NCJ Number
56349
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 30 Issue: 1 Dated: (FEBRUARY 1979) Pages: 23-27
Date Published
1979
Length
5 pages
Annotation
FOCUSING ON THE JOSEPHINE COUNTY (ORE.) FAMILY CRISIS INTERVENTION UNIT, THIS STUDY EXAMINES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAMILY COUNSELING AND SUBSEQUENT REFERRALS TO THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM.
Abstract
IT WAS HYPOTHESIZED THAT STATUS OFFENSE REFERRALS RECEIVING FAMILY COUNSELING WILL HAVE FEWER SUBSEQUENT STATUS AND DELINQUENT REFERRALS TO THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM THAN STATUS OFFENDERS WHO DO NOT RECEIVE FAMILY COUNSELING. THE JOSEPHINE COUNTY CRISIS UNIT WAS FORMED IN 1977 TO WORK WITH STATUS OFFENSE REFERRALS. A GROUP OF 54 STATUS OFFENDERS WHO RECEIVED FAMILY COUNSELING WAS COMPARED WITH A CONTROL GROUP OF 70 STATUS OFFENDERS REFERRED DURING THE SAME PERIOD BUT NOT COUNSELED. FAMILY COUNSELING MADE THE GREATEST IMPACT, ALTHOUGH NOT AT A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT LEVEL, ON STATUS OFFENDERS WHO MET THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS: MALE, UNDER 15 YEARS OF AGE, CITY RESIDENTS, NOT REFERRED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND REFERRED FOR AN OFFENSE OTHER THAN RUNNING-AWAY. VARIABLES RELATED TO PRIOR REFERRALS, RUNNING-AWAY, LAW ENFORCEMENT REFERRALS, AND RURAL RESIDENTS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE LIKELY TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH SUBSEQUENT REFERRALS. DATA FAILED TO SUPPORT THE HYPOTHESIS THAT FAMILY COUNSELING FOR STATUS OFFENDERS WILL RESULT IN FEWER SUBSEQUENT REFERRALS. RESULTS, HOWEVER, DID NOT REFUTE THE POSSIBILITY OF FAMILY COUNSELING AS A SORTING PROCESS BY WHICH FUNCTIONAL FAMILIES ACCEPTED CRISIS INTERVENTION AND DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES DID NOT. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT FAMILY COUNSELING IS MORE EFFECTIVE FOR YOUNG MALE STATUS OFFENDERS AND THAT RUNAWAYS ARE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE SUBSEQUENT REFERRALS THAN OTHER TYPES OF STATUS OFFENSE REFERRALS. JUVENILE COURTS MUST CONTINUE TO DIVERT NONDELINQUENT REFERRALS FROM COURT PROCESSING WHILE PROVIDING MEANINGFUL SERVICES TO FAMILIES IN CRISIS. SUPPORTING DATA AND FOOTNOTES ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)