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The impact of the correctional institution on delinquent boys as seen by their families

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The impact of the correctional institution on delinquent boys as seen by their families

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Content THE IMPACT OF THE CORHECTIONAL INSTITHTIOH ON w - DELINQUENT BOYS AS SEEN BY THEIR FAMILIES hj MaryAnne Varga A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK August 1963 UMI Number; EP66918 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Disswtatiort Rjblisféng UMI EP66918 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 134b Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 This thesis, w ritten under the direction of the candidate's F a cu lty Comm ittee and approved by a ll its members, has been presented to and accepted by the F a cu lty of the School of Social W o rk in p a rtia l fu lfilm e n t of the requirements fo r the degree of MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK ^ Dean ............ o/... Faculty Committee Chairman .. TABLE OP CONTENTS LIST OP TABLES ................ iv Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ............. 1 The Inquiry The Setting The Research Design The Research Population The Schedule II. INTERVIEWS AND SUMMARIES OP CASES . . . l i j . Gases No. 1-11 III. THE FINDINGS ......... 59 Descriptive Data Summary of the Interviews Criteria for Measurement IV. SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS . ........ 73 APPENDIX............. 86 Schedule for Case Analysis Questionnaire Formal letter to Parents SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY .............. 09 i i i LIST ÔP CABLES Identifying.Bata on the Parents Interviewed............. . 62 Identifying Data on the Smnmary of Findings as Expressed by Parents . ................... i v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The Inquiry This study is concerned with delinquent boys and their families. It is an attempt to explore the family’s image of the training school and to learn what opinions, perceptions and expectations families have of the impact of the correctional institution on their sons. The inquiry is based on two questions: How do families see the School^ in its present ef fect on the boy? What do they expect the School to do for the boy and them. I.e., what are the resulting expectations of the An evaluation of the family’s ability to contribute to the helping process begun in the correctional institu tion is of significance upon the boy’s release. For the institutional staff itself knowledge of the family, beyond demographic facts already in the boy’s record, is of value. : Adjusting counseling to fit the needs of the boy in the ^In this study the capitalized word School denotes the Fred C. Nelles School for Boys. 1 2 family preparatory to leaving the institution is important as a counselor’s values can color or distort the attitude of the boy if it is in conflict with the family’s needs and attitudes. Aftercare begins upon the boy’s release on parole from the institution. Trained workers, parole a- gents, supervise the boy during this period. They are only indirectly responsible to the institution but their efforts with the boy and his family represent a continuation of treatment for the delinquent in the community. According to Kvaraceus, in many states this is the weak link in the rehabilitation program.^ Because of high caseloads Parole Agents may manage little more than the required contact with the boy’s family shortly after his court appearance and commitment. At that time they encourage the family to come and visit the Agent and the institution. Through apathy after going through so much during the court proceedings, the parents may visit the institution, but rarely, if ever, do they contact the Agent. After he is notified of the boy’s impending release, the Agent visits the family informing them that he will be working with and helping the boy and the family. This may be the first time he has seen the family in six months and he may obtain only peripheral ^William C. Kvaraceus, The Community and the De linquent (New York: World Book Company, 19514-), p. 495. material about relationships, values, discipline tech niques. This may be all he will have to go on in deter mining what the boy has to face on his return home. The influence of the family continues to operate on the delinquent boy while he is at the institution and is a large factor in his adjustment after he leaves. At the institution, the family is encouraged to visit and to discuss the program. These visits and discussions give the counselors an opportunity to evaluate the parents in terms of their relationship with the boy, their interest in him, i.e., whether rejecting or supporting, and the general characteristics of the family. Efforts are made to keep child-family relations active and, alive and to en courage family participation in the treatment process through contacts with the child. Equally important is supportive contact with the child’s parents, whatever their feelings toward the boy and his commitment, as it provides a framework in which mutual tanderstanding can develop if confinement in a cor rectional institution is to achieve its purpose. ”In con ducting any helping procedure with a child, there is an assay of both the ability of the parents to contribute to the helping process and their ability to provide effective direction. This evaluation is reached most soundly through a consideration of the manner in which the parents actually I j . utilize the helping experience.’ ’^ Current practice calls for not only an acquaintance with the parents and an eval uation of the home setting, but to foster a feeling of o continued responsibility for the child.^ The Glueeks feel that placement in a correctional institution tests out the relation of the child to the parental forces in his life. Their studies show that; as regards the affectional relations between the parents and the (delinquent) boys, so crucial to the development of personality and character, many more of the delinquents were the victims of the indifference or actual hostility of their fathers and mothers; and they, in turn, were less attached to their parents. Their greater emotional deprivation is further reflected in a more frequently ex pressed feeling on the part of the delinquent boys that the parents were not concerned about their welfare.3 For the purposes of this study, a research popula tion was chosen against whom this accusation of lack of concern could not be leveled. Whether the affectional relationship would be warm and supportive could not be known even though there was the evidence of frequent and regular contacts with the boy. ^Benj^in Karpman, M.D., Symposia on Child and I Juvenile Delinquency (Washing ton : Psy chodynami c s Mono - ; graph Series, 1959)T pp. 3 i | . l - 3 i j . 2 . ^Institutional Rehabilitation of Delinquent Youth. Manual for Training School Personnel (Albany: Delmar Pub lishers, Incorporated, 1962), p. I7I 4 . . 3sheldon and Eleanor Glueck, Delinquents in the Making (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1952 ), p. 67. L . The treatment goals of the correctional institution are to protect society more effectively and to ’ ’ rehabili tate juvenile offenders through a process of diagnosis, treatment and training in an institutional setting and subsequently in the community. According to Bloch and Flynn, the community has certain expectations of the in stitution* These are either ”merely to retain the child for a reasonable period of time, isolating him to avoid further depredations; or it may expect the institution, through whatever devices are available, to change him for the better.”2 One of the objectives of this study was to determine whether there was a similar expectation by the parents, as members of the community, of the school. Furthermore, it was to be determined whether the parents had a perception of the difference that lay between them, that is, an acknowledgment of a new relationship, and where the burden for all future expectations was to be placed: on the boy, the parents, or the School, ^State of California Department of the Youth Author ity, Fred Q. Nelles School for Boys, Administrative Manual* 1962s Section 102. %erbert A. Bloch and Frank T. Flynn, Delinquency, The Juvenile Offender in America Today, (New York: Random House, 19^6), p. i | l 4 . 2 . The Setting The study was conducted at the Fred C. Nelles School for Boys at Whittier, California* It is a California Youth Authority correctional institution of medium security in comparison to other Youth Authority schools, for boys ranging in age from twelve to eighteen years. The median age is fourteen and the older boys are sent here because they are immature for their ages. The boys are sent to Nelles School from a northern and a southern reception center where they have undergone a six-week period of study and diagnosis. The Youth Authority Board , on the basis of the diagnosis and recommendation of these recep tion centers and clinics, determine in which institution each boy will be placed. The Youth Authority is the state correctional agency to which the juvenile offender is com mitted after he has failed to adjust in his own home, has not been able to profit from his experiences with the local probation services, and for an offense that would con- I ^The Youth Authority Board consists of five members I in addition to the Director of the Youth Authority. Ap- I pointments are made to the board by the Governor and must : include one woman. The powers and duties of the board con- ' sist of acceptance and rejection of commitments, designa tion of points of temporary detention, initial classifica tion, assignment or transfer to institutions and facilities ! operated by agencies other than the Youth Authority, dis- ■ charge of commitment, determination of conditions of parole and release of persons committed to the authority for placement in correctional schools, et cetera. stitute a crime if committed by an adult* Approximately 20 per cent of the boys at Nelles receive psychotherapy, besides the regular program, in the Special Treatment Unit, formerly known as the Psychiatric Treatment Unit. This unit provides special ized services which consist basically of psychotherapy, both individual and group* They also include other advisory and consultative services with the staff*.* Generally speaking, the wards selected are the most severely disturbed in the institu tion*^ The residential program is provided by the Gare and Welfare Division. This unit is responsible for the day-to-day supervision, management, and welfare of the wards* The residential program includes: counseling, recreation, personal hygiene, housekeeping, and work assignments, together with adequate rest and relaxation. Emphasis is placed upon encouraging boys to develop socially acceptable interests. The program is designed to provide them with constructive experiences and inter-personal relationships which will have a lasting rehabilitation effect.2 Casework services are provided by the Classifica tion Counselor for all the boys in the cottages assigned to him. Except for those wards assigned to the Special ^Department of the Youth Authority, Administrative Manual, Fred C. Nelles School for Boys, Section575-576. 2lbid., Section 500. 8 Treatment Division, he has the responsibility for the over all management of the case of each ward. Some of the services provided by the Classification Counselors are: individual as well as group counselii^ inter views with wards and with parents, relatives and others interested in the boy’s welfare..... He advises other institutional staff concern ing a boy’s needs and works with the cottage staff in developing a program of rehabilita tion.! Parents come by appointment or during scheduled visiting hours twice a month. An exception on the number of visits can be made if it is in the best interest of the boy. There is often great difficulty involved in maintain ing contact as boys come to Whittier, a suburb of Los Angeles, from all parts of the state and a hardship is thus imposed on both the staff and the family. Because of the distance, for many of the boys there is no parental support via the visits and no continuum of relationship between boy-parent-school. The Research Design This is an exploratory study based on data obtained through interviews with families on visiting day at Nelles. The families were chosen by random sampling from a popula tion of I 1.36 boys. Because of time limitations, eleven cases only were included in the present study. Content of the interviews was supplemented by identifying information on each boy and his family as it was thought that the views expressed should be considered within the context of the family’s background. Data concerning the boy’s age, ethnic identification, intelligence, position in the family, and delinquency history were obtained from each boy’s Youth Authority ease file. The data were obtained mainly from the Reception Center and Clinic’s notes, as there all pertinent information was summarized and con sidered in the diagnosis and recommendation made before the boy was sent to Nelles. An interview schedule, consisting of four open- ended questions, was used in order to assure uniformity in the questions asked each family, to insure a flexible un restricted response. If the family appeared hesitant about making a. negative comment, they were offered two possible criticisms they could use: the boy had learned to smoke, i . or to swear while at the School. The Research Population | Every tenth boy’s card on the roster wheel was ex- I omined for frequency of visits and location of the faially. < The families selected for contact met the criterion of at i least two visits per month for two months. Preference was ; 10 given to families who lived in Los Angeles or surrounding areas. During the selection it was noted that two fam ilies, one from a distant southern county and the other from a still more distant northern county, met the cri terion for visits and were therefore included to swell the sample from which contacts were to be made. No other conditions or criteria were made. Pre ference was given to families living within easy visiting distance of the School as it was assumed that the parents who could and did visit so frequently would show a non- re jective attitude to the boy, which might have a bene ficial influence on him, this in turn making for notice able change in relationships. I At the start of the study, parents were permitted I to visit their boy on alternate Sundays. Toward the end, I I I the policy was changed to visits twice a month. Visiting ! I I I hours were from 1:00 to 1^:00 p.m. but could begin at 11:00 | i a.m. if parents brought lunch for the boy. ! 1 I 1 ! I Letters were sent making an appointment for the , I coming Sunday for the hours before 1:00 p.m. in order that ' I I I parents could have more time to spend with the boy and yet | i I participate in the study. The letter requested their | 1 I assistance in the study underway and gave them the option j I of cancelling the appointment made for them by the inter- i I . I I viewer, allowing them to choose another time more con- 11 veulent for their purposes. The interviewer advised each family of the purpose and confidential nature of the study. They were also told of their right to decline to participate. They were ad- ; vised that the interview would be taped in order to short- I I en the interview time but that they had the option to re quest a play back, to decline, or to erase the tape. The entire family, including siblings visiting at the time, were invited to participate. The identity desired was that of a staff member at the School; therefore letters were sent to the families I I on the institution’s stationary. The aim was to seek their [ assistance in improving services to their sons and to them; j that their views and opinions were important and would I I carry weight in any proposed changes, but that any benefits I evolving from the study might in reality go to future wards j and their families. I I The research population is too small to be called representative or typical of the general population of the male juvenile offenders. The approximate number of boys was i | . 