The grieving process and delinquency: testing the therapeutic process of grieving with delinquent male adolescents

Abstract

<p>The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of grief therapy with male juvenile delinquents;The literature reported that the etiology of delinquency may arise from unresolved grief precipitated early in life. Losses and exigencies of living compound the unresolved grief and the resultant delinquency. The literature also reports the need for grief therapy intervention;The treatment of grief therapy modeled after Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' stages of grieving was assessed by the Jesness Inventory and the Self-Appraisal and Observer Forms of the Jesness Behavior Checklist;Thirty-eight subjects of the Iowa Training School for Boys in Eldora, Iowa, were randomly selected and assigned to one of four groups according to the Solomon Four-Group Design;The findings evidenced no significant effect for treatment, but found significance of pretest and interaction effects for three of the twenty-six variables. Clinical evaluation using T-score comparisons including observations from the staff indicated that delinquent youth are involved in a cycle of unresolved grief and that the intervention of grief therapy is a viable process;Conclusions include the need for further study and the application of unresolved grieving and intervening grief therapy into the etiology, prevention, and treatment of juvenile delinquency.</p>