The research literature suggests that adolescents placed in residential programs due to their delinquent behavior are at high risk for drug and alcohol use and abuse. Research is rare, however, on the effects of residential delinquency-treatment programs on drug- and alcohol-related behaviors. This study examined the comparative effects of community-based, group-home, delinquency-treatment programs in Kansas on participants' self-report measures of drug and alcohol use and abuse, and of some prosocial behaviors. The results indicated that youths (n = 82) participating in group homes using the broadly disseminated Teaching-Family approach had better during-treatment outcomes than youths (n = 103) participating in a set of comparison group homes. Corroboratively, a sample of Teaching-Family youths (n = 28) also had better during-treatment outcomes than a matched no-treatment comparison group of their friends (n = 28), while, in contrast, a sample of youths (n = 33) in the comparison group homes did not differ on during-treatment measures from a matched no-treatment comparison group of their friends (n = 33). In the post-treatment year, however, no outcome difference was evident for any of the comparisons. Regression analyses were conducted to attempt to account for variation in the during treatment drug use and prosocial behavior measures. Significant regression coefficients were found for some measures of treatment process and for measures of youths' pretreatment behavior. In a second set of regression equations, the process and pretreatment measures were less effective in accounting for variance in posttreatment outcomes. The limitations of the research and its implications for the treatment and prevention of drug and alcohol use and abuse in group-home delinquency-treatment programs are discussed.

Interactions between the youths and group home parents in 10 group homes were directly observed during a 2-hour session in each home. These observations were compared to questionnaire measures of the youths' self-reported delinquency while in the group home, and their evaluation of the group home program. The results indicated that over the 10 homes there was a strong inverse correlation between mean self-reported delinquency and the average amount of time youths spent taking to (rs = -.95) and in proximity to (rs = -.81) their group home parents. Talking to group home parents also showed a positive correlation with the youths' evaluation of their group home program. Similar trends were found when the correlations were computed over individual youths, although the magnitudes were reduced. These data may have implications for our understanding of the relationship between parenting behaviors and delinquency, as well as for the improvement of group-home treatment programs.

Evaluations of community-based programs for delinquents have usually addressed differential outcomes or cost-efficiency, but generally ignored the treatment environments themselves. Yet milieu characteristics are important in assessing treatment quality. The present research examined several environmental dimensions in 11 group home programs. Teaching-Family programs scored significantly higher on observational and self-report measures of staff-youth relationships and interactions, staff teaching activities and disapproval of deviance, the family-likeness and pleasantness of the program atmosphere, and the extent of prosocial behavior displayed by the participants. Several of the measures were significantly negatively correlated with self-reported delinquency. The results suggest that, contrary to some stereotypes, behavioral programs can be pleasant, positive, and familylike while offering structured treatment.

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