3 6 . The families of 26 boys were contacted by letter. Of these the random sampling produced 13 Anglo-Caucasians, 9 Mexican-Americans, and i | . Negro families. Only 11 fami lies participated in the study: 7 were Anglo-Caucasian and i | - were Hexican-American. Only one of the Negro parents 12 responded. She wrote a letter advising the interviewer she had no phone or car and that transportation would be dif ficult to manage as ”monej is kind of scarce this month.” Two of the families had boys receiving special treatment and another boy went into therapy at the close of the research period. The families came from lower class socioeconomic backgrounds, except for three who came from the middle class. Seven were two-parent interviews, three were with the mother alone, and one was an interview with the father alone. The boys’ mean age was Iki» Four were middle children, three were oldest children, three the only child, and one was the youngest child in the family. One was above average in intelligence, five were average, three were below average, and two had borderline intelligence. All but one of the eleven had a less serious first offense, followed by a more serious offense and leading to commit ment to the Youth Authority. j I I The Schedule , The questions used in each interview were formulated! I to determine how the parent( s ) saw the school in its affect I on the boy, and what they expected the school to do for the' boy and them. There were two questions under each of these | ! sections. The first part was concerned with what positive 13 and/or negative effects they had noted during their visits, from talking with the boy, his counselor, the various tradesmen on the grounds, staff members on duty that week, I land other parents. The second part explored the desired I I or expected changes they were anticipating and was to be I a check on the statements made to the questions on the I first part. i Originally it was planned to have a guideline for I ; observations on the boy after a visit from his family. Due I I to the change in shifts and relief personnel taking over I I I who were without prior knowledge of the boy, this could not jbe completed. Only six were completed and returned, there-I 1 j I fore the guidelines were omitted from this report. | I I I This study has been divided into four chapters. The I next chapter gives the case briefs with an evaluation and I impressions after each interview. Chapter III consists of I the findings. It discusses the descriptive date, sum- jmarizes the interviews and presents the criteria for I measurement. The last chapter presents the summary and implications. The appendix contains the bibliography, a sample letter sent to the families, the research question naire, and the sample schedule used for background material; CHAPTER II INTERVIEWS AND SUMMARIES OP CASES This chapter includes the case briefs divided into three sections. The first part will include the social and diagnostic data intending to convey a psychosocial background. The second part will include the responses made to the four questions and will have a comment on how the family responded to the letter of appointment. The third part will have the evaluation and impressions of the interview. Each case brief will be identified by a number. In the interview summaries the responses used for purposes of measurement in the next chapter will be underlined. Ficti tious names were given to each subject as a means of con cealing his identity. All the parents were articulate, welcomed an op portunity to discuss their boy, his problems and theirs, and their combined comments provided a wealth of data. From the total findings it was necessary to select certain points of particular significance that could be measured later and condensed. The concept of change was chosen as 34 IS the focus for the presentation of the briefs. All but one of the families saw a change in the boy as a result of his placement at the School. The amount of change noted in the boy varied with each family and was duly measured in the next chapter. 16 CASE NO. 1 Background: Lee is l5i^ Anglo-Caucasian, Protestant, and is the youngest of eight children in an intact . family. The family lives in an old house in a semi-industrial area. The father is a painter, self-employed, who does not work steadily and drinks. There is conflict between the parents ; the father is objective about the boy, and the mother overprotective. Neither is able to set and maintain realistic limits for the boy, and give him little supervision. The parents’ at titude being contradictory, the boy is therefore manipulative. Lee is of average intelligence, does not work to capacity, and has been relatively healthy, with the exception of an ear infection for which he was treated at Nelles. The diagnosis was de ferred but it was reported that he was unable to relate to people, and he was depressed after delinquent acts. The previous offense was petty theft. Parole was revoked for drinking, glue sniffing, runaway from placement and refusal to attend school. Interview with Mother; The interview took place the day she returned Lee to Nelles after a furlough home and a few days before his actual release. It was not after a leisurely visit with the boy; she had had him under foot for four days at home. The mother was voluble, | unintelligible, tense, difficult to follow, worried about his ear condition and the future. I. Are there any ways your boy’s stay at Nelles School has helped him? ”The School helped him improve in writing and spelling.’ ’ She had noticed in his last letter home that ^hls spelling was perfectI” It should be ex plained that letters are written in school and re copied before they are sent out. She expressed the hope that afterwards he would attend at least half a day of school. Here at Nelles he had ho say in 17 whether he wanted to attend or not; he just had to. That had been the disadvantage before, ”if he took a notion not to go to school, he wouldn’t go.” She expected because more education had been forced on him that he would do better academically; how ever, with the next breath she figured he would not because of his ’ ’ nervousness.” II. Are there any ways your boy’s stay at Nelles School has not helped him or may have even hurt him? ”I don’t think the School has hurt him, be cause it really has brought him up in his studies, but the School had not helped him with his speech. ' He has a habit of mumbling, you can’t understand what he is saying. He talks fast and mumbles with it. I have to ask the second time what he is say ing. I try not to have him repeat it. He gives it real quick and it is hard to understand.” It should be explained that this is a pretty accurate description of her omi manner of speaking. To temper the blow she stated assuringly that ”the School might be as wonderful as it can be. It might be the boys here. Different kids talk dif ferent ways. Seems like he catch those habits and things,” she added with a little lau^. Though she stated the boy was resentful and ashamed of his placement, that it ’ ’ seems like he can’t cope with that very well,” she later admitted it had bothered her at first but claimed she became accustomed to it, more so with each return to the School. Ill. How will things be different when he comes home from the way they were when he left? ”To tell you the truth, it scares me really. Because it looks like he can do real good, and then again he gets that nervousness. Î think he should go to a doctor. It just seems there is something bothering him.” She was worried about the future and his ability to adjust. She was bewildered by his irritability one moment ”and the next he will do anything for you; he’s changeable that way.” She thought that since he was getting older ”he ought to start to think that he has been away from home so much, he should really try to do in order to get to stay home.” Nothing has changed him, she stated, ”only he himself can make a change. When he gets nervous, it does not matter how good some- 18 one is to him...he acts like he isn’t satisfied with things.” She placed great hopes in the parole agent who had made a home visit. He might just be one of those people who ”have a way of getting to a boy...where another man maybe could never find out.” She was in a state of great indecision about the boy’s ear condition which she thought was affect ing his behavior; to take care of it now would pro long his stay at Nelles. The parole agent had left her in a quandary by leaving the decision to her. IV. What suggestions do you have for things to be done here at Nelles in order to help the boy or yourself? Through Lee she learned to feel that the School was ”a very good place; seems like everything is be ing done.” No one from the School had contacted her though she had called the counsellor *^once or twice, and I talked up here with some guy at the drinking fountain about two months ago.” She had received a general idea that the boy was doing ”fine.” She felt the staff were doing ”everything they can for the boys. I guess the boy’s got the problem.” Evaluation and Impressions of Interview; The mother placed the responsibility for change on the boy. She looked for answers to the boy’s problem outside of herself, attributed the cause to a physical condition, but was concerned about his adjustment. Her main concern was for the truancy and not for the drinking and glue sniffing. Her values differed from those of her husband; she saw the immediate worth and future potential of the boy rather than his usefulness to the family. This mother made an effort to find something positive to say about the School’s affect on the boy. She found a tangible thing to present as evidence but ascribed no basic change in attitude, relationships, or values. There was only a small hope that his improvement in the academic area would carry over after his release. She was critical of the school in not having affected improvement in communication and relationships, and was disturbed by her inability,to relate to the boy. 19 The School had been seen not as punitive, but as a restrictive setting against which his home would be highlighted and, therefore, be a deterrent to his delinquent behavior, to his lack of ap preciation of his family’s efforts. Because of her faith in the School’s purpose, her conclusion was that the problem and responsibility for change was the boy’s. An element of rejection was not apparent. She saw the School as having failed in both its restrictive and rehabilitative purpose. The mother indicated a desire to work with the School and had made attempts at contact with the staff. Where the School was seen as authoritarian, the parole agent was seen as a supportive figure. He had approached her, made a home visit, offered her help. CASE NO. 2 Background: Anton is 16, the only child of parents Wio di vorced when he was three years old. His mother came to America and worked as a domestic, then remarried five years ago. She is a strong indivi dual who survived a concentration camp in Poland, suffered much, and was seen as perhaps being unable to respond to Anton in a warm, helping fashion. She has not encouraged close friends or allowed the step-father to discipline the boy. He has a positive relationship with the step-father though he has ex perienced difficulty in accepting him. The family live in a one bedroom apartment and Anton has feel ings he does not actually belong. The neighborhood is highly delinquent and he lacks supervision be cause they both work, the step-father as an assist ant manager of a drive-in and the mother as a cook. Anton has average intelligence, a tendency to identify with more delinquent boys, and a major need to establish a relationship with an adequate father figure who can clearly and sharply define for him some model of masculine behavior. His diagnosis was "Transient Situational Personality Disturbance, Adjustment Reaction of Adolescence.” His previous offense included runaway from home 20 and petty theft. His commitment offense was viola tion of curfew and. assault with a deadly weapon (shooting other juveniles with a pellet gun.) Interview with Mother and Step-father: were the first of the families idio were met at the gate and personally escorted across the grounds to the interviewing room. They had asked for the boy but made no mention of having received a letter. However, they recognized interviewer’s name upon being approached and started making an apology. After their visit with the boy, they initiated contact with the interviewer to announce they were ready for the interview. A notable change from Case No. 1 was their relaxed and interested attitude. Part of the discussion was in the Slavic language as the mother had difficulty expressing herself in English. I. Are there any ways your boy’s stay at Nelles School has helped him? The step-father was spokesman with his wife speaking softly and shyly when directly addressed. Her reserve was broken i ^ 6 en a short interchange In the Slavic language was managed by the interviewer. There had been a complete change in the boy’s atti tude . He was thinking abouta future job, talking about college and not just finishing school, the step-father said very pleased, something he had never done before. The mother shyly offered that the boy "understands more, ” which was interpreted by the step-father as meaning that the boy listened to him now without arguing, in fact agreed with him. He reported Anton as saying: "I didn’t under stand, but I know idaat you are talking about now.” This School was the only place he has shown a definite change. He doesn’t complain about any thing, ”he is accepting it, saying to himself ’this is my medicine and I’ve got to take it’.” The step-father thought that not many boys had this attitude and that therefore this stood out on Anton’s part. In the five years he has known the boy this was the first time there had been a definite change in his attitude. The mother stated that she has begun ”to see him as a good child” and that she was happy. Before he had been ”a bad boy, he did not agree and he did not understand.” 21 She stated he had not had any interest in school, no hobbies, but that now he was bringing to show them with pride some work he had done in arts and crafts. A comment was made about there being no choice about going or not going to school, but neither saw this as a controlled atmosphere, in fact the step-father stated that until the inter viewer mentioned it, he had never seen Hellas as an authoritarian setting. XI. Are there-any ways your boyts stay at Helles School has not helped him, or may have even hurt him? can^t see where it has hurt him any,^ the 8tap-father stated and hiswife nodded, fhere had been a puzzled silence before the answer came. Hothin/^ they would prefer not to see develop in the boy has cropped up since he came to Helles. He had smoked before, the mother stated, and the swearing he had done was of the kind that was %not notice able,” the step-father added in a very accepting way. Ill. How will things be different when he comes home from the way they were when he left? The mother stated firmly that she thought the difference would be in the boy, he would be a good child. Anton had also announced his intention to learn Polish and this had gladdened her heart. She did not do well in English, was forgetting Polish, and she could not speak with him. There would be less difficulty now in communicating. Anton had started running around with a bunch of boys, staying out late, not coming home. She did not like these boys her son went with; they were the cause of his problem. But what had been the greatest difficulty was speaking to the boy with this language barrier. There would also be a change in location which would help as most of those bad boyscame from that area. In fact, Anton had requested that they move, ”he doesn't want to get involved with them again! the mother stated. The step-father thoughtfully mulled over the authoritarian setting and the ex ternal controls, adding almost to himself: ”It*s not good, I think, too much freedom,” he had not thought about controls before but now felt a ”family type control, not cop-control” might be something t!hat would benefit Anton. 22 IV. What suggestions do you have for things to be done Here at Helles in order to help tàêT"boy or yourself? are pretty much satisfied with the way it is.” They had seen the Superintendent and the interviewer but had no need to see others as they could see the positive change in the boy for them selves. On being escorted back to the gate, the mother timidly stated she would like to see how her boy lives here at Helles. Evaluation and Impressions of Interview: These were happy, pleased parents who had only positives to tell, yet had not responded to the formal letter sent them. They were pleased with the tangible evidence of his new interest in a hobby, cited statements the boy made that indicated his more conforming behavior, his newer values which were those of a class higher than theirs, and his increased maturity in siding with their atti tudes. . Their expectations were for a complete carry over with the possibility of an increase in com munication. Their contribution would be a move to a neighborhood away from the bad companions* Since they saw these as the primary cause of his problem, there was no allowance for backsliding, all gains were expected to be maintained. The couple were together in their expectations of the boy. Both saw the School as having a reha bilitative effect, something not achieved by pre vious law enforcement agencies. They saw him as adjusting and their impression of the School was therefore positive. Hot until the controlled at mosphere was pointed out did the step-father con sider how the conditioning may have been achieved. He seriously considered a more benign form of con trol which was not challenged by the mother. The expectations of the boy were high and he had a major portion of responsibility for change placed on him. However, with the move to another location, the anticipated supervision as well as hopes for better communication, their expectations for themselves were equally high. They did not anticipate needing help with the boy upon his release. 23 The mother's suggestion about learning how her boy ”lived” indicates that there is perhaps an un conscious recognition that there is still an element of estrangement between the boy and herself, as well as a desire that the school permit her to have a still closer relationship with him. CASE HO. 3 is H4 . , the second of four children in a broken home. His parents were divorced when he was eight years old and he lived with his mother in an extremely disorganized home. The father is employed as a roustabout in the oil fields and as a roofer, traveling from Job to job with no definite resi dence. He is 69, in good health, and contributes toward the support of the children. The mother, aged I { . 