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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this paper by Keith was to report the author's observations about a community treatment program, the Willie M. program, for violent youth in North Carolina.
METHODOLOGY:
The author employed a non-experimental explanatory design, with observations arising out of five years of participation in the programs as a consultant, supervisor and case manager. As well as these participant observations, the author conducted interviews with program staff and administrators, in order to obtain a number of different perspectives on the program.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The program initially began in 1979, when a group of youngsters in training schools went to the federal courts with the claim that they were being held in the institutions due to a lack of mental health facilities in the communities in which they lived. The court agreed with the plaintiffs, and the state of North Carolina decreed that communities must provide these youths with the psychiatric and physical care that they needed, in the least restrictive setting possible. All violent youth under the age of 18 were to be eligible for these services, and treatment was to be molded to suit the individual. Individuals were referred to the program by a school, social service agency, court or mental health facility. Screening of the youths included information about documented interpersonal violence and psychiatric and developmental history, with a state committee making the final decision about admission. The emphasis upon unrestrictive settings led to most of the funding being adopted for group homes, foster care, day programs and special teachers in public schools, in order to provide treatment and therapy for the youth within the community. Most of the current 1,086 youth accepted into the program were male, with an initial diagnosis of conduct disorder. There was an overrepresentation of blacks and those from the lower classes in the program, and most of the individuals were characterized as moderately dangerous. Severe family psychopathology and poverty were present for most of the youth, with 35% to 40% of the youth statewide being in the custody of Social Services. Families usually consisted of a single mother, who frequently was herself suffering from major psychopathology. The presence of a functional father was extremely rare. For most of the youth who were involved in the program, actual or threatened violence decreased dramatically as each individual settled into stable life, day care programs and appropriate psychotherapy and medication. One of the problems of the program, however, is the restriction upon long-term hospitalization or incarceration in juvenile correctional facilities. It is a common belief that extensive treatment within an inpatient setting can be very helpful for aggressive adolescents, and many of the youth in the Willie M. program might have been better cared for within such an institution.
AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS:
The author suggested that the Willie M. program is a significant social experiment that shows that many chronically mentally ill violent youth can be helped by provision of supportive community care. He noted that the program should be used as a guide for other programs of a similar nature, to establish more reliance upon community-based treatment and care.
EVALUATION:
The author presents a clear and concise report of the nature of the Willie M. program, the profile of the youths and their families, and the usefulness of the program as a base resource for further research and practice. A more thorough discussion of the implications of the success of the program would have been interesting. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - North Carolina
KW - Community Based
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Juvenile Treatment
KW - Offender Treatment
KW - Mental Health Treatment
KW - Juvenile Inmate
KW - Incarcerated
KW - Inmate Treatment
KW - Correctional Decision Making
KW - Juvenile Correctional Institution
KW - Violence Treatment
KW - Treatment Program
Language: en |