Social Research in Developing Countries - Assignment Example

Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 1.0 Executive summary 2 2.0 Introduction 2 3.0 Extent of the need for this program 3 4.0 Program description and design 4 5.0 Purpose and objectives of the program 5 6.0 Time and ways of undertaking the program activities 8 7.0 Evaluation of goals 9 7.1 Inputs 10 7.2 Program activities 10 7.3 Outputs 10 7.4 Outcomes 11 8.0 Work Plan 11 9.0 Adequacy of Resources 12 10.0 Organizational support 13 11.0 Staff Positions and quality of staff 14 12.0 Community Resources, Collaborations and Partners 15 13.0 Identified Funding Sources 16 14.0 Line Item Budget 17 15.0 Conclusion 18 16.0 References 19 1.0 Executive summary This program targets the juvenile adolescent males who have been discharged from Bonnie Brae Residential Facility. As a result of lack of community and parental supervision, negative peer influence, lack of self discipline majority of the discharged adolescent males goes back to the committing of the crimes despite the efforts of Bonnie Brae to rehabilitate them. This is the key factor that has triggered the establishment of this program. Taking place in Bonnie Brae Residential Facility, the purpose of this program is to reduce the rate of recidivism that is depicted by the juvenile adolescent males after being discharged from Bonnie Brae Facility. Major objectives of this program are reducing the number of crimes committed by the juvenile adolescent males and enhancing the sense of self esteem among young people. Primary activities of the program include counseling, parental training, individual and group mentoring among others. The actual training will commence on August 1 2012 and end on July 31, 2013. Key program partners are parents, clinical officers, law enforcers, mentors, local support agencies, residential staffs and members of the community. The program total income is ($) 1.6 million while the total expenditure is estimated to be ($) 1.545 million. With the major sources of funds being Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program and MacArthur Foundation, the program is focused at attaining positive outcomes that include improved skills, behavior change, high self esteem, motivation and strong ability to make personal judgment. 2.0 Introduction The success of any program largely depends on effective planning, appropriate organizing, and optimal management of resources by the program managers. In order to ensure that the objectives of a project are achieved, it is imperative for program managers to make sure that the financial resources given by the government and local agencies in terms of loans or grants are optimally utilized. In addition, project managers should ensure that the objectives of the project are in line with the needs of the target population. As a result, the project will benefit from the support of both the government and the members of the community. To ensure that project do not deviate from their preset goals, it is significant to undertake regular evaluation of the various activities undertaken within a project. In the current world, negative social behaviors especially among the young adolescent males have become a security threat. This has instigated various organizations, government agencies and individuals to initiate programs that address challenges caused by juvenile delinquency. Despite the establishment of various rehabilitation centers and allocation of adequate resources to oversee the running of these centers by government, crime rates in many regions have remained high. This is a clear indication that there exists a gap during the transformation of the juvenile adolescent males to become responsible and patriotic citizens. This proposal keenly analyzes the major aspects that will be covered by a program that aims at improving the living conditions of juvenile adolescent males who are within and outside Bonnie Brae Residential Facility, a treatment center that is based in northern New Jersey (Cicchetti and Cohen, 2009). 3.0 Extent of the need for this program The need for this program has been necessitated by the increased cases of adolescent juvenile in New Jersey. For example, the approximate number cases of murder, rape, robbery and assault reported in New Jersey per year are 371, 981, 11,818 and 13,885 respectively. In addition, a survey that was conducted in 2007 within the state of New Jersey depicted that 43% of the respondent reported existence of street gangs. The table below indicates presence of gangs in the three regions of New Jersey during 2004 and 2007 gang surveys. Regions 2004 Gang Survey (%) 2007 Gang Survey (%) North Region 33 37 Central Region 37 40 South Region 25 37 Source-(Cicchetti and Cohen, 2009) From the above table, it is clear that the number of street gangs has continued to rise. It is worth to note that this has been caused not only due to lack of financial resources and drugs but also lack of closer supervision of the discharged juvenile adolescent males by their families. In the same way, failure by the community to support the adolescent males has contributed to increased cases of crimes especially in the northern and southern regions of New Jersey (Eadie and Morley, 2003). In this regard, this program is important to mitigate anti-social behaviors by the young men by enhancing their economic and social aspects. 