Exploring Factors Governing Successful Residential Treatment of Youngsters with Serious Behavioural Difficulties

Behavioural development in a random sample of 200 juveniles with serious behavioural difficulties admitted for residential treatment was monitored for a period of 2 years after their admission. By that time, 42 percent of the juveniles had left the treatment centre according to plan, 7 percent were still at the treatment centre and 51 percent had left prematurely. The juveniles who finished their treatment as planned had developed quite well. The psychosocial conditions of these youngsters were nearly identical to those of the general Dutch adolescent population of a comparable age and sociodemographic background. However, the youngsters who left prematurely had further developmental difficulties. Two years after their admission the number of juveniles reporting aggression and antisocial behaviour at a clinical level was as high as at the start of their residential treatment. An exploration of the residential treatment factors predicting successful development suggested that the provision of a basic therapeutic climate of firm, but not harsh, control coupled with consistent, but non-obtrusive, emotional support, cognitive-behavioural training, intensive monitoring of the treatment and home-orientedness were major factors promoting healthy development among the youngsters with behavioural difficulties.