(a) Teenagers who trust themselves and their ability to contribute to others, and who have learned to rely on others socially and emotionally are least likely to be involved in irresponsible sexual activity. (b) Teenagers who have learned to be comfortable in their appropriate sex roles (boys who like being boys and wish to be men, and girls who like being girls and wish to be women) are least likely to be involved in activities leading to indiscriminate sexuality. (c) Both boys and girls have a need to discuss serious problems with adults who they feel can be helpful-that is to say, trusted. (d) Behavior in children is consistent with that of their parents. (e) In homes where standards of individual behavior are clearly understood and the authority sustaining them is consistent, there are fewest violations of standards. In New York City, ASHA is conducting still a fourth study of young people under 20 who have been referred to New York City venereal disease clinics for diagnosis and/or treatment. This study hopes to describe its subjects, their behavior, their relationship with peer groups, institutions, and family, in such manner as to make possible improved venereal disease education and epidemiology. Its results are expected to be available to the White House Conference on Children and Youth in March of 1960. ASHA's support of this legislation is based primarily on these considerations: 1. There is need for the programs it proposes. Our studies and our investigations all reveal facets of the problem, but we cannot report a program to deal with it adequately. 2. While the program leadership will be governmental, the policymaking leadership will be drawn largely from nongovernmental organizations with both program and research interests in programs directed toward the control of delinquency. This makes for a competent operation under the guidance of widely representative and nonofficial but highly professional policy leadership. 3. That the grants will be largely for demonstration and development purposes. We do not think that grants under the legislation proposed should be available for the support of continuing delinquency control programs. We think rather that they should be for the purpose of demonstrating program possibilities in communities where existing official or nonofficial agencies can be expected to utilize the demonstration in the development of their own continuing programs. THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK, Hon. LISTER HILL, Ann Arbor, Mich., June 3, 1959. DEAR SENATOR HILL: I enclose herewith two copies of a preliminary report on "Some Possible Research and Demonstration Projects in the Field of Juvenile Delinquency." I trust you may find it of use in connection with your juvenile delinquency bill. With best personal wishes. WILBUR J. COHEN, Professor of Public Welfare Administration. SOME POSSIBLE RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS IN the Field of JUVENILE DELINQUENCY (The University of Michigan Subcommittee on Income Maintenance and Social Security of the Coordinating Committee on Social Welfare Research) INTRODUCTION The Subcommittee on Income Maintenance and Social Security of the Coordinating Committee on Social Welfare Research has as one of its functions the identification and stimulation of needed research in its broad area of interest. The need for research in the area of juvenile delinquency is evidenced by public concern about this problem as well as by the analysis of experts in the field. It seems relevant to cite at this point a recent finding from a study undertaken by the Survey Research Center. In a nationwide survey, a cross section of the public was asked: "Suppose that money was available for only one of the following projects. Which one would you be most likely to favor? (a) Putting the first man on the moon; (b) a program for new medical research; (c) basic research in the sciences like chemistry and physics; or (d) new approaches to juvenile de linquency. While the majority of those interviewed selected medical research as having top priority, 32 percent of the population said that they would favor spending the money for juvenile delinquency projects, rather than the other three alternatives. Women showed a greater interest in juvenile delinquency than did men. A total of 37 percent of the women who were interviewed favored Juvenile delinquency projects; 27 percent of the men selected this alternative. The fact that approximately one-third of all persons gave top priority to seeking new approaches to juvenile delinquency suggests that there is widespread concern about finding solutions to this problem. Research in the field of juvenile delinquency is related to several aspects of social welfare research. Moreover, since pending Federal legislation in the field of juvenile delinquency for research, training and demonstration projects. in many cases places responsibility for the administration of such legislation and funds in the Children's Bureau of the Social Security Administration, it was thought that it might be desirable for this subcommittee to take the initial responsibility for suggesting some projects which might be undertaken in this area. The research proposals included in this report are necessarily brief and tentative. They do not attempt to cover the entire field of desirable research, projects, but rather represent the interests and thinking of a number of social science researchers in the university. They are intended to be suggestive and indicate areas of multidisciplinary research potentialities. They include research designed to extend the frontiers of knowledge in this area, and research which would put into operation and evaluate programs based on existing knowledge from past research and from experience. Comments, criticisms, and additional or alternative suggestions will be wel comed by the subcommittee. If such suggestions are forthcoming, a revised edition of this report will be circulated. Donna McLeod, of the coordinating committee staff, assisted in preparing this report for publication. WILBUR J. COHEN, Chairman, Subcommittee on Income Maintenance and Social Security. Coordinating Committee on Social Welfare Research, the University of Michigan. I. ANALYSIS OF THE DELINQUENCY CHILD (a) Research on delinquency among adolescent girls Some research exists on delinquency among male adolescents, but very little is found in the literature on girl delinquents. On the other hand, data show that the incidence of girls' delinquency is increasing, and at a faster rate than male delinquency. There is reason to believe, from the scant data on police contacts available, that female adolescent delinquency is quite different from its male counterpart, and its study would require extension psychological and sociological methods. (b) The nature and change of values among adolescents The time of adolescence is frequently a period of readjustment and new ly developed values as the growing individual is forced deeper into the society in which he is