Police Intervention Programmes and Delinquency Among At-Risk Juveniles in Residential Youth Villages: The Mediating Roles of Police Legitimacy and Social Resistance

This study evaluated a police intervention programme implemented in Israeli educational residential youth villages for at-risk juveniles. Using a quasi-experimental design, the study compared two matched groups of 118 youths, one enrolled in a police programme and the other in alternative interventions, to assess whether police legitimacy and social resistance mediated the relationship between programme type and self-reported delinquency. The results showed that police legitimacy, but not social resistance, partially mediated this relationship. Youth participating in the police programme reported higher levels of police legitimacy, which were associated with reduced delinquent behaviour. These findings suggest that residential police–youth interventions may strengthen legitimacy and contribute to delinquency reduction among at-risk juveniles in residential care, where culturally appropriate and institutionally feasible.