Family Work in Youth Corrections

• In Event: Lightning Talk: Corrections and Incarcerative Experiences

Abstract

There is evidence that family issues are often related to offending and that family interventions can play a role in rehabilitation for adults and youth in the criminal justice system. This lightening presentation refers to some of the research on this issue and describes research on a family work intervention undertaken with youth in Australia using a model known as Collaborative Family Work. The study, sponsored by the Australian Research Council and New South Wales Youth Justice, found high rates of satisfaction with the intervention from probation officers who delivered the family work and from youth and family members involved. The families also had high completion rates (most commonly completing about 6 sessions) with more than 80% completing the intervention when the work was undertaken in the family home. Youth involved in the family work also had lower recidivism at 6 months and at 2 years in comparison to control groups consisting of matched youth who were not offered the intervention and youth who declined to be involved in the intervention.

Authors

• Christopher John Trotter, Monash University

• Phillipa Evans, University of New South Wales