king for alternative treatment programs. Instead of jails and youth detention facilities, boot camps, foster homes, and other methods are being researched.Alternative Treatment Methods for Juvenile DelinquentsThe Juvenile Justice System has many treatment options to choose from. Besides the usual jails and correctional centers, there are specialized Youth Centers, Group Homes, and Foster Care Programs. I. Youth Centers for Serious Offenders.The Paint Creek Youth Center in Ohio was assessed by Peter Greenwood and Susan Turner (1993). The main goal of this center is to provide high-quality tailored programming. There was a three-day orientation program and an aftercare program to assist in the transition back to society. The youths received classes and formal counseling instead of being locked up in a cell. They were part of a community. While at the center, they earned privileges as they progressed. Among the privileges were being allowed a paying job, family visits at the center, and weekends at home. The uniqueness of this program was the emphasis on tailored treatment. Instead of being lumped into groups, the youths were counseled individually. This allowed the counselors and youths to benefit from the program.Greenwood and Turner concluded that the aftercare program had a modest effect on post-release arrests and behavior. More cognitive/behavioral effort was needed in the aftercare. They also determined that this alternative shows promise, and that more attention should be paid to the youths' prosocial behavior when they return to the community. II. Group Home Treatment Programs.Haghighi and Lopez (1993) evaluated the success/failure of group home treatment programs for juveniles. The two factors used in the analysis were evaluations from program staff and the reappearance of the juvenile in the juvenile justice system after release.Haghighi and Lopez found that 62.5% of the juveniles were rated as successful. The rest either failed...
