Intrapsychic measurements in determining the effectiveness of treating juvenile offenders in a county correctional facility

Fueled by the existing political climate of the late 1980s, there was a rediscovery in corrections of the integration of the military model. Since that time there have been debates about the effectiveness of the boot camp. Although debates about boot camps have varied from the ethics to economics, the majority of the focus of the debates and research has been on whether boot camps can effectively reduce criminal behavior. Most frequently, research has relied on recidivism rates as a measurement of the effectiveness in reducing crime, yet there are some serious concerns about the limitations of utilizing recidivism for this goal. More recent research has moved beyond recidivism measurements and attempted to measure positive changes in criminality by examining criminal perceptions, attitudes, and other intrapsychic measures.;The present study attempted to measure changes in offenders' attitudes as a result of being exposed to the highly structured atmosphere of a boot camp. Juvenile offenders sentenced to a county correctional facility that utilizes the military model as the principal structure of its treatment milieu were administered a questionnaire designed to measure attitudes theoretically indicated in the formation and maintenance of delinquent coping responses. The 100-item questionnaire was administered in a pretest-posttest design to measure the degree of attitudinal changes in probationers as attributed to their participation in a county probation boot camp. Unfortunately, due to budgetary issues the juvenile boot camp program closed before data gathering was completed, seriously limiting the power of data analysis and the conclusions reached. The findings, although limited, do reveal that participation in a county level juvenile correctional facility did not result in significant, positive differences in juveniles' attitudes. Suggestions for future research include measures of change above and beyond recidivism rates, a theoretical rationale for what measures of change are utilized, and the use of a randomized sample as a control group.