NCJ Number
204970
Date Published
2004
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This chapter discusses two gender-specific (girls) initiatives of Great Britain's Earlscourt Child and Family Centre (ECFC), a family-focused treatment center for children under 12 years old who exhibit serious aggressive and antisocial behaviors; the initiatives are a risk-assessment device for understanding the developmental pathways of aggressive and antisocial young girls and a gender-specific treatment program.
Abstract
The risk assessment device for girls, called the Early Assessment Risk List for Girls (EARL-21G) has 21 categories of risk associated with girls in the early stages of antisocial behavior patterns. The items are grouped under three constructs: family, child, and responsivity. The seven items in the Family section focus on the extent to which the girl has been nurtured, supervised, attached, encouraged, and effectively disciplined. The 12 items in the Child section relate to the girl's development in behavioral, physical, academic, sexual, and social domains. The Responsivity section consists of two items that assess potential or actual level of family and child engagement with the program and ability to benefit from the interventions. For each item, the EARL-21G manual has two sections, an overview of relevant research findings on the topic and a guide for scoring the item. The EARL-21G is administered at admission to the Earlscourt Girls Connection (EGC), a gender-specific program designed to improve the behaviors and attitudes of aggressive, antisocial girls. The core treatment components of the EGC are three structured groups: separate parent and child groups that are conducted during the same time period and a mother-daughter group. The use of the EARL-21G with the EGC is a promising approach in evidence-based treatment. The EGC is currently being evaluated in a 2-year study. 39 references