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AN EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS OF A LEISURE EDUCATION CURRICULUM ON DELINQUENTS' MOTIVATION, KNOWLEDGE, AND BEHAVIOR CHANGES RELATED TO BOREDOM.

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Date Issued:
2006
Abstract/Description:
Adolescents today have more unsupervised and unstructured free time than ever before. Poor decisions by youth during periods of free time may lead to substance abuse, teen pregnancy and juvenile delinquency. The highest frequency of juvenile crime, a major social problem, occurs during the 2-4 hours following the end of the school day. Research has demonstrated the benefits of engaging adolecents in prosocial leisure activity. However, no research has studied the issues of free time and leisure education with a delinquent population. This paper documents the impact of a leisure education curriculum on a population of delinquent youth in a randomized experiment. The delinquent youths who received the leisure education reported higher intrinsic motivation and better use of free time. The delinquent youths also reported improved decision making related to their involvement in healthy, prosocial free time activities. Finally, the improvement in the delinquent youths' motivation influenced a significant decrease in the delinquent youths' proneness to boredom during their free time.
Title: AN EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS OF A LEISURE EDUCATION CURRICULUM ON DELINQUENTS' MOTIVATION, KNOWLEDGE, AND BEHAVIOR CHANGES RELATED TO BOREDOM.
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Name(s): Finn, Jr., Paul, Author
Wan, Thomas, Committee Chair
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2006
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: Adolescents today have more unsupervised and unstructured free time than ever before. Poor decisions by youth during periods of free time may lead to substance abuse, teen pregnancy and juvenile delinquency. The highest frequency of juvenile crime, a major social problem, occurs during the 2-4 hours following the end of the school day. Research has demonstrated the benefits of engaging adolecents in prosocial leisure activity. However, no research has studied the issues of free time and leisure education with a delinquent population. This paper documents the impact of a leisure education curriculum on a population of delinquent youth in a randomized experiment. The delinquent youths who received the leisure education reported higher intrinsic motivation and better use of free time. The delinquent youths also reported improved decision making related to their involvement in healthy, prosocial free time activities. Finally, the improvement in the delinquent youths' motivation influenced a significant decrease in the delinquent youths' proneness to boredom during their free time.
Identifier: CFE0001472 (IID), ucf:47104 (fedora)
Note(s): 2006-12-01
Ph.D.
Health and Public Affairs, Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies
Doctorate
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): Leisure
boredom
delinquency
free time
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001472
Restrictions on Access: public
Host Institution: UCF

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