0, is considered by the community to be an amoral individual. She is a confused mother, not accepting the commitment of her boy, blaming so ciety, the courts, the police and the probation department for all the difficulties. Bob is an inadequate youngster who possesses borderline intelligence, is suggestible, and is functioning on a primitive level. The diagnosis was tentative: Personality Pattern Disturbance, Inadequate Personality. The clinical impressions were that he was backward academically, mentally, and socially. There was evidence of criminal and delinquent tendencies in relation to the siblings, immoral trends in relation to the mother, and probably an inadequate father. Prognosis for his rehabilitation was poor. His previous offense was that of a parole violator committed to the Youth Authority on two counts of burglary and several counts of petty theft. His committing offense was lewd and lascivious conduct. Interview with the Father: This father responded to the letter in his own characteristic way. He demanded to see the super intendent, whose name also appeared on the letter. 2k was critical of the School because i±iey did not know what they were doing since they asked to see him and th@n did not remember why. He showed the letter as proof and it was then the interviewer was contacted. After all this fuss, he was pleasant and cooperative when approached by the interviewer who apologized for causing him inconvenience. During the interview he was relaxed, friendly, sincere, related easily, and was quite verbal. I. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School has helped him? Because ”they have talked with him here, the counsellor, or somebody” the boy now ”seems to realize at times he done wrong. He did not want to tell before, but now he will discuss it with me. ”He felt the School had therefore ^helped even mentally. ” He did not wish to talk about the com mitting offense, ”I don't want to talk about it with you. It's sex trouble. I could, but it wouldn't do any good.” However he brought himself to admit it was a homosexual act and explained how pleased he was the School had given the boy a room of his own, to prevent a recurrence of the act. He went on to tell about his own upbringing, how he had been instructed in the facts of life by his father, but then universalized the problem es pecially in the area where he was living at present. He started to exonerate himself but then admitted he had "never gave Bob no real advice like I have the older boy because I didn't think he was old enough. Yet I guess I should have, I see now, but he is only 1% years old!” he stated plaintively. Another improvement he has noticed is that Bob "is more like a man,” and described how the boy had been able to delay the pleasure of a Christmas present in order to consider the toys that would have to be bought for the younger sisters. He attributed this to the fact that the School made him wait. "I bring a whole bunch of candy; he don't get it all at once. He has to wait and get it three times a week.” He has noticed that Bob "writes a lot better than he did.” This meant a great deal to the father as he was anxious the boy receive the rudiments of an education as "I want to make him believe now, while he is a boy, that 25 all jobs requires applications." If he were still alive at the time, he might be able to get Bob into work similar to his, "We call it rough-neeking. It doesn't require brains, just enough to get killed." II. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Belles School has not helped him, or may have even hurt him? "Not really." The School was not at fault that the boys still managed to smoke because he had seen the staff's searching methods and was him self puzzled how the boys still managed to get hold of the eontrabrand. He accused himself of not set ting a model for his sons, as his own father had done, but felt unable to give up smoking himself. Indirectly he criticized the School because it had not protected Bob from the attacks of the other boys. However, he explained, the boy is one who "will not fight back. He lets guys kick him around." He had urged his son to be more aggres sive, advising Bob to tell the counselor "if he don't do nothing about it, you will have to do something about it yourself." Bob had shown him an ashtray he had made in Arts and Grafts but in his opinion "They don't seem to go far enough into it to really help him any, to grow up and get a job at it." Ill. How will things be different when he comes home from the way they were when he left? He thought there would be a carry-over of Bob's willingness to wait. He has noticed that "to quite an extent, he acted like he growed up a little bit. Not so much a kid." If the School would per mit, he was willing to take the boy upon his re lease. He did not wish the boy to be in the same surroundings as before, that being in a new en vironment would mean a new start for BoFI He as- sumed the blame for not giving the boy guidance saying about his wife only that they never did get along* He has set up bachelor quarters with his oldest son (recently released from another cor rectional institution) and if Bob lived with them "I can see then when he starts to get out of hand, not coming in, and stuff like that." He thou^t 26 boys did not start all at once, to go the wrong way but in little things; he could "maybe correct it," before things went too far. He confided that he spent sleepless hours thinking about the boys and what to do. The two boys always got along, never had fist fights. He expected the brothers would still get along with each other, if not better, as Bob was growing larger. Bob would share his clothes and the older boy might share his motor cycle. There was more about what the father planned to do, including taking them to church. He talked with pleasure of how the three of them would make out and be together. IV. What suggestions do you have for things to be done hereat Helles inorder to help the boyor yourself? He was hesitant to suggest anything for fear "them authorities” would take it amiss. Reassured that no names would be mentioned he went so far as to do some wishful thinking. "What I would like to see, if it isn't already being done, I imagine it is already being done, is to get good schoolin', which I imagine they (the boys] do." He went on to say that perhaps the authorities might not see it his way, or perhaps they were already doing it, but "I would like to see them talk with these boys about their wrong doing. I don't believe in scolding them; ' I mean talk. What they can get into, what they cannot get into, how they have got to live with society when they are outside. I don't know if they ever teach this." If he had the money he would build a hall, invite all teenagers and lecture about the things they needed to know "which they don't learn in school. They need to know things about each other and about human beings, and how to take care of yourself." He wanted the boys at Helles to have the benefit of their elders' ex periences. Evaluation and Impressions of Interview; This father took major responsibility for the boy's problem, cast no aspersions on the mother's inadequacies, recognized himself as an inadequate model. There was not only much warmth evidenced in 27 his relationship to the boy, but an aggressive sup port and an accurate recognition of the boy's limi tations • He brought up tangible evidence of improve ment, was pleased with the signs of conforming behavior, and impressed with the element of maturity the boy was now displaying. There were only minor expectations, such as being able to write his name, continuation of the good relationship he already had with the older brother, some element of the ability to delay pleasure that were expected to be carried over upon release. However, the expectations he set for himself were major. Not only the means for a new start, but providing the boy with the guidance and super vision he had previously provided only partially or not at all. He assumed almost the major portion of responsibility for change, to a degree not met with in the rest of the sample. He saw the School as rehabilitative, saw its function as parental. As he criticized himself in not fulfilling his own parental duties adequately, he so criticized the School in turn. CASE NO* 1 | . Jeff is l%t, Anglo-Caucasian, Protestant, the j only child of a divorced mother who shared his up- ' bringing with her parents. She works as a secre- 1 tary and now lives with Jeff in a rented rear house , in an older middle-class neighborhood. She covertly| rejects him as being troublesome, as of no apparent | use to her, and reminds her of a marriage that went sour and was possibly nothing more than marriage : for the sake of giving the boy a name. She claims i he was spoiled by the grandparents but that the I grandfather had a change of attitude toward the | boy since his wife's death. Jeff is above average in intelligence, verbal, narcissistic in approach to rules, truant, and has 28 never achieved his academic abilities. He sought I out delinquent companions and has attempted to | achieve some identity as a "gang boy.” The I diagnosis was: Adjustment Reaction of Adolescence j manifested by burglary and running away. His i surface behavior was thought to be quite symp- j tomatic as there was considerable internal con flict. It was thought that he needed more positive | and supportive relationships as he would become j more isolated otherwise. His previous offense was ( burglarizing his grandfather's home with some ' friends for which he was placed in a correctional i home for boys. His commitment offense was running I away from this placement and auto theft. j Interview with Mother: j She called, made an appointment, and asked no ! questions about the study mentioned in the formal ' letter. Where all other interviews lasted nearly an hour or more, hers lasted twenty-five minutes, I She answered briefly, in a cold and reserved manner,: and was the only parent to produce a negative re sponse in the interviewer. I I. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School ' has helped him? "His attitude seems to be improved,” he has stopped talking about running away, has evaluated ' the situation, "probably seen the other boys that have gotten into trouble have gotten their time prolonged. He doesn't want that to happen to him,” she stated, "He is growing up mentally," talks very seriously, seems to be keeping up with his schooling, "he said his grades aren't going down," she added. The change might have been brought about, she thought, because Helles was not as con fined as he had been led to believe by the boys at Juvenile Hall, She herself "expected guards upon the walls" but was relieved he had not been sent to yet another institution which was "too far to visit," II. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School has not helped him, or may have even hurt him? "Ho." She had been instrumental in bringing 29 him to the attention of the authorities when he began truanting and running away from home. She called his offense "just a little old minor crime" but admitted being scared to death when called and told how he had "raced ninety and a hundred miles an hour on the freeway!" She explained she had never allowed him to drive a car though he drove her little one "around the yard." "Getting into a mess like that and going to Juvenile Hall, most of the kids it would scare them. He just took it in stride. If he had gotten a little bit scared he wouldn't be here," she added. Questioned, she did not know if he would pick up new ideas for other crimes, "I just hope he grows more mentally and realizes all this is wrong before he gets out of here," If not, "then he knows he'll be right back!" III. How will things be different when he comes home from the way they were when he left? She had already moved to another community, j away from his former companions and "all the gang." | Jeff had not been pleased with this news and her i reply to him had been that he could remain then at I Helles, she was not moving back. How he would be ; in "a different environment, and he has got to mind. " | And if he did not. ^*weil. 1 will have to put him back! And 1 have got to make him understand before i I ever take him out of here because I can't worry around with him!" It was hard to say where his | problem stemmed from, but he had always been hard i to handle. Because of the baby sitters during his ' early years she thought he had "just had too many I bosses." Also, her father had spoiled him by un- * doing everything she and her mother had tried to do « with the boy, as well as giving him money every ! time he asked and buying him anything he asked for. It was "hard now to keep up with all that. If he I doesn't get what he wants, he gets mad," she com plained, ! IV. What suggestions do you have for things to be done ' here at Helles in order to help the boy or yourself? i "It seems to me there isn't too much correcting; measures taken," she responded. Placing him in ; 30 solitary does not bother him. Placing him on re striction was "something minor;" it did not deprive him of anything if he did not care for playing football or watching television in the first place. "It just should be something... .1 don't know. I don't believe in brutal force, but it should be something that would bother him," she concluded. A lot of people have concurred with her, that "you just can't reach him.” She thought psychotherapy might help. If the School could "find out what his problem was, then you would know how to handle it." Evaluation and Impressions of Interview; This mother projected responsibility for the boy's problems to others and her rejection was quite overt though there was a recognition that the boy needed help. Warmth and support were con spicuously missing. She brought up tangible evidence of improve ment and conforming behavior but thought it in sufficient for her needs. Her major expectations of the boy were such that there had to be full realization by Jeff that the burden of responsi bility for change was his with no assistance from her. The positives she mentioned are minor and due primarily she thought to the School's restrictive ness toward other boys whose punishment Jeff wit nessed. The negatives were all criticisms of the School which had failed as a punitive and restric tive setting: it was not sufficiently punitive to her boy. The responsibility for change is the boy's entirely; she has done her share in changing his environment and requesting psychotherapy for him. CASE NO. 5 Background ; Lester is l i j . , Anglo-Caucasian, Protestant, the only child in a broken home. His mother has been 31 seductive and overprotective of him and imposed a great deal of rigidity in his living pattern. His father has remarried and is a successful rancher in another state, has helped provide financially for the boy. There has been little contact with the father until placement there by the court fol lowing his offense. The step-father is reported to have a good relationship with the boy; there is no apparent hostility between him and the boy. He takes Lester hunting and fishing and gives him money but the boy expresses no real depth of feel ing about this relationship. The mother works seasonally in a canning factory and the step-father is an electrician. They live in a nice residential section in a northern part of the state. Lester is of average intelligence. His re sponses are self-centered and defensive and he feels no remorse over his offense. He has guarded feelings about his mother ?diich would indicate some ambivalence. The diagnosis is Schizoid Personality with Possibility of Developing Paranoid Schizo phrenia. There is a coldness and animal-like quality to his appearance which is emphasized by his sullen withdrawal. There is a dearth of warmth and personal response indicating something much more severe than a soeiopathic disturbance. His omnipotent attitude and inappropriate affect are both symptomatic of schizophrenia. He is considered to be extremely dangerous. His first offense was assault with intent to commit rape. The commit ting offense was failure to adjust in placement (when placed with his father) and violation of probation. Interview wi~Hi Mother and Step-father; These parents were chosen for the study be cause they had come regularly over five hundred miles every third week to visit the boy. There had been no response to the formal letter. The entire family was approached on the visiting grounds and the interview held after the visit. The mother made most of the responses addressed to both but was at all times backed up by her husband. 32 I. