Better behaved
 |
Based on more than three years of extensive research, the six-week Mindfields intervention program is designed to enable youth at a high risk of delinquency to change their lives.
UQ School of Education Associate Professor Annemaree Carroll and her team developed Mindfields as part of the Australian Research Council-funded Creating Safer Communities project.
Through interactive DVDs, journal writing, social modelling activities, inspirational testimonies, and one-on-one counselling, teenagers are challenged to question their actions, make informed choices about their behaviour and create positive changes.
Teenagers completing a trial program have shown decreased delinquency and impulsiveness as well as an increased assertiveness, social problem-solving, self-regulation and life satisfaction.
Associate Professor Carroll said juvenile crime cost about $350 million annually in Australia, with the cost in Queensland estimated at $145 million per year, or about $21,000 per juvenile defendant. “Also, there’s been a rise in suspensions and exclusions of young people from schools,” she said. “However, by working with the Queensland Government, we have developed an intervention model with real potential to empower and support young people to address these serious issues and create a positive future.”
