Incorporating Positive Youth Development into Juvenile Justice

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Incorporating Positive Youth Development into
Juvenile Justice

• William H. Barton, Ph.D.
• Indiana University School of Social Work
• Jeffrey A. Butts, Ph.D.
• Chapin Hall Center for Children
• University of Chicago
• ASC, Atlanta, November 14, 2007

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The Dominant Culture of Juvenile Justice

• Vacillates between emphasis on punishment and
  rehabilitation
• Recent attempts to balance goals
• Public safety protection
• Accountability
• Competency development
• Problem-focused/deficit-based
• Assess risks and needs
• Treatment to reduce risks and address needs

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Limitations of Traditional Juvenile Justice
Systems

• Isolation from the rest of the community
• Overuse of residential and secure settings
• Overcrowding and abuse is common
• Recidivism is generally high
• System involvement tends to escalate problems
• Staff burnout is common

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What is Positive Youth Development (PYD)

• Goals
• all youth gain competence and character.
• Practices
• youth participation in decisions
• healthy relationships with adults, peers and
  younger children
• relationships changing and enduring as
  developmentally appropriate.
• System characteristics
• community-wide partnerships.

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Youth Development Models

• Benson Pitman
• 5 Cs competence, confidence, character
  connections and contributions
• Connell et al.
• Learning to be productive
• Learning to connect
• Learning to navigate

Benson, P. L., Pittman, K. J. (Eds.). (2001).
Trends in youth development Visions, realities,
and challenges. Boston Kluwer. Connell, J. P.,
Gambone, M. A., Smith, T. J. (2001). Youth
development in community settings Challenges to
our field and our approach. In P. L. Benson K.
Pittman (Eds.), Trends in youth development
Visions, realities and challenges (pp. 291-307).
Boston Kluwer.
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Youth Development Models (2)

• CUBI Model (Boys Girls Clubs)
• Competency
• Usefulness
• Belonging
• Involvement
• Search Institute
• 40 Developmental Assets

Boys Girls Clubs of America (2000). Who we are.
Retrieved June 120, 2007 from http//www.bgca.org
/whoweare/. Scales, P. C., Leffert, N. (1999).
Developmental assets A synthesis of scientific
research on adolescent development. Minneapolis,
MN Search Institute.
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PYD and JJ Contrasting Goals

• Youth Development
• All youth gain competence and character
• Provide range of supports and opportunities for
  all youth

• Juvenile Justice
• Protect public safety
• Hold youth accountable
• Provide rehabilitative services

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Contrasting Paradigms

• Youth Development
• Strengths
• Assets
• Empowerment
• Inclusion
• Development

• Juvenile Justice
• Deficits/Deviance
• Diagnoses
• Treatment/Punishment
• Exclusion
• Symptom Amelioration

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Loci of Action

• Youth Development
• Families
• Neighborhoods
• Community institutions (e.g., churches, schools,
  civic organizations)

• Juvenile Justice
• Courts
• State/County agencies
• Private provider agencies

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Juvenile Justice Systems

• Tendency to focus on the individual level
• Physical isolation from home/school/community
• Psychological isolation via labeling
• Placing with other negatively labeled peers
• Doing to, not with young people
• Record restricts future opportunities

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Causes of Youth Problem Behaviors

• Youth problem behaviors
• delinquency, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy,
  school dropout
• Common or overlapping set of influences
• risk and protective factors (see next slide)
• Identified causes are not just within the
  individual, but reflect the influence of family,
  school, neighborhood, and the broader community.

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Risk Protective Factors for Youth Problem
Behaviors

Adapted from Kirby, L. D., Fraser, M. W.
(1997). Risk and resilience in childhood. In M.
W. Fraser (Ed.), Risk and resilience in
childhood An ecological perspective (pp. 10-33).
Washington, DC NASW Press.
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Factors Promoting ResilienceSimilar to
Protective Factors

• effective parenting
• connections to other competent adults
• appeal to other people, particularly adults
• good intellectual skills
• areas of talent or accomplishment valued by self
  and others

• self-efficacy, self-worth and hopefulness
• religious faith or affiliations
• socioeconomic advantages
• good schools and other community assets
• good fortune

Adapted from Masten, A. S. (1994). Resilience in
individual development Successful adaptation
despite risk and adversity. In M. C. Wang E. W.
Gordon (Eds.), Educational resilience in
inner-city America Challenges and prospects (pp.
3-25). Hillsdale, NJ Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
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Attributes of Settings Promoting Positive Youth
Development

• Physical and psychological safety
• Appropriate structure
• Supportive relationships
• Opportunities to belong
• Positive social norms
• Support for efficacy and mattering
• Opportunities for skill building
• Integration of family, school, and community
  efforts

