NCJ Number
82599
Journal
Kriminologisches Journal Volume: 12 Issue: 4 Dated: (1980) Pages: 283-300
Date Published
1980
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The study explores concepts of family-oriented intervention programs, particularly as developed in the United States and the implications of such diversion programs as alternatives to the institutionalization of juvenile delinquents.
Abstract
Family intervention programs are based on the principle that families have both socialization and control functions and can therefore play a vital role in controlling the problem behavior of juveniles classified as delinquent or at risk. Family intervention programs are generally administered by the probation office, the Youth Service Bureau, or some other psychosocial assistance agency. Assistance may take the form of actual crisis intervention, educational instruction of parents to head off potential problems with children, material assistance, or referral. Evaluations of three U.S. model programs, i.e., the Sacramento County Diversion Program, the Juvenile Court Jurisdiction Program, and the Hamilton Juvenile Services Project, indicates generally that there is little change in the juveniles participating in the programs compared to controls (although slight positive results are evident in the Sacramento program) and that the number of juveniles identified as needing assistance has expanded. Viewed critically, such programs, which now exist in most of the United States, were actually founded as a means of reducing correctional expense rather than as a progressive reform of legal policy. Furthermore, family intervention demands that the families conform to the rules of therapeutic interaction and if they do not, they are labeled as uncooperative. Assistance is limited to identification of family interaction structures, with no consideration of socioeconomic history. As a result of the family intervention programs, police activities are transformed to social welfare functions and the network of social control is expanded not only to delinquent juveniles but to their 'potentially endangered' siblings as well. In fact, the danger of intervention by authorities of the State in all areas of everyday life for ostensibly therapeutic reasons requires that the family intervention strategies be examined thoroughly. Notes and a 29-item bibliography are supplied.