going to be an adult member. Conflicting pressures make for conflicting values. The absence or presence of certain pressures soon shows up in an individual's value structure. Thus, values turn out to be a rewarding portion of a person's perspective in which to measure his interaction with society. Research needs to be undertaken which will investigate the following ques tions: Which values are developed by what forces in society? Which ones are most related to delinquency? Which ones tend to predict the form of delinquent behavior that will be followed? How can values be altered? II. ANALYSIS AND PREVENTION OF FAMILY LIFE CONDITIONS RELATED TO DELINQUENCY Research is finally beginning to identify the aspects of family life experience which make the big difference in how children "turn out" when they reach young manhood and womanhood. More research of the following two types is needed: (a) Controlled comparative studies of selected samples of different types of families This would permit getting a better understanding of the differentiating factors that produce the average boy and girl, the deviant boy and girl who become delinquent, and the deviant boy and girl who become outstanding achievers and leaders. The following are examples of some of the factors which have been studied and which hold promise for further future research. (1) The implications of discipline upon family life.-Some previous studies have shown that delinquents are more likely to report that their fathers were disciplinarians rather than their mothers. A study of the research center for group dynamics at the University of Michigan attempted to push this finding further by showing that it was not father discipline itself that was important but the separation of nurturance from punishment functions which enables the child to turn hostility outward against others, rather than inward against the self. However, there are many unsolved questions in this area such as whether the child's perception of disciplinarian conforms to the reality of the situation, what differences are introduced when account is taken of the quantity and quality of the discipline, and how does the situation operate with girls. (2) Power relationships in the family.-A recent study at the research center for group dynamics has shown that parental coerciveness engenders hostility, but whether this hostility is directed in social constructive or nonconstructive ways depends on other variables such as the amount of autonomy the child is granted. In addition, the mother-father power relationship and the identification choice made by the child seem to influence the child's peer group behavior along the dimensions of assertiveness, hostility, and peer group acceptance. (3) The effects of working mothers on the family.-The question of employment by the mother and juvenile delinquency is still unanswered. Just as early studies were too quick to accept a relationship, recent studies appear to be too quick to reject the relationship. There is some evidence, for example, that within the middle class there is an association between juvenile delinquency and employment of the mother. There is also evidence in a study of elementary schoolchildren in Detroit that when the working mother does not try to actively compensate for the fact of her employment by her behavior with the child when she is home, the child exhibits social maladjustments that might at adolescence tie in with antisocial behavior. These are only preliminary findings. A real exploration of this area is needed. (4) Social class and delinquency.-As of today, a fair amount has been written about the relationship between delinquent behavior and the social class position of the delinquent and his family. It would be desirable to test out extensively the accuracy of the hypotheses which have been developed. This might involve examination of the extent to which they hold true; whether there were real differences between children from different backgrounds as to types of delinquent behaviors; whether there were differences between families which are changing occupationally, educationally, and those not changing materially in regard to these factors. (b) Demonstration projects offering experimental parent education experiences and youth services to special samples of families This would enable us to see how much prevention of development of delinquency can be introduced by special education programs. While some agencies are already working with the parents of disturbed youngsters in groups, more agencies need to do so and need the help of professional group workers in order to do it. However, in addition, there is greater need by our social welfare agencies to work with parents who have or expect children in order to help them better manage their children. This type of program would be aimed at preventing delinquency before it occurs among the children in these families rather than waiting until after the fact. Recent findings of comparative research studies could be utilized in education programs. 41638 0-59- -21 III. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT THROUGH SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION (a) Development of group services for the treatment of predelinquents through the high schools There is some evidence that potential delinquents can be identified at the junior high, or entering high school, levels from information routinely available in many school systems. There is further evidence that at such points young adolescents will accept social agency services if offered to them in school related but not school controlled, groups that encourage activities, and discussions of practical and personal problems, under trained leaders from social agencies It is possible in such groups to separate serious from superficial problems and hence, using these groups as the means of getting adolescents involved with trained professional workers, to continue more intensive work with the serious cases. Hence, this approach attacks the problem of delinquency prevention in two ways: (a) by handling problems that point toward deviant behavior directly in the groups before the problems become acute, and (b) by using the groups as bridges for referral of more severe cases to social agencies for intensive treatment before their situations become complicated by overt delinquencies involving police and the courts. A combined research and demonstration project along these lines is now being carried on in New York between the High School for Fashion Industries and the Youth Consultation Service with high school girls. This project includes evaluation of the effectiveness of this approach for interrupting potentially deviant careers. This kind of project might be extended and expanded to other communities, schools, and agencies, and to include boys as well as girls. (b) An experimental work-study program for high school dropouts It is notable that almost all juvenile correctional institutional inmates either dropped out of school, were retarded, or