Rural Juvenile First Offenders Describe What Is Working and What Is Not

Abstract

Interviews held with program graduates 1 year after completing a court-ordered program for entry-level juvenile offenders are presented. The interviews contain insights obtained directly from rural youth regarding delinquency prevention and intervention programming. Their reflections give us useful insight about the challenges that former offenders face. These include (a) how they feel about themselves and their concern about how they are perceived by others, (b) their complex and often conflictual relationships with others, and (c) their lack of goals for the future. Results provide insight regarding the coping strategies adopted by program graduates to stay out of trouble. Implications for prevention and intervention programming, as well as future research are discussed.

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