Community-Based Youth Development Intervention Strategies & Practices: Integrating Criminal Justice and Psychological Approaches

Professor: Lori Simons, Psychology and Nancy Blank, Criminal Justice, Widener University
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Course Description:
This is an interdisciplinary criminal justice and psychology year-long course on community intervention strategies and practices for at-risk youth.  We will review theories and research that explain problem behaviors (i.e. mental health, substance use, delinquency, teen parenting).  Numerous theories/frameworks drawn from criminology and psychology will be examined.  They include social disorganization, cultural formation and deviance, social control, deterrence, restorative justice, attachment - parent and peer relationships, risk and protective factors and resilience, social-cognitive and learning theories. The interdisciplinary approach will provide the opportunity to focus on both the macro-structural factors emphasized in criminology and the micro-level perspective emphasized in psychology.