While an adolescent sexual offender's response to treatment is thought to be impacted by both static and dynamic factors, there is no objective method of assessing the likelihood of success or failure in treatment. The assessment of amenability to treatment is generally a subjective process completed by clinicians in the field. Using descriptive…

Evangelical residential homes and intermediate care facilities in urban centers, professional clinical programs, and financial assistance from the federal government characterize three periods in the history of institutional response to pregnant and delinquent young women. Each period is analyzed in terms of funding sources, clientele, and…

Juvenile sex offenders require interventions and assessment approaches that are distinct from adult treatments. The purpose of this paper is threefold: (1) to provide an empirically based description of juvenile sexual offenders, (2) to review the empirical support of assessment and treatment methods utilized with this population, and (3) to…

Assesses the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system in preventing delinquency and rehabilitating delinquents. The six articles in this special issue also discuss status offenders and gender issues, examine the Chicago Area Project, and discuss the future of juvenile justice policy and research. (JAC)

This history of Lancaster, a nineteenth-century reform school for poor girls, illustrates the change in reform ideology from belief in the efficacy of family-style environment to concern for protecting the social order from "hereditarily deviant" children. The role of institutions as mechanisms for social control of the poor and of women…

Reviews research related to the impact of outdoor adventure programs designed to reduce the criminal behavior of young persons. Suggests that a lack of specific cognitive skills predispose individuals to engage in criminal behavior and that a rational for adventure-based interventions should address such deficits as lack of interpersonal…

A five-year longitudinal study of 531 incarcerated youth, more than half of whom had a disability, showed that those who were working or in school 6 months after release tended to stay involved in positive activities and had not returned to the juvenile facility 12 months after release. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Interdisciplinary and social-developmental approaches for prevention of juvenile violence are explored. Twenty-one recent works are reviewed and their approaches compared. At issue are early identification of juvenile delinquents who go on to careers of serious violence, and interdisciplinary application of modern scientific knowledge to the…

Strength-based assessments were designed to assess more completely the outcomes for youth having academic and behavioral problems in the schools. This approach has gained appeal among those working with adolescents who have serious behavior problems, such as those involved in drug use and related delinquent behavior. Traditional assessment…

As part of a larger study examining the impact of the "get tough" policy on juvenile crime, we studied the effects of efforts to "get tough" on juvenile participation in diversion programs in Hillsborough County, Florida. Florida legislature budget cuts in 2000 eliminated a primary community service program (JASP), replacing it…

Following a national trend of "getting tough" on increased juvenile crime, the Florida legislature eliminated one of the primary community service-oriented juvenile diversion programs, the Juvenile Alternative Services Program (JASP). JASP was subsequently replaced with four other diversion programs, two of which (the Walker Plan and an…

The boot camp model became a correctional panacea for juvenile offenders during the early 1990s, promising the best of both worlds--less recidivism and lower operating costs. Although there have been numerous studies of boot camp programs since that time, most have relied on nonrandomized comparison groups. The California Youth Authority's (CYA's)…

The Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.) program, operated by the St. Louis County Juvenile Court, Clayton, Missouri, provides career orientation and counseling, high school equivalency and remedial education, and placement and follow-up to deliquent school dropouts age sixteen and older. Community organizations help to promote client status…

Describes the application of the Positive Peer Culture (PPC) treatment methodology to a population of troubled girls in a residential setting. The peer group utilizes naturally occurring problems as vehicles to teach girls about errors in behavior and thinking. Community activities are used to practice newly obtained prosocial behaviors. (LSR)

Project Adventure has seven programs for at-risk and adjudicated youth in Georgia, all using adventure counseling to help youth confront and manage their behaviors. Some programs are day programs for suspended students that involve family counseling and work. Others are residential programs for drug addicts, sexual offenders, and other adjudicated…