Running head: TERM PAPER

TermPaper
AnikaDavis
WSU
SW3810

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InnerCityAdolescentswhocommitviolentcrimes

StatementoftheProblem
Iaminterestedininnercityadolescentswhocommitviolentcrimes,becauseitisalong
standingproblemtowhichnosolutionsareinthenearfuture.Growingupintheinnercity,Ihave
personallywitnessedmanyofmypeersasanadolescentdieatthehandsofotheradolescents.Iam
nowfortyyearsofageandIamstillseeingthesameproblemswithouryouthasIhavewitnessedfor
asfarbackas26years.Iwasonly13yearsoldwhenIwitnessedmyfirstviolentincident.Itwas
duringmyfirstyearofhighschool,andIwaswalkingtolunchperiodwhensuddenlyaboypulledout
aknife,ranupbehindanotherboyandstartedstabbinghim.Iwasdevastated,neverhavingseenany
violenceofthatsortprior.Duringmysophomoreyearofhighschool,afriendthatIgrewupwithwas
shotandkilledintheparkinglotofDetroitsMurrayWrighthighschoolbyafreshmanstudent.Inthe
summerofthatsameyear,aneighborhoodfriendwasfounddumpedinthebedofhismotherspickup
truckshotandkilled.Later,itwasdiscoveredthattheperpetratorswerefriendsofhisfromhisold
neighborhood.BythetimeIwas16yearsold,itwasnobigdealtohearofafriendbeingkilledby
anotherkid.Aftergraduatinghighschoolin1989,myownbrothertooktogunviolenceandshottwo
boys,hewas19.Ourfamilywasthankfulthattheirinjurieswerenotserious.Mybrotherserved
seventeenandahalfyearsinprisonforhiscrime.Hewasreleasedfromprisonat37yearsoldwithno
rehabilitationprogramtoassistwithhisreentrytomainstreamsociety.Movingahead,thispast
Augustmy63yearoldfather,wasbrutallyshotandkilledwhilewaitingforabusinDetroit.The
perpetratorswerethreeDetroitboysaged14,18and19yearsold.
Iamparticularlyinterestedinthisproblembecausetheperpetualviolentactivityofoururban
areayouthhaspersonallyhadanimpactonmyfamilyonmanyoccasions.Iwouldliketolearnwhat,

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ifanything,isbeingdonetosolvethisproblem.Iamhopingtofindeffectiveprogramsorpoliciesthat
havebeenimplementedtoassistthispopulationinfindingotherwaystocopewiththeirenvironment.
ResearchDesign
Theresearchdesignusedinmystudyisaclassicexperimentaldesign,alsocalledapretest
posttestcontrolgroupdesign.Therewasarandomassignmenttoconditionsanda4yearfollowupfor
rearrests,tocomparetheeffectivenessofmultisystemictherapy(MST)versusindividualtherapy(IT).
Latertherewasanotherfollowuptomeasurethesuccessapproximately13.7yearsafterparticipation.
TheexperimentalgroupreceivedtheMSTandthecontrolgroupreceivedtheIT.
ThisexperimentaldesigncontrolledforinternalvaliditybecauseiftheMSTgrouphad
improvedduetomaturation,historyorpassageoftimethentheITgroupsimprovementshouldbe
similar.Externalvaliditywasalsocontrolledformeasurementbiasbecausetheyusedblindraters.
Researchstaffandstatepoliceemployeesgatheringthedatawereunawareofwhichtreatmentanyof
theparticipantsreceivedsotheywouldhavebeenunabletoalterfindingstosupportonetherapyorthe
other.
Sampling
Thestudysamplewas176wasseriousandviolentjuvenileoffenderswhowereathighriskfor
recommittingseriouscrimes.AccordingtothearticleLongTermFollowUptoaRandomized
ClinicalTrialofMultisystemicTherapywithSeriousandViolentJuvenileOffenders,thepopulation
theresearchersaimedtogeneralizewasseriousandviolentjuvenileoffenderswhohadbeenarrestedat
leasttwiceandwerehighlylikelytoreoffendbycommittingseriouscrimes.Tofurthernarrowthis
populationtheresearchersaimedforadolescentswhocurrentlylivedwithatleastoneparentfigureand
showednoevidenceofpsychosisordementia.Thesamplewasselectedbyusingadolescentoffenders
andtheirfamilieswhohadbeenreferredconsecutivelytotheMissouriDelinquencyProjectbyjuvenile

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courtpersonnel(Borduin&Schaeffer,2005).ThesamplingframeforthiswastheMissouri

