The Violent Juvenile Offender: an Empirical Portrait
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If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. L m II LN/ E // Pro@@@@@@ @ss~es •Edited by: Robert A. Mathias 9s@ Degu~S® I 22.... " " NCJ#() ~_5-14 ~---- .o. hlan from: 0 ? y-/~ / National Criminal Justice Reference Service Research and Information Center NAME: ~/~ ~~~ ~ DATE: ~y / t. Please return to the National llnstitule of Justice Library wi|h lhis sllp. To renew past the due date, call NCJRS at (301)251-5063. VIOLENT JUVENILE OFFENDERS An Anthology VIOLENT JUVENILE OFFENDERS An Anthology Edited by: Robert A. Mathias Patti DeMuro Richard S. Allinson Violent Juvenile Offenders,An Anthology NATIONALCOUNCIL ON CRIME AND DELINQUENCY 760 Market Street, Suite 433 • San Francisco, California 94102 415/956-5661 Copyright ©1984 by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 84-60252 Graphic design by E. Fitz Art, Hackensack, NJ This book was prepared under Cooperative Agreement 80-MU-AX- K008 awarded to the National Council on Crime and Delinquency by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions expressed in this book are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the official positions of the U.S. Department of Justice or the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. CONTENTS Foreword ................................................ XIII Introduction .............................................. XV Part One EXTENT AND CAUSES OF VIOLENT JUVENILE CRIME Chapter 1 Recent National Trends in Serious Juvenile Crime ........................ 5 Paul A. Strasburg Data Sources and Definitions ............................. 6 Broad Trends in Youth Violence ........................... 8 Patterns of Offending ................................... 12 Victims of Juvenile Violence .............................. 24 Summary and Conclusions ............................... 25 Chapter 2 Strategic Planning in Juvenile Justice - Defining the Toughest Kids ...................... 31 Jeffrey A. Fagan and Eliot Hartstone The Importance of Definitions ............................ 33 Toward a Definition of Violent Juvenile Offenders ............ 37 Discussion ............................................ 44 Chapter 3 Toward a Theoretical Model for Intervention with Violent Juvenile Offenders .................. 53 Jeffrey A. Fagan and Sally Jo Jones Theories of Delinquency and Violence ...................... 54 Theory Base for Interventions ............................. 59 An Intervention Model .................................. 61 VII VIII Contents Chapter 4 Homicidally Aggressive Young Children: Neuropsychiatric and Experiential Correlates ...... 71 Dorothy Otnow Lewis, Shelley S. Shanoh, Madeleine Grant, and Eva Ritvo Literature Review ...................................... 72 Method .............................................. 73 Results ............................................... 74 Discussion ............................................ 80 Chapter 5 The Violent Juvenile Offender: An Empirical Portrait ........................... 83 Eliot Hartstone and Karen V. Hansen Methodology .......................................... 84 Demographic Data ..................................... 85 Delinquent Careers ..................................... 85 Family Background ..................................... 92 School and Employment Experiences ....................... 96 Peer Group ........................................... 100 Alcohol and Drug Abuse ................................. 105 Summary and Conclusions ............................... 106 Part Two SYSTEM RESPONSES TO VIOLENT JUVENILE CRIME Chapter 6 System Processing of Violent Juvenile Offenders: An Empirical Assessment ........................ 117 Jeffrey A. Fagan, Eliot Hartstone, Cary J. Rudman, and Karen V. Hansen The Data ............................................. 118 Results ............................................... 118 Discussion ............................................ 132 Chapter 7 The Politics of Secure Care in Youth Correctional Reform .................... 137 Alden D. Miller and Lloyd E. Ohlin The Past Fifteen Years ................................... 139 Youths' Characteristics Bearing on the Disposition Decision ..... 144 Implications ........................................... 150 Conclusion ............................................ 154 Contents IX Chapter 8 Providing Services to the Mentally I11, Violent Juvenile Offender ....................... 157 Eliot Hartstone and Joseph Coeozza The Scope of the Problem ................................ 159 Alternative Placements for Violent, Mentally Ill Youth ......... 163 The Bronx Court Related Unit ............................. 166 Research Needs ........................................ 