ABSTRACT
A major aspect of changing delinquent behavior is the teaching or building of behaviors that are incompatible with crime. One important class of such behaviors is working or employment. The Kentfields Rehabilitation Program in Grand Rapids, Michigan included youth employment as an integral part of its comprehensive program. The goal was to provide a community-based alternative to incarceration for virtually all adjudicated youths in this community—including, most remarkably, relatively “hard core” delinquents. The chapter explores a social learning approach to employment skills training for delinquents. Many delinquent youths have difficulty reading and filling out job application forms and, thus, are stopped in pursuing a job even before they begin. C. M. Mills and T. L. Walter developed a remarkable, social learning program for shaping employment in delinquents. More complete details are given in that reading. The program not only taught the youths “how to work” but had a major effect on their delinquent behavior as well.
