Aboriginal Young Women: New Challenges (From ... And When She Was Bad? Working With Young Women in Juvenile Justice and Related Areas, P 33-39, 1996, Christine Alder and Margaret Baines, eds. -- See NCJ-165370)

• NCJ Number: 165374
• Author(s): M Bartemucci
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 7 pages
• Sale Source: National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

This paper identifies those family, peer, social, and cultural factors that impact the unique experiences and problems faced by Aboriginal young women who offend; the methodologies and programs implemented to address these problems; and the practical difficulties and issues experienced when working with this client group.

Abstract

Although there are numerous factors that contribute to the problems faced by Aboriginal young women who offend, the Metropolitan Aboriginal Youth Team (MAYT) of South Australia identified two key areas in which it believed it could achieve positive change. One was family dysfunction, and the other was a lack of community integration (education and training). To provide a program to assist family functioning, the team developed the Family Connections Program. Its aim is to provide the parents of Aboriginal young women the parenting skills needed to take greater responsibility for their children's offending behavior. An evaluation of the program was conducted at the end of its first 12 months of operation. Program workers have reported improved communication between all family members, increased parental support for the delinquent youth, parents' increased input and facilitation of the juvenile's decisionmaking, increased parental assertiveness, and increased participation of parents in the juvenile's activities. To improve the community integration of Aboriginal young women, MAYT is operating prevocational programs based on the juveniles' areas of interest. The programs also offer the young women social recognition.