Reasons Youth are Place in At-Risk Programs

By Cameron C. CrowsonKeiser University

EDU 712: Policy, Politics and Community Relations

Objectives Explanation of the theories of social and cognitive child

development Understanding and brief explanation of the factors involved and

how a disruption in child development can cause criminological behaviors in Pre-Teens, Teens, and Young Adults.

The Florida Department of Education’s policies regarding at-risk youth.

Brief overview of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice System

Understanding how at-risk youth programs can help the youth to get back on track again.

Theory of the Development of Adolescents:Social and Cognitive Theories of Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson

Jean Piaget Erik Erikson

Theory of Child Cognitive Development: Jean Piaget, Genetic Epistemology (1971)

Sensorimotor Stage (Birth-2yrs): Infants start to understand their bodies and the environment around them.

Preoperational Stage (2-7yrs): The child learns to talk and engage in “symbolic play and learns to manipulate information – symbols.

Concrete Operational Stage (7-11yrs): At this point in the child’s development, they begin to think logically and make major connections with the real-world by speaking and conversing rationally.

Formal Operational Stage (11yrs+): Child develops the ability to think abstractly and begin to make logical connections to the real-world and “test hypotheses.”

Theory of Child Social Development: Erik Erikson, Childhood and Society (1950)

There are 8 stages of social development, but we are only going to focus on 5 of them:

Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust (Infancy to 1.5yrs) - HOPE

Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (1.5 to 3yrs) - WILL

Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt (3 to 5yrs) - PURPOSE

Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority (5 to 12yrs) - COMPETENCY

Stage 5: Ego Identity vs. Role Confusion (12 to 18yrs) - FIDELITY

Trust vs. Mistrust The infant is uncertain about the world around them. The infant looks toward their caregiver for “stability” and

“consistency.” Trust is given if the child receives consistent, reliable, and

predictable care. Mistrust is given if the child receives inconsistent, unpredictable,

or un-reliant care from their caregiver.

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

The child is beginning to physically develop. They begin to assert independence at this stage. The child is beginning to see that they have basic skills and

abilities at this stage in their life. Self-Esteem is produced if the child is encouraged to explore their

abilities and allow for failures and accidents. Shame and Doubt is produced if the child is overly-controlled and

not allowed to express themselves.

Initiative vs. Guilt The child begins to assert themselves more frequently. This development stage focusses primarily on child interaction. The child starts to play-making up games and other activities that

stretch their imagination. Initiative is produced if the child is encouraged and takes on the

drive and feels secure about making basic decisions. Guilt is produced when their tendencies are squashed from either

criticism or over-control of the child.

Industry vs. Inferiority

The child at this stage is learning to read and write, to do basic things on their own.

Teacher’s begin to become the major role player in their life – become the major source of their “self-esteem.”

Competency is produced if the child is encouraged and reinforced for their initiative.

Inferiority is produced if the child can not develop the basic skills they believe society thinks they should have.

Ego Identity vs. Role Confusion

This stage begins the transition from childhood to adulthood. Children are becoming independent adults, and beginning to look at

the future in terms of their career, relationships, etc… This stage plays a major role in the person re-examining their role in

society. A sense of identity is accomplished if the child is able to explore

various different possibilities about their future. A sense of role confusion is created if they fail to establish their

sense of identity.

Factors Involved in theDisruption of Child Development

Disruption of Child Development Like stated in the last section, if the child does not go through the stages according to

how Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson explained their might be disruptions in the child’s development.

There are several factors that can lead to these types of disruptions: Parents get divorced Childhood abuse/rape Child put in foster care Health – child, parent, or guardian becomes very sick Learning development – child has ADHD, ADD, etc… Social interaction Parental Incarceration Illegal intake of drugs by child And much more…

The Florida Department Of Education (FLDOE):Policies Regarding At-Risk Youths

Promotion of a safe and supportive learning environment in schools, to protect students and staff from conduct that poses a serious threat to school safety, and to encourage schools to use alternatives to expulsion or referral to law enforcement agencies.

Each school will adopt and define policies that Defines criteria for reporting to law enforcement Defines acts that pose a serious threat to school safety. Defines petty acts of misconduct Minimizes the victimization of students, staff, or volunteers, including taking all

steps necessary to protect the victim of any violent crime. Establishes a procedure that provides each student with the opportunity for a review

of the disciplinary action imposed pursuant to s. 1006.07

Brief Overview of the FLDOE 1006.13 Policy of Zero Tolerance

Requires students found to have committed one of the provided offenses to be expelled from the student's regular school for a period of not less than 1 full year, and to be referred to the criminal justice or juvenile justice system.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each district school board shall adopt rules providing that any student found to have committed any offense in s. 784.081(1), (2), or (3) shall be expelled or placed in an alternative school setting or other program, as appropriate.

