Aggression Replacement Training (ART) in Australia: A Longitudinal Youth Justice Evaluation

Abstract

This article describes the findings from a two-year longitudinal evaluation of Aggression Replacement Training (ART) in an Australian youth justice custodial setting. Twenty aggressive juvenile offenders (M = 19.6; SD = .60) were assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment, six-month, and 24-month follow-up. As predicted, participants reported significant reductions in aggressive behaviours and thoughts, cognitive distortions, and impulsivity and some improvement in social problem-solving skills at treatment-end. These treatment effects were maintained at the two-year follow-up. Contrary to expectations, worker ratings of participant's aggressive/antisocial behaviours did not show significant reduction at the six-month follow-up. This measure had not previously been used in a correctional setting and the workers may have been unreliable respondents due to their lack of knowledge of the ART participants. Despite efforts, a waitlist comparison group was not obtained. Further investigation with a control comparison and a reliable non-self-report informant is required. However, the results suggest initial support for the cultural and age-related applicability of ART and its social learning procedures for this group of moderate-to-high-risk young-adult offenders.