Research Proposal on "Juveniles and Reduced Recidivism"

Research Proposal 10 pages (3834 words) Sources: 10

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Through provision of positive channels for activities, community- and family-based programs deter crime in the local community. Outreach programs for youthful offenders are likely to decrease recidivism. Even programs providing minimal help can be useful for juveniles who lack job skills, lack jobs, and have not even finished high school. Without assistance they are at immediate high risk of recidivism the instant they are freed from incarceration (Barnes, n.d).

Nugent and Paddock (1996) evaluated juvenile offenders who had been through the traditional legal system vs. those who were involved in a system of mediation. Their data revealed that for 100 juveniles, mediation resulted in lowered rates of recidivism. As shown by Nugent and Paddock, the recidivism rate for individuals who participated in mediation was 20% within the first year, in comparison with 35% for those juveniles going through the conventional court system. Family structure has been shown to relate to recidivism rates as well. Umbriet (1994) noted in a comparative study of juveniles who had gone through mediation, that mediation had a significant impact. He evaluated two groups of juvenile delinquents, comparing 903 different offenders. This group consisted of 15% female youth and 85% male youth, to evaluate recidivism rates when mediation was involved. Umbriet (1994) concluded that mediation resulted in fewer subsequent crimes than for juveniles who had not participated in mediation.

D. Research Problem

The focus of this work is to address Latina/o juvenile delinquents and the progress achieved with a program of psycho-education. An illustration for community service providers is provided by this work, as an example of publication and program evaluation; this also directly addresses a lack in the literature in the field. This inquiry addresses the effectiveness of a focused life-skills psycho-educational system on juvenile recidivism. In particular, a lower rate of recidivism is hypothesized to occur for youth completing a counseling program at a university-operated community center than for matched juveniles participating in probationary programs in the community.

Methods

A. Nature of the Study

This study is exploratory in nature, at least in part due to the inability to fully control for variables that were extraneous. To some extent, research on juvenile populations is limited. This may occur due to the following factors: (a) difficulty in measuring recidivism; (b) failure of judges and associated authorities to support such research; (c) statistical control issues; and (d) inability to access data for those whose records are controlled not only because they are minors but also because they have been adjudicated (doubly protected population). Because the juvenile population is transient, it is difficult to track; as well recidivism is not a normally distributed variable. While there are obvious weaknesses in the study, its focus on accountability, efficacy, and counseling outcomes is an important approach to evaluation of counseling effects on recidivism. This research presents evidential support for counseling and its utility in treatment of youth to prevent or at least deter recidivism (Lancaster et al., 2011).

B. How the study was conducted

A court-referred university community center counseling program was used as the selection source for 120 youth participants for this study. It was not feasible to obtain a control group that was randomly assigned because this study gathered data ex post facto. The control group, 120 juveniles, had previously participated in probationary programs that were community-based, but distinct from the university counseling center.

C. Choice of organization

These individuals were selected from justice database of juveniles from the identical court system and geographic area, including the same six judges. To evaluate the difference between control and treatment groups with respect to recidivism, a post-test-only control group design was used. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention recommend analysis of recidivism only up to two years from the original registered offense. Their recommendation was used for this study, in order to address concerns related to the use of recidivism as an outcome variable. The use of a control group that was derived from the same court and geographical systems provided some regulation of inherent differences that may arise in evaluation of juvenile recidivism rates. Because the research design was quasi-experimental, it was not possible to empirically establish conditions of treatment for the control group (Lancaster et al., 2011).

D. Selection of stakeholder (control group)

Demographic characteristics of the treatment group had been utilized to select members of the control group, essentially using non-probability sampling. Variables used for matching included status of first offense, sex, ethnicity, and age. In general, the first offense was either felonious (assault and/or property damage), or a misdemeanor (theft less than $1,000, truancy, running away from home). The counseling program focused on life skills in a psycho-educational group for the treatment group juveniles. Weekly sessions had embedded acquisition and training related to pro-social behaviors, thus denoting it as 'life skills oriented' (Kadish et al., 2001). Life skills addressed included: substance abuse, identifying feelings, building self-esteem, healthy coping skills, healthy communication, triggers for anger, emotional triggers in general, familial patterns, and stress management. During intake, informal and formal assessment addressed client need, in order to appropriately address the topics for counseling (Lancaster et al., 2011).

Results

A. Findings

Comparison of the control and treatment groups revealed recidivism rates that were statistically significant. During the 24-month period of data collection, 60% of the treatment group (those youth who received counseling) had no instances of re-offense. In those cases where juveniles did re-offend and had received counseling, 20% of the treatment group, half of the re-offendees acted within the first three months of treatment. Thus, if the juveniles passed a three-month marker without re-offense, they were generally unlikely to re-offend within two years after program completion. After three months, only one fifth of the treatment group re-offended, whereas 54% of the control group juveniles reoffended; 42% of the control group re-offenses occurred within one year. The work of Dimitrov (2009) revealed that when standardized residuals have an absolute value greater than 2.0, these data are major contributors towards statistical significance.

B. Research confirms hypothesis

A clear-cut pattern of behavioral differences was observed between the recidivism rates of the control and treatment groups, even though these data did not display standardized residuals that were major contributors. This is however, not surprising, given the quasi-experimental limits and moderate-to-small size of the effect. The life-skills counseling program offered to juveniles in the treatment group, as contrasted with the absence of treatment for the control group, did result in demonstrable differences.

C. Possible modification in hypothesis

While juveniles in the control group were likely to re-offend anywhere from six to 24 months after their initial acts, the treatment group adolescents were less likely to re-offend within a24-month period, and less likely to re-offend within three months (Lancaster et al., 2011).

Discussion

A. Analysis and Interpretation

Counseling services had a significant impact on the re-offensive rate for Latina/o court-referred youths. Community-based intervention was successful in preventing re-offense for 60% of the treatment group. The life-skills treatment program lasted for seven weeks. Those clients who succeeded in not re-offending for three-months were more likely to continue without recidivism. While there are some who discount counseling as effective (Thomason, 2010), these data are promising in terms of demonstrating that counseling services have an impact on decreasing recidivism among juveniles. It is possible that a life-skills oriented psycho-educational program could be efficacious in decreasing the rate of recidivism for juveniles, in particular given that there was no service referral for the control group. Juveniles whose criminal offenses were misdemeanors or status offenses are likely to fare well in community-based counseling addressing life-skills. This may correlate with the treatment group identities. The efficacy of this treatment protocol on juveniles charged with more serious offenses should be evaluated. As well, regulation of treatment for control groups would also benefit future research (Lancaster et al., 2011).

B. Reasons for the findings

The design of this study was a particular strength, in spite of limitations inherent in quasi-experimental research. Status of first offense, sex, and age were generally equivalent in preliminary analyses. Those court-referred youth who underwent a life-skills community-based counseling program displayed a decrease in rates of recidivism. In contrast, those juveniles who did not receive counseling services did not show a comparative decrease in recidivism. This provides clear evidence that life-skills-based counseling program was effective. Among the youth studied, 87% were minorities, which also supports the utility of this program for minority groups (Lancaster et al., 2011).

C. Meanings or interpretations of the findings

Group counseling services in community- or school-based programs are often relied upon by counselors (Balkin & Leddick, 2005; Corey & Corey, 2006). Youth intervention programs and life skill programs can be used as part of a guidance curriculum. The seven-week program design is one that could readily be implemented within existing curricula and programs. The brevity of its nature permits ease in presentation of a recurring program that would involve new participants. This intervention is thus not only beneficial, but likely to be cost-effective,… READ MORE

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