Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T21:54:20.009Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Readiness for Change: Case Studies of Young People with Challenging and Risky Behaviours

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2012

Annemaree Carroll ,
Adrian Ashman ,
Julie Bower  and
Francene Hemingway
Annemaree Carroll*
Affiliation:
School of Education, The University of Queensland, Australia
Adrian Ashman
Affiliation:
School of Education, The University of Queensland, Australia
Julie Bower
Affiliation:
School of Education, The University of Queensland, Australia
Francene Hemingway
Affiliation:
School of Education, The University of Queensland, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Associate Professor Annemaree Carroll, The University of Queensland, School of Education, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Readiness for change (or treatment readiness) is a core concept of many rehabilitation programs for adult and juvenile offenders. The present study examined the experiences of six young people aged 13 to 17 years who participated in Mindfields®, a 6-week self-regulatory intervention aimed at enhancing life skills and goal setting among youths who present with challenging and/or risky behaviour. This article investigates the extent to which: readiness for change influences individual responses to the Mindfields® program; external factors influence the achievement and maintenance of program success; and goal achievement leads to perceptions of self-efficacy and personal control over one's behaviour. Prior to, and on completion of the intervention, participants completed the Mindfields® Assessment Battery that measures goal commitment, social competence, self-regulation, life satisfaction, delinquent involvement, and readiness for change. Findings show the importance of participants’ motivation to make life-changing decisions, but this motivation and promising goals can be compromised by factors external to the individual. Our findings prompt future research into ways in which young people can maintain their motivation and readiness for change, and draw encouragement from less successful outcomes than might have been expected.

