SILVERLAKE EXPERIMENT - TESTING DELINQUENCY THEORY AND COMMUNITY INTERVENTION

• NCJ Number: 2850
• Author(s): L T EMPEY; S G LUBECK
• Date Published: 1971
• Length: 354 pages
• Sale Source: Aldine Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A COMPARISON OF COMMUNITY ALTERNATIVES FOR JUVENILE DELINQUENTS WITH THE TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH.

Abstract

COMMUNITY TREATMENT, ESPECIALLY FOR JUVENILES, MAY BE AN EFFECTIVE ALTERNATIVE TO INSTITUTIONALIZATION. THIS BOOK DESCRIBES A FOUR YEAR FIELD EXPERIMENT IN COMMUNITYBASED TREATMENT OF SERIOUSLY DISTURBED DELINQUENT BOYS. THE BOYS RESIDED IN A COMMUNITY CENTER DURING THE WEEK AND RETURNED TO THEIR HOMES ON WEEKENDS. BY NOT SEVERING ALL TIES WITH FAMILY AND NEIGHBORHOOD, IT WAS HOPED THAT THE STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH BEING DECLARED DELINQUENT WOULD BE REDUCED AND REENTRY INTO SOCIETY FACILITATED. IN TERMS OF RECIDIVISM, THOSE IN THE CENTER DID NOT PERFORM SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN DID THOSE WHO HAD BEEN INSTITUTIONALIZED. HOWEVER, THE CENTER REPRESENTED A SUBSTANTIAL SAVINGS PER DELINQUENT IN TERMS OF COSTEFFECTIVENESS WITHOUT POSING AN INCREASED DANGER TO THE COMMUNITY. THE IMPLICATIONS OF THESE RESULTS FOR DELINQUENCY, TREATMENT THEORIES, AND FIELD EXPERIMENTATION ARE DISCUSSED. THE THEORETICAL DESIGN AND MODEL UPON WHICH THIS EXPERIMENT WAS BASED ARE OUTLINED IN THE TEXT. REFERENCES MAY BE FOUND THROUGHOUT.