A measure of the social climate of a juvenile rehabilitation center

This study examined perceptions of the social climate in a residential program for pre-adjudicated and adjudicated adolescents. Moos (1987) Social Climate Scales were used to study the unique personality of the facility. Adolescent participants (N=16) and staff participants (N=11) were requested to complete two separate quantitative measures, the Group Environment Scale (GES) and the Correctional Institutions Environment Scale (CIES); in an effort to examine the social climate of both sections of the facility: the residential or long-term wing and the detention or short-term wing. In addition to the GES and the CIES, interviews of the residents and the staff participants were conducted. Data were archived by this facility and this study examined the available data. The results of this research are encouraging in that both the staff and residents share generally positive perceptions about the overall functioning of the social climate of their respective programs.