Date of Award:

8-2012

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Education (MEd)

Department:

Psychology

Committee Chair(s)

David Stein

Committee

David Stein

Committee

Donna Gilbertson

Committee

Scott Bates

Abstract

Joshua Hoyt and Dr. David Stein at Utah State University evaluated the differences between juvenile drug court participants who graduate and don’t graduate from the juvenile drug court program in Idaho. Joshua Hoyt and Dr. David Stein coordinated this project with Scott Ronan, Idaho Supreme Court felony sentencing alternative specialist. Dr. David Stein has significant experience in conducting research projects centering on drug courts and will be assisting Joshua Hoyt in the implementation of this thesis project. Further, Scott Ronan has significant experience in working with the juvenile drug court program and has access to data that were used in the project.

The project team proposed a one year project to gather and evaluate data on juvenile drug court participants of the juvenile drug courts in Idaho. The project identified specific pre-program participant characteristics, pre-program participant behaviors, and within-program behaviors that differ between participants who graduate and those who do not. We relied on the support of Scott Ronan of the Idaho Supreme Court to provide statewide data that will be used in this project.

The data received from Scott Ronan were analyzed using chi-square and t-score analysis to evaluate differences between groups. The results from this analysis provided further insight into the differences of pre-program participant characteristics, pre-program participant behaviors, and within-program behaviors of those who graduate and those who don’t. This further insight can help in deciding who is a good fit for the juvenile drug court program and who is not. Further, it can provide valuable information that will allow juvenile drug court programs to see how they can adjust their programs to better serve juvenile participants, increasing the probability of graduation.

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Comments

This work made publicly available electronically on July 30, 2012.

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