Effects of Group Counseling

Abstract

Staff members of the Lucas County (Toledo, Ohio) Family Court Center became concerned because it seemed that while diagnosis of delinquent behavior was leaning toward an indi vidualized, differential technique, treatment methods were not correspondingly developed. The traditional one-to-one interview was often ineffective. In an effort to find useful alternative meth ods, several staff members who had participated in a group therapy experience themselves and had received in-service train ing in group methods decided to experiment. On the basis of prior social and psychological studies, six juvenile probationers were selected to participate in a series of group counseling sessions.