Thesis (MEd)--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the Internet.

The increased incidence of children committing crime and the realisation that the existing legislature dealing with offenders failed to cater for the rights and needs of child offenders gave rise to the introduction of the Child Justice Act 75 of 2008. This Act enables the South African criminal justice system to deal with children in a manner appropriate to their developmental stage. One of the initiatives introduced by the Act is termed ‘diversion’, where children are diverted from the criminal justice system into restorative developmental programmes, offered by organisations such as NICRO (National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders). Their parents or guardians are tasked with the responsibility of monitoring their compliance with the diversion order in terms of Section 24(5) of the aforementioned Act. The monitoring responsibility assigned to the parents of diverted adolescents prompted the research question and aim of this study, namely to explore parents’ experiences in monitoring their adolescents’ compliance with diversion orders and to identify service needs in supporting parents in fulfilling their role as stipulated in the Act. This was a qualitative study that was exploratory-descriptive and contextual in nature. A non-probability purposive sampling technique was employed to identify the parents or guardians of adolescents aged 14 to 17 years that had been diverted to NICRO between June 2011 and June 2012. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with the selected parents, and the data collected was analysed using thematic data analysis. The trustworthiness of the research process and the findings was enhanced by employing a variety of data verification strategies. This research contributes to a greater understanding of parents’ monitoring experiences of their adolescents’ compliance with diversion orders. The study revealed that most parents experienced their role as an additional responsibility; they needed access to counseling and information on the child justice process.

The social problem of juvenile delinquency and treatment efforts to alleviate this problem are introduced in this study. Literature related to theories on delinquency, institutional treatment, the role of recreation in correctional settings, and leisure education is reviewed and summarized. A basis for a leisure theory on delinquency is presented, suggesting delinquent behaviors are socially unacceptable leisure pursuits. Implications include efforts to replace delinquent behaviors with socially acceptable leisure pursuits (i.e. recreation).

No description available.

Mentally ill juveniles who are incarcerated in correctional facilities receive minimal or no treatment services. The research in this thesis determines that mentally ill juvenile offenders receive inadequate treatment. It also determined that juvenile correctional officers as well as others in the criminal justice system are not trained properly to deal with mentally ill juveniles.

This research developed from our interest in juvenile delinquency. We wished to examine how youth workers think about the causes of delinquency, the structure of delinquency programs, and their own role as workers. These perceptions will be examined by looking at workers' responses to statements dealing with 1) juvenile delinquency causation, 2) programs for treatment and prevention, and 3) the role of the worker. The responses will be examined in the light of a theoretical framework reflecting the continuum between theories and programs based on individual causation and those emphasizing societal factors.

This research practicum is an outcome study of the Specialized Out-of-Home Care project (S.O.H.C.). The project, administered by the Oregon Children's Services Division, was designed to provide alternative care resources to specifically meet the needs of Portland's juvenile target offenders, who required out-of-home care. The juvenile offenders accepted into the S.O.H.C. project were between the ages of ten to eighteen, and had been adjudicated for target ctimes. The S.O.H.C. project was federally funded for a twenty-nine month period beginning on May 1, 1974 and extends through September of 1976. This study will include only the clients referred and placed during a one-year period, from July 1, 1974 to June 31, 1975. Additional "up-date" information was collected in October of 1975. A variety of alternative care resources were utilized as placements for the client population. Clients were placed in foster families, group homes, day-care settings and residential centers. This practicum was undertaken as a cooperative effort by four M.S.W. students, of Portland State University's School of Social Work, working conjointly with the S.O.H.C.'s project staff in the over-all evaluation of the project. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact that services provided by the S.O.H.C. project have had on the target population of juvenile offenders.

If correctional institutions are to function according to established criteria, that is, to “correct” the deviant behavior of juvenile delinquents, then one obvious requirement is to have continuous contact with that individual over a period of time. This research project is one attempt to study runaways from the juvenile delinquent girls institution. This study specifically focuses on what factors influence a girl to run away and what factors encourage her to stay at Villa St. Rose. Both researchers discovered in working at Villa St. Rose that one the biggest obstacles for the treatment program was the number of runaways that occurred. As a treatment facility having female adolescents in their care, runaways were demoralizing to the staff and debilitating to treatment.

The basic purpose of this study was to investigate if placement in a cottage designated solely for juveniles involved in vocational training significantly improved the institutional adjustment and recidivism rate of institutionalized male juvenile delinquents. An additional purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of an involvement in a vocational training program on institutional and post release adjustment of institutionalized juvenile delinquents. Statistical analysis of the data supported the basic hypothesis that subjects who were involved in the vocational training, regardless of cottage placement, would adjust better to the institution. The two groups of vocational subjects had fewer admissions to the Discipline Cottage and a greater frequency of achievement of privilege-level status than did the group of subjects who did not receive vocational training. The hypothesis that vocational subjects who were housed in a separate cottage would adjust better to the institution than would the vocational subjects who were housed in the regular cottages was also supported. The vocational subjects who were housed separately had fewer escapes, fewer admissions to the Discipline Cottage, and a greater frequency of attainment of privilege-level status than either of the other two groups. The analysis also supported the hypothesis that recidivism rates would not be differentially affected by an involvement in the vocational program, regardless of the cottage placement.

The present investigation was designed to increase the moral judgment and simultaneous role-taking skills of institutionalized male juvenile delinquents and investigated possible effects of affect on the subjects' responses to treatment.