youth crime and anti-social behaviour. Sport and Crime Reduction examines real world case studies set up with the aim of reducing levels of crime in the community, and provides a timely evaluation of these projects. The book explores: The rationale behind sport-led initiatives, The successes and failures of the programmes, Conclusions for 'best practice' in programme design and evaluation, Practical difficulties with programme design and evaluation, Synergies with sport development, social inclusion and other local government objectives, The influence of the political context on programmes, evidence and policy, Eight detailed evaluations of contrasting programmes. This unique evidence base for the assessment of sport programmes aimed at crime reduction should be read by students and professionals in sport development, local government, youth and community work, criminology, the youth justice system and leisure policy.

Contents:

Who the book is aimed at 1

The book structure 2

Defining terms 4

The main argument of the book 5

2 Value judgements and some traditional rationales for sport 7

The influence of traditional values 7

Some traditional rationales for sport 9

3 A synthesis of theory from criminology, youth work and adventure education 16

Criminological theory - the development of cognitive competencies 16

Skills development in youth work 17

Criminological theory - the risk/protection factor model 18

Personal development theory from adventure education 21

A synthesis of theoretical perspectives to provide a model of personal growth directed by values 25

An initial conclusion on the role of sport 28

4 What is 'evidence' and how do we get it? 29

Philosophical positions 30

The implications of philosophical positions for research design 32

An interim conclusion on practicalities and problems in research 40

5 The policy context 43

Policy as a reflection of ideology or of political pragmatism 43

Policy as a determinant of the selection of evidence 45

The selection of evidence facilitating accountability and control 46

6 A typology of programmes, with implications for evaluation 49

A categorisation of programmes by risk level of participant 49

A categorisation of programmes by mechanism of crime reduction 50

A typology combining risk level and mechanism 50

Examples of programmes, with implications for evaluation methods 50

Implications 58

7 West Yorkshire Sports Counselling 59

Evaluation and results 60

Conclusion on the programme and evaluation methods 70

Potential improvements to the programme 72

Partnership working and termination 73

8 Hafotty Wen - 14 Peaks Programme 75

Evaluation and results 76

Conclusion on the programme and evaluation methods 93

Funding, politics and operational difficulties 95

9 Fairbridge 97

Evaluation 98

Results 102

Conclusion on the programme and evaluation methods 106

10 The Clontarf Foundation's Football Academies 109

Evaluation and results 112

How and why the programme worked 113

Conclusion on the programme and evaluation method 114

11 Positive Futures/Sportaction 116

National evaluation and results 117

A local programme - Sportaction 119

Local evaluation 120

Results 122

How and why the programme worked 131

General limitations of the programme 133

Conclusion on the programme and evaluation methods 134

12 Summit 136

Evaluation 138

Results 141

Conclusion on the programme and evaluation methods 153

13 Splash 156

Evaluation 158

Methods that were rejected 162

Evaluation of the national programme 164

Results 166

Conclusion on the programme and evaluation method 170

14 Northtown Parks for All 174

Evaluation and results 177

Conclusion on the programme and evaluation method 178

15 Modelling programmes and balancing objectives 180

Starting programme design from theory 180

Starting programme evaluation from theory 181

Limits of 'evidence-led' policy 185

Responses to changing funding sources 186

Balancing programme objectives 187

16 The approach to evaluation, the values of key policy stakeholders, and what is practical 190

An academic perspective - the role of methodology 190

A pragmatic perspective - the role of value judgements of research sponsors, policy makers, local politicians and gatekeepers 190

Practical limitations on evaluation - given resources and capability 194

...And events 197

17 Key success factors and the role of sport 198

Diversion 198

Pro-social development 199

Conclusion - sport as a tool 204

From the perspective of programme managers 205

From the perspective of researchers 207

From the perspective of policy makers 208

From the perspective of students 208.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [209]-216) and index.

ISBN:

9780415396479

0415396476

9780415396486

0415396484

9780203089156

0203089154

OCLC:

76481425