Family Oriented Alternative to Pre-Trial Detention of Juveniles

• NCJ Number: 81728
• Author(s): P D Lipsitt; D Lelos
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Eric Document Reproduction Service; Not Available Through National Institute of Justice/NCJRS Document Loan Program
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. This paper was presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., March 30, 1978.

Annotation

This paper describes an outreach support system for children charged with offenses who were at risk of detention between the time of arraignment and the time of hearing.

Abstract

Called the Detention Avoidance Program, it features a link among the court, the juvenile, and the family, using crisis intervention techniques to maintain the child in the community. The study analyzes differences in family background and family interaction patterns between the recidivists and nonrecidivists in the program. The pattern of variables that distinguished the recidivist-prone offender from the not-yet recidivist suggested that these individuals maintained greater emotional disturbance, characterized especially by impulse disorder. In addition, they had greater educational handicaps as characterized by nonattendance, poor performance, and early school dropout rates. The current educational deficits also presage subsequent occupational difficulties. One table and three references are supplied. (Author abstract modified)