Parent participation in the treatment of the adolescent delinquent : a study of the treatment of adolescent clients of the Corrections Division of the Halifax District Office of the Department of Public Welfare

Abstract

This thesis is based on a study of eighty juvenile delinquents who were receiving service from the Corrections Division of the Halifax District Office of the Department of Public Welfare on March 31, 1960. It is part of a group study carried out by the second year students of the Maritime School of Social Work. Primary data were obtained from the case records of the Halifax District Office of the Department of Public Welfare, the Nova Scotia School for Boys, and the Child Guidance Clinic. The data were collected by the group as a whole by means of research schedules. Secondary data consisted of bibliographical material and that information obtained through interviews with experts in the field of juvenile delinquency. This particular study was concerned with the treatment of the adolescent delinquent, the role that parents play in contributing to delinquency, and the needs for parent participation in the treatment. The findings indicated that the rehabilitation of the offenders was more successful when the parents participated in the treatment and demonstrated the need for more intensive casework therapy with both the parents and the offenders. It was recommended that the present delinquency service be expanded in order to reduce the caseloads of the workers and thereby make more intensive casework possible.