POSITIVE STIMULATING TREATMENT: A rehabilitation program for persistent and violent young offenders
Juliaan van Acker, professor emeritus Radboud University Nijmegen (The Netherlands)
The positive stimulating treatment program was developed at the Radboud University Nijmegen and has strongly influenced youth protection policy in Belgium and The Netherlands. Van Acker has published 12 books and many articles around topics such as juvenile delinquency, family therapy, community-based intervention, rehabilitation, etc. He has presented this program at several international congresses in India, UK, France, Croatia, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain, etc. In 2010 he trained the staff of a rehabilitation project in the city of Rotterdam and he advises the city council of Roermond in the implementation of a crime reduction program.
The group of persistent and violent young offenders
The group of persistent and violent young offenders must be differentiated from the majority of (first) offenders who will stop their criminal career, even without any treatment.
A typical recidivistic and violent offender was already as a child hard to manage. His developmental path began with a difficult temperament (impulsiveness, poor concentration, hyperactivity) and unfavorable family conditions (low education, poverty, criminal family members, unemployment, single mothers,..). At school age this child has difficulty to adapt to the school environment. His relationship with peers is also problematic. Physical aggression at a young age predicts future delinquent behavior. On the street he finds equals with whom he commits minor crimes. First arrests occur around the age of ten. Without adequate treatment, he will become a persistent delinquent who commits more serious crimes during adolescence and as an adult.
It is clear that for this group prevention at a young age must be our priority, but in this paper we will pay attention to a rehabilitation program for juvenile delinquents. This group is in need of an intensive and comprehensive treatment. That means that individual programs, such as anti-aggression training and social skills training, must be combined with family therapy, group therapy and school-based interventions. Unfortunately this is too expensive for implementing on a large scale. Therefore, we have developed a community-based program in which we work together with adults who are in contact with the offenders (parents, family members, neighbors, teachers, sport coaches, volunteers).
Core principles of a community-based rehabilitation program
What can motivate a persistent delinquent to stop his criminal behavior? Like everybody he is in need of respect, close relationships, worthwhile activities and appreciation. As a delinquent these needs are fulfilled by the gang and by the profits of his aggression or other criminal acts. Therefore, the success of a rehabilitation program will depend on our ability to provide the delinquent with acceptable means to fulfill basic human needs.
Like everybody, the delinquent possesses talents and personal resources. Unfortunately these talents have had no or poor opportunity to develop during childhood by lack of education and purely repressive reactions of adults. During rehabilitation we must take up his talents and create possibilities to use them in worthwhile activities which will be appreciated and valued by society.
The social worker is an intermediate who mobilizes people in the neighborhood to form a ‘network of solidarity’ around the youngster. That means that adults who are in contact with the adolescent take care of him. E.g. a teacher helps him to return to school, a sport coach invites him to join a team, a craftsman or an employer in the neighborhood offers him a job opportunity as an apprentice, etc...
The role of the social worker is to advice the adults who take part in the network of solidarity, to resolve conflicts and to supervise the fulfillment of the conditions which are imposed by the court. He also helps the adolescent by a social skills training, with assistance by school tasks, by helping him to find interesting leisure activities and to make new friends.
This network of solidarity is also a form of ‘informal social control’. We know that informal social control is more effective in controlling delinquent behavior than formal control (i.d. control by police, court or other official authorities). By doing things together with the adolescent, these adults supervise him in an informal and spontaneous way.
Another core principle of this program is to deal with daily interactions. We see problem behavior as the result of the interaction with the environment. Therefore, if we want to change the behavior of the adolescent, we have also to change the triggers of that behavior and the reactions of other significant persons on that behavior. Small successes in concrete daily interactions can provoke a broader change in the person as a whole. E.g. we make use of a ‘behavior contract’: in such a contract the youngster and his parents (or other adults) agree to interact in a more positive way. Instead of punishing asocial behavior, they make an agreement to encourage and to reward social behavior. One of the most active factors in the application of a behavior contract is the preceding period of consultation between the adolescent and the adults in order to make an agreement. The social worker helps both parties to listen to each other, to take into account the feelings and expectations of the other and to make a positive stimulating contract concerning each behavior. The adolescent feels that he is respected and that the adult values his efforts. At the end a better climate emerges wherein the adolescent has a close bond with positive models.
The effectiveness of a community-based program
During a recent evaluation study, we have followed a group of 15 recidivistic offenders who take part in our rehabilitation program. Together they committed 30 crimes, under which 8 violent ones during a 6 month period preceding our program. One year after ending the program, we studied another 6 month period. During this last period they committed only 6 minor crimes and no violent crimes.
The therapeutic principles underlying our rehabilitation program were applied in the so-called ‘Family Project of Nijmegen’ (1980-2001). The target group of this project were children and adolescents with severe conduct disorders. Each treatment was evaluated during this period. Many outcome studies demonstrated that positive results were obtained in 85% of the referred children and adolescents.
More information
See my resume and publications in English and French