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Positive Peer Culture: The Viewpoint of Former Clients

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Journal of Child and Adolescent Group Therapy

Abstract

Group approaches have historically been very popular in treatment facilities for juvenile offenders. Although many of the techniques are descriptively, well documented, there is a shortage of evaluation research assessing the impacts of this type of treatment, especially as it relates to helping youth live independently in community settings. This manuscript describes a unique critique of peer-oriented therapy. The critics are former clients of juvenile treatment facilities where this type of group model was practiced. Former residents of these facilities offered their impressions in the context of life history interviews describing their experiences in the juvenile justice system. These individuals, interviewed in prisons where they were incarcerated as adults after leaving the juvenile system, offer illuminating and critical portrayals of their experience with a particular form of peer counseling—Positive Peer Culture. Their input should be interesting and valuable to those professionals who are committed to providing effective services to juvenile offenders and their families.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Welfare, University of Kansas, Kansas

    Stephen A. Kapp (Assistant Professor)

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  1. Stephen A. Kapp
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Kapp, S.A. Positive Peer Culture: The Viewpoint of Former Clients. Journal of Child and Adolescent Group Therapy 10, 175–189 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016679111706

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