Evaluation of a Court—Ordered MADD Presentation for Juvenile Alcohol and Drug Offenders

Abstract

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a court—ordered Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) presentation to prevent alcohol or drug—related recidivism among 247 juvenile alcohol and drug offenders. The presentation, which incorporates educational components with a victim awareness program, seeks to increase offenders' empathy and knowledge about the dangers of substance use. Using a quasiexperimental design, 91 juveniles who attended the MADD presentation are compared to 72 who did not attend the presentation, and a control group of 84 juveniles arrested before the presentation was initiated. During a 12-month follow—up period, 14.3% of presentation attendees, 19.4% of non-attendees, and 21.4% of the control group had alcohol or drug—related contact with the juvenile justice system. Cox regression survival analysis shows that being male and having prior juvenile justice involvement significantly predicts future alcohol or drug—related juvenile justice contact. Attending the MADD presentation is not significantly related to recidivism. The implications of these results for juvenile offender rehabilitation are discussed and considerations for effective programming are described.

Key Words:

• Juvenile offenders
• recidivism
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
• victim awareness programs