The Role of Empowerment in the Lives of Juvenile Delinquents Recovering from Drug and

Alcohol Abuse (Abstract)

Nate Harlow
Master of Public Health; Master of Arts International Peace & Conflict Resolution
Faculty Advisor: Warren Haffar, PHD, Dean of International Affairs, Director of International Peace
and Conflict Resolution
Background - In theory, without a proper sense of empowerment, groups of people and individuals are more likely to
engage in unhealthy behaviors such as drug abuse, substance abuse, alcoholism, and violence. Drug and alcohol
experimentation and abuse among adolescents (ages 14 to 19) is already a prevalent problem in the United States, spreading
throughout all facets of American society while simultaneously increasing in severity. Data from the Monitoring the Future
study report from 2011 revealed that the highest levels of alcohol and substance use is most prevalent during young
adulthood, showing that approximately 20% of 8th graders, 38% of 10th graders, and 50% of 12th graders from the same year
have already tried an illicit substance. These percentages of substance misuse increases to 49% among 19 and 20-year-old
young adults, and 72% by age 27. Substance and alcohol misuse has been linked to numerous social obstacles for these age
groups such as deaths and injuries among young adults, academic problems, fighting, and sexual behavior problems among
college students (Catalano, Stone, Becker, and Huber, 2012).
Purpose of Study - The main goal of this study is to investigate how positive empowerment in a safe and supportive
environment changes and improves behavior, specifically in a program within the Fox Chase Therapeutic Center The
Bridge for the clients called Work Crew. The Bridge is a rehabilitation center for juvenile delinquents who are
recovering from drug and alcohol abuse, and the Work Crew program provides the clients with the opportunity to earn
money by working for the maintenance staff at The Bridge while at the same time taking the higher responsibility, setting
new goals which were previously unavailable to them, and working with new incentives. The main objective of this
research project is to determine if clients on Work Crew have better behavioral records than clients who are not on Work
Crew, and to determine if being on the Work Crew results in behavior improvement in clients that were not originally on
Work Crew but who have recently joined. The hypothesis is that clients who are on the work crew have considerably better
behavioral records than other clients.
Methods - The primary source of data is the daily point sheets that the residential staff fills out for every client residing at
The Bridge. Point sheet totals for every client who has been residing at The Bridge for at least two months were averaged,
then stratified into two groups Work Crew and Non-Work Crew. The Work Crew Client averages were then compared to
non-Work Crew client averages.
Results - Point sheet averages of clients on the Work Crew are higher than those of other clients who are not on the work
crew. Twenty-seven of the forty-five Work Crew clients had averages of 90 or higher compared to only 5 non-Work Crew
clients, 15 Work Crew clients and 22 non-Work Crew Clients had averages between 80 and 99, only three Work Crew
clients had averages between 70 and 79 compared to 11 non-Work Crew Clients, 5 non-Work Crew clients had averages
between 60 and 69, and two non-Work Crew clients had averages below 60. Additionally, no Work Crew Client had an
average below 70.
Conclusions - The hypothesis of this research project states that clients at The Bridge who become part of the Work Crew
program consistently demonstrate more improved, more positive, and overall better behavior than clients who are not.
Because results from the comparative analysis show that most Work Crew clients in fact had higher point averages than
other non-Work Crew clients, the hypothesis is retained. Additionally, the data analysis implicates that Work Crew is a
significant source of empowerment for the clients by giving them new goals to accomplish, greater opportunity for
advancement, and greater responsibility. The effects of the newly-found empowerment result into greater incentives and
motivation for clients to demonstrate better behavior in other aspects of their lives throughout their residence at the Bridge.