The Effects of a Short-Term Intervention for Adolescents in Juvenile Justice and Their Families

• Other Authors: Horton, Kimberly Gray (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Social service
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-3769

The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of a short-term intervention for youth and their families currently involved or at-risk for involvement in the juvenile justice system. The intervention was based on the PAC Success Family Literacy Initiative which is a 6-week, 12-session program. The final sample consisted of 76 participants (43 parents/caregivers and 33 youth) from 7 Florida sites. The outcomes of interest were: (a) parental/caregiver perceptions of their children's behavior, (b) parental/caregiver perceptions of children, (c) youth perceptions of self, (d) youth perceptions of parents/caregivers, and (e) recidivism rates. A second goal of the study was to evaluate the program in terms of implications for future short-term programmatic interventions. Following PAC Success, there were significant changes reported in parental/caregiver perceptions regarding their children's behaviors and also their perceptions of children. Youth did not show significant changes in negative self attributes or in perceptions of negative parental/caregiver attributes. It is interesting to note that the parents were impacted more than the youth. Full completion and partial completion of the program was also considered. In regard to recidivism, whether the participants of the program had been involved or had contact with the system in 1 and/or 4 years following program participation, differences between full completers and partial completers were not significant. A primary contribution of this work is in the area of practice and evaluation. === A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Spring Semester, 2007. === February 28, 2007. === Juvenile Justice, Families, Adolescents, Intervention === Includes bibliographical references. === Marsha Rehm, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gary Peterson, Outside Committee Member; Penny A. Ralston, Committee Member; Kay Pasley, Committee Member.