DelinquencyProjectlistthatincludedadolescentoffenderswhowereconsecutivelyreferredtothe
projectbetweenJuly1983andOctoberof1986.Participantswereassignedtotheirtreatmentgroups
bysimplerandomassignmentusingacointossperformedbyacourtadministrator.
Measurement
Thereweremanydifferentvariablesinthisstudybutthekeydependentvariableswerethe
numberofposttreatmentarrest,confinementdays,andprobationdays.Thekeyindependentvariables
werethemultisystemictherapyandtheindividualtherapy.Therewerealsomoderatingvariablesthat
includedage,socioeconomicstatus,andpretreatmentarrests.Thedependentvariablesweremeasured
byrecordingdatesofalljuvenileandadultarresttoensurethatarrestinformationwasnotduplicated.
Onlysubstantiatedarrestsforindexoffenseswereincludedinthedataset(i.e.chargesthatwere
dismissedattrialwereexcluded).Eacharrestwascodedashavingtakenplaceduringthefollowup
periodifitoccurredafterthedateoftheposttreatmentassessmentorafterthedateofterminationfrom
MSTorIT.Inaddition,eacharrestwasclassifiedaseitheranonviolent,violent,drugrelated,orother
offense.Thesecategoriesweremutuallyexclusive.Juvenileandadultarrestdatawerecombinedin
analysestoprovideacompleterecordofallarrestsduringthefollowupperiod.Informationabout
punitivesentencingwasalsoobtainedforeachadultoffense.Differencesinthelengthofparticipants
followupperiodswerecontrolledforinallanalyses(Borduin&Schaeffer,2005).Tobitregression
analyseswereusedtoexaminedifferencesbetweengroupsonthemeasureofthenumberofpost
treatmentarrests,adultincarcerationdays,andadultprobationdaysduringthefollowupperiodamong
youthsintheMSTandITgroups.
DataCollection

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Anexaminationofavailablerecordswasthedatacollectionmethodused.Therecords

examinedwerethecriminaladultandjuvenilearrestrecordsoftheparticipants.Thesejuvenilerecords
wereobtainedannually,byresearchassistants,fromJuvenileofficerecords.Juvenilearrestrecords
werereviewedthroughtheir18thbirthday.Theresearchassistantswereunawareofwhichtreatment
anyoftheparticipantsreceived.Astatepoliceemployeewhowasalsounawareofthetreatmentthe
participantsreceivedobtainedadultarrestrecordsfromacomputerdatabase.
Thisformofdatacollectionwasreliablebecausetheywouldreceivethesameinformationno
matterhowmanytimestheyexaminedtherecords.Theyshouldconsistentlycometothesame
conclusionofthenumberofposttreatmentarrests,confinementdaysandprobationdays.Themethod
mightnotbevalidiftheparticipanthadcommittedadditionalcrimesbutwasnotcaught.Another
reasontoquestionthestrengthofthiscollectionmethodisifaparticipantwascaughtcommittinga
crimebutpleadguiltytoalesserchargethatwasnotassevereorwaswronglyacquittedofthecharges.
Strengthsofthiscollectionstrategyarethatitisnotsubjectivetotheparticipantswillingnesstotellthe
truthorbiasedreporting.Itisalsomorecosteffectivethandirectobservationorselfreports(Babbie&
Rubin,2013,p.92).
Analternativedatacollectionstrategycouldbequestionnaireswithcontingencyquestions
askingparticipantsandtheirclosefamilymembersorparentsinformationregardingtheparticipants
posttreatmentarrests,confinementdays,andprobationdays.Theparticipantsandparentscouldhave
beenaskedtokeeptrackoffutureinformationduringtheinitialstudy.Thiscouldsignificantly
influencethefindingsbecauseofpoorrecordkeepingonthepartoffamilyandparticipants,poor
memory,orwillingnesstoanswertruthfully.Thismethodwouldprobablynotbereliableorvalid.
EthicsandCulturalConsiderations

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Ididnotidentifyanyculturalorethicalissueswiththestudy.TheonlyethicalissuethatIsee
couldhavearisenwasthejuvenilecriminalrecords,whicharenormallysealedandinaccessible,but
thiswascontrolledbyobtainingpriorconsentoftheparticipantsandtheirparentsorparenttoobtain
therecordsforthestudyandfollowupperiod.Thestudyshouldhaveguaranteedtheparticipants
confidentialitybecauseofthejuvenilestatusoftheparticipantsatthestartofthestudy.Thestudydid
notmentionanyconfidentialityoranonymityassurances,whichshouldbeaddressed.
Therecouldhavebeenanissueofculturalcompetenceifthetherapistwhoimplementedthetreatments
werenotculturallycompetent.
ResultsandImplications
AccordingtotheLongTermFollowuparticle,thestudyfoundthatat13.7yearsoffollowup,
theoverallrecidivismratefortheMSTgroupwassignificantlylowerthantheoverallratefortheIT
group.TheMSTgroupreoffenderratewas50percentandtheITgroupratewas81percent.Youths
intheITgroupwere4.25timesmorelikelythanyouthsintheMSTgrouptoberearrestedduringthe
followupperiod.GroupsintheITconditionwere2.57timesmorelikelytohaveanarrestfora
violentoffense,2.63timesmorelikelytohaveanarrestforanonviolentoffense,and3.33timesmore
likelytohaveanarrestforadrugoffense(Borduin&Schaeffer,2005).
ThesefindingsarepromisingbecausetheyallowthecausalinferencethatMSTiseffective,in
factmoreeffectivethanITforlongtermpreventionofcriminalbehaviorinadolescents.Althoughthe
resultsofthestudyarepromising,challengesmayariseintheeffectiveimplementationofthe
treatment.Challengesincludegettingarepresentativepopulationtoagreetoparticipate,makingthe
treatmenteasilyaccessible,andfunding.Fundingcouldbeahugeproblembecauseofthelackof
interestinrehabilitationofoffendersasopposedtopunishment.

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References
Babbie,E.,&Rubin,A.(2013).Essentialresearchmethodsforsocialwork.Belmont,CA:
Brooks/Cole,CengageLearning.
Borduin,C.,&Schaeffer,C.M.(2005).Longtermfollowuptoarandomizedclinicaltrialof
multisystemictherapywithseriousandviolentjuvenileoffenders.JournalofConsultingand
ClinicalPsychology,73(3),445452

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