Original article
Caught in the Crossfire: the effects of a peer-based intervention program for violently injured youth

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2003.04.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

To assess the effect of a hospital-based peer intervention program serving youth who have been hospitalized for violent injuries on participant involvement in the criminal justice system and violent reinjury and death after hospital discharge.

Methods

A total of 112 violently injured youth (ages 12–20 years; 80% male; predominantly African-American [60%] and Latino [26%]) hospitalized in Oakland, California participated in a retrospective case–control study. Clients were matched by age and injury severity. Treatment and control youth were followed for 6 months after their individual dates of injury. The outcome variables of rate of entry/reentry into the criminal justice system, rate of rehospitalization for violent injuries and rate of violence-related deaths were compared for treatment and control groups using an odds ratio analysis.

Results

Intervention youth were 70% less likely to be arrested for any offense (odds ratio [OR] = 0.257) and 60% less likely to have any criminal involvement (OR = 0.356) when compared with controls. No statistically significant differences were found for rates of reinjury or death.

Conclusion

A peer-based program that intervenes immediately after, or very soon after, youth are violently injured can directly reduce at-risk youth involvement in the criminal justice system.

Section snippets

Program description

Caught in the Crossfire is a peer-based violence prevention intervention program serving youth who have been hospitalized in Oakland, California for violent injuries. Established in 1994, Caught in the Crossfire is predicated on the importance of intervening with violently injured youth “at the right time and with the right person” to maximally achieve the program's goals. The program employs and trains young adults who are from the same or similar communities as the youth which they serve and

Youth characteristics

No significant difference in racial/ethnic or age composition exists between treatment and control groups: predominantly African-American (60.0%), followed by Latinos (25.9%), a few Asian/Pacific Islanders (8.0%) and the rest of “Other” race/ethnicity (6.1%). The average age of participants at the time of admission to the hospital was 18.3 years, with a range of 12 to 20 years. In both groups, the majority (61.6%) of participants were age 18 years or above and most were male (80%).

Youth in the

Discussion

This study demonstrates that treatment by the Caught in the Crossfire program of youth hospitalized for a violent injury was associated with the reduced likelihood of involvement in the criminal justice system (arrest, probation, probation violation) during a 6-month postinjury period. Results for criminal outcomes were statistically significant. For youth who participated in the intervention program, there was a 70% reduction in arrests for any offense compared with the control group during a

Conclusions

This evaluation demonstrates that hospital-based peer intervention programs that employ members of the community and intervene immediately or soon after the injury has occurred can directly reduce criminal activity among youth most at risk for violence. These findings are significant in light of recent research, which indicates that criminal involvement places an individual at increased risk for subsequent violent victimization 13, 14. The creation of a hospital-based peer intervention program

Acknowledgements

This study was supported under funding from The California Wellness Foundation Violence Prevention Fellowship Program, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund grant P99-429, and The California Endowment grant number 20001310. We would like to thank Jessica Scannell, Varsha Vimalananda and Nic Bekaert for their assistance in conceptualizing and implementing the study. We appreciate the assistance of Coraline Journel in data collection and Cara Torruellas in manuscript writing and editing. Finally, we

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