Evaluating a school-based gang-prevention program: A theoretical perspective

Theory-based evaluations of gang intervention and prevention programs are rare. In this article we argue that the Gang Resistance Education and Training program, as developed by the Phoenix, Arizona, Police Department and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, consists of pedagogical elements with strong conceptual and operational ties to two mainstream criminological theories, social learning theory and self-control theory. Moreover, we provide a model that, with a little help from opportunity theory, integrates the two theories so as to take advantage of each other's conceptual richness. Finally, we address the implications for both criminological theory and anti-gang policies and practices.