4.0 Program description and design The major activities that Bonnie Brae undertakes in order to improve the life of the adolescent males include community support, extensive supervision as well as regular counseling. In addition, the center has a duty of ensuring that the juvenile adolescent males are adequately protected from the bad behaviors caused by peer influence. However, upon the discharge of the young adolescent from Bonnie Brae, some of them engage in various crimes such as drug use, murder and other forms of crimes due to lack of parental guidance and support from members of the community. This proposal is focused at initiating programs that will ensure that young adolescent males do not go back to committing crimes once they are discharged from the center. In this way, their economic and social lives will be improved. The program will take place in Bonnie Brae Residential Facility. To ensure that the skills that the program will provide are effective in addressing the deficiencies mentioned earlier, a support group that will encompass the clients from the facility will be formed (Bulmer and Warwick, 1993). Some of the key skills that the support group will be provided with include how to exercise internal control, self-discipline, ways of accessing and utilizing the resources that are available within their locality as well as techniques of avoiding negative peer influences. The program will serve the juvenile adolescent males at the age of between 16 and 18 years who have been successfully discharged from the Bonnie Brae Facility. In addition, the program will serve the juvenile adolescent males who resided in the center for 6 months or more but lack adequate resources and skills to enable them engage in productive activities thus lowering their chances of emulating unlawful and antisocial behaviors. In this regard, the first step of the program will be to select a group of juvenile adolescent males. From July 15, 2012 to July 25, 2012, the program will embark on inviting and hiring of professionals including counselors, mentors, laws enforcers and clinical officers. Other key activities that will be undertaken prior to the commencement of the program include preparing of learning facilities including class rooms and workshop halls. After the end of the program, the evaluation will be undertaken starting from August 1, 2013 to November 30, 2013. In order to be eligible for a grant from MacArthur Foundation, the program will establish an executive director position that will be based at the Bonnie Brae facility. Other staffs that will be involved in the daily operations of the program include security officers and cleaners. 5.0 Purpose and objectives of the program The purpose of this program is to decrease the rate of recidivism that is portrayed by the juvenile adolescent males after undergoing treatment in Bonnie Brae (Chamberlain & Reid, 1998). After working in the Bonnie Brae for some time, I realized that despite the extensive treatment strategies undertaken by the center to improve the social lives of the adolescent males, majority of them are admitted to other rehabilitation centers, hospitalized or even incarcerated (Daley and Onwuegbuzie, 2001). In the same way, due to lack of adequate financial resources once they are out of the center, a large number of the young men are engaging in various sources of crimes such as drug peddling and theft in order to survive in their home environment. One of the major objectives of the program is to enhance juvenile adolescent males to engage in economic activities so as to avoid their involvement in criminal cases in their effort to be financially stable. Since 1995, the number of murder cases has increased by 150%. In this regard, the objective of this program is to reduce the number of murder cases through assisting the young people to have a strong self esteem and appreciate other members of the community regardless of their social status. Another major outcome of the program is that the participant will acquire the necessary skills to deal with other members of the community as well as how to avoid peer influence. It is important to note that some of the major causes of drug use are stress, frustration and depression. To curb the use of drugs among the discharged juvenile adolescent males, the program will train the participants on how to manage stress thus reducing their probability of engaging in alcohol and other harmful drugs. This responsibility will be undertaken by professional mentors. Creation of self confidence among the participant is another vital objective of the program. According to Steinberg (2008) acquiring a sense of self confidence, compels juvenile adolescent males to seek for parental assistance once they are faced by a social problem that they cannot solve on their own. Another objective of the program is to improve the entrepreneurial skills of the participants. In this way, the participants will have the ability to use the resources in the community for the purpose of improving their lives. This will not only make