Providing
juvenile offenders with a mentor to support and guide them could dramatically
cut the incarceration rate of young people in Western Australia.
An evaluation by Clinical Psychologist Dr Ruth Rudge has found that a very simple, cost-effective mentoring program has effected a positive behaviour change among juveniles and enabled young offenders to turn their lives around.
Dr Rudge’s evaluation examined the Western Australian Juvenile Justice Mentoring Program (MP) during 1998, 1999 and 2000.
Dr Rudge graduated with a Doctorate of Psychology (Clinical) from Murdoch in April this year, and this research formed a major part of her doctorate.
According to evaluation results, mentoring is an effective intervention that can be associated with a decrease in offending and positive change in the life circumstances of young offenders.
“These findings offered further validation to the concept of introducing a caring, available adult into the lives of young people who lack such support, as a means of decreasing offending and improving the quality of a young person’s life,” Dr Rudge said.
In her research, Dr Rudge focussed on two areas - outcomes for young people who were involved in the program, and the program operations in light of international best practice standards for mentoring.
The evaluation comprised 38 young people involved with Juvenile Justice (JJ), 26 of whom completed the contracted time with their mentor, 21 mentors and 20 case managers or Juvenile Justice Officers (JJOs). The young people had been mentored for an average of four months, with on average between two to three meetings each week.
Dr Rudge examined a number of issues including change in risk factors for offending, offending rates and court order completion rates.
The research revealed that young people who remained engaged with their mentor showed impressive rates of positive behaviour change with decreases in offending, improved court order completion and decreases in risk factors such as drug use and homelessness.
“When the Juvenile Justice Mentoring Program adhered to best practice guidelines, it was shown to be an effective method for clients across the board - long-term offenders, violent offenders, males and females, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal. It works and it is costeffective,” Dr Rudge said.
“The mentor greatly assists the case manager in their work and is a consistent presence in the young offender’s life. Mentoring has helped young people get into a normal, healthy, non-offending lifestyle, even those at the worst end of the scale.”
“With real commitment from Government and other organisations, mentoring could result in a dramatic drop in the incarceration rate of young adults in Western Australia.”
