SNAP™ Under 12 Outreach Project

Intervention; Ages 6–12

Effectiveness

(Read the criteria for this rating)

Effective delinquency program

Description

The SNAP® (Stop Now And Plan) Under 12 Outreach Project (SNAP®) is a specialized, family-focused intervention for boys and girls under age 12 who display aggressive and antisocial behavior problems. The SNAP screening and assessment procedures involve two interviews at intake—one with the child and one with the parent/guardian. In addition, boys are evaluated with the Early Assessment Risk List for Boys (known as EARL–20B), a risk-assessment tool for use with aggressive and delinquent boys under 12. The assessment determines the unique treatment needs of boys and their families. SNAP® ORP employs a multisystemic approach, combining interventions that target the child, the family, the school, and the community. The program uses a variety of established interventions that are organized around SNAP®: skills training, training in cognitive problem-solving, self-control strategies, cognitive self-instruction, family management skills training, and parent training.

The SNAP model is recognized as one of the “most extensively developed, longest sus-tained, empirically based intervention specifically for pre-offender youth under the age of 12” (Augimeri et al., 2011, p. 127). Randomized controlled trials demonstrate that SNAP reduces anxiety, depression, aggression, conduct problems and overall externalizing behaviors (Burke & Loeber, 2014) while improving emotion regulation, problem solving, pro-social behavior, and reducing parental stress (Burke & Loeber, 2015). Cost benefit analysis has also shown SNAP to be a cost effective early intervention program for reducing crime (Farrington & Koegl, 2015). The target population served by SNAP is children engaging in above-average levels (clinical range on standardized measures) of aggressive, disruptive, or other antisocial behaviors.

Risk Factors

Individual

Antisocial/delinquent beliefs

Conduct disorders (authority conflict/rebellious/stubborn/disruptive/antisocial)

Early and persistent noncompliant behavior

Early onset of aggression/violence

General delinquency involvement

High alcohol/drug use

Hyperactivity/impulsivity

Lack of guilt and empathy

Low intelligence quotient

Low perceived likelihood of being caught

Low psychosocial maturity (low temperance, responsibility, and perspective)

Mental health problems

Poor refusal skills

Victim of child maltreatment

Victimization and exposure to violence

Family

Abusive parents

Antisocial parents

Broken home/changes in caretaker

Child maltreatment (abuse or neglect)

Family poverty/low family socioeconomic status

Family violence (child maltreatment, partner violence, conflict)

High parental stress/maternal depression

Parent proviolent attitudes

Parental use of physical punishment/harsh and/or erratic discipline practices

Poor parental supervision (control, monitoring, and child management)

Poor parent-child relations or communication

Unhappy parents

School

Bullying

Frequent school transitions

Frequent truancy/absences/suspensions; expelled from school; dropping out of school

Identified as learning disabled

Low academic aspirations

Low achievement in school

Low school attachment/bonding/motivation/commitment to school

Old for grade/repeated a grade

Poor student-teacher relations

Poorly defined rules and expectations for appropriate conduct

Student failure in the first grade

Community

Availability of firearms

Community disorganization

Economic deprivation/poverty/residence in a disadvantaged neighborhood

Feeling unsafe in the neighborhood

Low neighborhood attachment

Neighborhood youth in trouble

Peer

Association with antisocial/aggressive/delinquent peers; high peer delinquency

Peer rejection

Endorsements

Crime Solutions: Effective

Contact

Leena K. Augimeri, Ph.D.
Child Development Institute
46 St. Clair Gardens
Toronto, ON M6E 3V4
CANADA
Phone: (416) 603-1827, Ext. 3112
Fax: (416) 654-8996
E-mail: [email protected]

References

Augimeri, L. K., Farrington, D. P., Koegl, C. J., & Day, D. M. (2007). The Under 12 Outreach Project: Effects of a Community Based Program for Children with Conduct Problems. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 16, 799–807.

Augimeri, L.K., Walsh, M.M, Liddon, A.D., & Dassinger, C. R. (2011). From risk identification to risk management: A comprehensive strategy for young children engaged in antisocial behavior. In D. W. Springer and A. Roberts, (Eds), Juvenile Justice and Delinquency (pp. 117 – 140). United States: Jones & Bartlett.

Burke, J.D. and Loeber, R. (2014). The effectiveness of the Stop Now and Plan (SNAP) Program for boys at risk for violence and delinquency. Prevention Science, 16, 242-253.

Burke, J. D., & Loeber, R. (2015). Mechanisms of behavioral and affective treatment outcomes in a cognitive behavioral intervention for boys. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. DOI: 10.1007/s10802-015-9975-0.

Farrington, D. P. and Koegl, C. J. (2015). Monetary benefits and costs of the Stop Now And Plan program for boys aged 6–11, based on the prevention of later offending. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 31, 263-287.

Lipman, Ellen L., Kenny, M., Sniderman, C., O’Grady, S., Augimeri, L.K., Khayutin, S., and Boyle, M. H. (2008). Evaluation of a Community-Based Program for Young Boys At-Risk of Antisocial Behavior: Results and Issues. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 17, 12–19.