Identifying Sampling Techniques

This article, written by Gover and MacKenzie (2003), illustrates a self-controlled design using a longitudinal study of 509 juveniles confined to 48 correctional institutions in 20 states conducted in two waves from April 1997 – August 1998. In the study, it was to be assessed whether or not there was a relationship between a juvenile who had experienced maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse, witnessed family violence or possible neglect by a caregiver) and their level of anxiety and depression. They were provided a volunteer self-report survey consisting of 266 questions that included measures of child maltreatment, prior commitments, demographic factors and perceptions of the correctional institutions, conducted in groups of 15 to 20 juveniles in a classroom setting and took an average of 90 minutes to complete. The first time the survey was administered, the juveniles had an average of 3.4 months institutionalized and the second time had an average of 7.2 months. The mean maltreatment scale score was 1.62 on a five-point scale indicating low levels of maltreatment; however, 75% of the sample reported physical abuse, 54% reported viewing family violence, 20% neglect and 11% sexual abuse at least once in their childhood. Their anxiety, although low, decreased from 1.44 to 1.40 during the second wave of the study as well as their depression from 3.18 to 2.98, concluding that since the numbers decreased over the course of their institutionalization, therapeutic programming within the juvenile justice correctional system has proven to be effective with this class. With appropriate screening and assessment tools used to identify the histories of these juveniles, proper classification and treatment can be achieved in addressing these mental health issues and hopefully preventing future criminal acts following