Applied Behavioral Typologies: Implications for the Residential Treatment and Community Re-Integration of Juvenile Offenders.

Abstract While numerous investigations have evaluated both the outcome and process components of peer group treatment, studies of the behavior patterns described in that literature remain virtually nonexistent. This study sought to validate the juvenile offender treatment typology utilized within the peer treatment programs of a state youth services agency. The results suggest the behavior typology described in the peer treatment literature has a basis in psychological theory and can provide information critical to an agency's program evaluation, as well as, a youth's residential treatment and community re-integration. The results are discussed in relationship to the implementation of peer group correctional programs and other current offender classification models.