NCJ Number
61279
Journal
Community Mental Health Journal Volume: 14 Issue: 4 Dated: (WINTER 1978) Pages: 267-271
Date Published
1978
Length
5 pages
Annotation
RESULTS OF THIS STUDY OF PROJECT CREST (CLINICAL REGIONAL SUPPORT TEAMS) INDICATE THAT PROFESSIONAL INTERVENTION CAN BE INFLUENTIAL IN OUTREACH PROGRAMS WITH CLIENT POPULATIONS CONSIDERED RESISTANT TO CHANGE.
Abstract
THIRTY RANDOMLY SELECTED JUVENILE DELINQUENTS RECEIVING A DUAL TREATMENT APPROACH OF COMMUNITY OUTREACH COUNSELING SERVICES (PROJECT CREST) AND PROBATIONARY SUPERVISION WERE COMPARED OVER A 6-MONTH PERIOD WITH A CONTROL GROUP OF 34 DELINQUENTS RECEIVING ONLY PROBATIONARY SUPERVISION. A CONTROLLED PRETEST AND POSTTEST DESIGN WAS USED. A BASELINE PERIOD EQUIVALENT TO THE NUMBER OF MONTHS OF CREST COUNSELING WAS CALCULATED FOR EACH CLIENT. SIMILARLY, A BASELINE PERIOD FOR EACH CONTROL SUBJECT WAS MADE TO CORRESPOND TO THE NUMBER OF MONTHS EACH WAS INCLUDED IN THE EXPERIMENT. THE GROUPS WERE COMPARED ON CHANGES IN TOTAL ACTS OF MISCONDUCT FROM THE BASELINE TO THE EXPERIMENTAL PERIOD AND WERE ALSO COMPARED ON CHANGES IN MONTHLY RATES OF MISCONDUCT BETWEEN THE PERIODS. THE TREATMENT GROUP SHOWED A 79 PERCENT REDUCTION IN TOTAL ACTS OF MISCONDUCT. ALSO IN THE 6-MONTH PERIOD, 20 SUBJECTS RECORDED A DECREASE OF 31 OFFENSES. THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY LEND SUPPORT TO THE IDEA THAT PROFESSIONAL INTERVENTION CAN BE INFLUENTIAL IN OUTREACH PROGRAMS WITH CLIENT POPULATIONS THAT HAVE TRADITIONALLY BEEN CONSIDERED RESISTANT AND NOT AMENABLE TO CHANGE. REFERENCES ARE NOTED AND TABULAR DATA ARE INCLUDED. (MJW)