Treatment and Behavior Change in Juvenile Delinquents (From Handbook on Crime and Delinquency Prevention, P 87-112, 1987, Elmer H Johnson, ed. - See NCJ-105398)

• NCJ Number: 105401
• Author(s): G E Davidson
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 26 pages
• Sale Source: Greenwood Publishing Group
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This paper describes the Elan One program, a therapeutic facility for troubled boys and girls in Maine, as an alternative to three typical approaches to delinquency prevention: the legalistic rights-oriented approach; the sociological approach; and the purely psychoanalytic and psychodynamic approach.

Abstract

The legalistic, rights-oriented approach, which emphasizes compliance with juveniles' due process rights and punishment to fit the offense, errs in not helping juveniles develop responsible living patterns. The sociological approach, which attributes delinquency to social origins rather than individual maladjustment, fails to offer help in modifying individual attitudes and behaviors that undermine normative living. The purely psychoanalytic approach, which emphasizes insight therapy, does not prepare juveniles to deal with relationships and criminogenic environments. The goals of the Elan One program are to develop the capacities to control impulsive behavior, establish mutual relationships, maintain consistency in work and study, obtain help from others, and develop goals for personal development and achievement. These goals are pursued through the techniques of limit-setting confrontation among peers and staff, insight, positive identification, and guidance in positive relationships. In working with juveniles for whom all other treatments have failed, Elan One has been successful in returning 80-90 percent of its residents to the community, with followup showing adherence to responsible living patterns. 22 notes and 11-item bibliography.