Brief Overview of the FLDOE 1006.13 Policy of Zero Tolerance (FLDOE, 2016)

Definition of Truancy - a student who has 15 or more unexcused absences within 90 calendar days with or without the knowledge or consent of the student's parent or guardian (FLDOE, 2016).

Definition of Compulsory School Attendance – (Section 1003.21) states that all children who are either six years of age, who will be six years old by February 1 of any school year, or who are older than six years of age but who have not attained the age of 16 years, must attend school regularly during the entire school term.

Brief Overview of the FLDOE Definition and Policy: Truancy and Compulsory School

Attendance

Brief Overview of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice System (FDJJ)

Florida Department of Juvenile Justice System

http://www.djj.state.fl.us/

Reasons for Truancy

Reasons for Adolescent Truancy

The major contributors to truant behaviors relate to three components of education: school factors, spectrum of school response, and family support and engagement(Gase, DeFosset, Perry, & Kuo, 2016).

School curriculum, teaching style of the instructor, conflict or positive relationship with instructor, class size being too large, very little contact with school counselors, unsafe learning environment, no reaction from staff regarding absences and tardies, too many notifications from the school, staff calling home, teacher-parent meetings, detention or suspension, legal problems, expulsion, and very little engagement with the student (Gase, DeFosset, Perry, & Kuo, 2016).

At-Risk Youth ProgramsInformation

Effects of At-Risk Youth Programs

The number of juveniles in residential placement continued to decline from 1997 to 2013 (Hockenberry, 2016, p. 3).

Specific programs are designed by the court system to curb the number of at-risk youths and prevent incarceration.

the states, courts, and individual Departments of Juvenile Justice systems are concluding that these at-risk youth programs are a success and have decided to fund more around the country

Conclusion

To Sum it All Together Looking at the stages of child development, adolescents may fall

out of the norm if any of they fail to go through the proper stages of social and cognitive development – as designed by Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson.

When the child does not develop according to the social and cognitive theories, he/she will have problems in school and educational development; which in turn, may cause child behavioral problems.

Because of the Zero-Tolerance and/or Truancy policies, students may then be referred to other programs to help correct existing behavioral and educational issues and try to re-integrate them back into regular public schools after proper treatment.

References:FLDOE. (2016). Attendance and Enrollment. Retrieved from The Florida Department of Education:

http://www.fldoe.org/how-do-i/attendance-enrollment.stml

Gase, L. N., DeFosset, A., Perry, R., & Kuo, T. (2016). Youths’ Perspectives on the Reasons Underlying School Truancy. The Qualitative Report 2016, 21(2), 299-320.

Hockenberry, S. (2016, May). Juveniles in Residential Placement, 2013. Retrieved from PR Newswire: http://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/249507.pdf

Kann, L., Kinchen, S., Shanklin, S. L., Flint, K. H., Hawkins, J., Harris, W. A., . . . Zaza, S. (2014). Youth risk behavior surveillance —United States, 2013. Rockville, Maryland: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kelly, C. (2015). Juvenile court receives funding for new programs. TCA Regional News. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1647463241?accountid=35796

References:Legislature, F. (2015). The 2015 Florida Statutes. Retrieved from Online Sunshine:

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=1000-1099/1003/Sections/1003.26.html

McLeod, S. (2013). Erik Erikson. Retrieved from Simply Psychology: http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html

McLeod, S. (2015). Jean Piaget. Retrieved from Simply Psychology: http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

Miner-Romanoff, K. (2015). Juvenile Justice Education For At-risk High School Youth: A Pilot Program. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 26(1), 22-48. Retrieved from http://www-tandfonline-com.prx-keiser.lirn.net/doi/pdf/10.1080/10511253.2014.922594

References:Nichols, E. B., Loper, A. B., & Meyer, J. P. (2016, June). Promoting Educational Resiliency in Youth with

Incarcerated Parents: The Impact of Parental Incarceration, School Characteristics, and Connectedness on School Outcomes. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45(6), 1090.

Terzian, M. A., Andrews, K. M., & Moore, K. A. (2011). Preventing multiple risky behaviors among adolescents: seven strategies. Child Trends, 1-12.