| Paint Creek Youth Center is a residential treatment center for serious juvenile offenders located in southern Ohio. The program focuses on changing the attitudes and behaviors of the youth from anti-social to pro-social. Paint Creek achieves this aim by utilizing theoretically based treatment components. Some of the treatment components include a token economy system, a positive peer culture, a system of treatment phases, and an assessment of the youths criminal thinking errors (number of problem areas). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the overall effectiveness of paint Creek Youth Center.; The effectiveness of the program is examined by measuring the likelihood of recidivism. The criminal activity of youth admitted to Paint Creek Youth Center is compared to youth of similar characteristics who have been admitted to an Ohio detention facility (N = 480). The analysis is conducted by examining differences between the experimental and comparison group and by examining the Paint Creek youth only.; The results reveal no significant differences between the Paint Creek youth and youth admitted to detention facilities with regards to criminal activity upon release. This alone suggests that the Paint Creek program does not produce lower levels of recidivism than traditional detention facilities. However, this conclusion is premature.; The second analysis, which looks at Paint Creek youth only, provides positive results. Specifically, the results reveal that both the number of problem areas and the treatment phase of release were significantly related to the likelihood of engaging in criminal activity upon release from the facility. Thus, the structure of the Paint Creek program appears to have impacted some of the youth admitted to the facility. The type of youth who are "successful" has yet to be determined. There are several recommendations for the program which will help determine what type of youth the program benefits. |