170 Summary ............................................. 173 Part Three TREATMENT INTERVENTION MODELS FOR VIOLENT JUVENILE OFFENDERS Chapter 9 Appropriate Alternatives for the Violent Juvenile Offender ................. 181 Robert B. Coates Nature of Setting ....................................... 182 Nature of Program ...................................... 182 Skills ................................................ 183 Maintaining Control in the Program ........................ 183 Continuum of Care ..................................... 184 Social Networks ........................................ 184 Quality Control ........................................ 185 Conclusion ............................................ 185 Chapter 10 Intervening with Serious Juvenile Offenders: A Summary of a Study on Community-Based Programs ................ 187 David M. Altschuler and Troy L. Armstrong Methodological and Definitional Issues ..................... 188 Ingredients Necessary for Program Operations ............... 191 Concluding Comment ................................... 204 Chapter 11 Intervening with Violent Juvenile Offenders: A Community Reintegration Model .............. 207 Jeffrey Fagan, Cary J. Rudman, and Eliot Hartstone Underlying Principles ................................... 210 Structural Elements ..................................... 216 Treatment Approaches .................................. 221 Issues in Implementing the Treatment Intervention Model ...... 225 Summary ............................................. 227 X Contents Chapter 12 Call and Catalytic Response: The House of Umoja ........................... 231 Sister Falaha Fattah Reasons for Drop in Violence ............................. 232 How Umoja Began ...................................... 233 The "Adella" System .................................... 234 The Umoja Philosophy .................................. 235 Conclusion ............................................ 236 Part Four PRACTICAL ISSUES IN PROGRAMS FOR VIOLENT JUVENILE OFFENDERS Chapter 13 Letter to a Director of Corrections: Implementing a Program for Serious/Violent Offenders ................... 243 Shirley L. Goins Major Factors in Design and Implementation ................. 244 Operationalizing New Programming Concepts for VJOs ........ 246 Community Board-Case Management Team Model ........... 248 Case Studies ........................................... 252 Chapter 14 Continuous Case Management with Violent Juvenile Offenders ................. 255 Jay Lindgren Purpose and Definition .................................. 255 Essential Functions of Continuous Case Management .......... 257 Central Implementation Decisions ......................... 266 Continuity ............................................ 268 Conclusion ............................................ 270 Chapter 15 An Unconventional Approach to Providing Educational Services to Violent Juvenile Offenders ................... 273 Constance M. Bobal The Educational Component .............................. 274 Designing a Successful Learning Environment ................ 275 Establishing an Open-Education Environment ............... 276 Conclusion ............................................ 280 Contents XI Chapter 16 The Role of Group Therapy and the Therapeutic Community in Treating the Violent Juvenile Offender ......... 283 Vichi L. Agee and Bruce McWilliams The Use of the Therapeutic Community Model with Juvenile Offenders ................................ 284 The Closed Adolescent Treatment Center .................... 286 Tile Group Therapy Sessions and Their Role in the Therapeutic Community ........................... 291 Summary ............................................. 295 Chapter 17 Action-Oriented Strategies with Violent Juvenile Offenders ................. 297 Kenneth J. Goldberg Barriers to Successful Therapy ............................ 299 Therapy Made Practical ................................. 302 Practical Strategies ..................................... 304 Reflections ............................................ 308 Chapter 18 Discipline and the Institutionalized Violent Delinquent ............................ 311 Dianne Gadow and Janie McKibbon Punishment: When a Punitive Response is Necessary .......... 313 Discipline: A Development Tool to Gain Internal Control ....... 315 Techniques for Flexibility Within Program Structure ........... 319 Reinforcement -- The Necessary Partner to Discipline ......... 323 Staff Attitudes -- The Critical Ingredient in Discipline and Reinforcement .................................... 324 Summary ............................................. 325 Chapter 19 Establishing a Violence-Free Atmosphere in a Secure Treatment Unit -- An