U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Effectiveness of Culturally Specific Community Treatment for African American Juvenile Felons

NCJ Number
151538
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 40 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1994) Pages: 589- 598
Author(s)
J Wooldredge; J Hartman; E Latessa; S Holmes
Date Published
1994
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Created by local community leaders and the Hamilton County, Ohio, Juvenile Court in response to high recidivism rates among black juvenile felons in Cincinnati, the Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) Program focuses on the cultural regrounding of black youths to improve their self-esteem and help them develop a sense of community.
Abstract
The CCP Program is designed to serve black youth in neighborhoods with a high concentration of adjudicated felony offenders. Culturally specific program services focus on characteristics that include the target population's values, beliefs, and problem-solving styles. Juveniles are referred to the program by probation officers, and program participation is a condition of probation. The community- court partnership includes the Black Male Coalition, the Citizens Committee on Youth, and the Hamilton County Juvenile Court. The CCP Program incorporates chemical dependence assessment, individually designed service interventions, family and community involvement, intense client supervision, and public safety probitions. Each youth must participate in four core treatment areas: drug abuse, family enhancement, cultural enhancement, and behavior norms and standards. An evaluation of the CCP Program found that juvenile recidivism was not significantly related to involvement in the CCP Program versus regular probation. Although the CCP Program did not prevent recidivism better than regular probation, the finding that high-risk juveniles can be dealt with successfully in the community is noteworthy. 20 references and 2 tables