Programme cognitif-comportemental appliqué à des adolescentes hébergées en centre jeunesse

Brief Description

The Programme cognitif-comportemental appliqué à des adolescentes hébergées en centre jeunesse is a program that employs cognitive behavioural techniques to address problematic behaviours displayed by adolescent girls, including but not limited to: physical, verbal and relationship violence, theft, gang involvement, rebelliousness in school, alcohol and marijuana use, and nude dancing/prostitution. In addressing these behaviours, the program seeks to replace negative, antisocial cognitions with positive, prosocial cognitions.

The program is centered on cognitive behavioural therapy; conflict resolution; leadership and youth development; counselling and social work; skills training; and social emotional learning.

Goals

The main goals of the Programme cognitif-comportemental appliqué à des adolescentes hébergées en centre jeunesse are to:

• Reduce the frequency of antisocial cognitions and behaviours displayed by youth; and
• Help youth improve their social and interpersonal skills.

Clientele

The appropriate clientele for the Programme cognitif-comportemental appliqué à des adolescentes hébergées en centre jeunesse are female youth who display problem behaviour arising from conflicted/violent relationships with parents, problems related to drugs, school absenteeism and gang involvement.

To participate in the program, youth must have been enrolled in a participating youth residential centre for at least three months. They must also plan to be enrolled in a participating youth residential centre until the end of the proposed intervention.

Children are referred to the program by youth residential centres in Quebec, particularly the Centre jeunesse de Montreal-Institut universitaire or the Centre jeunesse de Laval.

Core Components

The Programme cognitif-comportemental appliqué à des adolescentes hébergées en centre jeunesse consists of:

• Individualized assessments: The program facilitator analyzes the problematic behaviours displayed by the youth and offers him or her alternative prosocial behaviours to adopt instead. The purpose of these individualized assessments is to assist the program facilitator in identifying the conditions that are manifesting the youth’s problematic behaviours;
• Self-observations: The youth perform self-observations of their own behaviour at least four times a week. During these self-observations, the youth keep a diary of any positive or problematic situation that elicited certain thoughts and emotions during their day. From there, the youth also report the consequences that followed once the encounter with the positive or negative situation has ended. These self-observations are used during individual meetings with the program facilitator. During these individual meetings, the facilitator helps the youth create a behavioural contract through which they can apply prosocial behaviours to resolve conflicts. This contract is reviewed periodically throughout the youth’s progression in the program; and
• Group activities: These collective activities consist of four learning workshops based on the acquisition of communication skills; anger management; stress management; and problem solving. Weekly sessions, which are spread over the course of 12 to 15 weeks, are provided for each workshop.

Implementation Information

Some of the critical elements for the implementation of this program or initiative include the following:

• Organizational requirements: It is important for the lead organization to develop individualized plans for each participating youth so that their unique needs and problematic behaviours can be adequately addressed.
• Partnerships: Organizations should collaborate with community-based organizations, youth services, and youth residential centres, particularly the Centre jeunesse de Montreal-Institut universitaire and the Centre jeunesse de Laval.
• Training and technical assistance: Limited information on this topic.
• Risk assessment tools: Limited information on this topic.
• Materials & resources: Limited information on this topic.

International Endorsements

The most recognized classification systems of evidence-based crime prevention programs have classified this program or initiative as follows:

• Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development: Not applicable.
• Crime Solutions/OJJDP Model Program Guide: Not applicable.
• SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices: Not applicable.
• Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy: Not applicable.

Gathering Canadian Knowledge

Canadian Implementation Sites

Public Safety Canada’s National Crime Prevention Strategy provided funding to implement the Programme cognitif-comportemental appliqué à des adolescentes hébergées en centre jeunesse in Quebec between 2008 and 2012. It was implemented by the Centre jeunesse de Montréal-Institute universitaire (CJM-IU).

Main Findings from Canadian Outcome Evaluation Studies

As part of Public Safety Canada’s funding, an outcome evaluation study^Footnote1 of the Programme cognitif-comportemental appliqué à des adolescentes hébergées en centre jeunesse was conducted in 2008-2012 by Lanctot. A quasi-experimental approach was taken using pre- and post-test measures with an experimental group (n = 107) and a control group (n = 77).

Results from this evaluation showed the following:

• The post-test data at three months indicated that adolescent girls in the experimental group reported less school rebellion (p < 0.05), less violent behaviours (p < 0.05), and less use of drugs and/or alcohol (p < 0.05) than adolescent girls in the control group; and
• Youth in the experimental and control groups used more prosocial strategies to resolve conflicts over time; however, this trend was more pronounced for youth who were exposed to the program. Unlike youth in the control group, youth in the experimental group were also less likely to shift the blame onto others during conflicts. When confronted with a problem or a difficult situation, youth in the experimental group were more likely than youth in the control group to not react too impulsively.

For more information, refer to Lanctot’s (2010) publication.

Cost Information

In 2011, as part of the Lanctot outcome evaluation study, it was found that the average cost per participant in the Programme cognitif-comportemental appliqué à des adolescentes hébergées en centre jeunesse ranged from $4,491 CAD to $5,263 CAD.

References

Lanctot, N. (2010). Les effets d’un programme cognitif-comportemental appliqué à des adolescentes hébergées en centre jeunesse. Criminologie, 43(2), 303-328. Available from : http://www.erudit.org/revue/crimino/2010/v43/n2/1001779ar.html?vue=integral

Lanctot, N. (2012). L’évaluation d’un programme cognitif comportemental applique à des adolescentes hébergées en centre jeunesse : les effets sur les difficultés de comportement et des facteurs associés. Final Evaluation Report. Submitted to the National Crime Prevention Centre, Public Safety Canada (Unpublished report).

For more information on this program, contact:

Centre jeunesse de Montréal-Institut universitaire
4675 Bélanger Road
Montreal, Quebec H1T 1C2
Telephone: (514) 593-3979
Website: http://www.centrejeunessedemontreal.qc.ca/