Topic of Research
The research topic of the study is juvenile awareness program that will allow addressing the issues of juveniles who return to the community but whose rehabilitation does not proceed successfully. It is crucial for social workers to use research in order to understand what practices are effective (Krysik & Finn, 2010). Reentry programs for juveniles were created to help with their reintegration into society. In this study, the juvenile justice system is approached to understand what impact the aftercare programs have on the juveniles, what elements of aftercare programs provide the strongest evidence of implementation, and what can be understood from the data on the barriers and issues that juvenile aftercare programs face during their implementation.
As it was stated in the previous papers, juvenile aftercare programs tend to have a positive impact on the reintegration of juvenile offenders back into the community. However, if aftercare follows detention, only a short-term effect on recidivism is noted (James, Stams, Asscher, De Roo, & van der Laan, 2013). Nevertheless, if a program is well implemented and targets older or high-risk youth, there are more chances that it will have a long-term positive effect (James et al., 2013). Programs that started during or after the detention did not show different effects.
Recidivism is considered to be one of the key points that indicate whether reintegration programs are effective or not. Comparisons of reintegration programs throughout the states allow the state authorities to evaluate the efficiency of the programs and determine their strengths and weaknesses.
To measure the success rate of the programs, the number of young offenders who managed to reintegrate into the community successfully and avoid recidivism is used. Young people’s mentality is also considered to be one of the main aspects that determine whether the practice of scaring will guarantee the required impact.
Inferential Statistical Test
Inferential statistics are used to evaluate the sample data and understand if this sample data can be applied to a larger sample or a population. There are various inferential statistical tests (e.g. t-tests, ANOVA, ANCOVA, etc.). Depending on the aims of the study, the researcher chooses one or several tests to evaluate the data. As the study aims to evaluate the efficiency of the practice of scaring and determine whether it has an impact on the juvenile offenders’ mentality, the t-test can be used to compare the outcomes in the control and treated group. The t-test is used when the means of two groups need to be compared statistically (Nayak & Hazra, 2011). For the t-test, it is important to state the null hypothesis; later, the data of the research is compared to the null hypothesis.
If the p-value is greater than 0.05, the null hypothesis is considered to be true. The t-test is suitable for the research because it allows comparing means of two groups, for example, the recidivism rates between two groups of juvenile offenders. Those, who were introduced to severe measures and punishments and those who were not will form the mentioned groups. The null hypothesis of such a t-test would be as follows: if juvenile offenders are introduced to penalties during their aftercare program, gradual improvement of their behavior is guaranteed. The treated group will take part in the aftercare program with the practice of scaring, while the control group will participate in a different aftercare program without such practice. The results of the t-test will allow the researcher to understand whether this practice influences the mentality of juvenile offenders or not.
References
James, C., Stams, G. J. J., Asscher, J. J., De Roo, A. K., & van der Laan, P. H. (2013). Aftercare programs for reducing recidivism among juvenile and young adult offenders: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(2), 263-274.
Krysik, J., & Finn, J. (2010). Research for effective social work practice. New York, NY: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.
Nayak, B. K., & Hazra, A. (2011). How to choose the right statistical test? Indian journal of ophthalmology, 59(2), 85-86.