NCJ Number
54728
Date Published
1977
Length
15 pages
Annotation
THE EFFICACY OF A GUIDED GROUP INTERACTION (GGI) PROGRAM CONDUCTED AT A FACILITY IN ILLINOIS FOR MALE JUVENILE OFFENDERS IS ASSESSED.
Abstract
THE GGI PROGRAM IS BASED ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT POSITIVE PEER PRESSURE CAN BE UTILIZED TO INFLUENCE INDIVIDUALS TO FIND SATISFACTION IN CONFORMING WITH SOCIETAL NORMS AND EXPECTATIONS. TWO PRIMARY TECHNIQUES ARE USED TO INTRODUCE AND MAINTAIN POSITIVE PEER PRESSURE. FIRST, PARTICIPANTS IN THE PROGRAM ALWAYS ACT TOGETHER AS A UNIT. SECOND, DAILY MEETINGS ARE HELD (EXCEPT ON WEEKENDS) TO DISCUSS THE PROBLEMS OF INDIVIDUALS IN THE GROUP. THE GGI PROGRAM REPRESENTS AN ATTEMPT TO CHANGE INDIVIDUALS BY CHANGING THEIR PRIMARY REFERENCE GROUP. AN EVALUATION OF THE PROGRAM WAS INITIATED IN 1976 AFTER INITIAL CHECKS WERE MADE TO DETERMINE WHETHER GGI STAFF WERE PREPARED ADEQUATELY TO IMPLEMENT THE PROGRAM, WHETHER THE TWO PROGRAM COMPONENTS ACTUALLY WERE UTILIZED, AND WHETHER THE PROGRAM DIFFERED FROM NON-GGI PROGRAMS. WITH REASONABLE ASSURANCE THAT THE PROGRAM WAS BEING IMPLEMENTED AND THAT IT DIFFERED ESSENTIALLY FROM NON-GGI PROGRAMS, THE NEXT STEP WAS TO DESIGN THE EVALUATION STUDY. SEVERAL DISCUSSIONS WERE HELD BETWEEN PROGRAM ADMINISTRATORS AND EVALUATION STAFF TO IDENTIFY SPECIFIC GOALS OF THE PROGRAM. MEASUREMENTS OF RESIDENT MORALE, INTERPERSONAL CHANGE, SELF-ESTEEM, AND INTERNAL-EXTERNAL CONTROL WERE CARRIED OUT USING VARIOUS OUTCOME SCALES. RESIDENT BEHAVIOR WAS ALSO OBSERVED AND ASSESSED. THE BASIC RESEARCH STRATEGY WAS TO COMPARE GGI PARTICIPANTS WITH NON-GGI PARTICIPANTS THROUGH REGRESSION ANALYSIS. PROGRAM EFFECTS OVER TIME WERE ESTIMATED FROM DATA ON PARTICIPANTS WHO HAD SPENT VARYING LENGTHS OF TIME IN THEIR RESPECTIVE PROGRAMS BEFORE ASSESSMENTS OF OUTCOME MEASURES WERE MADE. A TOTAL OF 72 SUBJECTS PARTICIPATED, 36 GGI INDIVIDUALS AND 36 NON-GGI INDIVIDUALS. THE GGI PROGRAM LED TO INCREASED RESIDENT MORALE, AND GGI RESIDENTS WERE PERCEIVED AS ENGAGING IN MORE POSITIVE BEHAVIOR AND LESS MANIPULATIVE BEHAVIOR. EVEN THOUGH DATA IN SUPPORT OF THESE CONCLUSIONS WERE STRONG, SEVERAL CONSIDERATIONS MITIGATED AGAINST MAKING A FIRM STATEMENT THAT THE GGI PROGRAM HAD A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON BEHAVIOR. SEVEN CRITERIA FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION RESEARCH ARE CITED: IDENTIFIABLE PROGRAM COMPONENTS, REPLICABLE PROGRAM COMPONENTS, TREATMENT AND CONTROL GROUPS DIFFERING IN ACTUAL TREATMENT RECEIVED, ADEQUATE OUTCOME MEASURES TO PERMIT THE DETERMINATION OF PROGRAM SUCCESS, RANDOMIZATION OR SELECTION WITH MATCHED OR RANDOM ASSIGNMENT, MEASUREMENT OF OUTCOMES BEFORE AND AFTER TREATMENT, AND FOLLOWUP MEASURES IN THE COMMUNITY. THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GGI PROGRAM SATISFIED THESE CRITERIA IS DISCUSSED. REFERENCES ARE LISTED. (DEP)