Family therapists have proposed that specific types of family interactions are dysfunctional for the family system and can produce long-term negative effects for the child. They further propose that, for healthy family functioning to be maintained, parental alliances must be sustained and excessive cross-generational coalitions (parent-child alliances) must be blocked. This fundamental assumption, proposed by family therapists, has rarely been empirically tested. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between family interactional patterns and the misconduct of adolescent males. Misconduct by the adolescent was defined by the youth having contact with the police due to delinquent behavior. Specifically, this study was concerned with determining if cross-generational coalitions, witnessed in parent-child interactions, were predictive of later antisocial behavior on the part of the adolescent while controlling for family structure, family problem solving, marital satisfaction, parental conflict, and child externality. Subjects were 68 families consisting of mother, father or stepfather, and son. The first family interaction assessment took place in 1984-1985 when the child was 9.7 years old. The second assessment of family interaction occurred two years later. Follow-up data on the adolescent's delinquent behavior, assessed through county court records, was last collected in 1991 when subjects were 15 to 16 years old. Families were paid for their participation as part of their involvement in a larger study (Capaldi & Patterson, 1987). The results of logistic and multiple regression analyses indicated no association between parent-child coalitions and occurrence or the severity of delinquent behavior. Both analyses did, however, find that family problem-solving skills and a non-intact family structure were significant predictors of later delinquency and of the severity of the delinquency by the adolescent. / Graduation date: 1993

Moral och moralutveckling är ett komplext område som kan vara viktigt att belysa i socialt arbete, då det visat sig att ungdomar med ett normbrytande beteende ofta har en lägre moralnivå än andra ungdomar. Det kan därför hävdas att det finns ett behov av moralfrämjande insatser inom ramen för behandling. Studiens syfte är att undersöka moralutveckling och ställa detta mot behandlingsprogrammet Aggression Replacement Training för att se hur de moralbildande komponenterna är tänkta att främja normbrytande ungdomars moralutveckling. Ett vidare syfte är att undersöka hur moralteorier och ART kan förstås ur ett genusperspektiv. I Studien används scoping samt en riktad innehållsanalys för att tematisera manual, forskning och litteratur. Resultatet visar att ART:s syfte med moralträning är att ungdomar ska ledas framåt i sin moralutveckling och nå en medvetenhet kring ömsesidigt beroende mellan individ och samhälle. Behandlingsutfallet påverkas av en kombination av olika faktorer, inom och utanför behandlingsprogrammets ramar. Det är oklart huruvida det finns ett behov av att anpassa behandling utefter kön, dock kan det hävdas att det utifrån ett genusperspektiv krävs individanpassning. Diskussionen belyser att det kan finnas ett behov av att göra en distinktion mellan moraliskt resonerande och moraliskt handlande, samt så diskuteras genusperspektivets betydelse i relation till könsroller och socialisering. / Morality and moral development are complex topics that may be important to social work, as it has been found that adolescents with antisocial behavior often has a lower moral level than other juveniles. It can therefore be argued that there is a need for moral interventions when different interventions are organized. The purpose of this study is to explore moral development in relation to the treatment program Aggression Replacement Training, how the components in moral skill training are meant to promote moral development in juvenile delinquents. A further aim is to examine how moral theories and ART can be understood from a gender perspective. Methods used in this study are scoping and directed content analysis. The results show that ART:s aim with moral training is to lead juveniles forward in their moral development. A combination of factors, both within and outside the treatment program affects the treatment outcome. Whether there is a need to adjust treatment to sex is unclear, thus it can be argued that there from a gender perspective may exist a need for more personalized treatment. The discussion illuminates a need to make a distinction between moral reasoning and moral action in treatment. Furthermore the discussion considers gender perspective in relation to gender role and socialization.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 240-259). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

