FAMILY THERAPY IN TREATING COGNITIVE DISTORTION OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS

Rusni A. Ghani, Rohany Nasir, Wan Shahrazad Wan Sulaiman, Fatimah Yusooff

Abstract


This quasi-experimental study was conducted to measure the effects of family therapy on juvenile offenders’ cognitive distortions. Experimental subjects consisted of 18 young offenders, those who had received good behavior bond order together with an additional order for interactive workshops in the treatment group and 18 young offenders who received a good behavior bond order only without a further order of interactive workshops as a control group. Cognitive distortions were measured using a self-reporting questionnaire. Subjects of treatment were subjected to six family therapy sessions over a period of 2-3 months for 50 to 90 minutes per session. SPANOVA test was used to measure the impact of family therapy on adolescent offenders. Findings from the research showed that family therapy is significantly effective for reducing adolescent offenders’ cognitive distortions. 


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