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School has helped him? "He seems so much more relaxed,” she stated, but this was in comparison to the tension he had displayed while at Juvenile Hall awaiting a de cision on his case. "He says he likes it at Helles and says everybody is nice to him. He has never made one complaint about the School,” she announced with a great deal of pleasure. Throughout her account of what had brought him to Helles she would repeat versions of the phrase ”he never gave me one bit of trouble in his life.” The details she gave in bolstering this statement were il lustrative of the rigidity noted by the Clinic staff. These statements were all made proudly. He never went out except on Friday night (the night he attacked the girl), the rest of the time he spent with his parents. He never ran the streets, never went anywhere, seldom brought friends home after he was twelve years old. There had never been any trouble between the step father and the boy, the mother claimed. He did admit one argument that he volunteered to tell about. He had slapped the boy for "making fun of me” and that had been the only time. The mother stated that there had been no proceeding events from which the assault had occurred. ”He was real nice at home. Quiet. I mean he would be like any of the rest of the boys; hé would be rowdy and everything if you let him. But I would never let him. I made him behave himself. He has always minded good, and he has never been real, real rowdy in the house, because I would not allow it. Maybe that was my fault. I should have let him be rowdy more.” The step-father stated he would "rather see him home but, if he has to stay, this is a good place for him to stay. He has to pay the penalty. I would much rather see him at home. Any parent would.” The mother followed this up with the statement that she would have walked if she did not have a ear because she felt that "whenever they are in some place like this, you have got to let them know somebody cares...Even if he done wrong." 33 II. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School has not helped him, or may have even hurt him? "Hot in any way.” She thought the place was "wonderful.** They were allowed to visit him, on grounds that looked like a picnic area, the School took him to football games and even to a television performance where they actually saw him in the audience. Their impression then was that the boy did not see Helles as a harsh authoritarian settings III. How will things be different when he comes home from the way ihey were when he left? ~ She did not think she would now have any trouble in getting him to clean his room now that he has had to do it here at Helles. Only a very few people know he is here at Helles, the others think he is visiting out of state. All she has heard them say is 'Poor Les, what happened to him. ' 5hey all say 'he has been such a good boy.' That was true; she had started to discipline him "when he was little. Maybe I was wrong. But when I said something, that is what I meant. I did my best to teach him good manners, which everybody has said he had. He never did embarrass me." If he "let his ! hair down," something she told him he could do only at home,” he let it down several times. He would t get the belt.” She is the one who applies the I whippings, she stated. They both thought the boy was perhaps "going through that age,” that the 1 violent act was part of a stage he was going j through. She enlarged upon it, stating the girl I had "led him on" possibly as "she used to be real fat; she never dated." If he should come home changed, the mother stated "we will have to get adjusted to it, that is all. Try to re-adjust him, I guess. I hope he I don't come home too.. .1 don't think he will, ; really." IV. What suggestions do you have for things to be done I here at Helles in order to help the boy"or yourself? i They had no suggestions for improvement as all I the things they would have suggested, they stated, i had already been done, such as "new buildings. 3k restrooms.” They had no suggestions except not to make too big a change in the boy. "I hope he doesn't be too mean when he comes home,” the mother stated, and the step-father added, "You know, he is about as big as I am; he would make us all get out of the house.” Evaluation and Impressions of Interview; This boy's diagnosis is one of the most serious in the sample. At the time of the inter view he was receiving treatment in the Special Treatment Division. These parents had no understanding of the boy's problem. The mother gave only lip service to assuming some responsibility for its cause. Most of the blame for the assault was placed on the victim. Their perception of the School was disturbing and its unreality was apparent from the beginning of the interview. At times it appeared as if they were speaking of a boarding school, highly ap proving of its entire curriculum. The mother saw %diat she wanted to see, the same boy who had left home and who had not been changed by his placement at Helles. If there was a carry-over of difference later, it was the mother's intention to readjust the boy. Ho change was seen, expected, or wanted. Only the step-father could express a realistic feeling produced by the contemplation of change; fear. The burden of responsibility for change was negative and it was the School's; do not change the boy. CASE HO. 6 Background; Manuel is IJ 4 . , Mexican-American, the third of four children in an intact Mexican-American family. His father is a warehouseman making a good living, buying their home. He seems detached in his at titude to the boy. Although he is not overtly re- 35 jecting, he seems more embarrassed than concerned by the boy's difficulty with the law. Manuel is closest to his mother who is devoted to him, means well, but is overprotective. In many ways she shields him from the older brother and the father. All the women in the family are obese and all the men, except for Manuel, are handsome. Manuel tested in the borderline range of in telligence. His emotional needs are not met in the home and he reacted by engaging in antisocial behavior in the community. The diagnosis was tentatively Personality Pattern Disturbance, schizoid personality. The Clinic felt that he gave a false impression of being mentally retarded. He is well accepted by his peer group and his overall adjustment could be regarded as satisfactory. His previous offense was burglary, with his sister acting as lookout. His committing offenses were assault with intent to commit robbery, and assault with intent to commit rape. Interview with Mother and Father; These parents called and insisted that the let ter had made an appointment for a non-visiting day. On arrival they discovered to their dismay that the interviewer was not their boy's counselor. However, they consented to be interviewed. The mother was the spokesman, answering for the father even when he was directly addressed, blocking with her body at times a possible remark to or from the father. They were both handsome and obese. I. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School has helped him? ^ "He is not silly, you know what I mean. He has grown up more. He thinks better than when he was home. Clearer. When he was in the house, well, we joke, we kid, we say things. But he would act silly. Or he would laugh and not take anything seriously," she stated. She had also noticed his "being polite" and the improvement in his hand writing. This was all stated practically in one breath, with hand gestures, and with not even a confirming nod from the father. She went on to say 36 that the boy had shown her some of his schoolwork at the last visit and not only his handwriting, but his grammar and pronunciation had improved as well. There were tears in her eyes as she reported that the last time she had seen the boy "he was very, very sad. He told me they told him they might take him to a foster home.** It was at this point that it became known they thought they were speaking to their boy's counselor. Though ex- i planations were made twice, and once more on the walk back to the gate, she covertly tried each time | to dissuade the interviewer from carrying out the I foster home placement plan. Being "very, very sad" also meant that the boy was responding to the re pressive atmosphere and talking about never wanting to return to a place like Helles. She was happy about this as it had been "just what Junior said when he went to Juvenile. That's my older boy." j Uninterruptedly she went on to speculate on why | Manuel had wound up at Helles: "Maybe because I got hurt when I was expecting him. I was real sick. And I spoiled him a lot. It was a real shock to me when he was first caught. I always thought he would be a modest boy (this was apparently about the attempted rape). He wouldn't fight. Boys used to hit him and he would never fight back." The father at this point for the first time spoke for himself when directly addressed. He stated he had been like Manuel when a boy, his brother had always fought his battles until GOG camp where he learned how to box, "so anytime they hit Manuel I used to feel bad, but my oldest boy wanted to make him fight." She would have been less shocked if it had been Junior who had gotten into trouble because he was "always in gang fights, and more gang things than Manuel was." Manuel had sniffed glue and "must have gone berserk or something. Because, my goodness, it was in the daytime I (and on a playground, this at tempted rape)" She had given her girls instruction, that is "what's best, what's right and wrong." It was in school they received sex instruction which she approved of "because they can defend themselves, but for boys, it gives them ideas. With Manuel I just hoped for the best." I « 37 She preceded her next explanation about "what brought this on" with a defense of her husband: I can't say he is not a well provider; there isn't anything he wouldn't do for his kids. Me go in credit to get them what we can. If I would say ray boys get in trouble because my husband is a good for nothing drunkard, no! He would give up his last penny so they can enjoy themselves." He had never spanked any of the children since the oldest was five years old because she had become angry at the blow. He had told her then that discipline would now be in her hands. However, Junior had proved effective with a spanking he had administered to Manuel and therefore, from that time on she had "left it up to Junior." But it was not Junior's ineffectiveness that had "brought it on" but the fact that all day in school the boys had "told him how to get a girl," II. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School has not helped him, or may have even hurt him? " However, because he had been so upset at the last visit, she had forgotten to follow up on whether he had received the glasses he needed. He ! does not swear in her presence and "ever since he I has been here he never smokes," She knew because ' she asked him and he had told her. "But he did say once that he and another boy were caught smoking." After this contradictory statement she went on to tell how she had reminded him "trouble don't go looking for you, you go looking for trouble. That is what I wanted to point out. It is up to him. I said, 'Manuel, look, it took Junior only six weeks (at Juvenile Hall) to know what it was to be home*." III. How will things be different when he comes home from the way they were when he left? He was thinking about where his problem lay outside of Helles and what he could do aboui Tt, such as make new friends, she stated. She had made him figure this out for himself, telling him, "I don't know what the rules are, or what the problems are, I can't tell you." He has grown up more, is more mature, is thinking of what would happen if he should get in trouble. He has definitely been helped, she stated. 38 Reminded of the help they could receive from the Parole Agent, she told how she had turned to Junior*8 Agent when she suspected Junior of using stimulant pills. One of the gang members had been shocked that she had reported her own son. She defended herself by stating, "If my son wants to be a tramp, he is.going to suffer for being a tramp. I gave up my career to raise my kids. If they do wrong, they are going to pay for it." She had given up ner career as a beautician be- cause she never thought there was any woman that could raise her children as she did. "I am dedicated to my kids. So when they do things like that, my dedicated life is pretty hard. If my husband was a no good drunk, if he wasn't good, or this and that, I figure we have that coming. Me would have shown that example. But he is a poor working mule 1 Me pamper our children." IV. Mhat suggestions do you have for things to be done here at Helles inorder to helpthe boy or yourself? They had none but the mother's last remarks were again about the possibility of placing the boy in a foster home where he would be hidden from them. This was aaid again with tears in her eyes. Evaluation and Impressions of Interview; This mother impressed the interviewer as a martyred and dominating woman, and the father as a passive, inadequate man, content to be extolled as hard working. There appeared to be no close rela tionship between the father and the boy, the oldest son taking over the paternal role given him openly by the mother. She is the dominant member in this family, overprotective, and seeking causes outside herself and her family. The tangible evidence of change is in the school subjects and in the conforming behavior of the boy. Ho change in personality or developmental growth was pointed out. However, all this in addition to working out his own problems is ex pected of this boy with limited abilities and a serious diagnosis. On the mother's part, nothing could be expected from her, she felt, as she had [ _ 1 39 given and given up a great deal already. She saw the School as punitive but toward herself more than toward her son. The contemplated foster placement was seen as a threat, requiring mobilization of all the proof she could muster in order to ward off the title of bad mother. I CASE NO. 7 ! Jose is 134» Mexican-AmePican. Catholic, the second oldest of four children in a broken home. His natural parents separated when Jose was four years old. The mother's common-law husband is a welder who joined the household a year ago and seems a devoted, responsible man. The older sister ap pears responsible for much of the functioning of the household. So long as they do not interfere with the mother, the younger sisters are allowed to occupy themselves anyway they please. The mother is lax in supervision and inadequate regarding set ting limits, but does appear to care for him and has his best interests at heart. Jose is below average in intelligence. His diagnosis was deferred but the clinical impressions were that his emotional needs were not being met at home. He had sought acceptance, recognition and status from questionable companions and before long was following a delinquent pattern of behavior. He is experienced and sophisticated beyond his chrono logical age. His first offense was for truancy and petty theft. The committing offenses were AWOL from camp and assault. Interview with the Mother (translator used): She did not respond to the letter but agreed to the interview when its purpose was interpreted by the man who introduced himself as the "Uncle.” Later, it was learned that he was the commpn-law husband. ko I. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School has helped himt "He has been lovable towards his sisters. He has been very respectful toward the whole family. His character has changed quite a bit. She has seen that he notices what his home means to him,” the "Uncle" translated. He has demonstrated this change on the many visits to him and his many visits to the home on furlough. Hot only was he now very attentive toward the family but he has also been very honest about everything. He is no longer rebellious as he demonstrated in his letters home. "He has ^Id her how sorry he has been for what he has done to herl I really believe he will change," he added ashis own opinion. He has told his mother that other mothers do not visit their sons as constantly as she. "He feels pretty good about it,” he added. The oldest daughter, who is quite close to the boy, has worried a great deal about him and written her warm concern in her letters to him. The mother has liked Helles from the very first "when she learned he goes to church. They put him to bed early and get him up early. They give him calisthentics. " The change was ef fected because "he needed authority other than hers. She knows now he will never do the same again. He knows now she will not play around any more," This last was in reference to the fact that the mother had been instrumental in having him picked up by the authorities. More positives were mentioned such as his stated desire to finish school and get a job "to help his family out." That was all she wanted for him, that he finish school. Before truanting he had been "very intelligent," even his principal had said so. "It is not my fault what happened at home," she volunteered, "at home he had everything he. wanted as far as I could afford. He never went hungry. It was the people he was hanging around with." Questioned, she stated there was no man in the family at present and that had made the difference, sent him on a delinquent path. Interviewer inter preted this to mean that he had male figures to identify with now. As soon as she heard the trans lation she came back quickly and forcefully with: 41 "He did not need his father! He was very well with her,” The interviewer explained that the word 'man' and not 'father ' had been used. The trans lator came back with "I told her that, too.” As stated previously, it was not known that the "Uncle” was the common-law husband. II. