BUILD FAMILIES, NOT PRISONS TO REDUCE CRIME

Do people want more prisons? Wouldn't they prefer less crime?

We know that prisons have little effect in reducing crime. Those who
might be deterred by prison, such as criminal corporation executives,
rarely end up in prison. Some offenders become more involved in crime
because of their prison experiences.

For decades, however, we have known that a better quality of life for
children reduces crime.

Research on child development shows that support to vulnerable
first-time mothers helps children become less troublesome young adults.

David Olds and his colleagues at the University of Colorado have
designed an appropriate action program which utilized public health
nurses to deliver support typically available to middle class families.

The nurse-family programs focus on improving prenatal health,
reducing child abuse and enhancing family functioning in the first
two years of the child's life.

Other programs have concentrated on pre-adolescent or adolescent
children. These seem to be less effective than programs designed to
reduce socio-emotional risks for children at a very early age.

The nurse-family programs help first-time mothers become effective
parents. Public health nurses help women identify health issues,
achieve a healthy diet, stop smoking, etc. After delivery, nurses
help mothers and other caregivers improve the physical and emotional
care of their children.

Three evaluations of these programs were done in Elmira, Memphis, and Denver.

The 400 young mothers in the Elmira sample were primarily white single mothers.

Compared to their control group, the nurse-visited women improved
their diets, smoked 25 per cent fewer cigarettes during pregnancy,
had fewer kidney infections, and produced heavier babies.

During the first two years of the child's life, nurse-visited
children born to low-income, unmarried teens had 80 per cent fewer
cases of child abuse and neglect than the control group.

Clearly, these young mothers were performing better, but did their
children commit fewer crimes?

By age 15 they were performing better than the comparison group, had
69 per cent fewer convictions, 58 per cent fewer sexual partners,
smoked 28 per cent fewer cigarettes, and consumed alcohol on 51 per
cent fewer days. These effects were greater for children born to
mothers who were poor and unmarried. Better parenting led to better
social behaviour in the children.

Do better mothers become better citizens? At the 15-year followup,
poor unmarried women displayed some enduring benefits. Those visited
by nurses averaged fewer subsequent pregnancies, fewer months on
welfare, fewer months receiving food stamps, a 79-per-cent reduction
in child abuse, a 44-per-cent reduction in maternal misbehaviour due
to alcohol and drug use, and 69 per cent fewer arrests. Becoming a
better mother benefits that mother, the child and society.

The Elmira study focused on young unmarried white women. The Memphis
sample was primarily black.

During the first two years after birth there was an 80 per cent
reduction in the number of days in hospital for injuries compared to
the control group.

By age 6 there were fewer behavioural and mental health problems.
Grades were better in grades 1 to 3. At age 12, they were using less
tobacco, alcohol or marijuana.

The Denver sample involved primarily Hispanic families. Again, those
who were visited by public health nurses did better than the comparison group.

The policy implications should be obvious. Public health nurses
dramatically changed the lives of white, black, and Hispanic families.

Each study showed that the most significant improvements were seen in
high-risk, low-resource families -- the very families that many
better-off citizens in Canada feel are beyond help. The potential for
such in Canada is good -- if political leaders will act on the evidence.

The Elmira, Memphis and Denver programs saved society about $17,000
per family. Isn't that better than spending a half-million dollars
per inmate to build a prison and then consuming $50,000 to $100,000
per inmate per year to keep it full?

Jim Hackler, adjunct professor, Sociology, University of Victoria,
professor emeritus, University of Alberta