Family intervention is shifting from an informal alternative in treatment of juvenile offenders to a formal adjudicatory option. The politically expedient move was not based on conclusive empirical data. Without evaluation of family intervention strategies, such strategies are likely to proliferate with little control over possible unfortunate…

Shows how a multimodal treatment approach that utilizes a broad range of behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, and psychological skills training methods can eliminate assaultive behavior among incarcerated juvenile offenders. The study found that those youths who received the multimodal treatment showed significant or at least considerably better…

Investigated effectiveness of expanded juvenile court services (job preparation, outdoor experiential, and family skill building components) program versus traditional probation supervision in reducing probationer offense activities of adolescent offenders (n=45). Found intervention failed to yield desired effects although experimental subjects…

By introducing creative writing to preadolescent and adolescent youth in a detention center in Missouri, the program hoped to change their perceptions of their lack of language skills. The leader separated idea generation from mechanical composition. The variety of activities provided opportunities to make each participant feel valued and…

A former client of the juvenile justice system argues that neither punitive attack nor passive inaction will cause delinquency to go away. Research suggests the use of early delinquency as an opportunity to alter the trajectory of a life headed toward crime. Rather than focusing on recidivism, researchers should focus on successful rehabilitation.…

Sounds a strong warning about the destructive political process of using delinquent youth as scapegoats and then giving up on them. Claims that many young, redeemable offenders are being discarded in adult prisons, a process opposed by most professionals. Argues that dismantling the juvenile justice system will increase criminal behavior. (RJM)

Article challenges the prevailing political and public attitudes about locking up children who hate in juvenile facilities. Three promising reforms are discussed: information-networking systems that facilitate coordination of services among juvenile justice stakeholders; alternatives to detention programs; and Multisystemic Therapy. A…

In the wake of a U.S. Justice Department investigation that found widespread use of excessive force by staff at upstate psychiatric care facilities for mentally ill children, this new edition of Child Welfare Watch identifies shortcomings in mental health services and explores possible solutions, including the expansion of alternatives to…

The primary objective of Project About Face, a program of Youth Services, Inc., is to reduce the rate of recidivism among juvenile offenders assigned to the program by the Juvenile Court of Memphis/Shelby County, Tennessee. Another purpose is to establish a profile of the type of offender who would be most likely to benefit from the academic,…

This document describes three programs in the juvenile rehabilitation field: (1) VisionQuest, the Tucson-based program that works with youths in wilderness camps, on wagon trains, or in other high impact/adventure formats rather than in conventional residential settings; (2) Paint Creek Youth Center, a small, experimental, staff-secure program in…

Discusses the implications of several recent court decisions which seem to establish at least the principle of minimum standards of treatment for juveniles who have been involuntarily committed to institutions. (EH)

Suggests that European apprenticeship programs are successful in preventing juvenile delinquency and promoting effective vocational education. (DW)

DELINQUENCY SHOULD BE DISTINGUISHED FROM "SILLY PRANKS" AND JUVENILE CRIMES. COMMONSENSE THEORIES DO NOT PROVIDE ADEQUATE ANALYSIS OF DELINQUENT CHILDREN. NEITHER THE SEVERITY OF A YOUTH'S OFFENSE NOR HIS BEHAVIOR WHEN CAPTURED, PUNISHED, OR CORRECTED IS A SAFE SIGN OF THE SEVERITY OF THE DELINQUENT PROBLEM INVOLVED. EARLY DETECTION OF DELINQUENCY…

DESPITE OBSTACLES AND DIFFICULTIES, THE VALUE OF COMPETENT COUNSELING TO JAIL INMATES AS AN AID TOWARD REDUCING RECIDIVISM AND AS AN AID TO ADJUSTMENT HAS BEEN WELL ESTABLISHED. WHILE THE MOVEMENT IS SLOW, THERE ARE MORE JAILS WHICH ARE EITHER DIRECTLY ADMINISTERING COUNSELING PROGRAMS TO INMATES OR ARE AVAILING THEMSELVES OF SUCH SERVICES FROM…