the participants to be economically independent, but also it will make them to divert their energy towards accomplishing more productive duties instead of engaging in drug trafficking and other crimes. Delisi (2005) argues that poor academic performance is one the key factor that contributes to antisocial behaviors among the young people (Walklate, 2003). This is basically due to various reasons that include poor time management, lack of discipline in schools, lack of team work, and poor relationship among the various stakeholders within the school environment. In this regard, the objective of the program is to train the young adolescent on how to manage their time as well as providing them with skills that are vital in creating positive relationship with their teachers and other school mates. Regarding proper time management, the participants will be trained on how to prepare timetables. This will entail scheduling of the events according to their importance and allocating adequate time for each and every activity described on the timetable. In its effort to improve the relationship within the learning environment, the program will provide adequate communication skills that will ensure use of proper language especially when seeking for assistance from the senior students or from their teachers. For instance, the participants will be trained on how to write apology letters, appreciating letters and other form of formal letters addressed to the teachers or the parents. Being a major cause of antisocial behaviors among the young adolescents, negative peer influence has also resulted to use of drugs and increased street gangs especially in the Northern region of New Jersey (Letourneau et al, 2009). To mitigate the problems of peer pressure, the program will provide skills that will enhance the judgment ability of the young people. In this way, the participants will acquire necessary skills to face life challenges as individual without seeking much assistance from their age mates. For instance, the participants will be trained on how to analyze a problem and the possible solution taking into consideration the pros and cons of every decision that they take to address the problem they face. As mentioned earlier, the program will take place at the Bonnie Brae Residential Facility that is located in Liberty Corner, New Jersey. This is the most appropriate location since majority of the participants and other program stakeholders are based in Bonnie Brae and its neighborhood. The program actual training will take place beginning from August 2012 to July 2013. 6.0 Time and ways of undertaking the program activities In order to ensure that the program achieves its objectives, various professionals including clinical directors, counselors, mentors, law enforcement officers and local agencies will be involved. Due to the diversified skills possessed by the professionals, the participants will have ample opportunities that will enhance their lives after the program. The table below indicates activities, their occurrence and the time they will be undertaken. Activity Occurrence Time Training on time management Weekly Monday 8 AM-11 AM Counseling Weekly Friday 2-4 pm Training on entrepreneurial skills Weekly Tuesday 8 Am-11 AM Communication Skills Daily 12 PM-1 PM Group mentoring Monthly Last Wednesday of the month 2 PM-5PM Source-(Kadish et al, 1999) In addition to the above activities, the program will initiate a voluntary training program for all the parents of the participants. During the voluntary training programs that will be on monthly basis, parents will be offered extensive skills on how to associate with their juvenile deliquescent males once they are discharged from the Bonnie Brae center. The program will emulate Multisystemic therapy (MST) approach. This is an intensive approach that entails community and family- based programs that are focused at addressing the violent juvenile offenders while in schools, families and in the neighborhoods (Kadish et al, 1999). 7.0 Evaluation of goals Evaluation of the outcomes of a program is a major aspect that program managers cannot overlook. In order to ensure that the objectives of the program are achieved, a logic model will be implemented. Rather than just considering the inputs that the program will need, the logic model will help in the planning of the program with the outcomes in mind (McLaughlin and Jordan, 1999). The inputs include the resources such as employees, money as well as the equipments that will be used by the program. The logic model below covers the activities, the immediate outputs as well as the medium term and long term outcomes of delivering the outputs (Shechtman, 2003). Source-(Potter, 2006) 7.1 Inputs The key inputs that the program will employ include the financial resources in the form of grants from the Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program and MacArthur Foundation. In addition, the partners will provide in kind contribution in form of equipments. Other inputs entail the services of clinical officers, counselors, law enforcement officers, teachers and mentors. 