Reducing number of repeat offenders.

• Position: EQUIP program for juvenile delinquents

A novel treatment program tested on jailed juvenile delinquents significantly reduced the number of repeat offenders. Fifteen percent who completed it were back in a juvenile correctional facility one year after their release, compared to 40% who were exposed only to motivational speeches and traditional therapies. In addition, before their release, the program participants showed significantly fewer behavior problems at the correctional facility than those who didn't take part.

The program is called EQUIP--short for Equipping Youth to Help One Another--explains John C. Gibbs, a professor of psychology at Ohio State University and one of its creators. EQUIP combines the best of several different approaches to treating juvenile delinquents, he indicates. It includes social skills training, anger management, moral education, and guided group interaction, in which participants discuss their problems and help each other deal with them. EQUIP can be used with anti-social youth in or out of correctional facilities.

EQUIP involves meetings each weekday for up to one and a half hours. Two of the sessions each week are called "equipment meetings" in which the youths learn the...