Juvenile Justice And Delinquency Prevention Essay

The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act was passed in 1974 and led to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to be established (Khondaker & Lewis, 2006). As the concept of juvenile justice became more apparent, juvenile prevention programs began to be implemented. While juveniles engage in crime for a variety of reasons, in order for treatment to be effective, the influences or cause of the behavior must be addressed. Within the juvenile justice system, changing behaviors and reducing delinquent conduct are some of its biggest challenges (Latessa, 2006). As the prevalence of offending is particularly high during teenage years and early-adulthood, it is critical that juvenile treatment programs are evaluated and demonstrate positive results (Underwood, von Dresner, & Phillips, 2006). In order to reduce recidivism and persistent offending into adulthood, evidence-based interventions must be implemented for juvenile offenders. Although there are various forms of treatment, …show more content…
The primary goal of this family-based intervention is to enhance communication among the family while also focusing on the development of healthy problem-solving skills (Underwood et al., 2006). The foundation of FFT is that delinquents and non-delinquents differ in regards to the communication patterns within their families; juvenile offenders have families that display more negative communication patterns. Therefore, the therapist is responsible to assess the family’s functioning and modify their communication through role-playing and other specific interventions in order to reinforce more positive and direct communication styles. FFT has demonstrated positive results as it has shown to reduce recidivism among both severe and less severe juvenile offenders while reinforcing healthy parenting and problem-solving practices (Underwood et al.,