7.2 Program activities These entails the strategies that will be undertaken to ensure that the inputs are converted into outputs (Julian and David, 1997). For instance, conducting workshops, Training on the entrepreneurial skills, Counseling and mentoring. 7.3 Outputs Based on the program activities, the participants and the clients are expected to acquire sense of self awareness, knowledge, positive attitudes, self motivation and aspiration in a short term. In medium term, the participants are supposed to portray behavior change, social development and have the ability to practice the learned skills (Smith, 1990). 7.4 Outcomes One of the key outcomes after the end of the program is that the participants will have an improved social life. This is based on the counseling and mentoring activities that the program will offer. In addition, the participants are expected to be economically productive and have the ability to use the available local resources to generate income (Julian and David, 1997). Based on the various income generating activities that the participants will initiate, they are expected to have adequate knowledge on how to conserve the environment to enhance sustainable development within their locality. Through the collaboration with the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission, this program will have an effective avenue of knowing the number of crimes that are committed by the discharged juvenile adolescent males especially after the program. 8.0 Work Plan For this program to succeed, effective time management is a key aspect that will be considered. With the assistance of all the stakeholders including the families, the legal officers and the volunteers, a work plan will be adopted to ensure proper coordination of all the activities that the program will initiate. The work plan below highlights major activities, their date of commencement, their duration and the deadlines. Activity Date of commencement Occurrence of the activity Deadline of the activity Selection of the participating juvenile adolescent males June 31, 2012 Weekly basis July 25, 2012 Hiring of professionals including clinical officers among others July 15, 2012 Weekly basis July 26, 2012 Preparation of learning facilities including class rooms and discussion rooms July 1, 2012 Weekly July 25, 2012 Duration of the actual training August 1, 2012 Lessons to be held daily July 31, 2012 Evaluation August 1, 2013 Monthly November 30, 2013 Source- (Smith, 1990) 9.0 Adequacy of Resources To ensure that the goals of the program are attained, it is vital that all the required resources are available. This will not only ensure continuity of the program, but also it will reduce the extra costs incurred in acquiring additional resources. Some of the major resources needed to undertake the program include funds from Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program and MacArthur Foundation, equipments contributed by the partners, the time of undertaking the program activities, the volunteer’s services, the learning facilities provided by the Bonnie Brae center among others (Bamberger, 2000). Based on the contributions of all the stakeholders, the program has adequate resources that will make it achieve its objectives as well as it short, medium and ultimate outcomes. The program has also allocated ample time to ensure various activities as stipulated by the work plan are effectively undertaken. It is important to note that even though program managers are always optimistic about the success of their programs, it is always prudent to undertake audit of the resources to ensure that any scarcity is noted on time. To ensure that all the activities of this program are uninterrupted, regular physical checking of the facilities including maintenance of buildings, servicing of motors vehicles and computers will be done. In addition, the counselors will be updated by the families on the behaviors of the young juvenile males so as to ensure that the curriculum resources that they prepare are in line with the needs of the participants. 10.0 Organizational support As mentioned earlier, among the major objectives of this program is to improve the living standards of the juvenile adolescent males by assisting them to utilize the available local resources. To ensure that the program enjoys support from the participants, the young adolescent males will be given an opportunity during the workshops to give their own views on how to improve the training. Additionally, the program aims at meeting the socioemotional needs of the employees and the professional to make them feel part and parcel of the program. In addition, the program will value the contribution of all the participants besides caring about their employees well being. This will be done by providing them with off duties, health insurance, Medicaid, car and travelling allowance (Hekman et al, 2009). The major outcomes of the organizational support would include enhanced extra-role performance, reduction of stress and low level of turnover and reduced rate absenteeism (Eisenberger et al, 1986). To ensure the program enjoys organizational support, the problem of all the participants will be handled with diligent by the counselors. Additionally, the program will provide a strong mentoring process that will make sure cases that require special favor are appropriately handled and adequate solutions provided to all the participants. In regard to the financial accountability, government auditors will not be deterred from undertaking inspection of the financial statements including income statements and balance sheets. 