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School has not helped him^ or may have even hurt him? "She has not noticed anything." She has not spoken to anyone to find out how he is doing but knows he is doing very well. "She has noticed the marks he gets on the paper.” III. How will things be different when he comes home from the way they were when he left? He translated directly: "It has to be a dif ference. How else can it be? I believe he will not commit any more errors. And he will be a good boy for quite a while. I hope so anyway.” She was expecting this change to be a carryover just as she had seen the carryover during his six day furlough at home. IV. Mhat suggestions do you have for things to be done here at Helles in order to help the boy or yourself? "Hone." Questioned, she stated she did not wish to come more frequently; she had already been coming once a week. This had not been arranged as a therapeutic measure but was an error, discovered this day. Evaluation and Impressions of Interview: It was difficult at times to distinguish whose personal response was being given. The deception about identity, in retrospect, was carried less lightly by the "Uncle." The impression of the interviewer was that he inadvertently gave his personal responses because he felt part of the family. Why she prevented him assuming a strong paternal role can only be speculated. 42 The positive changes in the boy were at tributed entirely to the School and included not only conforming behavior but changes in attitude, relationships, and values. The family had had an opportunity, through an error, to test this in numerous visits. His mother has not only evidence in his letters home but in his consistent and con forming behavior while home on pass or furlough. These frequent opportunities may have reinforced motivation toward change since it brought a warm response from his family each time. She saw the School's rehabilitative effect as being due to the restrictive setting and stringent routine. Expectations were for a complete carry over with a threat at severance implied if the boy did not fulfill his responsibility. The greater warmth comes not from the motdaer but from the boy's older sister, the one who does in fact assume re sponsibility for the household. CASE HO. 8 Joe is 14f Anglo-Caucasian, Protestant, the oldest of four children each fathered by a different husband. The mother has had a minimum of five legal marriages. She is affectionate, means well by her children, but is a superficial person with little depth or substance. There was no father figure in the home from the time he was four to six years old. The step-father is regarded as having a good rela- ; tionship with the boy and has been in the home the | past five years. He is employed in the electronics field and the youngest child is his. i Joe has average intelligence, grew up in an 1 emotionally deprived, unstable home situation with j a succession of father figures with none staying 1 long enough for him to form any meaningful rela- | tionship or positive identification with them. The | diagnosis was deferred but the impressions were that I he had cultivated positive identification with this ' present step-father, but the damage to the boy's 43 personality had already occurred when he entered the family. His previous offense had been auto theft and the committing offense had been joy riding. Interview with Mother, Step-father, and two younger sisters, ages three and ten; The family had not responded to the letter but had been approached at the visiting area. The step-father rose when acknowledging the intrdduc- tion and Joe leaped up in imitation. The mother was the spokesman at the start but the step-father took over appropriately and with every indication of better intelligence and educa tion. Her voice was wispy and hard to hear, drowned out by her daughters, who were gently but firmly quieted by the step-father. I. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School has helped him? Being at Helles has "made him appreciate when he gets home” as he has seen how much less other boys have, the mother stated. The step-father added to this: "His stay here has made him more mature. He has a more seasoned value of right and wrong. He has always known right from wrong but he's never had the consequences of doing wrong.” He went on to praise the boy, adding that Joe "feels good because he's taken what he has had to do (punishment) and he feels as if he's done a good job." The mother reported that he was trying to catch up in school, trying to get ahead, "to do more than is expected of him." Having him react this way "helps you not feel so bad as it did at first," she stated. The boy's problem had been due to their mistakenly following the advice of "child guidance" counseling, the mother stated. The step-father explained this was the Juvenile authorities who had picked up the boy when he ran away. The boy had "never been any problem till then," had been a model child, in fact "too sub missive," she stated. The step-father confirmed this and added that then "it started and became bigger than all of us." 44 The ten year old sister's contribution to the discussion was that she thou^t he was "not so mean as he used to be," referring to the teasing he had done. The three year old's remark was out of con text but indicative of her feelings; "I want him to come home. Because I want him to! Because I like him! " XI. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School has not helped him, or may have even hurt him? in no way." They had had him home on furlough and noticed "he appreciated everything. He is now speaking up if he wants something and says it as if he expects wewill do it,” they said with pieasure^ This remark is to be included there fore, in the above section on positive changes. III. How will things be different when he comes home from the way they were when he left? The mother stated she had used spanking but that had not brought about the change accomplished by the School. "Then he came here and he realized this was punishment," she concluded. The step father explained that Joe "is not bad. Being here awakened him to the fact that he is responsible when he does do wrong. There will always be tempta tions to do wrong." He added he thought Joe would now "stop short before he attempts to go ahead.” They spoke of Joe's consuming interest in cars. There was no similarity between his interest and his step-father's occupation, but recently the step-father had been tinkering with the ignition system of a friend's car and thought he "might be able to share a similar interest" with Joe if the ignition system works, "it may help to share ^ interest in autos." he added. They spoke of Joe's former poor grades but said that they were told Joe was not catching up. The step-father hoped Joe would get credit for his studies at Helles, and wondered if Joe could "actually catch up or go ahead." The mother added: ”Catch up, at least." The ten year old spoke of having a brother again when he returned home, one who now seemed "more like a....kinda.... stranger." 45 IV. What suggestions do you have for things to be don© here at Hellesin order to help the boy or yourself? They had talked about this for quite awhile. It seemed to them that unless visiting families brought games to share with the boy, the rest of the time proved to be restless, especially with little ones. "If you had a facility to check out games,” the step-father started to say when his ^fe explained that in their hurry to leave they often forgot to bring something along, "something for little ones to do while you visit with the boy. Also more frequent visits but not as long.” The step-fatheraddedsmilingly, "check outgames, even for adults I " The ten year old went along with the suggestion for more frequent visits for the reason: "so he doesn't become.... a stranger." Evaluation and Impressions of Interview: This was a pleasant, wholesome family who indicated a great deal of warmth toward the boy and support for the positive changes seen in him. It is doubtful that the mother has much under standing of the boy's problem; she appeared to be parroting her husband's phrases. The step-father may have more understanding than he indicated dur ing the interview; it would have had an under mining effect to criticize either his wife or her former husbands. There was an Indication he did know what the boy's needs were and that he was making an attempt to share a similar interest to further positive identification. The mother has slightly lower expectations set for the boy in regard to scholastic achieve ment. The step-father's values differ mainly be cause of the difference in their educations and his expectations in this area are,therefore, higher. The positive changes, besides the tangible ones in school work, are a change in personality demonstrating, and recognized as, an increase in ego strength. A carryover is expected but back sliding is also realistically expected. I L 46 The School is seen as a restrictive setting, mildly punitive and as a backdrop for their own greater permissiveness, warmth, and support. Their request for more frequent visits is valid es pecially for the reason stated by his ten year old sister, to reduce the feeling of estrangement that time and distance can produce. CASE NO. 9 Armando is l5> Mexican-Caucasian, Catholic, and the oldest of six siblings in a broken family living on a public assistance grant in a deprived neighborhood. The mother seems to have genuine interest and concern for the boy but is unable to cope with his glue sniffing. The father is in prison for impregnating his wife's oldest daughter by a former marriage, and the child is being reared as an adopted daughter by Armando's mother. Armando has average intelligence, is large, obese, and quite immature for his age. The diagnosis was deferred but clinical impressions were that though verbal, his thought processes were dis organized; he rambled and appeared to have a rich fantasy life. He appeared to be a boy who was quite dependent and passive and whose needs were very great. He appeared to be a very distrubed boy experiencing strong fantasies of aggression even though he appears to be passive and repressed. His previous offenses were as a burglary suspect and glue sniffing. His committing offenses were for glue sniffing, violation of probation and camp failure. Interview with the Mother: The mother did not respond to the formal letter but consented to the interview when approached directly. She spoke in a flat monotone, with poor English, hampered by poor dentures. She was dishev eled, had running makeup, carried loose packages, and spilled the contents of the thermos in the 47 office. She was imderstandably nervous during the first part of the interview, but relaxed as she talked about her problems. I• Are there any ways your boy's stay at Nelles School has helped him? She reported him as having ”changed a lot. Knows how to read, to act. Better manners. Was difficult f^or me to teach him to be as Ee is now. Use to act wild, thought he was too big. Now he wants to come out and prove he thinks differently and better.^ This was all due to Helles because ^in camp didn*t change; tried to run away. Here is happy and trying to change self.^ She stated that he had not trusted himself to go on a trip outside the grounds "because afraid might run, because wants to be good and try to help himself." Even his writing has improved. He has told her he likes school, wants to "get out, get a job and help me with brothers so they won't get in trouble like he is." Previously he had been wild, nervous, "couldn't tell him nothing. How he listens to me and he's planning things instead of trying to run away. ^ She appreciated eveiyone who has helped him **because he was lost, but is fine now." She thought he was not happy at home because he felt nobody loved him. "How he is happy, is changing and wants to change.^The camp had beenauthori- tarian, but it was here, she stressed, that he had changed. He wanted her to move out of their neighborhood so that his brothers would not also get into trouble. She had shared with him the formal letter sent by the interviewer and he had thought it "means trouble." She started talking about the other children and quite naturally, though with some hand wringing, told about her problem with explanations of the father's absence. Hone of the children knew of the circumstances, just knew that he had gone away. This left them heartbroken and questioning. She dreaded having to tell them but knew they must eventually find out. Meanwhile her second boy was in Juvenile Hall and she was having difficulty see ing both boys on the same visiting day because she had to depend on public transportation. She told of 48 many more problems, admitted she was confused, nervous, impatient, but had been heartened by both the sons* insistence that she consider the other son first, as needing her more. She gave as a reason for the trouble Armando was in as the fact that he was teased by other children for being so fat. He had had to be punished by her because he fought a great deal in response to the teasing. "Nobody could tell him anything ; not even a lady. How he listens because his nerves are calmer." She had been instrumental in placing him in Juvenile Hall originally as "they gave him too many chances," she explained. Her public assistance worker keeps urging her to go to work now that all her children are in school. However, she felt that if placement at Helles could happen to one, it could happen to all, and she wanted to be on hand to supervise them. At present her oldest daughter's husband is helping ; he is a father figure for the children. II. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School 5as noi helped him, or may have even Eurfe kimt There were none. She was sure he was happy. If he were not, he would run away, she concluded. Ill. How will things be different when he comes home from the way they were when he left? She had great hopes that she could depend on him. She hoped his placement at Helles will have taught him that he must mind and do wEat he is told. Being strict made her nervous, but now she would be able to relax, she felt, as she would not have to discipline him as frequently as before. She would like to move but wondered who would rent to her with all of her children and in an area that was close to public transportation. I I IV. What suggestions do you have for things to be done i here at Helles in order to help the boy or yourself? I She requested another day than Sunday the School^ might let her come so that she could give equal time to both her boys. She explained that each boy i 49 "gets more security, courage to learn, when I come. Each feels I love him and worry about him." She told how Armando always got into trouble at camp when she did not come on visitii% day. She wished the School would continue helping him learn to read. He is now proud where before he was ashamed oF liis inability. She often wanted to ask about Armando and how he was doing but gets most of her informa tion from the boy himself. "I don't get help from nobody like you." she explained, meaning a staff member, and added that anyway "I don't know who to talk to." Evaluation and Impressions of Interview: This mother's pleasure in the changes seen was not unmixed with worry. She was aware that her problems with the boy were not ended even with the positive changes produced in him by the School. Though she speaks in broken English, she is verbal and could well accept help and direction with the boy upon his release. The boy's reported statements are indicative of the effectiveness of the School's verbal con ditioning. They are also indicative of the value of parental visits. She barely gave credit to her own efforts at visiting him and trying to demon- . strate her love for him, but they also played a major part in the rehabilitation. She kept pro ducing more and more evidence of the extended area of change, in his attitudes, relationships, values, personality, and emotional adjustment. This mother has hopes for a carryover of the change and knows that if this can be done then she can be more effective as a mother. The deprivation and problems in the home are severe enough to pre vent her from effecting changes in herself that she knows are necessary. She sees the School as less punitive and authoritarian than the other correctional facility she is familiar with, knows that people are re sponsible for effecting this change in her boy, but does nol: know who they are and has timidity in con tacting them as well. go CASE HO. 10 Background; Mitch is Ig, Anglo-American, Protestant, and the older of two children by their mother's first marriage, adopted by the step-father but unaware of the adoption. The adoptive father is an en listed man making a career of the service. The mother told Mitch when he was seven years old that he was the natural father, the reason for his absence being that he had been overseas and had just returned. The parents lean toward the strict side in matters of discipline but are sincerely in terested in his total development. Mitch has below average intelligence, has quite an identity problem and a very poor self concept. The diagnosis was deferred but the clini cal impressions were that there appeared to be some masculine confusion, that he tended to see a woman as more dominant than a man. There appeared to be a great deal of histility and anger toward parental and adult figures, particularly authority figures. His previous offenses were petty thefts and malicious mischief. The committing offense was: beyond control. Interview with Mother and (adoptive) Father; These parents came regularly for visits from a distant southern county. They did not respond to the letter but consented to the interview. The father did most of the talking but the mother unhesitatingly drowned him out when she wanted to talk. I. