Group Treatment Strategies in Juvenile Correctional Programs (original) (raw)

Evidence-based practice in group work with incarcerated youth

2009

As a result of the Youth Criminal Justice Act's increased focus on restorative justice, treatment, rehabilitation, and reintegration of youth, many more juvenile offenders require mental health services while resident in youth detention facilities [Youth Criminal Justice Act (2002, c.1). Ottawa: Department of Justice Canada. Retrieved September 19, 2008 from http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/Y-1.5\]. Several common characteristics such as violence, aggression, and other antisocial behaviors, associated with criminal behavior, have been identified among male and female offenders. Dialectical behavior therapy, originally developed by Linehan [Linehan, M. M., 1993a. Cognitive-behavioural treatment of borderline personality disorder. New York: Guildford Press] for chronically parasuicidal women diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, has been successfully modified for use with other populations, including violent and impulse-oriented male and female adolescents residing in correctional facilities. The intent of this article is to encourage the wider use of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) with young offenders. It includes an extensive review of the evidence-base to date and describes some of the creative modifications that have been made to standard DBT program format to meet the particular needs of various groups in both Canada and the United States. In keeping with the movement toward more evidence-based practice, the authors argue that DBT is a promising approach in group work with incarcerated adolescents and should be more widely used.

Program use of effective drug abuse treatment practices for juvenile offenders

Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 2007

This study examined the extent to which organizational context predicted use of consensus-based elements of effective substance abuse treatment practices with juvenile offenders. Participants were either directors of substance abuse treatment programs located in residential facilities (institutional sample) or directors of community-based treatment agencies providing services to adolescents in their home communities (community sample). The two settings differed significantly in the number and types of effective practices they were using. Community programs were more likely to have staff qualified to deliver substance abuse treatment, involve families in treatment, and assess their treatment outcomes. In contrast, institutional programs were more likely to provide comprehensive services. Resources dedicated to training, internal support for new programming, and network connectedness with non-criminal-justice facilities were associated with greater use of effective practices. These findings highlight the importance of establishing corrections-community partnerships designed to promote continuity of care for juvenile offenders. D

A multiyear follow-up study examining the effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral group therapy program on the recidivism of juveniles on probation

International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 2015

The present study evaluated the long-term effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral group therapy program titled Community Opportunity Growth. This study monitored juvenile delinquents' recidivism across a 7-year time period, with the average length to follow-up being 39 months. It was hypothesized that program graduates (N = 178) would have a significantly lower recidivism rate than a control group (program nonstarters; N = 66) and program dropouts (whose predisposing factors may have influenced their program participation; N = 150). Analyses controlled for sex, ethnicity, age, prior petitions, highest class of prior petition, and months to follow-up. Results show a general trend indicating the long-term effectiveness of the program as graduates had a lower incidence of petitions at follow-up compared with dropouts and fewer petitions compared with the other two groups.

Intensive interventions with high-risk youths: Promising approaches in juvenile probation and parole

Journal of Criminal Justice, 1993

The development of a joint public/private cooperative program involving Amity an Arizona nonprofit agency specializing in' substance abuse Services and the Arizona Department of Corrections is described. The Amity model addresses the multiple factors of chronic adolescent substance abusers who have committed crimes. The traditional adult-oriented therapeutic community modality has been modified for work with adolescent delinquents. The principles and operational components of the model are summarized.

Treatment Alliance in Residential Treatment of Criminal Adolescents

Child & Youth Care Forum, 2007

Research on relationship aspects in residential treatment of criminal young persons has largely been neglected despite the general finding in treatment research that such aspects have a large bearing on outcome. In this article, two studies of associations between relationship aspects and outcome in this treatment context are presented. In one of them, two treatment units practicing Aggression Replacement Training and CBT-techniques and 2 U with more conventional, relationally oriented treatment approaches were studied using process questionnaires and interviews. In the other study, adolescents who had been sentenced to treatment were interviewed about treatment experiences 1 year after release. Despite considerable attrition, several interesting findings were noted: The boys' alliance ratings were associated with the collaborative aspect of the staff's alliance ratings, but not with the bond aspect; warm and close staff feelings were related to negative outcome and the boys' conceptions of the treatment model but not of the relationship with the staff was associated with positive outcome. The results suggest that a distinction should be made between a mutual bond aspect of the staffÀboy relationship that was not related to outcome and a collaborative aspect which was related to outcome.

Therapeutic Communities for Youths in Secure Care: Participant Characteristics and Predictors of Treatment and Postrelease Supervision

Journal of Social Service Research, 2012

The current cross-sectional, descriptive study utilized services data to examine the characteristics, treatment, and postrelease outcomes of 226 male (64.6%) and female (35.4%) youths in therapeutic communities (TCs) housed within three secure-care facilities in one Southern state. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that approximately 21% of the variance in amount of TC services received was predicted by demographic, psychosocial, and institutional variables. Girls received less TC treatment than boys, and participants with disciplinary tickets received more treatment than those without tickets. The binary logistic regression model distinguished between youths who were and were not placed under supervision upon release, with relevant predictors explaining about 40% of the variance. Implications for practice and research with youths in institution-based TCs are discussed.