Peer Group Influences in Correctional Programs

Peer Group Influences in Correctional Programs
Author: LaMar Taylor Empey
Publisher:
Total Pages: 70
Release: 1967
Genre: Correctional psychology
ISBN:

This report looks at the nature of peer groups, their influence on the individual in his transition to deviant behavior, and their continuing effect upon him within the prison. The author likens a subculture of delinquency to a game with an elaborate set of rules. A fundamental problem in understanding and dealing with crime is inadequate knowledge of the games being played. In prison, the inmate code is rigid and authoritarian. The members are at the bottom of the caste system and cannot tolerate the slightest breach of social solidarity. The author suggests that treatment should recognize the intrinsic nature of an offender's membership in the inmate system and direct its efforts to him as a member of that system and not as a social atom. This would involve group problem sharing and solving as a means of building a legitimately oriented subgroup within the prison. The author recommends guided group interaction to concentrate, not on the past, but on the here-and-now. This approach uses present conflict and the doubts and fears the inmate may have about his criminal behavior to disturb the status quo and discover alternate behavior and alternate group structures.

Peer Group Influences in Correctional Programs

Peer Group Influences in Correctional Programs
Author: LaMar Taylor Empey
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1967
Genre: Corrections
ISBN:

This report looks at the nature of peer groups, their influence on the individual in his transition to deviant behavior, and their continuing effect upon him within the prison. The author likens a subculture of delinquency to a game with an elaborate set of rules. A fundamental problem in understanding and dealing with crime is inadequate knowledge of the games being played. In prison, the inmate code is rigid and authoritarian. The members are at the bottom of the caste system and cannot tolerate the slightest breach of social solidarity. The author suggests that treatment should recognize the intrinsic nature of an offender's membership in the inmate system and direct its efforts to him as a member of that system and not as a social atom. This would involve group problem sharing and solving as a means of building a legitimately oriented subgroup within the prison. The author recommends guided group interaction to concentrate, not on the past, but on the here-and-now. This approach uses present conflict and the doubts and fears the inmate may have about his criminal behavior to disturb the status quo and discover alternate behavior and alternate group structures.

Personality and Peer Influence in Juvenile Corrections

Personality and Peer Influence in Juvenile Corrections
Author: Martin Gold
Publisher: Praeger
Total Pages: 264
Release: 1992-09-17
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN:

This is an innovative study of 300 delinquent boys in a medium security institution and after their release. This longitudinal field experiment shows how peers affect the rehabilitation of different group members, how staff use those influences to lead to prosocial change after release from the institution, and how different behavior, values, and feelings improved. This well-designed research has broad implications for use in graduate courses in sociology, criminology and penology, social and personality psychology, and group dynamics. The book is equally useful to administrators and policymakers dealing with delinquents and individuals with behavior problems. The field experiment was devised with both practical and theoretical purposes in mind, to develop corrective programs for delinquent youth and to test social science hypotheses in the context of a longitudinal experimental research design. The study presents a typology of delinquent boys that guides differential treatment, focuses on peer group and staff influences, and identifies factors in residential treatment and in the open community that facilitate prosocial reentry. The findings test hypotheses about group and staff impact on anti-social behavior within the institution and after release.

Deviant Peer Influences in Programs for Youth

Deviant Peer Influences in Programs for Youth
Author: Kenneth A. Dodge
Publisher: Guilford Press
Total Pages: 479
Release: 2007-06-01
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1593855877

Most interventions for at-risk youth are group based. Yet, research indicates that young people often learn to become deviant by interacting with deviant peers. In this important volume, leading intervention and prevention experts from psychology, education, criminology, and related fields analyze how, and to what extent, programs that aggregate deviant youth actually promote problem behavior. A wealth of evidence is reviewed on deviant peer influences in such settings as therapy groups, alternative schools, boot camps, group homes, and juvenile justice facilities. Specific suggestions are offered for improving existing services, and promising alternative approaches are explored.

Library Book Catalog

Library Book Catalog
Author: National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. Office of Technology Transfer
Publisher:
Total Pages: 184
Release: 1972
Genre: Crime
ISBN: