NCJ Number
136858
Date Published
Unknown
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study hypothesized that basic philosophical approaches to handling status offenders, as embodied in State legislation, would be reflected in service delivery at the local level.
Abstract
Data were obtained from the largest city in each State about agencies and youth they served. An indepth phone and mail questionnaire targeted agencies that reported providing services during 1987 to at least some youth engaged in status conduct. Of 245 agencies included in the analysis, 66 represented two deterrence sites, 77 two treatment sites, and 102 three normalization sites. The deterrence rationale offers a sharp contrast to both normalization and treatment ideologies by its emphasis on punishment as a principal instrument for behavioral change. The treatment perspective approaches status offenders as youth in need of help and argues that some institutional controls have therapeutic value and may be needed to deliver necessary treatment services such as psychological counseling. The normalization rationale urges minimizing institutional responses to status offenders. Very few statistically significant differences between sites exhibiting the three rationales were observed. The premise that legislative strategies for dealing with status offenses filter down to the community level and translate into practices and organizational contexts was not supported by the data. It was determined that intervention in the service delivery system for status offenders should focus on the nature of organizations that provide services at the community level rather than on legislative change. 3 tables