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

Delinquent Self-Concepts in Juvenile Correctional Programs Implications for Program Design and Evaluation

NCJ Number
89832
Journal
Journal of Offender Counseling Services and Rehabilitation Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1982) Pages: 45-59
Author(s)
R E Vogel; S E Brown
Date Published
1982
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Many of the leading theories of delinquent behavior incorporate an assumption that low self-esteem is a causal factor in the generation of delinquency.
Abstract
Based upon this assumption, many delinquency prevention programs include techniques for elevating the self-esteem of juveniles. This paper reports an evaluation of such a program through a One-Group Pretest-Posttest design. Significant changes in self-concept (as measured by the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale) and in the cognitive domain (as measured by the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test) were observed at two of five sites evaluated. In addition, problems encountered in the evaluations are reviewed and several issues to which evaluations of juvenile correctional programs should be sensitive are derived from these experiences. (Author abstract)