Religious programs in prisons should not be confused with worship practices, reading of documents considered sacred, or other rituals performed within the prison system. They are structured programs, which in most cases use cognitive behavioral therapy practices and professional training courses with qualified professionals, and also include elements of religious faith in their programming.

Bullying comprises a range of aggressive behaviors, which may include physical, verbal, or psychological/relational aggression. It can occur in the school environment (“school bullying”) or online (“cyberbullying”), and individuals can engage in bullying as perpetrators or victims, as well as bystanders, defenders, or reinforcers of those behaviors.
Bullying prevention programs (whether in school or in other settings) can be characterized by different methods, scopes, and objectives, as their building blocks vary depending on the intervention’s target audience.

Alternative family care programs are based on the recruitment and training of families interested in supporting children and adolescents in extreme situations of vulnerability that put their safety and/or well-being at risk. Usually, those young people are victims of violence or neglect, and/or display serious behavioral problems, including chronic antisocial behaviors, emotional disturbances, and delinquency.

In approximately 75% of US cities, mandatory curfew laws are in place to restrict the presence of youth (17 years of age or younger) in certain public spaces for specified periods of time. These laws give the police the power to halt and question youths, and to tell them to return home or deal with fines or penalties, where appropriate.

DNA tests analyze genetic information through rigorous surveys (forensic studies) that makes it possible to detect, with a high level of certainty, the connection between the evidence and a specific person.

“Specialized Mental Health Courts” are criminal courts with specialized jurisdiction that were created to help deal with people accused of having committed a crime and who have a diagnosis, or a strong suspicion, of mental health problems and related issues.
These courts operate in different ways depending on the country and are increasingly being used in Canada and the United States as a way to reduce contact with the criminal justice system for people with serious mental health conditions.

Youth awareness programs, also called “prison awareness” programs, are programs aimed at deterring young people from future criminal behavior by providing them with an experiential opportunity to get to know what reality is like inside the prison system. To this end, these programs organize visits to prison facilities for young people (usually under the age of 18) who have either already committed crimes or are at a high risk of becoming offenders.

Policing Focused on Disorder and Disturbance of Peace is based on the “broken windows“ theory, according to which a disorder is a precursor to more serious crimes, fear of crime, and neighborhood decay [1]. This policing strategy had as its starting point the experience of New York (USA) in the 1990s, when the city’s police began to implement this strategy along with a series of organizational changes.
Disorder Policing can be applied through two main tactics: in conjunction with community policing and troubleshooting-oriented policing, or through zero tolerance strategies.

Multicomponent programs for highly violent youth include different interventions that can be applied in a closed setting or in the community. They may include cognitive behavioral therapies, treatments to reduce drug use, vocational training and employability, and social and family programs. It is a comprehensive strategy, as it also involves the family and the network of friends closest to the young people participating in the program, thus contributing to strengthen the social, family, and community bonds.

The concept of “Procedural Justice“, sometimes referred to as “fair procedure”, seeks to highlight the importance of the quality of the treatment provided by public servants in general, and in particular by those who have the authority to use force.
For the police to be effective in controlling crime and maintaining order, the voluntary cooperation of the general public is necessary. Research has shown that citizens are more likely to cooperate with the police and obey the law when they perceive the police as legitimate.