The Prevention of Violent Behavior by Chronic and Serious Male Juvenile Offenders

Abstract

Over the past several decades, an increasing number of youth have been incarcerated for violent offenses. Existing interventions for serious offenders target the prevention of subsequent delinquent behavior in general, rather than the prevention of violent behavior in particular. Within the context of a randomized clinical trial of 79 adolescent males involved in the juvenile justice system, we examine the ability of multidimensional treatment foster care (MTFC) to prevent subsequent violent offending relative to services-as-usual group home care (GC). Data on offending were collected every 6 months for a 2-year period following entry into the study. The method of generalized estimating equations was used to analyze the data. Results indicate that MTFC youth were significantly less likely to commit violent offenses than youth placed in services-as-usual group care. The group effect held even after control variables, including age at placement, age at first arrest, official and self-reported prior offenses, and time since baseline,were introduced into the model. Twenty-four percent of GC youth had two or more criminal referrals for violent offenses in the 2 years following baseline versus only 5% of MTFC youth. The rates of self-reported violent offending for MTFC youth were in the normative range following baseline, whereas rates for GC youth were 4 to 9 times higher. MTFC youth were also significantly less likely to report incidents of common violence, such as hitting.

Emerging Adulthood and Leaving Foster Care: Settings Associated with Mental Health

“…Findings suggest that some youth may benefit from intensive and comprehensive service models, such as Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care, Multisystemic Therapy, or Intensive Case Management-programs that have demonstrated long-term effectiveness with very at-risk adolescent populations that overlap with foster care (Cauce et al 1994;Chamberlain et al 2007;Eddy et al 2004;Henggeler et al 1997). Other youths may gain from a different set of services, including mentoring, tuition assistance, or employment training.…”

Association with Delinquent Peers: Intervention Effects for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

“…In the first trial, Chamberlain found that MTFC boys had significantly lower rates of official and selfreported delinquency in a 12-month follow-up and lower rates of violent offending in a 24-month follow-up than did group care youth (Chamberlain & Reid, 1998;Eddy, Whaley, & Chamberlain, 2004). A second trial began in 1996 to examine the efficacy of MTFC with an adolescent female population.…”

Multidimensional treatment foster care for girls in the juvenile justice system: 2-year follow-up of a randomized clinical trial.

“…Past studies have indicated that MTFC is an effective treatment approach for delinquent boys, producing outcomes superior to GC in terms of arrest and incarceration rates (Chamberlain & Reid, 1998;Eddy, Whaley, & Chamberlain, 2004). In addition, the cost effectiveness of MTFC relative to GC for boys was evaluated in an independent economic evaluation where long-term cost savings to taxpayers was estimated to range from $21,836 to $87,622 per youth (Aos, Phipps, Barnoski, & Leib, 2001).…”