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Substance Abuse Treatment for Juvenile Offenders: A Review of Quasi-Experimental and Experimental Research

NCJ Number
234848
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 39 Issue: 3 Dated: May/June 2011 Pages: 246-252
Author(s)
Stephen J. Tripodi; Kimberly Bender
Date Published
June 2011
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the results of a literature review examining the effectiveness of substance abuse treatment on alcohol and marijuana use for juvenile offenders.
Abstract
Results of the literature review indicate that, on the whole, substance abuse treatment appears to have a small to moderate effect on alcohol and marijuana reduction for juvenile offenders. The review included examination of current interventions. Those that showed the most promise in treating substance abuse in juvenile offenders were Multisystemic Therapy, Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care, Teaching Family, and Life Skills Training. The review also found that individual-based interventions and family-based interventions had similar small to moderate effects on alcohol and marijuana use. This paper presents the results of a systematic review of the research literature to assess the effectiveness of substance abuse treatment programs for alcohol and marijuana use by juvenile offenders. The literature and database search generated five experimental or quasi-experimental studies that assessed alcohol outcomes for juvenile offenders and five experimental or quasi-experimental studies that assessed marijuana outcomes for juvenile offenders. Implications for future research are discussed. Tables and references