Assessment of a Single-Purpose Substance Abuse Facility for Committed Juvenile Offenders in Virginia, 1995-1997 (ICPSR 2730)
Version Date: Nov 4, 2005 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Jill A. Gordon, Virginia Commonwealth University
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02730.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
The objective of this data collection was to provide a preliminary assessment of the effectiveness of treatment offered at the Barrett Juvenile Correctional Center, a substance abuse treatment facility in Virginia for convicted male offenders that began operation in late 1993. The center uses a holistic approach in the treatment of youth to identify the triggers for substance abuse and to investigate the relationship between substance abuse and delinquent behavior. For the facility assessment, various types of data from the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice were gathered. Baseline data on each juvenile were obtained from the department's Reception and Diagnostic Center and consisted of demographic information and I.Q. scores, criminal history, and substance abuse history. Demographic variables include the youth's race, last grade placement, and with whom the youth lived. Youths' scores on standardized tests were also compiled, including SASSI, verbal I.Q., performance I.Q., and full-scale I.Q. scores. Criminal histories covered whether the committing offense was a felony or misdemeanor, the type of committing offense, the total number of committing offenses, whether a prior offense was a felony or a misdemeanor, the type of prior offense, the total number of prior offenses, the age at first criminal adjudication, age at commitment, and degree of delinquency. Alcohol and drug use data focused on the age at which alcohol was first used, number of times alcohol was used in the past year, age at which marijuana was first used, number of times marijuana was used in the past month, and whether the youth ever used cocaine, crack, inhalants, speed, depressants, hallucinogens, or other drugs. Another source of information was the youths' parole officers, who provided data on youths' criminal offending status and substance abuse at three, six, and twelve months after release from the center. Data obtained from parole officers assessing youths' improvement after leaving the center include whether they were rearrested, the type of offense if rearrested, the total number of offenses rearrested for, disposition, most serious offense overall, and youths' overall drug use.
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Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
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Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
Barrett Juvenile Correctional Center began operating as a substance abuse treatment facility for convicted male offenders in late 1993. To be admitted to the facility, a youth had to fit the following criteria: they had to (a) be male, (b) be between the ages of 13-18, (c) have a mandatory or recommended need for substance abuse treatment, (d) have a length of stay of no less than six months, (e) not have a major mental illness or severely limited cognitive ability, and (f) not have committed a major offense (defined as murder, rape, forcible sodomy, or arson). The center uses a holistic approach to the treatment of youth to identify the triggers for substance abuse and to investigate the relationship between substance abuse and delinquent behavior. The center recognizes the interrelationship of all aspects of the youth's life in producing a delinquent lifestyle. It provides a highly structured program that uses a therapeutic community approach to treat the offender. This approach emphasizes personal growth and responsibility. The purpose of this research was to examine the program design, structure, implementation, and process and to provide a preliminary assessment of the program's impact on youth. The assessment centered on (1) the number of youths who were rearrested after leaving the center, (2) the number who were recommitted, and (3) the number who used a substance during the one-year follow-up period.
Study Design View help for Study Design
The effectiveness of the program at the Barrett Juvenile Correction Center was addressed by gathering various types of data from the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice. Baseline data on youth were compiled from the department's Reception and Diagnostic Center. These baseline data were extremely comprehensive and consisted of demographic information and I.Q. scores, criminal history, and substance abuse history for each youth. Another source of information was the youths' parole officers, who provided data on youths' criminal offending status and substance abuse at three, six, and twelve months after release. The primary outcome variables for determining the effectiveness of the program were rearrest, recommitment, and substance use during a one-year follow-up period after the youths' release from the center.
Universe View help for Universe
All male youths who were released from Barrett Juvenile Correctional Center between January 1995 and January 1997.
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Source View help for Data Source
administrative records data from the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice and the youths' parole officers
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
Demographic variables include the youth's race, last grade placement, and with whom the youth lived. Criminal histories covered whether the committing offense was a felony or misdemeanor, the type of committing offense, the total number of committing offenses, whether a prior offense was a felony or a misdemeanor, the type of prior offense, the total number of prior offenses, the age at first criminal adjudication, age at commitment, and degree of delinquency. Alcohol and drug use data focused on the age at which alcohol was first used, number of times alcohol was used in the past year, age at which marijuana was first used, number of times marijuana was used in the past month, and whether the youth ever used cocaine, crack, inhalants, speed, depressants, hallucinogens, or other drugs. Another source of information was the youths' parole officers, who provided data on youths' criminal offending status and substance abuse at three, six, and twelve months after release from the center. Data obtained from parole officers assessing youths' improvement after leaving the center include their Readiness for Change score, whether they were rearrested, the type of offense if rearrested, the total number of offenses rearrested for, disposition, most serious offense overall, and youths' overall drug use.
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
Not applicable
Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
A Likert-type scale was used. Also used were the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI), I.Q., and Readiness for Change scales.
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2000-02-01
Version History View help for Version History
- Gordon, Jill A. ASSESSMENT OF A SINGLE-PURPOSE SUBSTANCE ABUSE FACILITY FOR COMMITTED JUVENILE OFFENDERS IN VIRGINIA, 1995-1997. ICPSR02730-v1. Richmond, VA: Virginia Commonwealth University [producer], 1999. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2000. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02730.v1
2005-11-04 On 2005-03-14 new files were added to one or more datasets. These files included additional setup files as well as one or more of the following: SAS program, SAS transport, SPSS portable, and Stata system files. The metadata record was revised 2005-11-04 to reflect these additions.
2000-02-01 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Standardized missing values.
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
Notes
The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
This dataset is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), the criminal justice archive within ICPSR. NACJD is primarily sponsored by three agencies within the U.S. Department of Justice: the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.