NCJ Number
28593
Date Published
1975
Length
135 pages
Annotation
FINAL REPORT ON A PROJECT WHICH TESTED THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TRAINING JUVENILE COURT COUNSELORS IN RALEIGH AND GREENSBORO (NC) IN PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION AND TECHNIQUES OF BEHAVIORAL CONTRACTING.
Abstract
THE PROGRAM WAS INTERESTED IN DETERMINING WHETHER: THE COURT COUNSELOR MAY BE TRAINED TO ASSIST FAMILIES IN DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE BEHAVIORAL CONTRACTS; THE CONTRACTING APPROACH MAY BE SYSTEMATICALLY APPLIED TO A COURT COUNSELOR'S NORMAL CASELOAD AND BE A USEFUL ADDITION TO EXISTING CASE MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES; PARTICULAR TYPES OF CASES MAY BE AIDED BY THE CONTRACTING PROCEDURE MORE THAN OTHER TYPES; AND PARTICULAR TYPES OF BEHAVIORS MAY BE MODIFIED BY THE PROCEDURE MORE READILY THAN OTHER TYPES. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE PROJECT GOALS, THREE COUNSELORS IN EACH CITY WERE TRAINED IN BEHAVIOR CONTRACTING. RECORDS OF SCHOOL ABSENCES AND NUMBERS OF POLICE CONTACTS PER SEMESTER, AS WELL AS TOTAL NUMBER OF COURT APPEARANCES FOR ONE YEAR BEFORE AND ONE YEAR AFTER ASSIGNMENT TO JUVENILE COURT, WERE COLLECTED FOR CERTAIN CASES OF CERTAIN COUNSELLORS - THE COUNSELORS WHO WERE TRAINED IN THE PROGRAM, THE OTHER CUNSELORS WHO WERE IN THE SAME CITY BUT NOT DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN THE PROGRAM, AND COUNSELORS IN OTHER CITIES. THE GROUPS OF JUVENILE SUBJECTS FOR WHOM THIS INFORMATION WAS OBTAINED WERE THE FOUR GROUPS OF JUVENILES ASSIGNED TO COURT COUNSELORS IN IN ALL OF THE ABOVE THREE CATEGORIES IN MAY AND JULY OF THE TWO YEARS (1972-73) OF THIS PROGRAM AND ONE GROUP OF JUVENILES ASSIGNED TO THE FIRST GROUP OF COUNSELORS (THOSE TRAINED IN BEHAVIOR CONTRACTING), AND TO CONTRACT OR NON-CONTRACT TREATMENT GROUPS. THE EVALUATION METHODOLOGY EMPLOYED INVOLVED PRE AND POST-TEST DATA ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON FOR THE DIFFERENT TREATMENT GROUPS, BASED ON THE RESULTS OF FOUR ATTITUDE SCALES. THE RESULTS OF THE PROJECT REVEALED THAT DESPITE PROBLEMS WITH COUNSELOR PARTICIPATION, SUPERFICIAL ADHERENCE TO SPECIFIED PROCEDURES, AND INCONSISTENT DATA COLLECTION, THE CONTRACTS CARRIED OUT WITH JUVENILES AND THEIR FAMILIES THROUGH THE MEDIATION OF COURT COUNSELORS SEEMED TO HAVE POSITIVELY AFFECTED A LARGE PERCENT OF TARGETED BEHAVIORS. DATA ANALYSIS SHOWED DIFFERENCES IN SEX AND RACE HAD NO EFFECT ON CHANGES WHICH OCCURRED IN SUBJECTS AFTER ASSIGNMENT TO TREATMENT; THAT THE CONTRACT GROUP SHOWED SIGNIFICANT PRE-POST CHANGES IN EVALUATIVE SCHOOL DATA OVER NON-CONTRACT GROUPS; AND THAT THE COUNSELOR VARIABLE, BUT NOT THE TREATMENT VARIABLE, HAD SOME (NON-SIGNIFICANT) INFLUENCE ON POLICE AND COURT DATA WHEN CONTRACT AND NON-CONTRACT GROUPS WERE COMPARED. THE APPENDIX CONTAINS VARIOUS TYPES OF PROGRAM DATA AND DATA COLLECTION FORMS.