| Abstract: | A classic experimental design was used to determine whether youths assigned to a small experimental program, designed to offer a comprehensive and highly structured array of intervention services and activities, actually received significantly different treatment, and performed better, than control youths assigned to traditional training schools. Interviews with staff and youths suggest that the experimental program did deliver significantly more treatment services. One-year follow-up data showed no significant differences in arrests or self-reported delinquency between experimental and control groups, although those who completed the experimental program performed significantly better than those who were removed for disciplinary reasons. |
