A Family-Oriented Policy and Treatment Program for Female Juvenile Status Offenders

A policy regarding the ftamily-based nature and treatment qf female juvenile status qif'enders was developed. To implement this policy, a family-oriented treatment program was instituted and evaluated with regard to the Circumplex Model (Olson, Russell and Sprenkle, 1979). Twenty-nine families are assessed on the Moos Family Environment Scale (Moos, 1974) both before and after the treatment program. Comparisons are made between flamilies who complete and families who drop out of treatment. Results indicate that all families improve in their family environment scores but that recidivism rates do not decrease as a result of treatment completion. No statistically significant differences were found between recidivism rates and scores on the adaptability dimension. However, families with extremely high Cohesion scores are more likely to be recidivists than ftamilies with low or moderate scores on Cohesion. The Circumplex Model is only minimally supported by the data. Explanations for the findings and implications for family-based treatment are discussed.