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School Programs for Delinquency Prevention and Intervention
Abstract
Early theorizing on delinquency and deviancy, starting in the 1930s, produced a voluminous body of theoretical perspectives. These perspectives were attempts to explain the etiology of delinquency and deviancy in terms of such factors as personality, family and genetic predispositional factors, and sociological conditions. They had in common the aim to propose a superordinate theory: an accounting of the spectrum of delinquent behavior by reference to a unitary underlying cause. Social learning theorists, making their contribution to the explanation of delinquency within the last 20 years, have proposed a somewhat different position, namely that delinquent and deviant behavior is multiply determined, a view that has now been widely accepted (Feldman, 1977; Hirschi & Selvin, 1967; Johnson, 1979).
... A large and varied empirical literature addresses the etiology of problem behaviors and the factors thought to contribute to resilience Ungar / CONSTRUCTIONIST DISCOURSE ON RESILIENCE 345 in at-risk populations from an ecological perspective. For example, it is commonly believed that in Western countries populated by peoples of European descent, where the bulk of these studies have been conducted, the greatest risks to the health of high-risk youth originate from delinquent behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse, dangerous driving, and self-injurious behaviors (suicide, high-risk sexual activity) or social factors that include intrafamilial and extrafamilial violence, school failure, poor parenting, divorce or separation, and threats to family economic stability (Jaffe & Baker, 1999;Johnson, 1993;King, Boyce, & King, 1999;Lane & Murakami, 1987;Madigan, 2000;Prilleltensky & Nelson, 2000;Robinson, 1994;Vanier Institute of the Family, 2000). Though this list is comprehensive, leaders in the field of risk and resilience research acknowledge their inability to narrow down the causal or "keystone" (Fraser & Galinsky, 1997) factors that predict unhealthy and healthy outcomes among at-risk individuals or those factors that protect and divert children and youth from these problem behaviors (Kaplan, 1999;Loeber & Farrington, 2000;Masten, 2001). ...
An ecological approach to the study of resilience, informed by Systems Theory and emphasizing predictable relationships between risk and protective factors, circular causality, and transactional processes, is inadequate to account for the diversity of people's experiences of resilience. In contrast, a constructionist interpretation of re- silience reflects a postmodern understanding of the construct that better accounts for cultural and contextual differences in how resilience is expressed by individuals, fam- ilies, and communities. Research supporting this approach has demonstrated a nonsystemic, nonhierarchical relationship between risk and protective factors that is characteristically chaotic, complex, relative, and contextual. This article critically reviews research findings that support an ecological perspective and explores the emerging literature that informs a constructionist approach to the study of resilience. It will show that an alternate constructionist discourse on resilience greatly enhances our understanding of resilience-related phenomena and our approach to interven- tions with at-risk youth populations.
Behavioral research conducted in classroom settings has analyzed behaviors contributing to the maintenance of order in the classrooms as well as behaviors involved in the actual learning of academic concepts. The procedures used to change these behaviors include those involving the manipulation of consequent stimuli and those involving the manipulation of antecedent stimuli. These delineations of procedures and behaviors provide essentially four general categories into which classroom behavioral research can be meaningfully divided: (1) research analyzing the effects of contingent relationships on the behaviors involved in maintaining order in the classroom: (2) research analyzing the effects of discriminative order in the Classroom: (3) research analyzing the effects of contingent relationships on the amount and correctness of work produced by the children in the classroom; and (4) research analyzing the effects of manipulating teachers’ instructions and discriminative stimulus materials on children’s learning academic concepts and skills.
Nine adolescent boys with a history of high rates of disruptive classroom behavior were selected from a psychiatric hospital school and placed in a remedial reading class after school in which various factors in a token reinforcement program involving self-evaluation were investigated. The effects of self-evaluation, in the form of a rating the students gave themselves about the appropriateness of their classroom behavior, were first assessed. While the students' ratings of their own behavior correlated highly with the teacher's ratings and evaluations made by independent observers, the self-evaluations did not lead to a reduction in disruptive behavior. A token reinforcement program, in which the teacher rated the students' level of appropriate behavior and in which the students traded earned rating points for prizes, clearly led to a reduction of disruptive behavior. When the students were given the opportunity to evaluate their own behavior and to receive rewards in exchange for the evaluation, they returned to their former rates of disruptive behavior.
