NCJ Number
164179
Journal
Australian Psychologist Volume: 31 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1996) Pages: 28-33
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study reports the design of a standardized outpatient, family-based treatment of persistent juvenile theft in an Australian jurisdiction; the treatment was tested through intervention with 14 juvenile thieves of diverse ages and stealing histories.
Abstract
Up to five interventions have been used in outpatient family-based treatments to counter the strong and immediate self- reinforcing contingencies of juvenile theft. These interventions are monitoring, contracting, restitution, punishment, and honesty traps. A family-based treatment of persistent juvenile theft was designed to use all five of these interventions. The 14 participants were taken from consecutive referrals to an outpatient Child, Adolescent, and Family Psychiatric Service in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The standardized treatment designed for this study was called the "trust program," because of its emphasis on a reattainment of trust for the juvenile as well as upon elimination of suspicion of theft. The dependent variable consisted of episodes of suspected theft rather than just episodes of observed theft. Using behavioral diaries, parents daily monitored all episodes of suspected theft from pretreatment to follow-up. "Significant other" adults were also included in the monitoring. Provision was made for the collection of psychometric data on each subject within standard outpatient treatment interviews. A target period of time for measuring theft behavior at posttreatment was set for each subject. Reinforcement was provided for the discontinuance of suspicion of theft. A standard follow-up interview was conducted at least 3 months after treatment. This study replicated the finding of previous studies, that is, that outpatient family-based treatments of persistent juvenile thieves is apparently largely successful. Further, efficacy can be maintained when treatment is standardized and adapted to the parameters of applied behavior analysis while simultaneously being adapted to the usual constraints of outpatient clinical practice. 1 table, 1 figure, and 21 references