NCJ Number
87030
Journal
Tijdschrift voor criminologie Volume: 20 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 20, 1978) Pages: 42-53
Date Published
1978
Length
6 pages
Annotation
A 1976 Dutch study of court wards appeared to support the contention that children placed in residential child protection homes are more likely to experience subsequent criminal involvement. However, the study's methodological limitations do not justify generalization of its results.
Abstract
The study results received much publicity and affected the reputation of child placement homes without an adequate critique of its methodology. Although valid within its own framework, generalization of its results are ill advised because the research was based on a limited population, from which a further limited sample was drawn and examined with respect to limited criteria. Only wards of the court who are not representative of all children in child protection homes, were studied. Subjects came from only two jurisdictions, which may not be representative of other areas. Furthermore, a procedure employed to match experimental and control subjects was contrary to the principle of random selection. Four references are given.