Corrections Community

Our Juvenile Court has an Evening Reporting Program for juvenile probation violators where they report to instead of detention for 4 hours each evening.  They may be ordered to do 2 to 8 days.  I am wondering if anyone knows of any effective cognitive behavioral interventions that may be effective for this short duration that we have these juveniles.  Thanks.  David 

Are these kids even acknowledging that there is something to work on?  If not, you might consider starting with just some motivational enhancement stuff, thus prepping them for CBT later on....

David, I doubt if there is any program that is effective in changing offender behavior in such a short time period. That said; Thinking Matters is a very basic introductory level cognitive approach that has been approved as "pre-treatment" for the Michigan Prisoner reentry Initiative. It can be dowloaded for free at: www.thinkingmatters.us. It is written at about a 5-6th grade level and should be approprite for juvenile offenders. Abe

We are using a shot term cog based motivational program from TCU (Getting Motivated to Change) that has proven surprisingly effective in only four / 2 hr classes. We are referring those offenders with positive UA, or those who are recommended via the TCUDS (TCU Drug Screen). We have also used the Cognitive Self Change section of Thinking for a Change as a four / two hr. class approach with some success in reducing criminal thinking. I have seen that research shows the combination of motivational and cognitive restructuring in a one two punch a highly effective response to reducing recidivism.

I like the suggestions from our colleagues on here. The problem here seems to be, as Dr. Cahill pointed out, that you can't really expect to see significant real change in 2 to 8 days. That being said, i think you can whet their appetites for change and maybe even be able to move some of them a little closer from probably pre-contemplation to perhaps contemplation. Dr. Cahill was correct in her suggestions about motivational enhancements. I do believe the research does suggest that the outcomes for coerced versus non-coerced treatment are about the same. The problem as i see it is the short time you are given to work with these youth. The Cognitive Self-Change portion of TFAC, as someone else suggested, is not a bad idea at all since the information is imparted in a non-judgemental, non-coercive way and allows the individual to be the final authority and to decide if he/she has a need to change. So, in summary, try the motivational interviewing techniques paired with a short-term cog. program, if you can...Hopefully, you have been trained in TFAC or a similar Cog. program. As a trainer and a faciliitator, I wouldn't recommend using any of the TFAC curriculum unless you have received the necessary training to deliver it. We can do more damage by doing a program ineffectively than by doing nothing at all....I hope that helps.

I have to say the comment concerning the proper or should I say correct use of TFAC is critical. The other aspect of program design we have not discussed is program evaluation. A system of program evaluation in the areas of process and outcome are needed. If well designed we can see clearly if we are achieving our desired goals and if not why. The research of many are always good for determining what approach I wish to take but nothing replaces evaluation of my program to determine if I am on target whth my goals or not. Perhaps this is a question for another string but I would be interested in what process and outcome evaluation tools others are using for these types of programs.