NCJ Number
81159
Journal
Corrections Magazine Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1982) Pages: 22-27,30-32
Date Published
1982
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article examines VisionQuest, a controversial private treatment program for juvenile delinquents which emphasizes wilderness programs and confrontation therapy where counselors shout and physically restrain misbehaving youngsters.
Abstract
This profit-making corporation was founded in 1973 as an alternative to traditional juvenile correctional methods and now contracts with 60 agencies throughout the United States and has received considerable media coverage. While many judges, parents, and youths involved with VisionQuest support the program enthusiastically, others have contended that the treatment regimen is excessively abusive. VisionQuest screens its clients carefully, and does not accept drug addicts or offenders who have committed premeditated violence. Youths in the program are usually status offenders or have committed property crimes, although more than half have been in other correctional programs and failed. Delinquents usually spend 12 to 15 months in VisionQuest and are exposed to a variety of treatment settings. Clients can be assigned to a wilderness camp or a wagon train in which youths travel across the country under the same conditions as the pioneers. Other settings and treatments include group homes and intensive counseling for clients living at home after a high impact experience. VisionQuest claims a high success in restructuring its charges' lives, but staff turnover has been high because of burnout and low salaries. The staff-to-client ratio is approximately one-to-one, and counselors have a wide variety of job and educational backgrounds. Many agencies have investigated VisionQuest, but given it a clean bill of health. The worst accident in the program's history occurred in 1980 when two counselors and nine youngsters died in a boating accident off the Baja California coast. The Coast Guard found no evidence of misconduct, but attributed the accident to extreme weather conditions and inexperienced crews. Despite this incident and the program's high costs of $27,000 per year for a client, VisionQuest continues to grow. Photographs are included.