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School has helped him? "He seems to be much older in his thinking» grown up quite a bitT^ The change was noticed even before he went home on furlough, they stated. There was a mood of cheerfulness at the start, but at this point looks passed between the two of them and they verbalized their worry. "He has matured more," stated the father. The mother added: "It almost scares me in a way to have him come home. L 51 I don't know how to talk to him any more, he's so grown. Of course, he talks to me with respect, but there is something different there.... as if the little boy is all gone for sure, because there's no sign of him." The father admitted "it bothered me for a while but I figure it's all part of growing up. I've got thirty-six such kids in my office working for me. I've seen different changes occur in them through a year, but nothing so drastic as this." Asked to explain this difference, he stated that before Mitch had been "more like a little boy. Well, not a little boy, but a boy fourteen or fifteen years old." The mother thought that "evidently he spends time talking to the counselors, supervisors, and men he works with (in his kitchen trade assignment). II. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School has not helped him, or may have even hurt him? They were not sure whether his stay here had helped with his schooling, they stated. This posi tive manner of criticizing was very quickly dropped and they let their anger show. They complained that at Helles he only goes to school for half a day, the other half works in the kitchen. They also felt he was not on the same level as the other boys. The father stated the boy had a 75 to 8o average, but the mother corrected him, stating it was 75. It was brought out that the younger brother had been held back from advancing. Because the thirteen months difference in their ages would have placed him in Mitch's grade, the parents had "never allowed it.” However, they explained they were stressing school because they wanted both boys to go to college. The father felt that "education is something they can't take away from you.” The mother stated that Mitch has always wanted to be a veterinarian for farm animals and she felt he could make it scholasti cally, Rather than talk about his grades, they spoke of the goats and sheep and bees the boy had been raising and for which he had been receiving prizes at county fairs. The mother followed up her remark about the influence of the staff on the boys by complaining they "must be telling dirty stories. It makes him think he's grown up then if this man tells him 52 a joke!" The only thing she had to complain about was the.hearing of dirty stories from the staff, "and one of them a school teacher!” "Outside of that,” the father stated, ”I can't.see where it hurt him a bit.” Ill* How will things be different when he comes home from the way they werewhen he left? All they mentioned was that Mitch would be warning all his friends about Helles, pointing out that if they thought his father was strict, they should give Helles a try for a real taste* Ho change in the relationship with the brothers was anticipated as they had already begun to go their separate ways with separate interests and friends, I Questioned about the major change they had noted ! in the boy, they stated they intended to keep close supervision on their son's outside aotivities and to continue their same disciplinary practices* Previously the father had doneall the talking "and I he never had much to say. How he brings it up: I ”Dad, you and mother were right, I know now. It won't happen again.” Confirmed like this, they saw no need for their making any changes as the boy would be the same as before he got into all his ; trouble. i There was a moment when both were taking the blame for the boy having gone astray. When his father went overseas, ”I let him get away with more^” the mother stated. The father felt it was his fault I because he had told the boy to be "the man of the I family” while he was gone. ”He got to telling me what to do,” during this period added the mother, He had written to the boy and told him he had meant the boy to assume responsibilities and not tell his , mother what to do. ”It kind of hurt because when I I came back he had to step down,” the father ex- i plained. 17. What suggestions do you have for things to be done I here at Helles in order to help the boy or yourself? They would prefer that Mitch go to school the full day and that they be notified ”if the boy finds it too hard. On the outside, parents are i notified,” the father complained. They also have 53 ! had no one to speak to when on a visit, "the guards, they don't seem to know.” The father brought up the fact that "when taking him on a pass, no one knew if he was supposed to go. Of course, we got him but I can't understand this. An outfit as old as this should know more about what's going on down the line.” He also complained about the unfairness of receiving "grade-downs” for minor infractions. : When interviewer admitted the School was quite I rigid in these matters, he identified with the j School, stating "lots of people tell me I'm too j hard on my boys,” The mother repeated her request I for report cards "like they do in other schools," j especially for those who live very far like we do.” i Evaluation and Impressions of Interview: I j These were the only parents to make a direct negative statement about the School. They were angry but covered the feeling with a superficial friendliness. The School not only did not set their high expectations for academic achievement, but had matured the boy to the point where alienation had occurred. !Kie mother was the quietly dominant partner with the adoptive father depending on her support. The close supervision provided the boy had indica tions also of closeness between the parents and the child. There was a proud interest in the boy's achievement in animal husbandry but also a desire for the boy to achieve at a level that would be | difficult for him due to the limitations of his 1 intelligence. | The School is seen as a restrictive setting and mildly punitive, in fact they were quite impressed i with the boy's strong reaction to the authoritative atmosphere, stressed his nervousness and inability to react with his former freedom and ease when home ; on furloughs. They see their own and the School's ! strict methods of discipline as educative, not | retaliatory. I I The parents had every intention of assuming | responsibility for future expectations but not in the light of the new developments, the boy's in- 5k creased maturity and indication of new personality traits. They intended to carry on with methods previously used and saw this sanctioned by the boy's own vindicating statement. CASE HO. 11 Background: Jesus is lk&, Mexican-American, Catholic, next to the youngest of fifteen children twelve of whom are half siblings by his mother's former marriage and the youngest is a Mongolian idiot. The father is 58 and is employed as a laborer in a nursery. The mother is 57 and works in the fields. They are not married. The home has little to offer the boy as the family is always financially in a poor posi tion and the parents worry both about finances and the boys. Jesus is below average in intelligence, is a sad boy who stutters badly in person-to-person con tact. In group situations he is most likely to act out his feelings in a violent and aggressive manner. His needs and wants are many, he has led a very deprived life, has been virtually lost in his large family. Although he denies it, he feels unloved, unwanted and worthless. The diagnosis was deferred but indications were that there were trends toward a Personality Pattern Disturbance, inadequate personality or severe passive-aggressive. The psychological test indicated possible evidence of organicity. His previous offenses were petty theft, runaway, and burglary. His committing offenses were parole violation, intoxication in a public place, and three counts of burglary. Interview with Natural Parents; There had been no response to the letter and the parents had had to be reassured more than any of the other families. Both participated in the interview with the mother speaking more rapidly, volubly, but without as bad an accent. However, this gentle, quiet, soft-spoken man at times per sisted until he was heard, even contradicted his 55 wife. By arrangement with the Staff he had been coming to see the boy weekly. The mother had not been coming for Sunday visits for a number of weeks due to the illness and death of her father. Are there any ways your boy's stay at Helles School has helped him? "He writes a little better" in letters home. The boy was "improving, changing a lot, much dif ferent. .. .much better than before. He used to say *I don't like it here. I want to go home. I'm going to run away.* Now he is saying, 'Mama, I'm going to be good. I want to get out of here and go to work and help you pay the bills.' The mother therefore felt he was "growing up now. Until the day of this visit he has been the same. Today she found out "he's different, he talks good, he talks about how he's behaving, going to keep on being good because^ he wants to go home. " All this was given in a rapid spate of wordswith the father making soft agreeing sounds. She was also defensive about not coming to see Jesus for a month and tried to get interviewer to agree it was not good for parents to come every week. Because the father had been coming so frequently, he was questioned re garding whether he had seen any signs previously to this Sunday of the change noted by his wife. In stead of answering directly, he repeated what he and the boy had talked about and this was essentiallyi what the boy now gave back to his mother as his own thoughts and change in attitude. The mother now went into a defense of the boy attributing all his trouble to "bad company." The interviewer brou^t the subject back to Jesus* second placement at Nelles and wondered at the very long (close to two years) stay. The first time he had come to Nelles was because "he ran away from foster parents," the father stated. Again on the defensive, the mother added "he was placed in a foster home, because he never wanted to behave and go to school and mind us." The father now turned to her and reminded her that "he was samll that time, eight years old." She kept trying to give a picture of a well behaved boy yet had to say he had not earned even one pass this second time at Nelles. 56 The Superintendent had written her that Jesus "could not get furlough because he had been in a little fight and was locked up in the Correction Cottage. But he»s behaving; I know that." The father came in strongly to contradict her here stating "still fighting but he kind of boy he no want nobody to tell him nothing... .He don't want nobody to push him, that's why he fight. Only with boys, not with the big bosses," he hastened to add. She too came round to defending him, stating "being here so long, the other kids pick on him...," The father corrected her yet again reminding her that Jesus had escaped and had been brought back to the Correction Cottage, that that was why she had the impression he had been there so frequently. II. Are there eny ways your boy's stay at Helles School has not helped him, or may have even hurt him? "Oh, it's helping him now." Hot until today has she noticed any hope that he would be better when he left Helles. She attributed this to the fact that "he's getting to understand we love him and we come to see him all the time and that we want him home, not here. " The School was treating him better therefore he felt better about being here and now he would stay and do better. This they felt would make for a better adjustment on the outside. She spoke in a dispirited manner about his long stay, how much happier she would be to have him at home "and that way I wouldn't be worrying about him. But he has to serve his time here." When asked directly if they felt the School had not helped because the boy had been kept here too long, they both stated "Ho, School helping him all the time." The mother added, "To tell the truth he is much better here, because if out, will go out, gang jump on him and he be worse. I don't want him in Paso Robles because (Helles) closer to us to come and see him and then I know about him." III. How will things be different when he comes home from the way they were when he left? "Today he listened to me, before he wouldn't. So know now he's going home, settle down and be good," the mother stated dropping her dispirited air and speaking firmly. To bolster her belief even further, she quoted her other sons' remark 57 that they noticed "he looked different" and their opinion that "he's going to behave from now on." The father started to say that there would be a change because the boy was a serious, quiet boy, always doing things by himself, but was inter rupted before he could follow through on the thought. The mother felt he would be "more serious and more happy. The older he grows the more he learns and the more things he understands. He will have experience.” They plan to move out of their district where there are two warring gangs. They could not do so before because they could not leave him behind. If they had gone North, he might have felt they j did not love him. Jesus has said to her 'I'm I gonna keep away from them (gangs), don't gonna hang around.' Her oldest boy does not go to that old section any more, "he stay at home all the 1 time, and I figure Jesus will do the same.” I ' I 17. What suggestions do you have for things to be done j here at Helles in order to help the boy or yourself? I I "Can't say because don't know what kind of services you give here; Jesus never told me," was ! the mother'sfirst reaction. However, the father ] came in quickly with the request that the School I treat Jesus "the best they can. Treat him good I and then he be much better. Because if they like him and talk to him nice, he be more betterThe i mother suggested the School give Jesus a chance to I come home "so we can get better idea, know better I how he act at home....how he get along with us," i and the father echoed this. They agreed they ! wanted an opportunity to put their belief to the I test but Tidien asked what if they found he still i ran away and still got into fights, they both said I simultaneously "He will come back here I" But they both quickly added that they did not thinlc he would do that anymore. I Except for the priest (who speaks Spanish and ! walks among the visitors on Sundays, talking to the families of the Catholic boys) they have not spoken to anyone. How the priest was in the hospital. Their boy told them he has a counselor but they do not know who he is. They never knew they could ask to speak to anyone. They thought they could 58 I only visit. Then the mother added, "Some places j are very strict, and I didn't want to butt in. If I ask, they might refuse me and I didn't want to I take the chance. I always thought Jesus getting I worse, because when I wrote, they (Helles) never I answered my letter. They wrote and told me he I wouldn't go home because he in Adjustment Cottage, I but never explained how he was getting along." I ! Evaluation and Impressions of Interview: I I The father was the more perceptive, less re- I jecting, less defensive of the two. The mother ! had mixed feelings about his length of stay and I wished to rely on the School's authoritativeness i rather than appear rejecting. She did not appear j to value the father's gentle submissive qualities as being effective with the boy. She saw the boy as useful in terms of helping with the bills and helping with the youngest child, the Mongolian idiot, with whom he demonstrates his father's warmth and patience. The mother put her faith in time and the natural maturing process, not in the School. Kiis fmnily recognized how possibly superficial was the j noted change in the boy in the light of his pre- j vious behavior, his fighting and the escapes which j the mother tended to block out. I The father had been permitted to take part in j the boy's treatment and his efforts with the boy i appear to have produced the conforming behavior. The simplicity of his request can be translated to mean additional service to the boy in terms of less I punitiveness and with a consideration of his indivi- I dual needs. The mother's request for additional service for the parents was couched in subtler terms and was a severe criticism of the School, particularly in regard to approachability of the staff and the cutting off of the parents from the life of the boy. CHAPTER III THE FINDINGS The aim of the correctional institution is to make a constructive contribution to the rehabilitation of delinquent boys. The results of this study indicate that all of the parents saw, in some degree, an improve ment in the boy as a result of his placement. In regard to the second half of the inquiry, the results show that a slight majority of the families expected the noted improvement, or less, to continue after the boy's release. Two of the eleven families were expecting more of the boy than the change he had demonstrated. Only one of the families was completely satisfied and had no requests or expectations of the School. Of the remaining ten families, three made requests that differed markedly from the rest, one made an appeal for further help for the boy, two appealed for further help for the boy and themselves, and the remaining four requested help for themselves. The major finding of this study, however, was the fact that out of twenty-six families approached by a