Source Eccles, J., Gootman, J. A. (Eds.)
(2002). Community programs to promote youth
development. Washington, DC National Academy
Press.
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Strength-Based (SB) Practice to Promote PYD

• Every individual, group, family and community has
  strengths
• Practitioners best serve clients by collaborating
  with them
• Every environment is full of resources
• Assessment process seeks to discover strengths
• Engage clients in collaborative planning

Source Saleebey, D. (Ed.). (2006). The strengths
perspective in social work practice (4th ed).
Boston Pearson Education, Allyn and Bacon.
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Contrasting Interventions

• Traditional Interventions
• Probation supervision to ensure compliance
• Individual and family counseling, group therapy
• Job counseling, community service as punishment
• Outdoor challenge programs
• Mentoring, Big Brothers/Big Sisters
• Remedial education

• PYD-Oriented Interventions
• Case management to ensure youth access to range
  of social resources
• Peer counseling, leadership development, family
  living skills
• Work experience, community service as job
  preparation, career exploration
• Conservation and community development projects,
  engaging with community groups
• Youth/adult mentors intergenerational projects
  with elderly
• Cross-age tutoring (juvenile offenders teach
  younger children), educational action teams,
  decision-making skills training

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Exploratory Study

• Supported by IU (sabbatical leave) and Chapin
  Hall Center for Children
• Conducted between 9/06 and 7/07
• Purpose Identify a few juvenile justice programs
  that employ strength-based practice and/or focus
  on PYD goals.
• Conducted site visits and interviewed key
  informants to understand how this perspective
  emerged and how it is being implemented.
• Full report will be available soon from Chapin
  Hall

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Programs Visited
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Johnson Youth Center Juneau Alaska

• Top-down attempt to transform the culture from
  punitive to strength-based
• Introduced the Youth Competency Assessment in
  9/06
• Significant improvement on several dimensions of
  institutional climate and reduction in
  incidents/complaints by 3/07 and 9/07
• High staff turnover
• Retraining on YCA in 9/07
• Leadership strongly committed to the change

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Washington County Juvenile Department
Hillsboro, OR

• One of the YCA pilot sites started in 2001-2002
• Champion Director
• Mindset of most staff conducive
• SB perspective incorporated into Department
  paperwork
• Excellent morale among staff
• Low rates of placement and recidivism

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Clackamas County Juvenile Services Department
Oregon City, OR

• Also a YCA pilot site started in 2001-2002
• Champions Director, early adopters (demonstrated
  SB and helped train other staff)
• SB fully integrated into Department paperwork
• Good staff morale
• Emphasis on community service
• Low rates of placement and recidivism

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Associated Marine Institute YES Program --
Florida

• Rated by Florida DJJ as the best residential
  contract provider in the state
• AMI adopting Unified Approach manualized
  linking of education, treatment and behavior
  modification (mentions SB and family work)
• YES program emphasis on behavior modification,
  somewhat like a boot camp
• Climate is relaxed, positive
• Staff engaged
• Program not fully SB or PYD focused could
  become so

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Tompkins County DSS and Probation Departments
Ithaca, NY

• Co-located departments
• Community very hospitable to SB practice
• I think its just the philosophy that happens
  here. Were a college-based area progressive
  thinking
• Received YCA training in 5/06
• Rich array of community collaborations
• Emphasis on diversion
• Very low rate of delinquency referrals

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Guidance Center Southgate, MI

• Receives referrals from juvenile court provides
  contract probation services
• Explicitly began introducing PYD focus in 2007
• individualized treatment plans
• online educational programming
• culinary arts programming (first component
  implemented)
• community partnerships with STEM-related
  industries for vocational skill building
• Key staff are enthusiastic
• Few established collaborative relationships yet

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Facilitating Factors

• Hospitable community culture
• Commitment from the top
• Training/retraining/intentional hiring
• Early adopters success
• Integration of SB/PYD into the machine of the
  bureaucracy (e.g., paperwork)
• Consistent reinforcement through supervision
• Abundance of and links to community resources
• Feedback from outcomes data

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Challenges

• Resistance from old-line staff
• Additional demands on staff in terms of time and
  creativity
• Making meaningful links between SB assessment and
  individualized plans
• Staying the course
• Obtaining buy-in from others in the system
  judges, prosecutors, police
• Some families are initially resistant want
  system to fix their child

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For more information

• William H. Barton, Ph.D., Professor
• Indiana University School of Social Work
• 902 West New York Street
• Indianapolis, IN 46202
• [phone] wbarton_at_iupui.edu
• Jeffrey A. Butts, Ph.D., Research Fellow
• Chapin Hall Center for Children
• University of Chicago
• 1313 East Sixtieth Street
• Chicago, IL 60637
• [phone] jabutts_at_uchicago.edu