The paper reviews problems in implementing P.L. 94-142, the Education For All Handicapped Children Act, in juvenile corrections and describes the strategies adopted by the Los Angeles County Juvenile Court Schools to meet the needs of incarcerated youth. Future directions are considered. (CL)

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…

The evaluation of a juvenile diversion program by Quay and Love (1977) is criticized for employing follow-up periods of differing durations. A second article by Quay and Love responds to Mrad's suggestion that the experimental effect was due to a greater post-program exposure time for the control group. (LPG)

The Outward Bound Experience has a strong yet time-limited impact on delinquent youths. Social workers can help maintain the impact by establishing community-based follow-up programs to reinforce and sustain the positive attitudes and behaviors developed. (SE)

Issues in the transition of youth (of which 50 percent are special education students) from the community to correctional programs and then back to the community are identified and three programs which facilitate this transition in Louisiana, Washington, and Kentucky are briefly described. (DB)

Three meta-analyses by C. J. Garrett (1984, 1985), P. Kaufman (1985), and W. S. Davidson and others (1984) of juvenile delinquency interventions are summarized. This systematic literature review indicates that interventions to reduce juvenile delinquency may have small, but meaningful, impacts. Promising avenues for future research are suggested.…

Describes three types of theories of crime and delinquency. Notes why arrest, juvenile justice, and probation do not seem to work. Describes delinquent behaviors which are maintained by consequents. Discusses resistance and noncompliance as behaviors to be specified, analyzed, and addressed directly. (Author/LHW)

Reviews the application of social learning approaches to helping delinquents change in institutions. Incarceration is not effective in changing delinquent behavior, and may even foster it through exposure and influence of delinquent peer models. (Author/LHW)

Reviews probation training programs and probation contracting, the application of social learning to this field. Probation and the social learning approach are compatible: both stress intervention and prevention of further problems directly in the natural environment by natural mediators. (Author/LHW)