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Institutional games played by confined juveniles
Adolescence
|January 1, 1983
Summary
Juvenile offenders in coeducational correctional facilities engage in various games with staff and peers. Game-playing behavior was found to be as frequent in coeducational settings as in single-sex environments.
Area of Science:
- Criminology
- Developmental Psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Juvenile correctional facilities house young offenders.
- Understanding inmate behavior is crucial for rehabilitation.
- Coeducational facilities are increasingly common.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the types of games played by juvenile offenders.
- To determine if game-playing behavior differs in coeducational settings.
- To analyze games played against staff and peers.
Main Methods:
- Surveyed 561 juvenile offenders in six coeducational correctional facilities.
- Documented and categorized nineteen distinct games.
- Tabulated games based on resident sex and race.
Main Results:
- Observed considerable variation in games used by residents.
- Identified twelve games used against staff and seven against peers.
- Games included therapeutic, material, psychological, and physical types.
- Peer games involved attention-seeking and dominance behaviors.
Conclusions:
- Game-playing behavior is prevalent among juvenile offenders.
- Coeducational institutions do not show less game-playing frequency compared to single-sex institutions.