Diversion is one of the programmes instituted within the Child Justice System. Its aim is to make punishment more rehabilitative and restorative. Prior to the Child Justice Bill, juvenile offenders were prosecuted under the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA). In the absence of any provision and consideration for children and their context, the CPA proved to be too harsh when prosecuting juvenile offenders. It is within this context that the need for reform of the CPA was sought, a search for procedure which would solely deal with child offenders and which would be more suited to child offenders. In an attempt to explore this process, the present study investigates diversion as a programme designed for dealing with child offenders within the Child Justice System and perspectives of deviance which underlie diversion. Broadly, the focus of the research has been on the following issues: how the probation officers interpret the different criteria from the Child Justice Bill 70 of 2003 and subsequently the Child Justice Bill 70 of 2007 in order to select the most appropriate form of diversion, understanding of the Child Justice System, how this justice system works and what the justice personnel look for when deciding on an appropriate sentence for the juvenile offender. The research was carried out in South Africa, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, in a small town known as Port Shepstone, which is an hour s drive from Durban. It gives an in - depth analysis of diversion by explaining the perceptions and opinions of justice personnel on diversion. The thesis further explored the criteria that are used by the probation officers in assessing the juvenile offender for diversion and the nature of the diversion programme selected. Using a qualitative approach I sought to explore different discursive practices, opinions and perspectives within the Child Justice System and particularly within the diversion programme. In an attempt to gain understanding on the above issues, I conducted open - ended interviews with Child Justice System personnel, probation officers and prosecutors.

The study focuses mainly on the effectiveness of the rehabilitation programmes offered to male juveniles at Westville prison. The study also tries to uncover how the rehabilitation programmes improve the quality of life of the juvenile offenders and how it prepares them for reintegration into the community. A combination of sociological theories has been used interchangeably since they are interrelated. The main theory is symbolic interactionism, including the views of G.H. Mead (1934), W.I.Thomas (1923) and H.S. Becker (1963). Other theories used were differential association by Sutherland (1947); anomie by Merton (1956); subculture by Cohen (1956) and the labeling theory of Schur (1971). Data from prison officials were collected by means of questionnaires and an interview schedule was administered to the juveniles. The results of the findings indicate that rehabilitation programmes offered to male juveniles are effective. The reason being that the number of second time offenders is very small compared to the number of first time offenders. Only six respondents out of 50 were found to be second time offenders. The mam conclusion of the study relates to the effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes. The recommendations of the study focus on communication between prison staff and external agencies. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1999.

Violent behavior is one of the most critical problem facing the world in general and South Africa in particular. The level of violence in our society is of wide concern. Many people are caught in a cycle of violence as victims and/or perpetrators. In the face of such increasing violence, it is crucial for peace educators to focus and teach people nonviolent ways of solving disputes to help contribute to a better awareness of the root causes of conflict from the global to interpersonal level and encourage individual to develop nonviolent behavior. In relation to the issue of reducing violence, I understood that action research provided a suitable methodology for researching the issue of my facilitation of nonviolence and problem solving workshop. It offered that in a way that allowed qualitative data to lead to action in the complexity of the situation. As Seville statement posits, violence is not innate but people are nurtured in violence and gradually become violent. However, one of the goals of peace studies is to nurture a commitment to nonviolent social change. To accomplish this, it was imperative to design a peace education program and apply it in a series of workshop with juvenile offenders. I embraced this education with the objective to build the capacity for nonviolent responses to conflict among a group of juvenile offenders at NICRO-Durban. Training for nonviolence and problem solving promises to develop attitudes and behavior that help people to live in harmony with each other and with self as individual. Through an experiential approach, I sought to train them in the use of creative nonviolent ways of handling situation in which people often resort to violence. Despite the limitation of this self-report method is that it was difficult to prove whether people are answering truthfully and had a realistic awareness of their own behavior. But the evaluation provides evidence that this study was substantially successful in achieving the aims and objectives set out for the research. The immediate out-come of the program was satisfying and the results show that this program is impacting on individual lives. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.