An Attendance Counselor contacted adults (mediators) who controlled reinforcers for six chronic nonattenders (targets); agreements (deals) were made between mediators and targets that reinforcers would be provided, contingent on school attendance. Absence of the Attendance Counselor from school for a two-week period constituted a reversal condition, after which the “deals” were reinstituted. Results showed a significant increase over baseline in school attendance during the time in which deals were in effect. A second study involved 20 chronic nonattenders for whom deals were arranged as in Study One (contingency counseling), and 15 nonattenders provided more traditional attendance counseling (contact counseling). Contingency Counselors achieved results with the 20 nonattenders similar to those achieved in Study One. An experienced Contact Counselor did not achieve improved school attendance among her group of 15 nonattenders.
One hundred and two predelinquent adolescents were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: an experimental condition in which behavioral contracting services were offered both at home and in school or a control condition in which clients were told that they could not be accomodated by project therapists and were informed about the possibility of their receiving treatment in other programs in the community. Most of those who were assigned to the control condition did not avail themselves of services in these other programs. Results indicate that, relative to the controls, the behaviorally treated youth scored small but statistically significant improvement relative to the controls on five measures: ratings of school behavior by the person who originally referred them for service, by their teachers, by their mothers, and by their fathers, and ratings of their parent-child interactions as measured by their mothers. Gains were also reported in mother's ratings of their children's behavior at home. The failure of significant gains to be made in two measures of school performance--grades and attendance--is explained by the failure of the treatment techniques to over-come an age-related deterioration in these areas found among most children in the participating schools. The failure of fathers to find significant improvement in their relationships with the referred adolescents is viewed as a consequence of unanticipated changes in the intrafamilial balance of power resulting from contracting services. Finally, a subsidiary analysis showed that the contracting service appeared to offer the greatest gain to the demographically defined sub-groups of youths who are among the population-at-risk in many juvenile courts.
Services for adolescents with behavior disorders are undergoing a rapid growth as a result of P.L. 94-142. A survey of programs for this population of children was accomplished, with responses obtained from all 50 states and 3 additional service units. Trends and problems in the development of services for these children are discussed.
The critical importance of the criminal law as a threatening mechanism is restricted to those who must be threatened in order to secure their compliance. In regard to most "serious" crimes, the socialization process rather than the direct threat of a par ticular legal penalty keeps most people law abiding. Yet, in both the discussion of deterrence and the interpretation of movements in crime rates, this is often overlooked. The theoretical model dealing with "marginal groups" proposed here is designed to focus attention on this problem and enable us to comprehend and cope with it. It provides a frame of reference and an overall perspective for planning research in this field and for interpreting its results.
The effects of teacher praise and disapproval on two target behaviors, inappropriate talking and turning around, were investigated in a high school English class of 25 students. The contingencies were applied to all students in the experimental class utilizing a multiple baseline experimental design in which the contingencies were aimed first at decreasing inappropriate talking behavior and then at decreasing inappropriate turning behavior. Observations were made of both student and teacher behavior. The results demonstrated that the combination of disapproval for the target behaviors and praise for appropriate, incompatible behaviors substantially reduced the incidence of the target behaviors in the experimental class. Observations of these behaviors in a control class of 26 students taught by the same teacher revealed no particular changes. The findings emphasize the importance of teacher-supplied social contingencies at the secondary school level.
Out-of-seat and talking-out behaviors were studied in a regular fourth-grade class that included several “problem children”. After baseline rates of the inappropriate behaviors were obtained, the class was divided into two teams “to play a game”. Each out-of-seat and talking-out response by an individual child resulted in a mark being placed on the chalkboard, which meant a possible loss of privileges by all members of the student's team. In this manner a contingency was arranged for the inappropriate behavior of each child while the consequence (possible loss of privileges) of the child's behavior was shared by all members of this team as a group. The privileges were events which are available in almost every classroom, such as extra recess, first to line up for lunch, time for special projects, stars and name tags, as well as winning the game. The individual contingencies for the group consequences were successfully applied first during math period and then during reading period. The experimental analysis involved elements of both reversal and multiple baseline designs.
