NCJ Number
70578
Journal
Jugendwohln Volume: 59 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1978) Pages: 337-342
Date Published
1978
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The juvenile correctional facility at Adelsheim (West Germany) and experiences with inmates on two therapeutic trips outside the institution are discussed.
Abstract
The Adelsheim juvenile corrections facility was founded in 1974 to house 380 inmates. Training is provided in metal, wood, building, and electric professions, as well as in gardening and business. A social worker is employed for every 24-inmate living group. The team also includes six guards and a psychologist. Daily and weekly meetings are held to discuss treatment and probation possibilities. The institution subscribes to the principles of behavioral modification. To improve students' social development and communication capabilities, two excursions were recently undertaken: a 4-day course for the soccer team at the Ruit School of Sports and a 7-days endurance training course in the Black Forest. The sport training course was very successful, enabling participants to become involved in informal discussions of personal problems. The endurance training was envisaged as a means of building a trusting relationship among members of a problem-oriented group and as a type of training for independent behavior. As a result of inmates' highly regimented institutional life style, however, such simple matters as planning daily activities, washing laundry, and using the telephone posed major problems. The outing proved exhausting because group members had to concentrate and to observe. The excursion did bring about increased confidence of group members, but return to the institution caused depression. A brief bibliography is furnished.--in German.