| Adolescents who reach the juvenile justice system and are placed in correctional facilities often have a variety of risk factors including mental health concerns, educational needs, substance abuse and dependency issues, family discord, or financial instability. In order to reduce the likelihood of future adolescent recidivism, correctional facilities can be a catalyst for change by promoting protective factors. The goal of this study was to determine the effectiveness, in supporting resiliency, of a substance abuse treatment program inside a juvenile correctional facility. Resiliency was defined by comparing the adolescents' risk, measured on 17 different subscales, both before and after treatment. Two groups were used to compare differences in risk and protective factors, a treatment group and a control group. Two standardized tests were given to the adolescents, once upon entering the correctional facility and again 30 days later. This study found adolescents in the substance abuse treatment group improved the overall risk factor score, school functioning score, and substance abuse score. Further discussion and directions for future research are included. |
