NCJ Number
191102
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 45 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2001 Pages: 606-625
Date Published
October 2001
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article highlights familial influences on delinquent and antisocial behavior and discusses treatment dilemmas in working with incarcerated juvenile offenders.
Abstract
The recidivism rate for juveniles illustrates the need to develop effective interventions for incarcerated youth and their families. Treatment focusing on the family as a unit is more effective than individual treatment with delinquent youth. But it is often difficult to involve families in the treatment process while juvenile offenders are incarcerated. Adolescents often develop behavioral problems because of difficulties within either the immediate family or the broader social environment. Family management practices such as failure to set clear boundaries for children’s behavior, parental support, poor supervision, and severe and inconsistent discipline patterns are risk factors that consistently predict later delinquency. Recent studies supported the contention that a family systems approach was the most effective treatment modality for severe behavioral problems in both adolescents and children. Some intervention programs for noninstitutionalized juveniles are functional family therapy, parent management training, multisystemic therapy, and brief strategic family therapy. Intervention programs for institutionalized juveniles are one-person family therapy, interpersonal skills training, and behavioral programs. A common problem in family interventions with delinquent youth is the resistance of the families and participant dropout rates. Ten juvenile offenders were the participants in a preliminary study to evaluate the treatment of effectiveness of a conjoint family intervention and a one-person family intervention with incarcerated youth. Results provided information to support the use of a one-person family intervention model for incarcerated juvenile offenders. 86 references