formal letter, only four responses were received. Two 59 60 of these made appointments for the interview over the phone, and the other two sent letters to indicate they were unable to participate. Nine of the eleven families interviewed had to be approached directly and their participation requested on a personal basis. The findings are divided into two major categor ies. The first describes the factual data taken from the boys' institutional record; the second summarizes the content of the interviews and the responses. Factual Data All identifying data such as the parent or parents interviewed, the socio-economic class, ethnic group, religion, and family structure were recorded for the parents of the delinquents. Table 1 utilizes these findings in its presentation of the background description of the research group. Table 2 separates from the case briefs the identifying data on the delinquent boys. Table 3 summarizes the findings as expressed by the parents. IDENTIFYING TABLE 1 DATA ON THE PARENTS INTERVIEWED Case Ho. Parent Interviewed Socio- Economic Class Ethnic Group Religion Family Structure 1. Mother Lower Class Anglo- Caucasian Protestant Intact 2. Mother Step-father Lower. Class Anglo- Caucasian Protestant Broken 1 3. Father Lower Class Anglo- Caucasian Protestant Broken 4. Mother Middle Class Anglo- Caucasian Protestant Broken 5. Mother Step-father Middle Class Anglo- Caucasian Protestant Broken 6. Mother Father Lower Class Mexican- American Catholic Intact 7. Mother Step-father ; Lower Class Mexican- American Catholic Broken 8. Mother step-father Step-sisters Middle Class Anglo- Caucasian Protestant Broken 9. Mother Lower Class Mexican- American Catholic Broken 10. Mother Father (adoptive) Middle Class Anglo- Caucasian Protestant Broken 11. Mother Father Lower Class Mexican- American Catholic Intact ! '^Allocation of "intact" family is made where children are horn of a stable marriage, and living together with their own parents in a relatively settled home over a long period. A "broken" family will include any other condition prevailing. OJ I I m E H I S H § I A Hi -P a < £ > ( D m *H i ^ m o o o © © d 43 43 43 © 04 04 04 © © © XÎ o 43 43 43 43 >3 >3 >3 m 43 43 43 u 43 43 43 •H © © © P h PM fH PM 60 <D • m o GS S2Î o •H u I I ë t > a î d e g 0 •d a ■P O H A 0 a s o S © m I s 0 3 lA I —I vO t—! CM ( Q 0 O > •H O 0 9 G g 'do d d ^ d'd oS ^ d § *d o d ^ o d © d dl fd •p -p <4 43 d © o © 43 43 O d © 43 d rH rH d © © 60 O CM © A © d u 43 © © 43 d d d 60 04 d •H •H d 04 o 1 4 3 •* •H •H o © 43 * r l >3 •d d d H S © •H © *d d d s § d d iH © o © J>3 © o •H © o d d î > 3 © © d O fH © Pm «© fd h> d3 PQ 43 © d A © © 43 d d 43 04 43 H 43 © 04 l > 3 1 •H >3 © d 43 § d 43 ,d © fH § © 43 rH d o 1 —1 >3 60 © o 60 d 43 O d © 43 43 d © o d © d PQ 43 PQ PM <J GO 04 o 'd d rH rH d 43 *H •H rH O © jd Jd © «H © Ü 04 O d 43 60 o •H «H H >3 T) © fH •d rH d O o d d d O PM o O *d iH h!« .d- I —I -d* H (A jd u\ r 4 l M -d" fH rH v£) à fH 60 I © © © 60 60 o © © d © d © d © d © d © 60 •H > •H > •H © © rH © © rH © © H 60 60 d 60 d 60 60 rH © © © © © © © © © d d d t > d d o d d 43 © © d O © d pH © © d > > o l > o © > l > I —1 < PQ <4 < PQ PQ «x; H z f lA rH rH GO C T ' +3 Q - l I * > a -P 43 © p L , jd* vO CM 04 04 04 -d" o O O 04 04 43 43 43 o o © ra m © © © d d d d d d d rH iH rH m CM O O O © M " A © I m > 3 à 43 43 © m 43 q - i I i > » 43 -P © PH "lA q - i o © S’ g <g I fH © PQ h] w TA _d H rH rH H 63 Descriptive Data Tables 1 and 2 show that six of the boys are be tween the ages of l i j . and 15> four of them between 15 and 16, and one is 13i years of age. Three of the boys come from intact families, the remainder from broken families which include "cases where the parents were separated, divorced, or deserted; where the parents lived in ir regular unions; where there had been prolonged absences of one or both parents from the child; ....where the child's true parentage had been concealed from him or where the child was a step-, foster-, adopted, or il legitimate child in the family. The population was composed of Anglo-Caucasian and Mexican-American families. All but three came from a lower class socioeconomic background, and these three were from a middle class setting. Three mothers were interviewed singly but only one of these was from an intact family. Only one father was interviewed alone and he was from a broken family. There were four step-parent families interviewed, one of which included two half- sisters of the boy. There was one adoptive family but the boy was unaware of his adopted status. Two of the interviews were with the original parents of the boy. ^Ivy Bennett, Delinquent and Neurotic Children (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1959), p. l t j . 2 . " 64 The smallest family was that of the only child, and the largest had 15 children. Five of the boys were middle children, three were the oldest, and the remaining three the youngest child. Only one of the boys was above average in intelligence. Of the remainder, one-half were average, the other half below average. Only one of the eleven had had a more serious first offense than later offense; the rest of the group had all been in trouble prior to their arrest and had a more serious committing offense. Summary of the Interviews When they were asked whether there were any ways in which the School had helped their boy, all eleven families indicated that they saw a positive effect. Only one family indicated that the School had had a negative effect on the boy. However, four other families qualified their response to the second question regarding whether there were any ways in which the School had not helped, in fact may have hurt, the boy. These responses are listed in Table 3 as "no, but" responses. Though all of the families had stated there had been a positive effect, certain criteria were used to measure the amount of change seen in the boy. o ' ❖ w W CO o o G M g. hi ® e f • o o o> f e î H* H* <1 < o H* CD P {3 A ® 06 1 *o 1 m m «4 H- C < j o P & g* g o ct ct P* tr ® 1 a> t •3 P S P *o p. % P O H P A P i P ct t 0 p. P Î3 e - i $ 06 p. O P P ct 1 y ct i CD p- o ® o © B ct a * o P ct M A P ® A ct * a> H M H O O CD -4 o vn 4=- W ro M . o ' o ' P M M M Hi M N K CD ® CD ® C D ® CD m Q Q © m © © © m m © m É5. f e j Î 2 Î f e î Î Z 5 O ® o o o o o o o o © ' * O' o' o' p p p ct ct ct t s : O S S S % S s H " 2 P P P H* o p* P p P C - J . C _ J « C _ l . P p p < U / . C _ l . o »o O O O O CD o o O P pj P P P P p P P r H* cf a > % 3 & S{ S P P' p ' P P o P H" P P C _ l * P p C - j , < - i . p C _ l . P e - j . O O o o O o CD o O O P P p p P p P P P ! s 5 I M P3 ' w f e | a ® ® ® ® ® o o H H» i —' M p P *o *o *o "O •o ® 1 ct H) H) tt t - b tt i O O o O o © *o P P p P p p ct o''P *o % A t^ O p p P p © © «4 P p P p H i P * ® ® CD ® H* P p P p ® *o ct © ct ct ct A § ® 1 3 C t " 0 § ct 1 Q > ® O ' O O 0 C + g % 0 B : Î 2 Î s p A 2 o o H' p p P C_k P P P p P C _ i . C _ I » Ô* O O ® ® ® o O o P P p P p h j W W j 3 ® ® ® H H H. © • o *o * o P * H , H i H O O O e P P P ® O' • o o P p o ' «4 P p o ® ® " M i p ct Î» O © • ® I Ï ® o CL H M C O §§■ ct O *o O > o g t o ÎT O ill © O b j p . O Î 3 b J J B y H - ® y (3 ct I ct 0 Hi Q> 1 CD O ct ® A CO â OQ ® © ct H* § © g t d u> 66 Criteria for Measurement The scale for the amount of change seen in the hoy ran from "None, Minimum, Minor, Major, to Complete." None;- This category was used if none of the following criteria applied. Case No. 5 falls into this bracket. Minimum:- This category was used whenever a parent hunted for something positive to report and brought forth a tangible thing such as improvement in writing and spelling as seen in letters sent home to the parents written by the boy as part of his school assignment {See Case No. 1). Minor;- This category was used when the above tangible thing was reported plus a difference in attitude demon strated by repetition of statements the boy now makes that they approve of, or any other sign of conforming behavior, such as not swearing, standing straighten, talking better (understands himself better), of which they approve (See Cases No. 1 | . , 6, and 11). Major:- This category was used when the parents reported a tangible thing, a sign of conforming behavior, plus noting a new developmental stage or a change in personal 67 ity. Additional weight was given if they cited instances on which they based their statement (See Case No. 2 where the parents reported a "complete" change but which does not fit into that category). The majority of cases fell into this bracket. Complete;- This category was used if the change led to a recognition of a new relationship leading almost to alienation (See Case No. 10). The criteria used to measure the amount of change in the boy expected to continue after the boy's release from the institution also fell into the scale devised for the noted change. None:- This category was used when the boy had the same problems and was to remain unchanged (See Case No. 5). Minimum: - ; I This category was used when one of the tangibles j (such as handwriting) was to be carried over upon release i (See Case No. 1). ! Minor:- I This category was used when there was more than I ! one tangible change or improvement to be carried over plus l 68 am allowance for some backsliding permitted the boy (See Cases No. 3, 8, 9, and 11). This is the next largest category into which the cases fall. Major;- This category was used when there was expected a carryover of the change seen, with no backsliding per mitted. This is the largest category (See Cases No. 2, i j . , 6, 7, and 10). Complete;- This category was used when alienation would be permitted to remain or continue. No case fell into this category. However, Case No. l \ . nearly met this criterion in that the mother threatened severance of ties if her son did not live up to expectations. The fact that this mother made suggestions to help bring him up to her ex pectations, even though it was for psychiatric treatment, took her out of this category. The criteria used to measure the amount of change the parents expected to produce in themselves fell into the same scale. None:- This category was used when the parents intended to make no change, to use the same rearing methods and 69 hold out the same expectations (See Gases No. 5* 6, 7» and 10). The majority of cases' fell into this and into the "Major" category. Minimum: - This category was used when there was a tangible such as moving to another neighborhood (See Gases No. I } , and 11). Minor;- This category was used when there was one tangible plus some decrease in expectations. Only one case fell into this category(See Gas© No. 8). Major:- This category was used when a change in methods was considered to aid the change noted, where there was a recognition of need and/or an attempt made to seek aid. Her© is where the second half of the majority of eases fell (See Gases No. 1, 2, 3, and 9). Complete;- This category was used when there was a working parent-boy-institution relationship. No case fell into this category. Suggestions : This heading in Table 3 condenses the responses made by the parents to the fourth question. Only one 70 parent had no suggestion to make, professing herself well- satisfied with the School and its effect on the boy (See Gas© No. 7). The majority of parents, six of the eleven cases, indicated a need for help from the School for them selves. There were four cases that made distinctive re quests: Gas© No. i | . : This mother suggested the School use more stringent methods of punishment for her boy. It will be noted that he later received psychotherapy. Case No. 5: These parents wanted the boy to remain just as he was when he arrived at the School. It will be noted that he is indicated as having one of the most severe disturbances and is receiving p 8 y oho ther apy. Gas© No. 6: For this mother the School was about to punish her by placing the boy away from her in a foster home on his re lease. It will be noted that this boy, as in Case No. S» has a severe dis turbance and is receiving psycho therapy. Case No. 3: This father made no request for him self but expected the School to make further rehabilitative efforts. In Case No. 11, the parents made a double request: help for the parents and help for the boy. Note that Gases No. 3 and 11 also have a severe disturbance but not as severe as Gases No. 5 and 6. Expectations: In comparing the expectations placed on the boy 71 and the expectations the parents had of their own contri butions it is interesting to note the discrepancy. Of the five parents who expected the same amount of change in the boy upon release as they had noted during the visits, only two of the five intended to make comparable changes to aid the boy (Cases Fo. 2 and 5), two intended to make less (Cases No. 7 and 11), and only one intended to make a greater effort (Case No. 1). Of the two parents who were expecting more from the boy in the future than was noted in the visits, neither intended to make a greater effort, both intended to do less (Cases No. I j . and 6). Of the four parents who were not expecting as much change in the boy as they had seen during the visits, only one intended to do less (Case No. 10), one intended to make an equal effort (Case No. 8), but two intended to do more (Cases No. 3 and 9). In summary, a healthy trend is seen in the majority of the cases, with parents noting positives in the boy and expecting the change to continue or, more realistically, allowing for some backsliding. The majority of the cases, however, were requesting additional help, and for them selves. The request for help for themselves is the dis turbing element in this study and will be discussed in 72 the next chapter along with the central focus, the impact of the School upon the boy as seen by his parents. The limitations of the study will be presented as well as implications for practice. CHAPTER IV SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS Summary The objectives of this study were to explore the family»s perception of the training school»s rehabilita tive affect on their boy and to determine what resulting expectations they have of the boy and, therefore, of the School. The collective impressions of the families visit ing the boys regularly is that a positive change has oc curred in the boy in that he demonstrated at visiting time more conforming behavior. It was not possible to identify from their responses what specific aspects con tributed most to the signs of conforming behavior though a few parents recognized the contribution their visits made to the change in the boys» attitudes. A few recog nized also that there were established interpersonal re lationships with the staff and that these were contribu tory to the modifications in behavior and personality structure of the boy. This study did not attempt to determine how deeply the noted change in behavior went, only to learn if any change was perceived. It is well known that verbal conditioning is effective and that 73 74 conforming behavior is habit forming. The boy learns early in his stay at the institution what the permissible limits are within which he may act; he knows that sanc tions are invoked if these limits are violated. These techniques of social control, the ^punitive** atmosphere of the correctional institution, is acceptable to these parents; they are not seen as revenge for evil doing but as the parental correction they themselves have or should have applied. Punishment and rehabilitation are there fore seen as related by the parents. The subjective impressions, as revealed through the negative responses and through the "suggestions, indicate that the School is falling short of the parents » expectations in extending its efforts for the boy. This is confirmed by the parents » statements in regard to their expectations for the boy and themselves upon his release. The burden of responsibility for change and its carryover into the community is placed on the boy. ! This is unrealistic as the burden must be shared. It I must be shared by the boy, the parents, and the School. I The casework treatment provided by the staff enables the ; boy to I i discharge feelings and to understand his own I feelings about himself and his situation.... ' enables him to act independently, to work out a rehabilitation program, and to solve his own 75 problem... .This casework treatment goes hand in'hand with social casework in his home, neighborhood, and school. The precaution must be taken to remove hazards and to im prove the home and family situation from which the child has come and to which he must return, otherwise the casework conducted on the institution grounds may fall far short of ultimate goals.1 How deeply does the change in attitude go? How solidified are these new relationships perceived by the parents? Will they be able to support appropriately the new and improved personality traits? Will they be able to recognize and control their own needs as they see them have a detrimental affect on their boy? These and many other questions are raised as a result of a major find ing: the parents want and ask for help but have not re ceived it. The very first case interviewed provided a picture of a mother who was distradght, worried about her inability to communicate and relate to her son. She had made attempts at contact with the staff, half-hearted or inadequate it is not known, and finally turned to the Parole Agent who had approached her. The last case. Mo. 11, is poignant in that the only authoritative figure at the School that has provided them with any support was ill and perhaps might no longer be available. A word should be said about the Chaplain ^Kvaraceus, loc. cit., p. 1^85. 