Programs that use a combination of (1) normative education, (2) information about the consequences of drugs and violence and (3) social skills training, including social influences training (especially peer pressure resistance skills) are more successful in preventing drug use, crime and delinquency than using a single approach.

Supporting Citations:

Dent, C.W. et al. (1995). Two-year behavior outcomes of Project No Tobacco Use. Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology, 63, 676-677.

Gottfredson, D.C. (1997). School-based crime prevention. In L. Sherman (Ed.), Preventing crime: what works, what doesn't, what's promising: A report to the United States Congress (pp. 5-1 - 5-74). Washington, DC: US Department of Justice.

Hansen, W.B. (1992) School-based substance abuse prevention: A review of the state of the art in curriculum, 1980-1990. Health Education Research: Theory and Practice 7(3), 403-430.

Hawkins, W.B., Catalano, R.F. & Miller, J.Y. (1992). Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance abuse prevention. Pscyhological Bulletin, 112(1), 64-105.