NCJ Number
47904
Journal
California Youth Authority Quarterly Volume: 31 Issue: 1 Dated: (SPRING 1978) Pages: 18-23
Date Published
1978
Length
6 pages
Annotation
A VOLUNTEER PEOPLE-ORIENTED APPROACH TO REDUCING BOTH PUBLIC FEAR OF CRIME AND CRIME AND DELINQUENCY IS PRESENTED. POSITIVE RESULTS ARE POSSIBLE WHEN A JUVENILE OFFENDER AND VOLUNTEER ARE PROPERLY MATCHED.
Abstract
ANSWERS TO THE PROBLEMS OF DELINQUENCY WILL REQUIRE RESTATING THE PROBLEM IN TERMS OF THE MUTUAL REACTIONS BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND THE CRIMINAL WHICH TEND TO FACILITATE CRIME AND HINDER REHABILITATION EFFORTS. SECOND, ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS WHICH INCLUDE THE EDUCATION AND INVOLVEMENT OF THE PUBLIC IN THE CORRECTIONAL PROCESS WILL BE NEEDED. THIRD, RESOURCES WILL NEED TO BE DEVELOPED, AND THE BEST RESOURCES ARE PEOPLE. UNFORTUNATELY, WITH INCREASINGLY VIOLENT AND OLDER OFFENDERS, RISK MUST BE CAREFULLY BALANCED WITH POTENTIAL GOOD EFFECTS. FOR INSTANCE, A YOUTH AUTHORITY CLIENT ASSIGNED TO A VOLUNTEER WAS AIDED IN ENROLLING IN A JUNIOR COLLEGE AND THE VOLUNTEER WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE CLIENT'S PUBLISHING OF A SHORT STORY. IN ANOTHER CASE, A CLIENT WAS WRONGLY MATCHED WITH A FEMALE STUDENT VOLUNTEER AND THE PAIR NOT ONLY FAILED TO ACCOMPLISH THE GOALS SET FOR THE ASSOCIATION BUT THE CLIENT ALLEGEDLY RAPED FOUR WOMEN WITHIN A WEEK OF RELEASE. THUS, PROPERLY MATCHING THE CLIENT AND THE VOLUNTEER CAN BE OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE. WHILE CRITERIA HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED FOR VOLUNTEER CHARACTERISTICS, SELECTION OF VOLUNTEERS AND MATCHING THEM WITH CLIENTS IS AN INTUITIVE PROCESS. A STUDY OF A NUMBER OF THEORIES PERTAINING TO THE CLIENT/VOLUNTEER MATCH FAILED TO FIND MUCH TO SUPPORT THE DEPENDABILITY OF PERSONALITY, ATTITUDINAL, OR TEMPERAMENT CRITERIA. TESTS SUCH AS THE ACTIVITY/INTEREST INVENTORY, THE 16-PERSONALITY FACTOR, AND THE FIRO B MAY SERVE AS A SUPPLEMENT TO PERSONAL JUDGMENT, BUT THEY ARE NO REPLACEMENT FOR IT. THE SAME STUDY DID FIND THAT SAME-SEX MATCHES TEND TO ENHANCE COMPATIBILITY AND THAT HANDICAPPED AND MINORITY GROUP VOLUNTEERS TEND TO BE MODERATELY STRONG ON A SCALE OF COMPATIBILITY. CURIOUSLY, CLIENT/VOLUNTEER ASTROLOGICAL SUN SIGN WAS FOUND TO BE A STRONG PREDICTOR OF COMPATIBILITY. REGARDLESS OF THE MEANS BY WHICH TWO PEOPLE ARE MATCHED, THE CLIENT VOLUNTEER RELATIONSHIP IS SUPPOSED TO ACCOMPLISH SPECIAL OBJECTIVES. IN THE PROCESS BOTH THE VOLUNTEER AND THE CLIENT CAN BENEFIT. NOTES ARE INCLUDED. (JAP)