Cooperation in Group Treatment Programs for Incarcerated Adolescents.

Atwood, Richard O.; Osgood, Wayne

Group treatment programs for incarcerated adolescents attempt to use the social influence of peer groups as a means both for generating acceptance of treatment goals and for creating pro-social change. On the basis of social psychological research in laboratory and educational settings, we predicted that group cooperation plays a pivotal rote in these programs. A hypothesized path model was estimated through pooled time series and cross section analysis of three waves of data for 45 groups at four institutions. There was close agreement between path estimates from an analysis of average levels and an analysis of change, and both strongly supported the hypothesized model. Results indicate that coercive control decreases cooperation and that cooperation leads to attraction to the group and prevents delinquent norms. Cooperation also has an indirect effect on acceptance of the program, mediated by attraction to the group.

ADOLESCENT psychology; PRISON psychology; PRISONERS; INFLUENCE; TEENAGER attitudes; SOCIAL psychology

Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1987, Vol 17, Issue 11, p969

0021-9029

Academic Journal

10.1111/j.1559-1816.1987.tb00301.x