A Framework for Planning Behavior Change in Juvenile Offenders

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Abstract
This paper examines a number of disagreements about how to produce behavior change in juvenile offenders. It is proposed that efforts made in the behavioral sciences to reconcile different views of behavior change may be fruitfully applied in reconciling different methods used by juvenile court judges and other court personnel. Herbert Kelman's conceptual framework for comparing different methods of inducing change ("compliance," "identification," and "internalization") has provided a means of integrating behavioral science theories and findings. It is used here as a guide for comparing the usefulness of different influence methods in working with juvenile offenders. It is concluded that both direct efforts to influence action and indirect efforts aimed at modifying attitudes may be effective. It is suggested that the use of influence agents dissociated from the court, group settings, and work roles offers opportunities for coordinating various approaches.

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