Participants
The research will be conducted using questionnaires in a medium-security rehabilitation center in California. The sample rehabilitation centers in California would be chosen according to convenience. Considering the time and expense involved in the research, we would select the centers closest to the place of research.
The programs will be evaluated based on both the opinion of the participants of the programs i.e. the juvenile delinquents and the officials who administered the program. Some instruments will be used for evaluation from both samples.
The subjects will be juveniles within the age group of 12 to 18 years who have violated parole or for less serious violations like burglary or breaking and entering. They would be formed in groups of the same number of participants and would go through different programs. The study will take around a year at the correctional centers for completion.
Material
The research will be conducted by administering different questionnaires to the participating groups. The scale of evaluation will be based on Kropp-Verner Scale used to rate educational activities in the short-run and Satisfaction Quotient, which aims to measure the level of satisfaction of the participants towards the activities performed. These two scales have been adopted from Petry (1995). Kropp-Verner scale consists of 20 items ranging from “It was one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had” to “It was a complete waste of time” (Petry, 1995, p. 15). The arrangement of the questionnaire is such that the first 9 questions are positive; the tenth question is neutral, while the last 9 are negative. The participants will be allowed to check as many options as they choose to.
While the program is being conducted, the participants would be asked to rate the tasks and activities in the program on a How I am Doing Scale on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest). This would help the researchers to identify the level of involvement of the participants in the program.
The Satisfaction Quotient will consist of 15 items related to the program ad the activities are undertaken in it. All participants would be asked to rank the tasks on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) in order to represent their feeling of satisfaction towards a particular activity. The data thus, derived from the survey will be added by items and then their summated mean will be used for comparison and to ascertain the general level of satisfaction among the participants. This will be administered after the program is over. This will provide the immediate effect the program had on the participants.
The participants will be tested through an institutional misconduct questionnaire before and after one month of the completion of the program (adopted from Leeman, Gibbs, & Fuller, 1993). Apart from these post-release data on the subjects will be collected from the California juvenile corrections research office. The study will test the effectiveness of the correctional facilities and the programs in reducing recidivism among delinquents.
The staff members will be evaluated based on four items (adopted from Petry, 1995). The items would be: “The things I most like about the program are …”, “How I could improve the program are …”, “Research why I like my job are …”, and “Additional comments”. Apart from these, I have added two more questions: “The activities I feel are best for rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents are …” and “I think the program is successful/not successful in achieving its objective”.
Procedure
First, secondary research will be conducted into the archival materials and data of the juvenile offenders to gather relevant information regarding their demographics, nature of the crime, and punishment. This information will help us to map the participants into different groups.
Second, before the beginning of the program, an institutional misconduct questionnaire will be administered to the participants in order to understand their nature of conduct before they were sent to serve the term.
Third, the survey will be done. The whole procedure of the program will be observed and while the program is in progress, the participants will be asked to answer the How I am Doing questionnaire. After the immediate completion of the program, the participants will be administered two questionnaires i.e. Kropp-Verner and the Satisfaction Quotient questionnaire. This would help us identify the perception of the participants regarding the educational value of the program and the level of satisfaction they derived from it. The staff will also be asked to answer their questionnaire after the program is completed.
Fourth, after one month of the completion of the program, the participants will be asked to answer the institutional misconduct questionnaire. This would show if the participants had indulged in any of the following: if they were involved in any kind of misconduct i.e. If they damaged something, was involved in a fight, engaged in an illegal fight, etc. the scale of measurement would be a Likert five-point scale where 1 indicates never after the completion of the program, 2 indicates 1-3 times, 3 means 4 to 6 times, 4 means 6 to 12 times, and 5 indicates more than 12 times. A comparison of the institutional misconduct questionnaire before and after the program will show the results and effectiveness of the program in reducing recidivism.
Timeline
Limitations
The limitation of the study lies in getting access to the participants throughout the research process. Due to the duration of the research and intermittent gaps in the study, some participants may choose to leave. Further, the reliability of the responses of the participants may limit the scope of the research.
References
Leeman, L. W., Gibbs, J. C., & Fuller, D. (1993). Evaluation of a Multi-Component Group Treatment Program for Juvenile Delinquents. Aggressive Behavior 19, 281-292.
Petry, J. R. (1995). Evaluation of the Synergy Foundation’s Alternative Incarcerated Offender Treatment Program. Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association (pp. 1-37). Biloxi, MS: Mid-South Educational Research Association.