Crime and punishment and sports development

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Abstract
This paper contributes to understandings of the use of sport as a medium in crime reduction programmes directed at young people. It does this through a case study of Easttown Summit 1 The names of the location, programme and participants have all been changed to maintain client confidentiality View all notes , to show how and why this programme has had an impact on participants. The case study examines the relevance of a theoretical framework for understanding the mechanism of crime reduction though value directed personal development. However, this framework was developed from studies of programmes working with relatively high‐risk participants. Brantingham and Faust (1976) categorise this type of programme as ‘tertiary’. In contrast the Summit programme was secondary, working with lower risk participants. While clients of the Summit gained some benefits consistent with those likely to reduce offending, the research found that these benefits were largely an incidental by‐product of the achievement of broader sports development objectives. This may well be the case for similar secondary programmes, which have largely been developed in leisure departments, and has profound implications for programme evaluation.

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