NCJ Number
39025
Date Published
1977
Length
322 pages
Annotation
SEVEN SELECTED REPORTS ON THE JUVENILE CORRECTIONAL REFORM PROJECT WHICH PROVIDE A SAMPLING OF MOST ASPECTS OF THE PROJECT RESEARCH CONDUCTED SINCE 1970 BY THE CENTER FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE OF HARVARD LAW SCHOOL.
Abstract
THE SEVEN-YEAR RESEARCH EFFORT HAS HAD THREE MAJOR GOALS: TO STUDY THE PROCESS AND PROGRESS OF REFORM; TO EVALUATE THE VARIOUS TREATMENT PROGRAMS FOR JUVENILES; AND TO DEVELOP A MORE EFFECTIVE METHODOLOGY FOR EVALUATING NEW PROGRAMS. THE FIRST ARTICLE, 'RADICAL CORRECTIONAL REFORM: A CASE STUDY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS YOUTH CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM,' WAS WRITTEN ALMOST TWO YEARS AFTER THE CLOSING OF THE TRAINING SCHOOLS, AND TELLS THE STORY OF REFORM UP TO THAT POINT, IN LATE 1973, IDENTIFYING AND DISCUSSING WHAT SEEMED AT THE TIME TO BE THE MAJOR CONTINUING ISSUES. THE SECOND ARTICLE, 'COMMUNITY-BASED CORRECTIONS: CONCEPT, IMPACT, DANGERS,' ADDRESSES A BROADER ISSUE OF DEFINING A COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAM, AND CONSIDERS THE QUESTION OF WHAT IMPACT SUCH PROGRAMS ARE KNOWN TO HAVE AND WHAT PITFALLS SEEM MOST IMMEDIATE. 'SUBCULTURES IN COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMS,' THE THIRD ARTICLE, IS PART OF THE PROJECT'S RESEARCH INTO THE DAY-TO-DAY LIFE OF PROGRAMS. THE FOURTH PIECE, 'AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS OF THE RECIDIVISM AND COHORT DATA,' WAS WRITTEN IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1975 AND REPRESENTS A FIRST LOOK AT AS MUCH DATA ON A COHORT OF YOUTH GOING THROUGH THE NEW COMMUNITY BASED SYSTEMS AS WAS AVAILABLE AT THAT TIME. THE FIFTH PART OF THIS VOLUME, 'NEUTRALIZING COMMUNITY RESISTANCE TO GROUP HOMES,' IS A CONCRETE DISCUSSION OF THE PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF SIX GROUP HOMES AS THEY ATTEMPTED TO MOVE INTO THEIR VARIOUS COMMUNITIES. THE SIXTH ARTICLE, 'SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE CONCEPTUALIZATION AND REPLICABILITY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS REFORMS,' REPORTS CONCEPTUAL WORK BEGUN IN 1971 AS PART OF THE DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH SERVICES PROJECT, AND WHICH CULMINATED IN A MATHEMATICAL SIMULATION OF THE REFORM PROCESS IN 1974 AND COMPACT INTERVIEWING INSTRUMENTS FOR GENERATING SUMMARY OR OVERVIEW DATA ON CRITICAL VARIABLES IN 1975 AND 1976. THE FINAL ARTICLE, 'PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS ON GENERALIZING FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS EXPERIENCE,' WAS WRITTEN IN LATE 1975, AND REPRESENTS THE PROJECT'S FIRST WORK IN ANALYZING DATA RELATING TO THE QUESTION OF WHETHER MASSACHUSETTS AS A SETTING FOR REFORM IS SUFFICIENTLY SIMILAR TO OTHER STATES FOR THE ASSUMPTION TO BE MADE THAT WHAT TOOK PLACE IN MASSACHUSETTS MIGHT ALSO TAKE PLACE ELSEWHERE. A LIST OF THE PUBLICATIONS GENERATED BY THE CENTER FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE ON THE JUVENILE CORRECTIONAL REFORM PROJECT IS APPENDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)...ELW