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Effectiveness of Short Duration Time-Outs in a Juvenile Detention Facility

NCJ Number
89422
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1983) Pages: 75-81
Author(s)
V J Carbone
Date Published
1983
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Short duration seclusion time-outs (15 to 45 minutes) were effective in reducing the antisocial behaviors of detained juvenile offenders aged 13 to 17 residing in a juvenile detention facility in Des Moines.
Abstract
About 500 juveniles were studied in this 3-year experiment. The facility had the capacity to hold 15 boys and 10 girls. The average length of stay was 15 days. Prior to the implementation of a time-out procedure, all staff (seven male and four female child care workers) were instructed in its use. Staff were required to record each occurrence of a time-out on a daily misbehavior sheet. The experiment used a one-group time-series design combined with elements of multiple baseline designs. The dependent variable was the frequency of antisocial behaviors measured by the frequency of time-outs. The independent variable (treatment variable) was the application of a short duration time-out. During almost three-fourths of the 36 months of the study, only 10 percent or less of the residents received a second time-out for the same behavior. The data indicate that the short duration time-out was effective in reducing the antisocial behaviors of 90 precent of the residents for most of the experiment. Figures and 10 notes are included.

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