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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:11 am
Time: 12:11 am
Results for wilderness programs
3 results foundAuthor: Wood, Carly Title: The TurnAround Project - Phase 3 (2011/12) Summary: This report is a follow‐on from two preceding TurnAround (TA) reports and should be read in conjunction with previous information. UK Youth crime and anti‐social behaviour is a continuing problem, estimated to cost the UK economy £4 billion per annum. Young offenders exhibit some of the highest re‐offending rates, with 40% of young offenders re‐offending within one year, increasing to 75% in those who receive a custodial sentence. Attention has been turned towards the use of interventions to tackle youth crime, anti‐social behaviour and re‐offending, due to the increasing costs associated with the criminal justice system and the ineffectiveness of custodial sentences. Evidence suggests that therapeutic interventions providing skills and mentoring are effective at changing behaviour and protecting against risk factors such as low self‐esteem, substance addiction and low IQ, which are often the root cause of these problem behaviours. The aim of TA 3 was to assist small groups of vulnerable and challenging youth in Essex to make positive life choices and overcome barriers to social inclusion and financial self sufficiency. The programme ran from April 2011‐January 2012 and comprised of skills workshops and outdoor activity days, weekly one‐to‐one mentoring and two wilderness trails. The main objective of the programme was to intervene to the young peoples problem behaviours at an early stage; thus preventing further crime, problems at school and escalation of negative behaviour. The programme used outdoor activities and wilderness experiences to i) break down the physical and emotional barriers that inhibited social competence; ii) improve self‐esteem, self‐confidence, emotional regulation, communication and problem solving abilities; iii) instil a sense of accountability to themselves and others; iv) build trust and team‐working skills; v) educate young people to make positive life choices; vi) generate employment and training opportunities and/or further education prospects. Details: Colchester, UK: Essex Sustainability Institute, School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, 2012. 81p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 4, 2013 at: http://www.greenexercise.org/pdf/TA3%20final%20July%202012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.greenexercise.org/pdf/TA3%20final%20July%202012.pdf Shelf Number: 128205 Keywords: At-Risk Youth (U.K.)Delinquency PreventionJuvenile OffendersWilderness ProgramsYouth Mentoring |
Author: Walsh, Michael Allen Title: Wilderness Adventure Programming as an Intervention for Youthful Offenders: Self-Efficacy, Resilience, and Hope for the Future Summary: A review of the literature on positive youth development clearly identifies demonstrated empirical relationships between perceived self competence, adolescent resilience, and hope, which are theorized in a strengths-based focus on youth offenders to be predictors of reduced recidivism. This evaluation of outcomes associated with participation in the Wilderness Endeavors (WE) Program of Thistledew seeks to test this theory that individuals who participate in WE will develop enhanced levels of perceived self competence, resiliency, and hope for the future, and therefore, result in a reduction of recidivism. The specific aims guiding this exploratory study include: 1) to establish a matched-pair control group using youth who were not referred to Thistledew, but which were referred from the same county court system to a Minnesota Department of Correction (MDOC) disposition or other programs, by using as matching variables age, age of first offense, type of committing offense, and risk assessments as determined by the Youth Level of Service Inventory (YSLI) used by the referring Youth Probation Officer (if possible given county court use of the YSLI from which a control group will be drawn); 2) to assess the baseline scores of the youth participant's on the following measures: a) Perceived-Self Competence (Self Efficacy), b) Hope, and c) Adolescent Resiliency; and to assess post-program scores on Perceived-Self Competence, Hope, and Adolescent Resiliency, and 3) to conduct a six-month follow up assessment that will assess both treatment and control youth re-offense rates, including the nature and degree of the re-offense. The paired t tests revealed that self efficacy and hope scores showed significant changes from pretest to posttest, suggesting that the Wilderness Endeavors Program had a significant positive effect on participant's self-efficacy and hope for the future. The non parametric test (McNemar) utilized to investigate the four hypotheses related to Wilderness Endeavors Program participation on the future offending behaviors (recidivism) of participants revealed that there were no significant differences in recidivism rates, or new program placements, between the treatment and control groups. Furthermore, involvement in school and employment were not significantly associated with recidivism rates in both treatment and control groups. The binary logistic regression showed that higher levels of hope were associated with those Wilderness Endeavors Program participants who did not recidivate, while changes in self-efficacy and resilience scores had no association with recidivism. Finally, the three demographic variables that are supported in the literature as being strong predictors of recidivism for juvenile offenders revealed only YLSI scores were associated with recidivism; those individuals who did not recidivate were more likely to have a lower risk score. Gender and age of first offense had weak or no associations with either group. Details: St. Paul, MN: University of Minnesota, 2009. 184p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed November 11, 2013 at: http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/57003/1/Walsh_umn_0130E_10685.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/57003/1/Walsh_umn_0130E_10685.pdf Shelf Number: 131611 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionJuvenile OffendersRecidivismRehabilitation ProgramsWilderness Programs Youthful Offenders |
