TY - JOUR
T1 - Gang involvement moderates the effectiveness of evidence-based intervention for justice-involved youth
AU - Boxer, Paul
AU - Kubik, Joanna
AU - Ostermann, Michael
AU - Veysey, Bonita
N1 - Funding Information:
Data were obtained through a partnership with Community Solutions, Inc. (CSI). CSI is a private, non-profit agency providing comprehensive individual and family services to children, juveniles and adults. CSI is an experienced, licensed provider of an array of evidence based services. This project was supported by Grant No. 2011-JV-VX-0104 awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice . Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2015/5/1
Y1 - 2015/5/1
N2 - There are no validated, evidence-based intervention approaches to helping youth who are involved in gang activity. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of gang involvement on the effectiveness of evidence-based intervention services for problem behavior delivered to youth referred by the justice system. We analyzed data drawn from 421 youth (69% male; M age. = 15.08. years, SD. = 1.32; 38% Black/African-American, 18% Latino/a, 34% White, 10% other) referred consecutively over a 13-month period for Multisystemic Therapy (MST; Henggeler, Schoenwald, Borduin, Rowland, & Cunningham, 2009) across clinical service sites in 7 different Eastern states of the US. Outcomes were indicated by successful or unsuccessful case closures, and gang involvement was indicated by a validated multi-factored classification scheme. We conducted analyses of outcomes related to gang involvement for the whole sample as well as a propensity score-matched (PSM) reduced sample. Analyses of treatment success rates indicate that gang involvement significantly and substantially reduces the effectiveness of MST in this population.
AB - There are no validated, evidence-based intervention approaches to helping youth who are involved in gang activity. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of gang involvement on the effectiveness of evidence-based intervention services for problem behavior delivered to youth referred by the justice system. We analyzed data drawn from 421 youth (69% male; M age. = 15.08. years, SD. = 1.32; 38% Black/African-American, 18% Latino/a, 34% White, 10% other) referred consecutively over a 13-month period for Multisystemic Therapy (MST; Henggeler, Schoenwald, Borduin, Rowland, & Cunningham, 2009) across clinical service sites in 7 different Eastern states of the US. Outcomes were indicated by successful or unsuccessful case closures, and gang involvement was indicated by a validated multi-factored classification scheme. We conducted analyses of outcomes related to gang involvement for the whole sample as well as a propensity score-matched (PSM) reduced sample. Analyses of treatment success rates indicate that gang involvement significantly and substantially reduces the effectiveness of MST in this population.
KW - Gangs
KW - Juvenile justice
KW - Multisystemic therapy
KW - Problem behavior
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U2 - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.02.012
DO - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.02.012
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84924667077
VL - 52
SP - 26
EP - 33
JO - Children and Youth Services Review
JF - Children and Youth Services Review
SN - 0190-7409
ER -