The effect of environment on the behavior of youthful offenders: A randomized experiment

✍ Scribed by Todd A Armstrong

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 100 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0047-2352
• DOI: 10.1016/s0047-2352(01)00119-2

✦ Synopsis

This study was conducted in a county jail in Maryland. It used a randomized experimental design to test the effect of environmental change enacted to decrease disciplinary violations among youthful offenders (N = 256). Subjects, ranging in age from fifteen to twenty-two, were randomized into treatment and control groups. Those randomized into the treatment group resided in the Youthful Offender Unit (YOU). Subjects assigned to the control group resided in the general population. In the YOU inmates were exposed to a number of potentially therapeutic activities that provided many opportunities for personal development and advancement. Adjustment was quantified using the frequency and prevalence of disciplinary violations. Treatment and control groups were not significantly different with regard to disciplinary violations. Increasing amounts of time in program were, however, associated with significant decreases in disciplinary violations.