The purpose of this study was to understand how offender age impacted residential substance abuse treatment (RSAT) program success in reducing rates of recidivism for offenders exiting the judicial system. Despite passing legislation in the 1980s and 1990s, which increased the penalties for certain crimes, offender recidivism remains high, with no apparent drop in the number of incarcerations and re-incarcerations, resulting in high costs and threats to the safety and quality of life experienced within communities. Social learning theory, behavioral decision theory, and biologically based theories of behavior were the theoretical foundations. Archival data collected from a RSAT grant program at between January 1, 1999 and June 6, 2001 were examined. Data related to participant scores on the Level of Service Inventory Revised (LSI-R), acquired prior to program placement and upon program completion, were compared with the number of incarcerations before and after program completion; charges for convictions already decided and/or pending convictions, age at admission(s) and age at the time of the offender's first offense, and types of offenses (domestic or sexual) committed were explored in a factor analysis. Negative correlations identified included: sex offenders and their age at admission and between LSI-R scores and completing the RSAT program. Positive correlations identified included: new convictions and completing the RSAT program, age at admission to program and age of first offense, and date of first offense and sex offender variables. Implications for positive social change include reduced rates of recidivism among offenders with substance abuse problems.

Despite research evidence that social context and personal characteristics are related to girls' violent behavior, little is known about the relative contribution of such antecedents. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the relative strength of predictors of school violence among a sample of middle school girls. Of special interest were the intervening variables, because knowledge of their relative strength could enable schools to design targeted interventions to reduce school violence. Social learning theory formed the theoretical foundation for the study. A four-part survey consisting of sociodemographic items, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, an amended version of the Attitudes Toward Violence Scale, and the School Violence Inventory (used to assess engagement in offenses that could result in school suspension) was administered to 229 girls enrolled in a middle school in a southern U.S. state. Data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regressions in which intervenable variables were entered first as a block, followed by nonintervenable variables. The results indicated that the predictors of school violence (from strongest to weakest) were observation of school violence, gang membership, favorable attitude toward violence, school suspension, grade level, and drug use. This finding suggests that female middle school students may be learning to behave violently by observing others engaged in such behavior at school and through the influence of gangs. Implications for positive social change are that the results could be used by educators and other school officials develop specific interventions that more effective target known predictors of school violence among middle school girls (for example, increased student monitoring, after-school programming, and guided classroom discussions on the nature of violence and its motivations).