Sport and Crime Reduction Book

Illustrations     ix
Acronyms     xi
Acknowledgements     xii
Introduction     1
Who the book is aimed at     1
The book structure     2
Defining terms     4
The main argument of the book     5
Value judgements and some traditional rationales for sport     7
The influence of traditional values     7
Some traditional rationales for sport     9
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
Acknowledgement     28
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
Acknowledgement     42
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
Conclusion     48
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
West Yorkshire Sports Counselling     59
Summary     59
Introduction to the programme     59
Evaluation and results     60
Conclusion on the programme and evaluation methods     70
Potential improvements to the programme     72
Partnership working and termination     73
Hafotty Wen - 14 Peaks Programme     75
Summary     75
Introduction to the programme     75
Evaluation and results     76
Conclusion on the programme and evaluation methods      93
Funding, politics and operational difficulties     95
Fairbridge     97
Summary     97
Introduction to the programme     98
Evaluation     98
Results     102
Conclusion on the programme and evaluation methods     106
The Clontarf Foundation's Football Academies     109
Summary     109
Introduction to the programme     109
Evaluation and results     112
How and why the programme worked     113
Conclusion on the programme and evaluation method     114
Positive Futures/Sportaction     116
Summary     116
Introduction to the programme at the national level     116
National evaluation and results     117
A local programme - Sportaction     119
Local evaluation     120
Results     122
Case studies     123
How and why the programme worked     131
General limitations of the programme     133
Conclusion on the programme and evaluation methods     134
Summit     136
Summary     136
Introduction to the programme     136
Evaluation      138
Results     141
Conclusion on the programme and evaluation methods     153
Splash     156
Summary     156
Introduction to the programme     156
Evaluation     158
Methods that were rejected     162
Evaluation of the national programme     164
Results     166
Conclusion on the programme and evaluation method     170
Northtown Parks for All     174
Summary     174
Introduction to the programme     174
Evaluation and results     177
Conclusion on the programme and evaluation method     178
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
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
Key success factors and the role of sport     198
Diversion     198
Pro-social development     199
Conclusion - sport as a tool     204
Conclusions     205
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
References     209
Index     217