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Juvenile Diversion Programs

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Abstract This study was concerned with juvenile diversion programs in the State of Texas and whether they work in reducing recidivism rates among offenders of both minor crimes as well as serious crimes. The study looked at four different treatment programs and the services provided by each. All juveniles were referred to the diversion programs following a preliminary hearing within the court system. This project ran from January 2017 until December 2017, during which time 562 youth were referred. The recidivism rates for each program type were calculated 24 weeks post diversion program through self-administered surveys as well as a review of court cases and a statewide warrant check.

I. Introduction The juvenile justice system was created …show more content…
Do the programs have trickle down effects, e.g. impact on school/home life? My research methods will include meta-analysis as well as a randomized survey experiment.

II. Literature Review This literature review will serve to be a brief overview of juvenile diversion programs and tactics. It will also serve to examine the history of juvenile diversion programs as well as analyze previous studies for effectiveness of juvenile diversion programs. Although there were many studies to choose from, I used meta-analysis on 3 separate studies and I included two in-depth analyses of previous studies. The first study compared the success/failures of different diversion techniques. The second study compared diversion programs over the State of Nebraska.

A. Juvenile Diversion Overview Juvenile diversion is an intervention method with programs aimed at averting youth away from the criminal justice system (Bynum, 1996). Diversion programs also aim to still hold juveniles accountable for their behavior (Mackin et al, 2010). There are many types of diversion programs ranging from informal warning programs to formal post-arrest programs (Bynum, …show more content…
The referred program should have behavior modification services as well as some type of life skills program. 3. Referring agencies should not combine a diversion program with formal court processing. It should be an either/or type of option. 4. The program should closely follow apprehension in a linear timeline. Behavioral alterations present themselves in many forms. Yeager (2017) states a juvenile’s mindset may improve by using social and emotional learning (SEL) programs and changing the climate. This research was specifically talking about juveniles in a school atmosphere; however, the SEL programs can also be applied to diversion programs as well. Typically the SEL programs teach life skills and allow the juveniles to put into practice those learned skills in a safe environment (Yeager, 2017). Mentoring is another technique used in juvenile diversion programs. Typically, a program will attempt to use mentors from the same type of background or community as the juvenile offender (Nejelski, 1973). Nejelski advises this type of mentorship allows the juvenile offender to feel comfortable in expressing himself or herself and to feel as though their mentor is not judging

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