The Role of Objective and Concrete Feedback in Self-Concept Treatment of Juvenile Delinquents in Music Therapy

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of two theoretical premises on self-concept change. These premises include: Sears' (1968) notion that music provides objective and easily understood evidence of the relationship between effort and achievement, and the author's opinion that this evidence must also be concrete and easily understood by the client. Subjects were 33 residents of a treatment-oriented detention facility for juvenile offenders. They were randomly assigned to either a treatment group, which was exposed to music-related activities providing objective and concrete evidence of goal achievement, or to a control group which participated in vague and subjective music-related activities with no reinforcement. The Interpersonal Checklist (LaForge & Suczek, 1955) was used for the pretest and posttest. The results of an analysis of variance showed significant overall (p < .025) and specific (p < .05) self-concept change for the treatment group. The specific change resulted in treatment group members perceiving themselves with fewer rebellious and distrustful traits.