Abstract
Southfields, a Kentucky replication of Highfields, a New Jersey program for the treatment of delinquents, was evaluated annual ly for four successive years to determine whether the Highfields program could be effectively applied in another, widely different part of the country. Recidivism rates for 191 boys admitted to Southfields during that period were compared with rates for two similar groups, one put on probation and the other sent to Ken tucky Village, a correctional institution. Boys were assigned to treatment on the basis of the court's judgment but the study at tempted to match groups on major variables. Recidivism rates were also compared with Highfields recidivism rates. Statistical tests showed that South fields obtained results similar to, if not better than, Highfields' and better than Kentucky Village's. How ever, the success of the probation group was on a par with the Southfields graduate group. Psychometric measures were unable to specify either which boys would complete the South fields pro gram or which would resume delinquent behavior once released from the institution. All evidence suggests that South fields works as both a screening and a remedial procedure, helping some boys while screening out others either for return to the community or for further custodial care. Critical incident observations indicate that the treatment process is too complex for current measures of personality to be effective in predicting which candidate will successfully complete the Southfields program. The study con cluded that Southfields should be the second stage in a three- step remedial program, probation being the first and the state correctional institution the third.
Published Version
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