76 and his work with the delinquent. In addition to carrying out his specifically religious ministry, he duplicates the social work or psychological functions of the other staff members, and he plays a therapeutic role in that being sent away may be "proof positive" to the boy "that he has been forsaken by society and may serve to rein force his feeling of loneliness and rejection. In the relationship of chaplain-to-delinquent the offender can find acceptance, love, and a sense of belonging.These parents divorced the Chaplain from the School and did not see or use the latter as a possible source of help though it may very well be that their own problems with authority stood in the way. Another major finding was that when the majority of the families were approached formally by letter from a person in authority, they did not respond, implying apathy and disinterest. However, when approached directly, in a non-threatening manner, and when asked to give as well as receive, they responded and were eager to share. There | appears to be no correlation between any of the psycho- j social data and the family’s response to the letter in- | viting them to participate. This study therefore suggests j that it is the type of approach that will involve a family ; %varaceus, loc. cit., p. 1^95 77 in the treatment program for the boy, and that only as the family is involved will the treatment of the boy be ef fective. "Parents must be helped to recognize simultaneously the need for the child to be allowed to carry responsi bility for helping himself and to be assisted in doing so while they carry their own responsibilities as parents, with their own involvements, as they support the child in using the service."^ It is not easy to establish a re lationship with parents of delinquents. Both staff and parents have a tendency to project difficulty upon another and to decide what the other should do to make changes. %ie contacts with the parents for the purpose of the study were not therapy, were carefully defined and ex plained that they were for research purposes, but were nevertheless therapeutic. "Just letting the parents ex press their feelings of failure and frustration to a sup porting and understanding person who shares a concern for their child may achieve positive results.One of the results was a plea for help, mainly for themselves, but ^Elliott Studt, "Contributions of Correctional Practice to Social Work Theory and Education," Social Casework, June 1956, p. 267. ^Manual for Training School Personnel, loc. cit., p. 174' 78 ultimately for the boy’s benefit. The plea is also a criticism. One of the ways of learning is through mistakes. The following is a list of the criticisms, the pleas for help, the mistakes: Case Mo. 1: There was a request for help in com municating with and relating to the boy. Case Mo. 2: There was a request for a sharing in the life of the boy at the institution in order to prevent estrangement. Case Mo. 3: There was a request that the School concentrate on their boy’s individual needs. Case Mo. 4* There was a request for psychotherapy for the boy’s neurotic disturbance and firm expectations set for him. Case Mo. 6: There was a plea that the School not follow through on its implied threat to label them bad parents. Case Mo. 8: There was a request for more frequent visits to prevent a feeling of es trangement already experienced by the family who visited regularly on the appointed visiting days. Case Mo. 9* There was a plea for the same help as was given the boy because without changes in the parent the boy’s prob lems would recur. Case Mo. 11: There was a request that the School concentrate on their boy’s individual needs. The outright criticism is made by Case Mo. 10. It maski^ however, the real mistake: maturing the boy and 79 alienating him from his parents. It is to be considered if the maturing could have been done along with helping the parents prepare themselves for sharing the true in formation about his background so that the parents could have welcomed the signs of maturity. Though the School was praised by Case Mo. 5 it should be regarded as a criticism to be told that the most seriously disturbed boy and a real danger to society, was not changed at all, for which his equally disturbed mother was thankful. The only other case of outright satisfaction with the School is Case Mo. 7 where the improvements in scholastic subjects, attitudes, relationships, and values— all verified by numerous visits home— were partly due to regular Sunday visits by the family. These visits, however, were due to an error on the part of the School discovered on the day of the interview. If it had not been for the arrangements made by the interviewer to be informed when any of the twenty-six families contacted by letter arrived, it may never have come to light that this family had visited weekly. The boy then might not j have had the opportunity to experience what was denied ! to some of the boys listed above. 80 Limitations of the Study One of the difficulties experienced was that these parents, especially if they were outstanding in their lack of understanding and acceptance of the boy, gave rise to negative feelings within the interviewer. This is often true in working with parents of delinquents and was definitely true in Case Ho. 4* It quite possibly could have been the interviewer and not the "cold and rejecting" parent that led to the interview lasting only twenty minutes, where all the rest lasted an hour or more. Where the parents cannot speak English, it is best to use an interpreter who is not emotionally in volved with the family as a friend or relative might be, but one who would perform a direct and objective transla tion as do court interpreters. Implications for Practice The writer believes that this study has implica tions for the helping process within the institution. What has been revealed by the findings is that previous experiences with the School have been nebulous and un productive for many of the families. Here were people who made contact with the boy and were not utilized in the process of rehabilitating him. There is the grim reality, of course, in the form of limited staff and time, but it 81 would be more economical, realistic and productive to draw them in at the very beginning of the treatment process : Many of these families are in need of help from persons particularly skilled in family casework. Certainly, opportunities to get such help to them should not be missed. This focus upon work with families tends to overlook, however, the many and valuable opportunities to reach both children and families more effectively through bringing the families into the treatment plan for the child. Pulling the families into the treatment plan during the period of training school car© has rich possibilities for develop ing improved parent-chiId relationships and, in many instances, for helping parents with many other problems.1 Those who provide services and treatment for delin quent boys in an institutional setting need to take into consideration the families of the boys. It is in the family that the boy has been given the basis for his at titude toward society, and it is in his feelings toward his family that part of the boy’s development is rooted. Other roots are beyond the power of change, but families in the main are amenable. This is especially so where j rejection is not prevalent but where concern is evident. I I A large share of the problem of emotional and j character disorders can be traced to disordered, patho- I logical relationships within the family. The importance ' i I ' — I ^Manual for Training School Personnel, loc. cit., : p . 1 7 4 . : 82 of other factors is not denied, but the concentration should be on the family as the major origin of trouble in our society. Where it would be utopian to think of changing society, there is a very real possibility that we can change some of the aspects of the family structure and meet the problem of these disorders. The Manual for Training School Personnel sets up three ends that need to be achieved when designing how to work with families: (1) fostering a feeling of continued responsibility for the child, (2) modifying their re action to and handling of the child, and (3) giving them help and support to the extent possible in facing and meeting problems which are recognized during the course of contacts.^ To a greater or lesser degree, the families’ responses indicated that none of these ends had been achieved. The idea that comes through is that if the parent’s responsibility for the child is broken off, he will assume less, and the affectional relationship will suffer. It cannot be stressed too strongly that contact with the parents of all delinquents is necessary if they are to be enabled to participate in a reorganization of a relationship between them and their child. It would pro- 1G£. Pit., p. 17%. 83 vide a milieu for the child’s change, stimulate him to use help if he sees his parents participating. It would give support to his change and start the dynamic inter play of related change between him and his family. As stated in the introduotion, the weak link in the rehabilitation program usually is the aftercare period in which the continuation of treatment for the boy is carried by the Parole Agent idio is only indirectly re sponsible to the institution and has not had much con tact with either the boy or the family during his stay $ at the School.* It is agreed that treatment needs to continue after the boy returns to the community. However, it needs to fully begin when he is committed to the Youth Authority. Prom that point on the family should be im mediately involved in his treatment, and this should con tinue during his entire stay at-the institution. Every parent interviewed could have benefitted from casework help. Cases 5 and 7 notwithstanding. Where the parents did not know the name of the boy’s counselor, this was provided during the interview. Where the boy’s release was imminent, encouragement was given to utilize ^William C. Kvaraceus, The Community and the Delin quent (Mew York: World Book Company, 1954) » P• 49FI 8% his Parole Agent. It is not known whether the parents’ own problems with authority would stand in the way but it was hoped the Parole Agent would reach out to them. Reaching out had to be done by the interviewer to have had any sample at all. One© contacted and the parents offered an opportunity to give as well as receive, a wealth of material was obtained. A similar approach may prove fruitful in motivating as well as involving parents in efforts to assume some responsibility for change. Councilors, non-professional staff members, therap ists, and the Chaplains were, to a minimum degree, utilized by these families. However, in no case did they mention discussions with the other visiting parents. The writer’s observations during the two months of data col lection also revealed that there was no mingling of the families, even when they ran out of things to talk about with the boy. The families of the other boys, in a similar predicament and with similar problems, could be regarded as a source of help and support. Because of I limited staff and time, the most economical, realistic, I and productive manner of involving the parents might prove j to be by use of a group orientation meeting or a series of I meetings. This could be a supplement to the formal letter ; which is sent to all parents giving necessary information 8g about the School, visiting times, and the name of their boy’s counselor. One family was able to express the thought that four hours is too long to maintain a con versation no matter how close the individual members. If their interest in the boy brings them there, then this same interest can be put to work to involve the parents in the treatment program of the institution. The old familiar question arises as to how far to go to reach out to these families. For the families in this study the distance was not great; they were present and cooperative. Some of them did not know how to go about obtaining help, and some found help offered in such a way as to threaten them or cause thmi to withdraw. If this is true of the major part of the population, as it was in this small sample, then in effect it can be said that no help was available to these families. APPENDIX SCHEDULE 1 The Boy and His Background Name Age Race Religion Ordinal Position Employment of Parents Relationships in the Family Psychodynamic Data Delinquency History SCHEDULE 2 Que 81 ionhair e 1. Are there any ways your boy’s stay at Nelles School has helped him? 2. Are there any ways your boy’s stay at Nelles School has not helped him, or may have even hurt him? 3. How will things be different when he comes home from the way they were when he left? 4. What suggestions do you have for things to be done here at Nelles in order to help the boy or yourself? Edmund G. Brown Governor State of California Department of the YOUTH AUTHORITY FRED C. NELLES SCHOOL FOR BOYS 1102 West Whittier Boulevard Whittier, California December 5> 1962 Mrs. A. Smith 74-i E. 14th Street Lawndale, California Re: Joe Smith Dear Mrs. Smith: Since your boy is here at Nelles, we would like to discuss with you any suggestions you might have about how we could improve our services to your boy, as well as other boys. In order that you might do this without your making an extra trip, we could make an appointment during the regu lar visiting hours. As you lociow, regular visiting hours are from 1:00 to 4‘00 p.m. on Sunday. I can arrange to meet with you an hour or two before visiting time so that it would not interfere with your visit with Joe. If you are planning to visit Joe on Sunday, December 9, I will plan to see you at 11:00 a.m. If this is not con venient, please let me know so that we can arrange another appointment. You may contact me by telephone, OXbow 8-6781, or use the enclosed self-addressed envelope. Very truly yours, F. H. BUTTERFIELD Super int endent Maryanne Varga MV:GD Professional Intern SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 90 BOOKS Bennett, Ivy, Delinquent and Neurotic Children (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1959), Ghapter 4* Bloch, Herbert A. and Flynn, Frank T., Delinquency, The Juvenile Offender in America Today (New York: Ran dom House, 1956), Chapter 9. Olueck, Sheldon and Eleanor, Delinquents in the Making (New York: Harper and Brothers, 195^), p. 6?. Glueck, Sheldon and Eleanor, Family Environment and Delinquency (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1962}, pp797-165. Institutional Rehabilitation of Delinquent Youth, Manual for Training School Personne1 (Albany: Delmar Publishers Incorporated, 1962), Chapter 15* Karpman, Benjamin, M.D., Symposia on Child and Juvenile Delinquency (Washington: Psychodynamics Monograph Series, 1959), Synthesis chapter. Kvaraceus, William C., The Community and the Delinquent (New York: World Book Co., 1954) pp. 467-502. Slavson, S.R., Re-Educating the Delinquent (New York: Collier Books, 1954/$ pp. 24l~^4 . 6. State of California Department of the Youth Authority, Administrative Manual. Fred G. Nelles School for Boys. ARTICLES Bloch, Donald A,, "Some Concepts in the Treatment of Delinquency," Casework Papers 1954 (New York; Family Service Association of America, 1954)^ pp. 84-98. Deutscher, Irwin, Ph.D., "Some Relevant Directions for Research in Juvenile Delinquency," Casework Papers I960 (New York; Family Service Association of America, I960) 91 Geertsma, Robert H., Ph.D., "Group Therapy With Juvenile Probationers and Their Parents," Federal Probation, Vol. XXIV, No. 1 (March, I960), pp. 46-52. Look, Arnold E., * ’ How Gan Your Institution Make A Child A Member of the Community?" Bulletin, Vol. XVIII, . 1 (March, 1939), pp. 1-7. McCafferty, James A., "Four Steps to a Sound Correctional Research and Statistics Program," Crime and Delinquency, Vol. 8, No. 2, April 1962, pp. 133-14^ Mead, Margaret, "What is Happening to the American Family?" New Emphasis on Cultural Factors, re printed from Journal of Social Casework (New York: Family Service Association of America, 1946-1946)$ pp. 1-8. Overton, Alice, "Taking Help From Our Clients," Social Work, Vol. 5, No. 2, April I960. Sheridan, William H., "Gaps in State Programs for Juvenile Offenders," Children, Vol. IX, No. 6, Nov.-Dec., 1962, pp. 211-216. Shireman, Charles H., "How Can the Correctional School Correct?" Crime and Delinquency, Vol. VI, No. 3s July, 1960, pp.267-269. Simcox, Beatrice R., and Kaufman, Irving, M.D., "Treat ment of Character Disorders in Parents of Delinquents," Social Casework, Vol. XXXVII, No. 8 (1956), pp. 388:3937" Spitzer, Paul S., "Punishment or Treatment?" Federal Probation, Vol. XXV, No. 2, June, 1961. Studt, Elliot, "Contribution of Correctional Practice to Social Work Theory and Education," Social Casework, June 1956, pp. 263-268. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA library

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Creator Varga, MaryAnne (author)

Core Title The impact of the correctional institution on delinquent boys as seen by their families

Degree Master of Social Work

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,Social Sciences

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c39-232220

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Legacy Identifier EP66918.pdf

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Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

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