Children who engage in aggressive behaviors are at heightened risk of being involved in the justice system, committing serious offenses, and becoming chronic offenders. The Stop Now And Plan (SNAP) program was designed as an early intervention to address several mechanisms underlying the development of conduct problems, including emotion…

Racial disparities in violence exposure and criminal justice contact are a subject of growing policy and public concern. We conduct a large-scale, randomized controlled trial of a six-month behavioral health intervention combining intensive mentoring and group therapy designed to reduce criminal justice and violence involvement among Black and…

Juvenile delinquency intervention and treatment programs have the broad goals of preventing crime and reducing recidivism by providing treatment and services to youth who have committed crimes. The following five statements are presented in this report and based on practices and programs rated by CrimeSolutions: (1) Juvenile awareness programs may…

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a well-documented group contingency designed to reduce disruptive behavior in classroom settings. However, few studies have evaluated the GBG with students who engage in severe problem behavior in alternative schools, and there are few demonstrations of training teachers in those settings to implement the GBG. In…

Group contingencies have been indicated to be effective in reducing disruptive behavior and increasing academic engagement in school settings. Previous research has demonstrated their efficacy with a wide range of student ages, but there have been few studies with older students who engage in severe disruptive behavior. In the current study, we…

To address social and behavioral problems in schools, more than 26,000 schools around the world have implemented School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS). Previous studies have focused on the effects of SWPBS on short-term teacher-rated behavior such as office discipline referrals or academic outcomes, but no study has yet investigated…

The current study employed a group contingency in order to increase school and project attendance in a group of 10 at-risk male adolescents. The participants were already attending a youth diversion project designed to reduce criminal and antisocial behaviors. The group contingency was based on the fantasy football model (an interactive, virtual…

Traumatic experiences in children are pervasive, and trauma has been correlated with adverse academic outcomes, including school dropout. This research study aimed to answer the following question: According to selected educators in specialized programs in Ontario, in what ways are trauma-informed frameworks used to support the social-emotional…

We present the results of three large-scale randomized controlled trials (RCTs) carried out in Chicago, testing interventions to reduce crime and dropout by changing the decision-making of economically disadvantaged youth. We study a program called Becoming a Man (BAM), developed by the non-profit Youth Guidance, in two RCTs implemented in 2009-10…

The text is a report on the research which was undertaken in a corrective institution for underage criminals. The starting point is one thesis: one of the sources of criminal activities is low self esteem and unsettled picture of yourself. The feelings of social rejection and lack of acceptance, hostile attitude to the world - they are closely…

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…

Although effective outpatient treatments have been identified for the well-documented negative outcomes associated with delinquency and substance use, effective treatments for youths in out-of-home care are rare. In this study, 12- and 18-month substance use outcomes were examined for a sample of 79 boys who were randomly assigned to…

Recidivism, costs, and psychosocial outcomes are reported for a post-arrest diversion program in Wayne County (Detroit), MI. Program features included: rapid, standardized assessment of psychosocial functioning with the Juvenile Inventory For Functioning[R], an individualized plan for addressing needs, engagement of caregivers, service provision…

Recent studies analyzing juvenile delinquents participating in wilderness therapy programs have reported little statistical effectiveness. Interpretation of these findings may be unjustified due to definitional confusion more than a clear examination of program effectiveness. Using a research methodology similar to Jones, Lowe, and Risler (2004),…

The National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children (TLC) conducted research on the use of Structured Sensory Interventions for Traumatized Children, Adolescents, and Parents (SITCAP). The use of SITCAP was evaluated in two programs, one working with traumatized children 6-12 years of age called the I Feel Better Now! Program and another called…