had other serious academic problems. For the high school dropout, the original maladjustment is further complicated Having taken this step, he has isolated himself from the members of his peer group who are following socially accepted patterns, and has placed himself in a position where there is little opportunity for obtaining satisfying employment. or for adult guidance in planning a personally satisfactory and socially acceptable life for himself. It is possible that a program of vocational testing, counseling, and work placement with inservice training and supervision for high school dropouts would improve social adjustment and cut down the number of high school drop outs who wind up in correctional institutions. Such a program could utilize existing governmental agencies, primarily at the county level. An experimental project which would test this hypothesis might involve a large sample of high school dropouts who would be exposed to such a program and a comparable sample who would not, and would evaluate the social adjustment of both groups at the end of 2 or 3 years. (c) Extension and evaluation of work with delinquent gangs Many group work agencies have begun to send professional workers into the community to work with delinquent gangs. The purpose of such work is to help members of these gangs to channel the energy used in delinquent activities into more constructive areas for healthier social adjustment. A number of our large cities, such as New York and Detroit, have limited programs of this type in operation. Where such programs already exist, financial aid is sorely needed to extend these services in order to make a real impact on the community. Some larger communities have no such program and need help in starting them. A recent report indicates that delinquency is rising in middle-sized and smallersized cities, and this type of program is needed there also. Finally, financial aid is of great importance in the evaluation of the usefulness of such services in order to improve them. It is suggested that group observation laboratory methods could be taken int the field and applied to more or less organized groups of nondelinquent and delinquent youths in an effort to compare their activities, group structures, and norms. At the same time the observation phase can be seen as the initial acquaintance phase of detached worker intervention into delinquent life patterns. Data collected on delinquent gangs during the first phase could be compared both to data collected on nondelinquent control groups to discover differences in life patterns, and to data on the same groups after the worker as engaged in intervention and redirection of efforts. This would enable an objective determination of differences which may underly delinquent and nondelinquent group behavior as well as an evaluation of the effectiveness of the detached worker in changing gang behavior. (d) Establishment of a laboratory summer camp Camps are becoming more and more a tool in social agency practice. Research is badly needed on specific camping problems such as counselor selection, program, and camp organization. In addition, a campsite could become a place for controlled field experiments of group work practice and on group processes in general. IV. TREATMENT THROUGH COURTS AND CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS (a) Construction of a treatment-oriented typology of delinquency At present, information for treatment planning available to most courts is inadequate. There is no sound basis for decisions regarding treatment alternatives and, as a result, decisions are made primarily in relation to the availability of treatment resources, without differentiating which boy or girl needs which type of care. A substantial step forward would be made in the treatment of delinquency through the establishment of a categorization of cases which could be used for a diagnostic-treatment determination. Such a classification system would have to include information on both the individual's psychological makeup and the behavior exhibited. It would provide a sounder basis for treatment planning than currently exists in many courts. Research on this problem would include development of a typology from theoretical and practice knowledge, review of selected records to determine how much of the needed information is now available, and extensive testing of the scheme with a number of cases over a period of several years. (b) The use of outside agencies versus the courts in providing services to probationary delinquents There has been considerable commentary to the effect that it would be preferable if services to children and their families were given by an administrative agency rather than by the juvenile court. Some writers see this as applying in cases of dependency and neglect only; others would extend it to delinquents receiving probationary supervision as well. The argument is, in part, that for the court to investigate a complaint, make a recommendation, make an adjudication on the basis of information furnished by its own staff, and then provide continuing service, is not in the best interests of child or community. Both research and demonstration projects would be possible here. Services could be established outside the court in a community, and the results studied. Another approach would be to study comparable communities in which the services are handled through the courts and through other agencies. (c) The use of group methods in a court setting Delinquent youngsters on probation under court jurisdiction can often use a therapeutic group experience. This could be carried out in various agencies, and sometimes in the courthouse building itself. (d) Evaluation of the court and agency system for placing delinquent youth 'in institutions The project proposed would evaluate the present processes for institutional assignment and movement of youth on a statewide basis. It would exploit much data currently available but used for other purposes. The research would seek knowledge of the channels through which delinquent youth enter the institutional system, the decision patterns and issues in assigning youth among institutions (including psychiatric and correctional), and the subsequent routes of movement between and out of institutions. Such an analysis at the State level has not been accomplished, yet is essential to provide an adequate basis for policy formation. (e) Implementation of recent research findings regarding rehabilitation and treatment in a new juvenile correctional institution An extensive compartive study of correctional institutions is currently under way at the University of Michigan with the purpose of analyzing organizational structure and treatment goals and their relation to the rehabilitation of inmates. In order to maximize the findings of this research, they should be implemented in a new program with particular reference to staff selection, training, institutional organization, and services. The aim would be to maximize institutional effective |