Community-Based Intervention Programs for African American Juvenile Convicts

Over the past 20 years, youth crime rates have risen consistently. (National Academy of Sciences, 2001). They have been particularly prevalent in Black communities, which has resulted in the widespread incarceration of members of these societies. To guarantee that kids who are released into the community are successfully rehabilitated to integrate with the community, a number of programs have been put in place. (Feld & Bishop, 2012). The programs are believed to be successful, but it is necessary to determine their efficacy in order to assess their applicability. (Donaldson & Scriven, 2003). This research aims to evaluate the essence of the juvenile community programs in Georgia with regards to the African American teenagers after their release.

Research Questions

1. How do Georgia juvenile community programs and current policies affect African American males ages 13-16 recidivism rate in Georgia?

2. How community-based intervention and prevention program offered to African American male juveniles in Georgia effective after they are released?

Methodology of Research

The first step in determining the type of methods that are applicable to a particular research initiative is to assess the type of data that it requires. Non-statistical data always needs qualitative methods of research while those involving statistical observations and inferences require quantitative methods of study (Rogerson, 2014). The subject under consideration is one that requires active input from various participants in terms of opinion and narration of experiences that may help elucidate the responses. For this this reason, qualitative methods of research are more appropriate in comparison to the quantitative type. There are various qualitative techniques (Dantzker, Hunter, & Quinn, 2016). The reason for the choice of interviews is that it involves a situation in which the respondents share both verbal and non-verbal information with the researcher, enabling full communicational transfer. For instance, an interview in which focus groups are used, the researcher can hardly get the opinions of every individual on a first-hand basis. Interviews guarantee the transmittance of first-hand information. Observation techniques are non-helpful in this quest because they rely on the researcher’s interpretation of the subject and the field instead of collecting data from the same. In interviews, the researcher is able to seek clarification regarding a particular vague or unclear point or statement, a feature that lacks in all other means of research methods.

In conducting research, a scholar needs to consider certain things. The most important of all is the researcher-subject interaction. A researcher can only extract information from a respondent through asking questions. However, the questions need to pass a certain criteria. First, any kind of information sought should be non-personal and in case of personal information, it should be asked for non-intrusively and offered at will (Miller, Mauthner, Birch, & Jessop, 2012). A researcher should avoid making the participants uncomfortable by constantly asking embarrassing questions or those that the client does not want to answer. Some of the well-phrased questions on the subject include:

Have you ever been a drug addict?

How long have you been held?

Do you feel that the system of crime and justice works effectively to net offenders?

Please name some of the activities you liked while under state custody.

Do you feel ready to re-integrate within the society? State some of the reasons for your answer.

Do you feel that the system would have served you in a different manner if you belonged to another race?

Do intervention programs such as those for the Georgia juvenile community have an impact the demography? Explain

What approach would u recommend as a mechanism of lowering crime rates among first-time juvenile offenders?

Ethical Considerations

The researcher needs to respect all respondents and give maximum value for privacy. This approach will help avoid embarrassment or lies from respondents.

A high level of professionalism should be maintained throughout the research. Unnecessary contact or communication between the researcher and participants should be avoided.

References

Dantzker, Hunter, R. D., & Quinn, S. T. (2016). Research Methods for Criminology and Criminal Justice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Donaldson, S. I., & Scriven, M. (2003). Evaluating Social Programs and Problems: Visions for the New Millennium. Routledge.

Feld, B. C., & Bishop, D. M. (2012). The Oxford Handbook of Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice. Oxford University Press.

Miller, T., Mauthner, M., Birch, M., & Jessop, J. (2012). Ethics in Qualitative Research. SAGE.

National Academy of Sciences. (2001). Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice. National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved from https://www.nap.edu/read/9747/chapter/4#62

Rogerson, P. A. (2014). Statistical Methods for Geography: A Student’s Guide. SAGE.