Author: Zampese, Linda Title: When the Bough Breaks; A literature based intervention strategy for young offenders Summary: The aim of this literature review was to determine which types of treatment are effective in reducing recidivism among young offenders. Young offenders are defined as that proportion of the New Zealand Department of Corrections offender population aged 17- 20 years. The review focused on young offenders because they are widely acknowledged as being unresponsive to treatment. The review included studies of treatment that had some effect on recidivism or had some other notable characteristic. Because there have been few well-controlled evaluations of treatment programmes for young offenders in New Zealand, most of the material refers to overseas programmes. Offenders in the 17-20 year age group have the highest officially recorded rate of offending of all age groups in New Zealand. The type of offences they commit parallel the pattern of offending by adult offenders. Crimes of property damage and violence are increasing which suggests that more young people entering the Department of Corrections system may have a background in violent crime. Maori have the highest rate of offending followed by Pacific people and other ethnic groups. Reconviction rates are also the highest of all offender age groups, with rates being particularly high among 14-17 year olds. Young offenders tend to be generalists in that they do not show any patterns of offence type specialisation. This means that programmes targeted to particular "types" of young offender are not likely to be useful. Three principles have been developed for classifying offenders to ensure effective rehabilitation and targeting of treatment resources. According to these principles, offenders should be classified according to risk level, criminogenic need and response to different types of treatment. Research shows that only small proportions of youth, less than 10%, are at risk of becoming persistent offenders. The risk profile of young offenders is remarkably similar to that of adults. The key characteristics of high-risk youth appear to be: - a history of antisocial behaviour beginning at an early age - antisocial attitudes, values and beliefs - antisocial associates - problems with interpersonal relationships including indifference, poor social skills and weak affective ties - a difficult temperament which may be aggressive, callous, impulsive or egocentric - problems at school, work or leisure and low levels of achievement in these areas - early and current family conditions, including low levels of affection, cohesiveness and/or monitoring and problems at home. Risk level is generally assessed through risk assessment instruments rather than through unstructured clinical judgement. The study reviews a number of instruments and refers to the risk assessment instrument developed by the Department of Corrections Psychological Service, which will be implemented as part of the Integrated Offender Management Plan. Criminogenic needs are those characteristics of offenders and their circumstances that will reduce recidivism if changed. The most likely targets for change include: - antisocial attitudes and feelings - aggressive/violent behaviours - antisocial peer associations and behaviours - familial affection and communication and familial monitoring and supervision - substance abuse and dependency Changes can be made in different ways including by: - promoting identification with anti-criminal role models and increasing association with pro-social others developing non-criminal activities which provide personal, interpersonal and other rewards - increasing academic and work skills - attending to relapse prevention issues - increasing self-control, self-management and problem-solving skills - changing antisocial attitudes and beliefs - teaching anger management and conflict resolution skills - increasing familial cohesiveness/levels of affection within the home - treating substance abuse - improving motivation for change. The report reviews a number of risk/needs classification systems and concludes that no adequate instruments have yet been developed for assessing young offenders in the New Zealand context. Assessing offenders' likely response to different styles and modes of service involves assessing their personality characteristics, conceptual levels, neuro-psychological deficits and levels of psychopathy, anxiety and motivation as well as addressing cultural issues. The study concludes that priority should be given to developing a treatment classification system that would enable resources to be targeted to moderate and high-risk offenders. Details: Christchurch, NZ: New Zealand Department of Corrections, Psychological Service, 2003. 87p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 23, 2013 at: http://www.corrections.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/665634/bough.pdf Year: 2003 Country: New Zealand URL: http://www.corrections.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/665634/bough.pdf Shelf Number: 131672 Keywords: Community Based CorrectionsJuvenile CorrectionsJuvenile Offenders (New Zealand)RehabilitationTreatment ProgramsWilderness Programs |