Treatment of Youth Remand Prisoners: Problems and Results of a Research Project (From Criminal Behavior and the Justice System: Psychological Perspectives, P 356-381, 1989, Hermann Wegener, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-116624)

• NCJ Number: 116645
• Author(s): H Kury
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 26 pages
• Sale Source: Springer-Verlag
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A treatment program for youthful prisoners held in pretrial detention in the Federal Republic of Germany was examined with respect to its effectiveness.

Abstract

The unit at Freiburg holds 15-20 inmates. The research focused on whether and how the counseling and behavior therapies influenced the youths' personality structure, as well as on the role of prisonization effects, the effectiveness of the training, and the relative effectiveness of the counseling and behavior therapies. Establishing a true experimental design for the program was impossible, although comparison groups from two other institutions were used. The research used a pretest-posttest design, with evaluations based on a variety of standard tests. The methodological problems prevented definitive answers to the research questions. However, results suggested that lengthier periods of therapy were associated with greater success in treatment. Prisonization appeared to have a negative effect on treatment, however. Behavior therapy was more favorably received by the inmates than was the counseling. Finally, treated inmates had significantly lower recidivism rates than did untreated inmates. Tables and 77 references.