This application establishes the Models for Integrating Juvenile Justice and Treatment (MIJJT) Research Center in collaboration with The National Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Research System (CJ-DATS) under RFA-DA-02-011. MIJJT provides the opportunity to engage in collaborative, rigorously conducted, multisite service delivery and evaluation research involving drug-abusing juvenile offenders. Empirically, the studies that have been conducted on adults in justice settings have shown that the most consistent effects occur when there is a continuum of primary treatment and aftercare. This is likely even more critical for juvenile justice clients who are generally unemancipated and present with multiple problems in addition to substance abuse. Adolescent substance abuse and the rising juvenile crime rate have been acknowledged as two of the nation's greatest concerns and, though their etiology is diverse, they are inextricably linked. Despite numerous education and prevention initiatives, adolescent drug abuse and its sequelae of juvenile crime, risk for HIV infection and school failure remain major juvenile justice, mental health, public health and public safety concerns. The MIJJT Research Center will complement the aims of the NIDA CJ-DATS by bringing comprehensive focus to the issue of adolescent substance abuse, juvenile justice and treatment by incorporating a spectrum of agencies and treatment providers in Ohio and Pennsylvania, including minimum to maximum secure facilities and community-based programs. The potential sample assures the inclusion of a broad range of youth, including females as well as males, those with co-occurring mental disorders, HIV risk populations and members of various racial/ethnic groups. The proposed studies aim to address the multidimensional needs of adolescents who enter the criminal justice system, the multivariate, interrelated structures of provider agencies that respond to these youth, and the range of services that are required to effect positive outcomes. In accordance with the CJ-DATS objective to provide a stable infrastructure for research to improve drug abuse treatment for individuals with drug abuse or addictive disorders who are incarcerated or transitioning from jail or prison to the community, the MIJJT investigative team proposes research concepts that follow the trajectory of an adolescent's juvenile justice and treatment experience. Study 1 proposes a CBT intervention in the treatment setting; Study 2 addresses the relationship of the parole and probation officer to the adolescent; and Study 3 focuses on the youth's reintegration into the community, particularly the role of the family in facilitating and participating in a successful integration. The collaborative energy that has facilitated the development of the current proposal reflects the support of the collectivity of the participants--research, administrative, and clinical.
| Dembo, Richard; Jainchill, Nancy; Turner, Charles et al. (2007) Levels of psychopathy and its correlates: a study of incarcerated youths in three states. Behav Sci Law 25:717-38 |
