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Effects of Social Metacognitive Training for Enhancing Overt Behavior in Learning Disabled and Low Achieving Delinquents

NCJ Number
112049
Journal
Exceptional Children Volume: 54 Issue: 3 Dated: (November 1987) Pages: 201-211
Author(s)
K A Larson; N N Gerber
Date Published
1987
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study examines the efficacy of social metacognitive training focusing on impulse control, metacognitive awareness, and metacognitive control for enhancing overt social adjustment in delinquent youth.
Abstract
Learning disabled (LD) and low-achieving (NLD) incarcerated delinquents, ages 16 to 19 years, were assigned randomly to social metacognitive training, attention control, or test-only control groups. Institutional staff and subjects were unaware of both experimental conditions and variable measures. Compared to subjects in attention and test-only control conditions, those given metacognitive training showed significant improvements in (1) quantity of negative behavior reports, (2) staff ratings on rehabilitation achievement, and (3) institutional living unit phase level promotions. On every variable the LD group had a greater proportion of subjects improve, although both LD and NLD delinquents who received cognitive training significantly improved their behavior. Parallel improvement in metacognitive skills and significant correlations between social metacognitive scores and indicators of effective behavior support two notions. The first is that social matacognition was the 'mechanism' of treatment and the second is that social metacognition mediates overt social behavior in novel contexts without specific cueing from the environment. Results are interpreted within the context of a series of studies testing the hypothesis that social metacognitive deficits increase risk for maladaptive behavior, including delinquency in LD youth. 4 tables and 30 references. (Author abstract modified)