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Working With Children in Trouble - Delinquency - Social Work's Changing Role

NCJ Number
75512
Journal
Social Work Today Volume: 9 Issue: 30 Dated: (1978) Pages: 13-18
Author(s)
N Tutt
Date Published
1978
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper examines alternatives to institutional facilities for juvenile delinquents in Great Britain and the implications of these approaches for social workers.
Abstract
Decriminalization has been advocated for crimes such as prostitution and drug abuse, but little action has been taken. The sizable growth of police cautionings over the past 10 years indicates that nonintervention or diversion of children from court processes has gained wide acceptance. An example of innovation in current intervention approaches is intermediate treatment in which social workers supervise youths in their homes and involve them in recreational and educational activities. Although institutional care must be reduced, few authorities have seriously considered alternative programs, particularly for delinquents between 15 and 17 years old who are sentenced to borstal training. The borstal population has increased between 1972 and 1976, and it seems that more 15 and 16 year olds under supervisory orders are being sent to borstals when they commit additional offenses. Social work has de- emphasized activities with adolescents for some time, but occupational training programs can be very effective. For example, a well-known scheme in Southwark placed young men in trouble with sympathetic employers who gave them basic job training. Small, informal residential units can provide helpful short-term or long-term accommodations for problem adolescents, but depend on the characters of the leaders and the clients. This concept could be integrated with large residential establishments to provide more strength and stability. An interesting alternative to the borstal is the NACRO New Careers Project in which young offenders live in hostels with limited supervision for a year and work in a variety of social service settings with the goal of becoming social service professionals. This program, however, encountered considerable resistance from social workers. The Children In Care Project places juvenile delinquents in community service volunteer programs. This approach permits the youths to contribute to the community, removes them from the negative influences of the delinquent subgroups found in institutions, and avoids group control problems. As alternatives to institutionalization develop, the minority role that social workers play in reacting to delinquency may be reduced further. Social workers could coordinate clients' needs with community resources, act as a catalyst to develop local projects, and then monitor their progress. A list of nine references is appended.