Keywords

readiness for changeadolescentschallenging behavioursjuvenile delinquencyantisocial behaviourgoal setting
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , June 2013 , pp. 49 - 71
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bandura, A. (1986). Self-regulatory mechanisms. In Bandura, A. (Ed.), Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive theory of self-regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 248–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy. New York: Freeman.Google Scholar
Begun, A.L., Shelley, G., Strodthoff, T., & Short, L. (2001). Adopting a stages of change approach for individuals how are violent with their intimate partners. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 5, 105–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, V.B., Melchior, L.A., Panter, A.T., Slaughter, R., & Huba, G.J. (2000). Women's steps of change and entry into drug abuse treatment: A multidimensional stages of change model. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 18, 231–240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burrowes, N., & Needs, A. (2009). Time to contemplate change? A framework for assessing readiness to change with offenders. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14, 39–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carey, K.B., Neal, D.J., & Collins, S.E. (2004). A psychometric analysis of the self-regulation questionnaire. Addictive Behaviors, 29, 253–260.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carroll, A., Ashman, A., Bower, J., & Hemingway, F. (2005). Changing my life scale. Unpublished scale. Brisbane, Australia: The University of Queensland.Google Scholar
Carroll, A., Durkin, K., Hattie, J., & Houghton, S. (1997). Goal setting among adolescents: A comparison of delinquent, at-risk, and not-at-risk youth. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89 (3), 441–450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, A., Durkin, K., Houghton, S., & Hattie, J. (1996). An adaptation of Mak's Self-reported Delinquency Scale for Western Australian adolescents. Australian Journal of Psychology, 48 (1), 1–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, A., Hemingway, F., Ashman, A., & Bower, J. (2011). Establishing the psychometric properties of an interactive, self-regulation assessment battery for young offenders. Submitted to Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling.Google Scholar
Carroll, A., Houghton, S., Durkin, K., & Hattie, J. (2009). Adolescent reputations and risk: Developmental trajectories to delinquency. New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, J.C., Eccleston, L., Day, A., Ward, T., & Howells, K. (2008). Treatment readiness in violent offenders: The influence of cognitive factors on engagement in violence programs. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 13, 276–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cloward, R.A., & Ohlin, L.E. (1960). Delinquency and Opportunity: A theory of delinquent gangs. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Czuchry, M., Sia, T.L., & Dansereau, D.F. (2006). Improving early engagement and treatment readiness of probationers: Gender differences. The Prison Journal, 86, 56–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Day, A., Howells, K., Casey, S., Ward, T., Chambers, J.C., & Birgden, A. (2009). Assessing treatment readiness in violent offenders. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24, 618–635.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donohue, B., Teichner, G., Azrin, N., Weintraub, N., Crum, T.A., Murphy, L., & Clayton Silver, N. (2003). Initial reliability and validity of the life satisfaction scale for problem youth in a sample of drug abusing and conduct disordered youth. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 12, 453–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gideon, L. (2010). Drug offenders’ perception of motivation: The role of motivation in rehabilitation and reintegration. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 54, 597–610.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gottfredson, M.R., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayes, H., & Daly, K. (2004). Conferencing and re-offending in Queensland. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 37, 167–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joe, G.W., Simpson, D.D., & Broome, K.M. (1998). Effects of readiness for drug abuse treatment on client retention and assessment of process. Addiction, 93, 1177–1190.Google ScholarPubMed
Kuperminc, G.P., Allen, J.P., & Arthur, M.W. (1996). Autonomy, relatedness, and male adolescent delinquency: Toward a multidimensional view of social competence. Journal of Adolescent Research, 11, 397–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leadbeater, B.J., Hellner, I., Allen, J.P., & Aber, J.L. (1989). Assessment of interpersonal negotiation strategies in youth engaged in problem behaviors. Developmental Psychology, 25, 465–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lopez, V.A. & Emmer, E.T. (2002). Influences of beliefs and values on male adolescents’ decision to commit violent offenses. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 3, 28–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcus, B.H., Selby, V.C., Niaura, R.S., & Rossi, J.S. (1992). Self-efficacy and the stages of exercise behaviour change. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 63, 60–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McConnaughy, E.A., DiClemente, C.C., Prochaska, J.O., & Velicer, W.F. (1989). Stages of change in psychotherapy: A follow-up report. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 26, 494–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moffitt, T.E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674–701.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neal, D.J., & Carey, K.B. (2005). A follow-up psychometric analysis of the self-regulation questionnaire. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 19, 414–422.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petrocelli, J.V. (2002). Processes and stages of change: Counseling with the transtheoretical model of change. Journal of Counseling and Development, 80, 22–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prochaska, J.O. (2000). Change at differing times. In Snyder, C.R. & Ingram, R.E. (Eds.), Handbook of psychological change: Psychotherapy processes and practices for the 21st century (pp. 109–127). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Prochaska, J.O., & DiClemente, C.C. (1982). Transtheoretical therapy: Toward a more integrative model of change. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 19 (3), 276–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prochaska, J.O., DiClemente, C.C., & Norcross, J.C. (1992). In search of how people change: Applications to addictive behaviors. American Psychologist, 47, 1102–1114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prochaska, J.O., Norcross, J.C., Fowler, J.L., Follick, M.J., & Abrams, D.B. (1992). Attendance and outcome in a work site weight control program: Processes and stages of change as process and predictor variables. Addictive Behaviors, 17, 35–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rieger, E., Touyz, S., & Beumont, P. (2002). The Anorexia Nervosa stags of change questionnaire (ANSOCQ): Information regarding its psychometric properties. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 32, 24–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slesnick, N., Bartle-Haring, S., Erdem, G., Budde, H., Letcher, A., Bantchevska, D., & Patton, R. (2009). Troubled parents, motivated adolescents: Predicting motivation to change substance use among runaways. Addictive Behaviors, 34, 675–684.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sukhodolsky, D.G., Kassinove, H., Gorman, B.S. (2004). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anger in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 9, 247–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanielian, T., Jaycox, L.H., Paddock, S.M., Chandra, A., Meredith, L.S., & Burnam, M.A. (2009). Improving treatment seeking among adolescents with depression: Understanding readiness for treatment. Journal of Adolescent Health, 45, 490–498.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williamson, P., Day, A., Howells, K., Bubner, S., & Jauncey, S. (2003). Assessing offender readiness to change problems with anger. Psychology, Crime and Law, 9, 295–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmerman, B.J. (2000). Attaining self-regulation: A social cognitive perspective. In Boekaerts, M., Pintrich, P.R., & Zeidner, M. (Eds.), The Handbook of Self-Regulation (pp. 13–39). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar