Like so many cities throughout the United States, Las Vegas seems to have experienced a substantial in-crease in youth substance abuse over the past several years. In an effort to address this problem, the Las Vegas Y.M.C.A. has recently proposed a program intended to improve protective factors against substance abuse for high risk youth ages 6-18. The program is not an entirely innovative one, but rather one that brings together several existing programs in ways that are consistent with an integrated sociological approach to deviance and its control. The purpose of this paper is to report on the design for this program.

The Problem

The United States is thought to have the highest rate of youth substance abuse of any industrialized nation. The problem is said to have escalated to such an extent that many young people are not moving toward becoming self-sufficient, contributing members of society (National Collaboration for Youth 1989). Their futures are clouded by illiteracy, crime, attempted suicide, school dropout, pregnancy, and unemployment. Also, the leading causes of death to children are drug and alcohol related violence and motor vehicle accidents. The problem seems to cut across socioeconomic and ethnic lines.

The youth of Las Vegas are confronted with a number of special circumstances that may place them at additional risk for substance abuse and related problems. The 24-hour (3-shift) city and the high incidence of divorce leave many children without supervision after school and on weekends. The rapid increase in population of Las Vegas (an estimated 4,000 per month) has also resulted in fewer after-school programs for youth. Nevada addition-ally has the highest overall average stress levels among the 50 states, and ranks in the top ten for adolescent pregnancy and school dropout, problems that also appear as part of the recurring theme of early experimentation with alcohol and drugs. The state likewise has the highest rate of alcohol consumption and there is clearly a ready availability of illegal drugs in the city.

Statistics reported by Clark County Juvenile Court Services reflect the perceived scope of the substance abuse problem in Las Vegas. While alcohol abuse referrals decreased by five percent between 1987 and 1989, referrals for drug abuse showed an increase of 37 percent. Although first-time substance abuse offenders presently undergo an intake assessment which, in 70 percent of the cases, includes a session with a counselor and provision of referral information for the parents, once these youth return to their neighborhoods they often repeat the same behavior. Thus, unless protective factors are enhanced, they are likely to continue in this cycle of substance involvement and conflict with the law.

Juvenile Court Services also reports that alcohol and/or drug abuse are significant problems in 60 percent of the families seen in Child Protective Services. A large number of these families are thought to be unable to provide for even the most basic needs of children, let alone provide the instruction and supervision necessary to insulate them from the drug and alcohol problem.

The Program

Based on these concerns, two groups of youth have been targeted for the proposed program: (1) first-time substance offenders from juvenile detention and (2) children referred to Protective Services for abuse or neglect and whose parents are involved in substance abuse. A total of 150 children will be referred on a random basis (every other case received at Juvenile Court), and parents or guardians will be asked to voluntarily authorize their child's participation. Participation in the program will also be open to youth who live in the areas of the proposed program sites.

The neighborhoods selected for the project are areas with the highest reported incidence of alcohol and drug abuse in Las Vegas. The North Las Vegas site is made up predominantly of blacks with some Hispanics. This area is comprised of one of the lowest socioeconomic segments of the population and has the highest rates of drug abuse, crime, and gang activity in the city. Most families are on public welfare or have members who are employed in unskilled jobs. Community organizations are minimal and lack of transportation and financial means prohibit accessibility to their activities outside the area. The second site in the Stewart-Mojave area is known as the "barrio" section of the city. Comprised of a predominantly lower class and blue collar Hispanic population, this area too has a high incidence of drug and gang activity. Finally, a site in the Oakey-Lindell area is made up of primarily white middle and upper-middle class business and professional families. Substance abuse, child abuse, and neglect are said to also be serious problems in this area.

The rationale for the program is based on an integration of sociological theories and research that are central to an understanding of deviance and social control. These include: (1) the interactionist perspective, with its emphasis on the relationship between social acceptance and self-concept and behavior; (2) social and cultural support theory, with its emphasis on group identifications and associations as they influence conforming or deviant behavior; and (3) strain theory, which focuses on the importance of the availability of opportunities to demon-strate conventional or conforming behavior, and the significance of such opportunities in reducing stresses that might lead to deviant adaptations such as substance abuse (see Liska 1987; Farrell and Swigert 1988; Messner, Krohn, and Liska 1989). The general assumption of our approach is that by fostering supportive social relationships, identification and integration with conventional groups, and insulation from group associations conducive to deviant behavior, children will develop more positive self-evaluations, have lower levels of stress, and will demonstrate more conforming behavior including abstinence from alcohol and drugs. Based on this assumption, the specific objectives of the program will be:

(1)    To foster more friendly and accept-ing relationships for children within the family, school, community, and conventional peer groups.
(2)    To improve the child's self-evalua-tion in relation to school, community, and conventional peer associations.
(3)    To increase the child's identification with conventional others.
(4)    To provide increased opportunities for the child's integration into conventional relationships within the family, school, community, and peer groups.
(5)    To decrease the child's association with groups whose values are conducive to non-conventional behavior, especially drug related behavior.
(6)    To foster acceptable behavior within the family, school, community, and peer groups, especially behavior that will help insulate the child from involvement with drugs and drug related activities.

After school and summer programs grounded in these objectives are intended to provide opportunities for the children to participate in sports and recreational activities, cultural and recreational field trips, peer tutoring, leadership training, and community service projects that will buffer them from the influences of drug abuse and better integrate them into their community.

Involvement in conventional activities is an essential element in social control (Hirschi 1969). Youth who are busy doing conventional things are often simply too busy to get involved in deviant behavior. Participation in conventional activities can also provide opportunities to learn important social skills, skills that can contribute to self-esteem and allow the individual to better cope with life situations. Sporting activities, for example, Can teach the importance of sportsmanship and teamwork, as well as basic athletic skills. Such activities of the proposed program will focus on the development of trust, cooperation, and self-confidence, and will be modeled after the concept of "new games" and modified "outward bound-type challenges."

Exposure to the arts can also facilitate the child's integration into conventional society. Familiarity with a range of creative activities can become a resource for learning, communication, and the establishment of legitimate relationships. The arts also offer opportunities to share one's own creative talents with others, and to experience the positive feedback essential to the development of self-esteem and conforming behavior.

Opportunities for community service can also be beneficial to children (especially middle class youth) caught in the problem of substance abuse. Such activities not only help one to develop confidence and the ability to assume responsible roles, but to identify and empathize with the problems of others. Helping others also fosters the more friendly and accepting relationships that ultimately lead to better integration into the community. Working with older, homeless, and handicapped persons, conducting food drives, and participating in environmental improvement activities are some of the community services that are planned for the children. Public recognition and awards will be integral to this part of the program.

Improved performance in school can also foster more acceptable behavior (see e.g. Hirschi 1969). Basic educational skills lead to a sense of competency and are crucial to effective participation in society. Opportunities to receive academic assistance will thus be provided as part of the program. Upon successful completion of a training workshop, eligible participants will offer these services through a peer tutoring program. Peer tutors will contribute up to six hours of tutorial assistance each week and will receive a weekly stipend for their services.

Finally, where there are obvious problems of family support, children might benefit from opportunities to establish relationships with other adult role models. A mentoring component will be incorporated into the program in an effort to achieve this objective. Mentors, recruited through a collaborative effort with Big Brothers and Big Sisters, will spend a minimum of six hours per month with children in need of such role models. In addition to the regular Y.M.C.A. membership opportuni-ties, special opportunities will be provided for the children to interact with their mentors. These activities will include sporting events, cultural and social outings, hikes, and other events providing exposure to new experiences.

Evaluation

An experimental design will be used to measure the outcomes of the program. Children who are assigned to the Y.M.C.A. program will be treated as the experimental group (n = 150), while those assigned to the more conventional juvenile court treatment programs will be treated as the control group (n = 150). Each group will be equally represented by children referred to Juvenile Court Services on a first-time substance abuse charge and those referred to Protective Services for abuse and neglect. Following this design, a number of established measures will be used to assess the proposed program's impact on the children in terms of the program objectives. These include measures of self-evaluation, relationships with conventional others, group identifications, integration/ isolation from conventional group ties, non-conforming peer associations, and conforming/non-conforming behavior patterns. An evaluation instrument comprised of these measures will be administered to the members of each group as they enter the respective programs (the pre-test) and then again following their exposure to each program (the post-test), approximately six months later or when they exit the program (whichever is first). The instrument will be administered by regular staff at the program sites for the youth entering the Y.M.C.A. program, and by probation officers at Juvenile Court for the control group. Juvenile Court Services will also track the children in both the experimental and control groups with respect to future court referrals for substance abuse.

The evaluation will also involve an assessment of the procedures involved in carrying out the program. Here the research staff will seek to determine the extent to which the program in action complies with the stated plans and objectives. Both statistical and qualitative observational methods will be used to collect and compile information for this part of the evaluation.

Conclusion

The program is still in its planning stages and, therefore, is not without issues that remain in need of resolution. Foremost among these is our concern that children not be placed in a program that in any way emphasizes their problems or interferes with their families' efforts to deal with problems in a normalized manner. This becomes an especially important consideration in dealing vvith children who, themselves, do not have a problem of substance abuse, that is those who would be referred to the program by Protective Services because of parental problems of such abuse. Programs that are not sensitive to this issue clearly defeat the ultimate goal of integrating these children into the mainstream of the community and may create or amplify, rather than diminish, the conditions that underlie the problem of substance abuse.

Ronald A Farrell and Randall G. Shelden are with the Department of Criminal Justice, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, Nev. 89154-5009. Patricia Ritter is with the Las Vegas Y.M.C.A.

References

Farrell, Ronald A. and Victoria L. Swigert. 1988. Social Deviance. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth.
Hirschi, Travis. 1969. Causes of Delinquency. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Liska, Alan E. 1987. Perspectives on Deviance. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Messner, Stephen F., Marvin D. Krohn, and Alan E. Liska. 1989. Theoretical Integration in the Study of Deviance. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press.
National Collaboration for Youth. 1989. Making the Grade: A Report Card on American Youth. Washington, D.C.