AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERVENTION STRATEGIES ON JUVENILE ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIORS
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to find what were the distributions of responses of juvenile subjects classified according to the intervention strategies of individual conflict resolution, family mediation, peer-group conflict management, and a control group with respect to pretreatment and also posttreatment scores on those dependent variables identified by the literature as being highly correlated with juvenile crime, violence, and delinquency within the schools and communities. These variables were self-concept, reading, mathematics, truancy, dean referrals, and school suspensions. In addition, this study sought to determine and compare the means of juvenile subjects in the experimental and control groups with respect to the dependent variables. Moreover, this investigation sought to determine whether any significant interrelationships existed among the responses of subjects for each of the intervention strategy groups and a control group with respect to the dependent variables. The subjects of this study comprised 480 junior high school students, of whom 120 were in each of the intervention strategy groups and the control group. The instruments employed in this study were the Juvenile Data Collection Form, used for recording the data obtained on the dependent variables; an Intake-Termination Form, utilized to screen the subjects; the Piers and Harris Children's Self Concept Scale, used for measuring self-concept; and the Metropolitan Achievement Tests, employed for measuring academic achievement in reading and mathematics. The following major conclusions appeared warranted on the basis of the responses in this investigation: (1) It was concluded that the peer-group conflict management and the individual conflict resolution experimental groups were significant approaches in improving self-concept. (2) It was concluded that subjects in the family mediation experimental group achieved better in reading and mathematics than those in the peer-group conflict management experimental group. (3) It was concluded that all the experimental groups were effective in reducing truancy. (4) It was concluded that the peer-group conflict management and the individual conflict resolution experimental groups were effective in decreasing dean referrals. (5) It was further concluded that the peer group conflict management experimental group was the most effective intervention strategy in decreasing school suspensions.
Subject Area
Educational psychology
Recommended Citation
D'ELIO, ANTHONY R, "AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERVENTION STRATEGIES ON JUVENILE ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIORS" (1982). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI8223594.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI8223594
