A quasi-experimental approach would be appropriate to use in this study. The study seeks to establish the causal impact of the rehabilitation programs of the juvenile delinquents on recidivism in Fulton County. In this regard, the quasi-experimental design fits well because it is helpful in determining the impact of a particular intervention in the target population. However, it is used to accomplish this without random assignment.
The independent variable for this study is the juvenile arrest record within the county while recidivism rate is the dependent variable. The covariates in this study are the nature of crimes committed. The dependent variable is to be observed over time (2013-2017) and the changes that take place will be analyzed according to the available statistics. There is no treatment for any of this variables in this study. Unlike in an experimental design where there is random assignment so that each item of study has a similar chance of being assigned a given treatment condition, in this quasi experimental design, there will be no random selection (Trochim & Land, 1982). There will be a comparison of the Fulton County crime statistics with other counties within Georgia State. The extent of intervention within Fulton County over the selected period will be compared to that of the previous years and other regions to determine the effectiveness of the rehabilitation programs. Cost and feasibility are considered when choosing the counties that will act as controls for the experiment.
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Quasi experiment approach is necessary whenever it is not easy or feasible to randomly select the participants in a given study. In this study for example which seeks to determine the correlation between the rehabilitation programs and recidivism to juvenile crime in the county. Quasi experimental design integrates both the features of experimental and non-experimental designs (Trochim & Land, 1982). The approach will also help to maximize both the internal and external validities.
One of the strengths of the quasi experimental approach is that it can be easily set up when random approach is impractical or unethical. It also reduces the threats to ecological validities as the experimentation happens in a natural environment and not artificial environments which can be manipulated making the subject of the study to act unnaturally (Simon, 2011a). The findings from such a natural setting can also be applied to subjects in another setting allowing for generalizations about the findings. The research design is also effective where longitudinal researches are to be undertaken because the studies can be done over extended time period. It is also imperative to note that some of the variables can be manipulated by the experimenter to achieve the desired goal in respect to variable characteristics. Finally, a quasi-experimental design can easily comply with the ethical and other conditional concerns necessary while conducting the study.
One of the fundamental weaknesses of this approach is the lack of randomization because it raises possible challenges to internal validity. Accurate conclusions about the causal relationships may be difficult to accurately determine because of the extraneous variables in the social environment that affects the variables. The experimenter does not have full control over the extraneous circumstances and this makes the causal relationship difficult to establish. The lack of randomness may also provide weak evidence hence providing unreliable results.
Internal validity is very critical for a quasi-experiment design because of the inferences made about the cause-effect relationships of the variables under study (Rudestam & Newton, 2015). The experimenter had to make attempts to control the variables that could affect the outcome of the experiment. The participants and the data analysis processes among others could affect the internal validity. If there are other potential reasons for the obtained outcome apart from the variable under consideration then the internal validity is not strong. In this research, strong internal validity is an indication that the rehabilitation programs for the juvenile children within Fulton Country is directly responsible for the drop in cases of recidivism. All potential external factors that could be directly responsible for the drop in the cases such as improvement in social order and effective law enforcement have to be ruled out in the process.
External validity refers to the applicability of the findings in a particular study to a population outside the current area of interest. The external validity is considered to be high when the findings can be applied to another population accurately (Brause, 1999b). This is the case in many cases when the population under study lacks extremely unique features that would make the outcome different. The credibility of the research comes under question whenever the external validity is low. It can be improved through random sampling and working to ensure that the assignment is also random. In considering the effectiveness of juvenile rehabilitation programs in Fulton County, the outcome has high external validity if the findings are applicable in any other county or state in the United States.
A quasi-experimental design is appropriate for the current study because of the varied interventions to combat the problem of recidivism among the juvenile delinquents in Fulton County. The design in the similitude of ‘person-by-treatment’ design would be appropriate. In this approach, the experimenter ordinarily measures one variable and then manipulates the other independent variable to determine the cause-effect relationship ( Thyer, 2012) . In this case, for the period under study from 2013-2017, there have been different rehabilitation programs by the administration of the county to control the problem of re-arrests among juveniles. The outcomes have been on a different level depending on the extent of these interventions.
The problem statement addresses the fact that Fulton County, Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (FCDJJ) lacks an effective rehabilitation program that can address the problem of re-arrests among youths previously in criminal activities. The inadequacy of the rehabilitation programs will be evident from the figures collected from the government department that address arrests and re-arrests of juveniles within the county (Simon, 2011a). The perpetually rising recidivism in spite of the interventions show that the measures are ineffective and the problem is not being addressed appropriately. The purpose of the research is to examine the strategies used by the Fulton County Department of Juvenile Justice (FCDJJ) to address the problem of recidivism. The research design will very clearly expose the inadequacies of these problems by exposing the ever rising juvenile rearrests from engagement in criminal activities.
RQ-Quantitative: How frequently are juveniles arrested in Fulton County, Georgia contributing to the juvenile recidivism rate within the county? H 01-Based on objective data, there is a statistical significance in the recidivism rate amongst juveniles with Fulton County, Georgia. The quantitative data collected from the relevant government agencies will indicate the frequency of arrests and rearrests. These will then be weighed against the rehabilitative interventions to reveal their ineffectiveness. The research methodology will be quantitative, collecting the data and analyzing them using various statistical tools and methods such as regression.
References
Brause, R. S. (1999b). Identifying your dissertation topic and your research questions. In Writing your doctoral dissertation: Invisible rules for success (pp. 37–47). New York, NY: Routledge.
Rudestam, K. E., & Newton, R. R. (2015). Surviving your dissertation: A comprehensive guide to content and process (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. ISBN: 978-1-4522-6097-6
Simon, M. K. (2011a). Developing research questions. In Dissertation and scholarly research: Recipes for success (pp. 1–3). Seattle, WA: Dissertation Success. Retrieved from http://dissertationrecipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Developing-Research-Questions.pdf
Trochim, W., & Land, D. (1982). Designing designs for research. The Researcher, 1(1), 1–6. Retrieved from http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/desdes.php
Thyer, B. A. (2012). Quasi-experimental research designs . New York: Oxford University Press.