Assessment of skill generalization was conducted within a large-scale public school behavioral treatment program for disruptive and academically deficient adolescents. Generalization was measured both within and between subjects. The results indicated that improved academic skills of the treatment group transferred across settings to nontreatment classes. Analyses of individual behavior programs indicated a transfer of skills across time for specific behaviors as well as across behavior which was not the focus of the specific behavioral program. Generalization of the latter types occurred with minimal programming.
The improvement of social or interpersonal skills of disruptive adolescents increasingly concerns educators in the public schools where cost-effectiveness is a major issue. A group-oriented social skills training program (combined experimental and comparison groups total over 500 students) is described across three diverse settings in urban, suburban, and rural junior high schools. The research is related according to the objectives defined for each setting, the specific curriculum that resulted from these objectives, the means by which both cognitive and behavioral features of the program were implemented, and the measures that were applied for assessment of effects. Problems encountered in program development, conduct, and evaluation are highlighted. Program results indicate both short- and long-range cognitive and behavioral change across a number of obtrusive and unobtrusive measures. Several implications of these efforts and findings are noted for the further development and conduct of cost-effective social skills training in the schools.
The basic proposition examined here is that school experience is an important factor in understanding delinquency but that before this statement can be examined, it is necessary to elaborate an institutional theory which weaves together family-school-adult work role linkages. Secondary data and findings drawn from an ongoing cohort study of 284 adolescent males in the Pacific Northwest are used to show that adult success is related to school success, school success is related to family status characteristics, school status and social class exert independent effects on delinquency, and that adult careers, both successful and deviant, are functions of adolescent school and delinquency labels.
The survey examined the current status of special education programing for emotionally disturbed children as required, permitted, and/or prohibited by laws or regulations in each state, and as seen by the state directors of special education or their specialists in this area. These officials in each state completed questionnaires concerned with such parameters as definitions and terminology, prevalence, services available, caseload and class size, diagnosis and placement, administrative organization, and success of programs based on numbers of children returned to regular classes. Following a review of related research since 1960, the data, tabulated by region as well as for the entire country, are presented. Findings reveal that six different terms are used to classify emotionally disturbed children. Prevalence estimates varied from .05% to 15%; most states used an estimate of 2% for educational planning. Most often mentioned educational procedures were special classes, resource rooms, and homebound instruction, in that order. Model class size was 10 students, with the age range in the special class often limited to 3-5 years. Standards for case loads varied considerably. Estimates of children returned to regular classes ranged from 5% to over 90%. The key issue appeared to be that of definition. (KW)
The study identified themes running through special class programs for the emotionally handicapped, analyzed classroom procedures, and described the teachers' backgrounds, attitudes, and purposes and the students' perceptions of the programs. Initially, 117 public school programs for the emotionally handicapped were located and surveyed by mail; then 54 programs were selected for site visits. Areas surveyed were the origin and operation of the programs, general characteristics of pupils, and classroom conditions and operations. The following conclusions were drawn: pupils, teachers, and observers found positive change as a result of participation, and program types were shown related to changes; specific pattern and uniformity in approach were lacking; school personnel realized that their original program plans required extensive modification and that flexibility was needed; program types differed widely; programs maintained a school related focus; and clinical support and understanding were helpful. The major statistical findings and evaluations are provided. (BW)
Reported is a longitudinal study of socially maladjusted boys in Kansas City, Missouri. Inner city seventh grade boys, identified as socially and educationally maladjusted, were divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group participated in a work-study program beginning in the eighth grade, receiving special classroom work geared to their abilities and supervised work experience. By observations, tests, and interviews, complete records were kept on the school, work, family, social, and community adjustments of both groups through age 18 or 19 years, to provide documentation of all factors contributing to their inclination to failure. It was expected that the boys in the experimental work-study program would show better social adjustment and early adult competence. However, findings indicate that only about one fourth of them profited from the program. The study thus failed to show that supervised work experience, beginning with 13 and 14-year-old predelinquent boys, could be useful in reducing delinquency among boys so disposed. Five different types of late adolescent adjustments, and associated life circumstances and conditions, were identified. While reporting experimental findings, the book is mainly concerned with describing the life context in which successful or unsuccessful adaptations are made in later adolescence. (KW)
