NCJ Number
110036
Journal
Journal of Correctional Education Volume: 39 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1988) Pages: 12-16
Date Published
1988
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article argues that prisons tend to reinforce prisoners' dependencies, a condition that makes it difficult for them to take positive charge of their lives once they leave prison.
Abstract
The authors observe that it is the responsibility of correctional educators to provide inmates with the skills that will enable them to take responsibility for their lives. To test whether cognitive self-management techniques can modify social behavior, the authors studied 50 delinquent and predelinquent adolescents who were being treated at a mental health center in a United States metropolitan area. Forty-four of the adolescents were males; six were females. The group was instructed in self-charting, a method that enabled the adolescents to identify those aspects of their behavior that they thought needed modification. The 50 adolescents undertook 119 projects in self-charting. Six students completed one project. Four of the six met their goal of changing their behavior while two met with no success. Twenty-four students carried out two projects each. Forty-one of the 48 projects met expected goals; 7 did not yield satisfactory results. Fifteen students carried out three projects each. Forty of those 45 projects were successful. Five students carried out four projects each, with 17 of the 20 projects being successful. The authors observe that self-charting appears to be a successful behavior change procedure. They observe that as people become aware of their behavior and develop a way to monitor it, they become more responsible and independent. The authors conclude that self-charting could be a useful procedure to combat the dependency that occurs in correctional institutions. 25 references.