Shockingly, more than half of the juvenile offenders in Australia released from detention will be reconvicted of a crime within 6 months of re-entering the community. In efforts to understand juvenile recidivism, a recent study in which juvenile offenders articulated what motivates them to pursue a better life may suggest how we can reduce rates of recidivism while improving wellbeing for offenders transitioning back into the community. 

 In an Australian study 15 incarcerated male juveniles enrolled in a voluntary mentor program where mentors conducted a series of interviews gathering data on what the juveniles felt would help them live a successful life once they were out of incarceration.  Throughout the interviews general themes emerged from the young men that correlated closely with Self Determination Theory (STD), a core concept of Positive Psychology.   The core themes expressed by the participants are described in SDT as three needs for intrinsic motivation in life – relatedness, feeling like you belong and are cared for; autonomy, having choice in your life; and competence, feeling like you are capable. 

Whilst participants in the study expressed the need for relatedness, autonomy and competence, it is important to note that the nature and priority of the drivers varied considerably amongst the participants.  That being said, opportunity exists to explore these drivers further and research how they can be explicitly taught in future mentoring programs shedding light on the potential effectiveness of merging the theoretical foundation of positive psychology with the traditional risk-based approach.

 Indeed this study is small with only 15 participants, and more research is needed to understand the drivers that may motivate juveniles to overcome the barriers to successful re-entry. 

 It does however; demonstrate that there may be more that we can focus on rather than the traditional deficit-based model of rehabilitation.  There is a clear need to focus on a method that will reduce recidivism and increase levels of wellbeing, and Positive Psychology may be one tool that can be successfully incorporated into transitional planning.  

Source

Tracey, D. & Hanham, J. (2017). Applying Positive Psychology to Illuminate the Needs of Adolescent Males Transitioning Out of Juvenile Detention. International Journal Of Offender Therapy And Comparative Criminology, 61(1), 64-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306624x15591242