Effects of aggression replacement training in young offender institutions

Abstract

This article reports a study where aggression replacement training (ART), combined with token economy, was compared with relationally oriented treatment at four residential treatment units in a nonrandomized design. In all, 57 adolescents in the ages between 16 and 19 participated. Outcome was measured as weighted indices of sentences and police suspicion reports. The results show no differences between the treatment models. In a separate analysis, the hypotheses were tested that those adolescents would relapse less frequently who admitted their crimes at intake or who could talk about guilt for their criminal acts. These hypotheses were refuted as main effects, but an interaction effect was found that suggests that adolescents with less consciousness of guilt got better results at the ART institutions. Case descriptions suggest that a more individualized approach to treatment, where ART is used for those adolescents who are motivated for it, would give better results. © 2009 Sage Publications.