This study examined the impact of an intensive treatment program on the recidivism of 141 adolescent male offenders with pronounced psychopathy features.
Results indicated that offenders in the intensive treatment program were less likely than comparison offenders to be charged with a violent felony during the 2-year followup period. Indeed, the differences in recidivism rates between the two groups became more pronounced as the severity of offenses increased, with the control group more likely to violently reoffend. In terms of general recidivism in the community, however, no major differences were observed between the offenders in intensive treatment and the control offenders who received treatment as usual. The findings suggest that no differences were observed in general and nonviolent recidivism because these offenses are more influenced by life circumstances than by personal factors such as psychopathy. The findings also suggest the need to focus treatment resources on high-risk groups of offenders. Participants were 141 adolescent male offenders who were released from the Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center (MJTC) between 1995 and 1997. The study compared the rates of recidivism over a 2-year period for two groups of adolescent male offenders with high psychopathy scores: one group that participated in an intensive treatment program and a comparison group that participated in the less intensive “treatment as usual” program. Data were drawn from the MJTC database and included information on demographic and legal characteristics, cognitive functioning, conduct disorder, psychopathy features, treatment needs, incarceration and release status, and 2-year recidivism rate. Data analysis included the use of Cox regression analyses to determine the effectiveness of intensive treatment in reducing the 2-year recidivism rate of offenders. Followup studies should continue to assess the impact of intensive treatments on high-risk groups of offenders. Tables, figure, references