This study had two primary objectives. First, to determine whether William Glasser's Reality Therapy was capable of developing the belief that a group of juvenile delinquents committed to a public residential treatment facility were responsible for their behavior, as measured by Julian B. Rotter's theoretical construct, locus of control (LOC). Second, to determine if these perceptual changes in LOC were associated with changes in delinquent behavior. / A review of the literature examined the viability of the LOC construct, relationship between LOC and crime and delinquency, relationship between LOC, crime and delinquency and psychotherapy, and relationship between LOC and Reality Therapy. / Instruments utilized in this study were: Elliot and Ageton Self-Report Delinquency Scale, arrest data, Children's Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale, Siegel Prestige Scale, Reality Therapy Evaluation Scale, weekly school progress reports, and staff log entries. / Three of the six results were found as hypothesized: (1) Before treatment, controlling for socioeconomic status, the treatment group was significantly more externally oriented than the comparison group. (2) Between the beginning and end of treatment, the treatment group had a significant change in LOC in an internal direction. They were in treatment for an average of four months. (3) There were no significant changes in LOC for the comparison group over an equal time span. / The three results that were not as hypothesized were: (1) There was no relationship found between LOC and in-program behavior. (2) Treatment subjects whose LOC did not move in an internal direction, experienced a significant reduction in delinquent behavior six months after treatment as compared to six months prior to treatment. (3) Treatment subjects whose LOC did not move in an internal direction did not experience a significant reduction in delinquent behavior six months after treatment as compared to six months prior to treatment. / Based on the above results, conclusions and implications for treatment were developed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-04, Section: A, page: 1096. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75567 |
| Contributors | YARISH, PAUL., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 437 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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