Teaching Self-Management to Incarcerated Youth

Abstract

Eight institutionalized male juvenile delinquents participated in a 13-session course on principles and techniques of self-management. The course was conducted in the Visual Response System, a specially designed classroom in which each student responds on an overhead projector built into his desk. Outside assignments required each student to self-select a target behavior, record baseline data, design and implement an intervention, and evaluate the results of his self-management project. Pre-posttest results showed students increased their verbal knowledge of behavioral principles. Ratings of the students' projects showed they had correctly implemented the self-management techniques presented in the course. In addition, data from all eight students' projects showed improvement as measured by the mean frequency of the chosen target behaviors during intervention as compared to baseline. Seven of the eight students felt their self-management projects were successful in significantly modifying their chosen target behaviors.1