NCJ Number
79601
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 32 Issue: 3 Dated: (August 1981) Pages: 43-48
Date Published
1981
Length
6 pages
Annotation
It is recommended that a home should be viewed as the main living environment in which new behaviors can be practiced, and that the present attitude that home visits are a privilege be abandoned.
Abstract
Although the modern placement facility can usually minimize problem behavior during the time that a juvenile offender is in residence, the lack of professional help afforded an adolescent upon returning home often leaves him all too prone to revert to his former behavior patterns. As a counteractive measure, it is suggested that the present approach of relying too heavily on placement to effect behavioral change be abandoned in favor of programs which view placement as only the initial phase of a more inclusive treatment approach which actively involves family members and the home environment as part of the therapeutic process. In effect, this would mean altering the present concept of aftercare, in that re-integration into home and family would be a gradual process which actually begins during the early weeks of placement. It is proposed that this approach, which would include counseling sessions within the home environment and first-hand observations by the staff of problems as they develop within the family or community, would not only be very practical but also quite effective in helping the adolescent and in combating recidivism. (Publisher's abstract)