In 2006, the administration of a state-run, secure juvenile correctional facility initiated an attempt to transform its institutional culture using a strength-based approach to assessment and case planning. This resulted in a rapid improvement in institutional climate. The current study revisits this setting several years later to see if those…

Reviews the rationale for social skills training with delinquents. Describes one program that uses discussion, modeling, role-playing, positive reinforcement, and shaping. Presents four scales for behavioral assessment to access social skills, assertion/aggression, violation of minor rules and regulations, and evaluation of the program by each…

Reviews theoretical and programmatic issues in the development of a social skills training program for court-adjudicated youths. Discusses the relationship between a youth's social competence and his or her likelihood of engaging in inappropriate or illegal activity. (Author/AOS)

Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers (LIFT), a prevention program designed for delivery to children and parents within the elementary school setting, is described. Components include classroom-based child social and problem skills training, playground-based behavior modification, and group-delivered parent training. Successful results of…

This paper summarizes a diverse body of literature on Achievement Place, a community-based program for juveniles in group home settings. The program's Teaching-Family treatment model is described in detail as a base for presenting findings about its ability to change behaviors. Preliminary data from follow-up studies of attempts to extend the…

Examined longer term preventive effects of school-based intervention with boys referred by classroom teachers as highly aggressive and disruptive. Three years after intervention, boys who had received anger coping (AC) program had lower rates of drug and alcohol involvement and higher levels of self-esteem and social problem-solving skills than…

Considers the research in addressing how society should reasonably invest in the treatment of violent juvenile offenders. The authors first examine the problems of evaluating interventions with violent youth, then explore various intervention options. The use of multisystemic therapy is offered as a cost-effective program for reducing juvenile…

Describes a study assessing the effectiveness of an intervention program for youthful offenders in Iowa based on a cognitive approach to rehabilitation, which pivots on the theme that "bad thinking leads to bad behavior." There were gains in prospects for improving life goals and empathy toward victims. Other results were mixed. (LKS)

This curriculum is the product of a project between the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the National Juvenile Detention Association to develop and implement a 40-hour, core training curriculum for line staff in education programs in juvenile confinement and custody facilities. The curriculum is primarily intended…

This practicum was designed to address the problem of middle school students reacting to and handling conflict situations with violent behavior in an urban environment. These responses affected the well-being and safety of all middle school students at the school. The major goal was for middle school students to increase their awareness of…

A boot camp is a military style correctional facility in which inmates are subject to a highly structured and challenging regimen of physical training, in addition to vocational, educational, and therapeutic programming (Cronin and Han, 1994; Austin, Jones, and Bolyard, 1993; Mackenzie and Souryal, 1991). Originally introduced to rehabilitate…

Objective: This study compared two group treatments for aggressive behavior in adjudicated male adolescents: a cognitive-behavioral program (low process) and a program integrating group interaction with cognitive-behavioral training (high process). Method: The court-ordered adolescents were divided into two age groups, younger and older, and…