40 urban 7th-graders with school adjustment problems were randomly assigned to either an early intervention or a control group. The 2-yr program prevented deterioration in attendance and grades. While the attendance and grades of the controls deteriorated significantly, the attendance and grades of the program students remained the same. This preventive effect did not occur until Ss had been in the program for 2 yrs. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Gave 32 12-18 yr. old delinquent boys 18 consecutive weekly lessons of programed reading instruction. Ss were randomly assigned either to a group reinforced with monetary tokens, or to a group that was nonreinforced. Analysis of variance with repeated measures was employed to analyze the data. Results indicate that both groups showed significant improvement in reading skill from pre- to posttesting, but that the reinforced group showed significantly more improvement than the nonreinforced group. Teacher ratings of general classroom behavior showed concomitant improvement for the reinforced group. Results are discussed in the context of applying conditioning principles to learning problems and the role of the counseling psychologist as a consultant to teaching personnel. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Reviews the literature on teaching approaches for children who display inattentiveness and short attention span, performance anxiety, and a variety of disruptive, defiant, and aggressive behaviors. Specific techniques which have been studied are described to enable any regular- or special-class teacher to implement them and test their utility as a means of fostering behavior conducive to learning. The paper is part of the authors' investigations into the nature, organization, and treatment of behaviorally troubled children; these investigations have resulted in the identification of a series of behavior dimensions that relate to learning effectiveness and recommendation to teachers. It is suggested that further research in the therapeutic remediation be directed to 3 areas: (a) the relationship between poor academic performance and lack of independence in children, (b) the development by teachers of atmospheres fostering student participation, and (c) the personal relationships between emotionally disturbed children and younger elementary school pupils and their teachers. (21/2 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Randomly assigned 60 school-referred predelinquent youths to either experimental treatment or a group treatment placebo control. The experimental treatment consisted of behavioral contracts designed to modify both parent-child and teacher-student interactions. The control treatment simply provided an opportunity to observe the social interaction of the referred youths. Results indicate statistically significant differences in 4 areas (teacher and counselor evaluations, and mothers' evaluation of their marital adjustment and relationship with their children), with small but positive changes recorded on the remaining 9 measures. Several factors are suggested to explain the lack of more convincing results: (a) The research methods used were highly conservative. (b) The treatment consisted of a single technique which may profitably be combined with other techniques to enhance outcome. (c) Unsolved intervention problems doubtless contributed to a weakening of the results. Nevertheless, data support the merit of further experimentation with the effects of behavioral contracting in services for delinquents and predelinquents. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Reviews the literature on educational programs for maladjusted and delinquent adolescents. A wide variety of programs were found but not enough quality programs to meet the needs of the target population. Program evaluation data are given, but programs are not compared due to the disparity of dependent evaluation measures. Evaluation of the educational status of maladjusted adolescents reveals that there is still a high dropout rate and that academic gains from special programs disappear soon after the programs end. Recommendations for improving services to this population include increased numbers of trained teachers, program experimentation, mandatory efficacy studies, agreement on educational goals, and primary prevention. (53 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
