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https://theconversation.com/boot-camps-for-young-offenders-are-back-the-psychological-evidence-they-dont-work-never-went-away-231262>
"“Boot camps” for young people who commit serious offending are coming back.
The coalition government has promised to pilot “military-style academies” by
the middle of the year – despite a wealth of international and New Zealand
evidence that boot camps do not reduce reoffending.
It has been encouraging to see this evidence receive extensive media coverage
and expert analysis. Less encouraging, however, has been the minister for
children’s reported rejection of expert advice that the boot camp model is
flawed and ineffective.
So, why do we keep returning to interventions that don’t work? For boot camps,
there are at least three possible explanations.
First, they appeal to politicians who want to appear tough on crime, while also
saying they are encouraging rehabilitation options.
Second, boot camps seem to have a strong appeal to common sense: people want to
believe structure and military discipline can turn around young people’s lives,
and this belief outweighs contradicting evidence.
Third, boot camps can take different forms, so evidence of their
ineffectiveness can be avoided by claiming, as the minister has, that
improvements will be made this time.
This seems unlikely, however, when the core features that characterise boot
camps – strong discipline in particular – are a main reason they don’t work. To
understand why, we need to look at the psychology of punishment and behaviour
change."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