5 ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS PARTICIPATED IN A STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CONTINGENT USE OF TEACHER ATTENTION IN MODIFYING THE BEHAVIOR OF PROBLEM CHILDREN. RECORDINGS OF THE BEHAVIOR OF 2 CHILDREN IN EACH CLASSROOM INDICATE THAT BEHAVIOR OF SUCH PUPILS IS IMPROVED BY (1) MAKING RULES CLEAR AND POSITIVE, (2) IGNORING DEVIANT BEHAVIOR UNLESS IT BECOMES DESTRUCTIVE, AND (3) PRAISING THE BEHAVIOR TO BE STRENGTHENED IN OTHERS. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SUCH PROCEDURES IS REDUCED WHEN THE CHILD IS ILL-PREPARED FOR THE WORK OF THE CLASSROOM, WHEN DEVIANT BEHAVIOR RECEIVES STRONG PEER REINFORCEMENT, AND WHEN DEVIANT BEHAVIOR IS A STRONG INHIBITION TO BEHAVIOR THAT COULD BE REINFORCED POSITIVELY. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Presents a reference text for those responsible for improving the behavior of young criminals, and introduces the scientific, ethical, and practical issues basic to behavior therapy. Research reports and applications of behavior therapy programs in institutions for delinquents and in the community are detailed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A curriculum, developed on the basis of programming, by successful steps in academic behaviors, can become a useful key--the handle by which any therapist (teacher, psychologist, psychiatrist, etc.) can start to deal with an individual's social and attitudinal behavior problem. Environments can be designed that sustain learning. Learning, putting in new successful behaviors, not unlearning, is the program for successful rehabilitation. This chapter explores how to teach academic and social prerequisites for appropriate behaviors and to design and produce environments which support and maintain such learning for the rehabilitation of the deviant--the individual whose present behavior is inappropriate to the cues of his environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
summarizes results on delinquency and crime through early adulthood for the project, based on both self-report data and official records of juvenile and adult involvement with the legal system (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This investigation represents the second of two efforts to obtain follow-up information on past participants in a school-based social learning program designed for problem adolescents. The follow-up occurred approximately four years after the students' participation in the program. The behavior of 40 of the original 60 adolescents was assessed on the basis of their employment and educational status, program participation, involvement in leisure time and community activities, self-esteem, aspirations and expectations, delinquent activity, relationships with family and friends, and their anticipated aversive consequences of engaging in criminal acts. Data comparisons between experimental and control participants indicate no long-term maintenance of behavioral change. Various issues pertinent to delinquency research are also briefly reviewed.
The effects of four different intensities of prevention programs (including no program at all) were compared in a field setting. Forty urban seventh graders with school adjustment problems were randomly assigned to one of three prevention programs or to a no program group. Half of the students participated for one hour on two mornings per week throughout the school year; the other half of the students participated in the afternoons. The results showed that program intensity had a significant effect upon grades and observed classroom behavior in the morning programs. No such effect occurred in the afternoon programs. The effects in the morning were preventive (versus rehabilitative) in nature. Only the most intense program, which included parent contact, had a greater effect than no program at all. The implications of these results for school-based interventions are discussed.
A contingency management program was established in a junior high school to better manage and educate students having histories of severe misconduct. School administrators selected 46 eighth-graders having multiple suspensions for misbehavior. Students (N=32) in two of the schools remained in traditional programs, serving as controls, whereas students (N=14) in the third school participated in a token reinforcement program. Reinforcers provided in the afternoon were contingent upon achievement and discipline during morning academic periods. Home-based reinforcers were established to support school behavior. Compared with the control group, significant reductions in negative school behavior as well as greater increases in academic achievement were obtained for the treatment group, thus supporting the efficacy of contingency management for adolescent school misbehavior.
A 4-year controlled follow-up study was performed to evaluate the secondary school outcome of three cohorts of multisuspended students who participated in a junior high school behavioral intervention program. After departing from the program, the students entered high school in significantly greater numbers than did the control population. Furthermore, conduct and attendance data from the 10th grade favored program youth. Nonetheless, the program and the control groups had a comparable rate of 11th and 12th grade enrollment and a similar rate of high school graduation.
Generalization effects across situations in a behaviorally based educational program for junior high school students with academic and/or social problems were examined. The reported results span 4 program years of the Preparation through Responsive Educational Programs (PREP) project in three different junior high school sites. Measures of student grades showed positive generalization in five of nine instances. Negative transfer effects were not observed. It is not possible to determine the specific controlling variables since the program procedures and student characteristics varied across years and sites. However, the magnitude of the effect was found to be directly related to the magnitude of change in the treatment setting itself.
This paper describes a cooperative effort between a county division of special education and various school districts within that county in establishing, within the schools themselves, an educational and group therapy treatment program in special classes for emotionally disturbed children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
Although applied behavior analysis techniques consistently demonstrate change in behavior, the question of whether these changes are meaningful to the individual and society remains to be answered. A review of a representative sample of studies of behavioral interventions with delinquents published from 1968 to 1976 was conducted. Results suggest that behavioral interventions may be producing 1st-order change only. The lack of individualized target behaviors, the absence of follow-up data, and a failure to show the relationship between successful behavior change efforts and a subsequent reduction in measures of delinquency were critical omissions found in these interventions. A return to a true applied behavior analysis is advocated. (2|34 p ref)
A questionnaire was sent to state directors of special education in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia regarding the current status of public school services for emotionally disturbed children. Data of interest to the survey included: terminology and definitions, prevalence estimates, educational services available, program standards, eligibility and placement, termination of special services, exclusion procedures, and administrative organization of programs. Data were analyzed in two ways: (a) for the entire country and (b) by dividing the country into geographic regions. The highlights, both regional and national, are reported here to provide some current information pertaining to public school programing for disturbed children.
Compared a dropout group and a nondropout group of high school boys on several psychometric and demographic variables. The data both predated and postdated (by about 10 yr.) the time of dropout. The group were subdivided by intelligence, additional training, and early vs. late dropouts for the dropout group. The later lives of dropouts were characterized in general by relatively low socioeconomic status (SES), a downward social mobility, a higher incidence of criminal activity, and bigger families. 9th grade MMPI tests showed some personality differences between dropouts and nondropouts. When dropout and nondropout groups were matched by intelligence, most of the differences persisted. Training after dropout is of some help in future SES. Few differences were found between early and late dropouts. (16 ref.)
Summarizes results of treatment programs for boys exhibiting problems commonly subsumed under the label "conduct disorder." 27 children referred by community agencies received treatment in the home; 14 also received treatment in the classroom. Treatment consisted of training the agents in each setting to alter the deviant behaviors of the problem child. Direct observations were made in the children's homes and classrooms before, during, and after intervention. Daily reports were also obtained regarding the occurrence of symptom behavior noted by the parents. At termination, data showed significant reductions from baseline for both criteria in the family intervention. The observation data collected in the classroom also showed significant changes after intervention. Follow-up data showed that the effects persisted in both settings. (49 ref)
Teacher attention and a token reinforcement system were used to bring about control in a disruptive junior high school special education classroom. Individual and group study levels were recorded during a baseline period. Subsequent experimental periods employing teacher attention and/or a token point system increased study levels and decreased disruptive behaviors of class members. Reinforcement of appropriate behaviors was withdrawn during short reversals producing lowered study rates. Reinstatement of contingencies again resulted in increased study levels.
COURT COMMITTED 13-15 YR. OLD BOYS IN A TRAINING SCHOOL OBSERVED A DAILY TELEVISION NEWSCAST. THE FOLLOWING MORNING IN SCHOOL THEIR TEACHERS ADMINISTERED A 10-ITEM TRUE-FALSE TEST BASED ON PROGRAM CONTENT; SS WERE IMMEDIATELY SHOWN THEIR SCORES. AFTER SCHOOL, SS WERE PAID TOKENS REDEEMABLE FOR CANDY, GUM, ETC. DURING PHASE I (17 DAYS), GROUP I (N = 9) RECEIVED TOKENS CONTINGENT ON TEST PERFORMANCE; GROUP 2 (N = 6) RECEIVED TOKENS ON NONCONTINGENT BASIS. DURING PHASE II (12 DAYS), GROUP 1 RECEIVED NONCONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT AND GROUP 2 CONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT. HYPOTHESIS THAT TEST SCORES WOULD BE HIGHER UNDER CONTINGENT THAN NONCONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT WAS SUPPORTED IN BOTH BETWEEN-AND WITHIN-S COMPARISONS. CONCLUSION WAS THAT CONTINGENT TOKEN REINFORCEMENT STRENGTHENS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. (15 REF.)