11.0 Staff Positions and quality of staff The achievements of this program do not only depend on the financial resources but also on the eligibility of the staff. As mentioned earlier, the key staffs that will be hired between July 15, 2012 and July 26, 2012 include an executive director, clinical officers, mentors, law enforcement officers and counselors. The table below indicates the various staff positions that the program will offer and the qualities they should posses to make them eligible for the positions. Staff position Qualifications Clinical officers Registered clinical officer, experience of over three years in a rehabilitation centre or hospital, strong problem solving skills, strong communication skills and Computer literate. Executive Director Masters in Business Administration, 3 years working experience in a hospital or in a rehabilitation centre. A diploma in Human resources management will be an added advantage. Mentor An individual with mentor training in peer coaching and effective teaching, a patient and good listener, ability to demonstrate leadership, strong ability to initiate contacts, strong desire to share personal experience relevant to the young men, enjoys working with juvenile adolescent males and someone with skills on creating action plan and scheduling time. Law enforcement officers 5 officers aligned to New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission Counselors Masters in psychology or a bachelor degree in psychology or rehabilitation counseling, a certificate from National Board for Certified Counselors, an individual should be willing to inspire other and have emotional energy to handle wide range of problem facing the discharged juvenile adolescent males. Source- (Daley and Onwuegbuzie, 2001) 12.0 Community Resources, Collaborations and Partners To ensure the skills provided to the juvenile adolescent males are in line with the needs of the community, this program will invite volunteers from the local community. The volunteers will have an opportunity to undertake various duties such cleaning of the training facilities, offering part time counseling and holding religious based workshops. In addition, members of the local community will have a chance to donate financial or any other kind of resources that will benefit the participants during their learning process. This is an initiative that will propagate the involvement of local communities in the program since they are major victims of the increased crimes within the northern region of New Jersey (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). In its endeavor to instill proper management, the program will focus at collaborating with the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission and other local agencies. In this way, a feedback system on the implication of the program on the crime rate in the area will be initiated. The key partners of the program include local agencies, residential staff, parents and members of the local community. 13.0 Identified Funding Sources The major source of funds is the Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program. These funds are expected to be available from the month of July 2012 (Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program, 2002). According to this source, the program partners will need to contribute 5% of the total costs in form of cash or in-kind contributions such as equipments. For the effective running of this program, a total of $1.5 million is needed. Out of this, the grant from the Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program will be $ 950,000 million while the partners will have to contribute $50,000. Additionally, in the month of May 2012, the program will receive a grant of $600,000 from MacArthur Foundation, a renowned US private foundation that aims at promoting juvenile justice and offering support to US based community organizations. 14.0 Line Item Budget As noted earlier, the success of this program significantly relies on the wide range of the financial resources either in form of grants or in kind contributions. The net profit that the program will incur will be ploughed back for the purpose of expanding its capital base in the next training session. The table below indicates the major sources of income and how it will be utilized by the program. Description Annual Budget($) Incomes Grants from Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program 950,000 Grants from MacArthur Foundation 600,000 Contribution from partners 50,000 Total Income 1,600,000 Expenses Security guard salary 60,000 Cleaners Salaries 30,000 Medicaid for all employees 50,000 Executive director salary 100,000 Health Insurance 75,000 Office Supplies 45,000 Contracted Services 25,000 Computer Maintenance 20,000 Travel Expenses 50,000 Professional dues 200,000 Training and Education 300,000 Car Allowance 150,000 Utilities 50,000 Telephone 25,000 Electricity 45,000 Water 45,000 Building Maintenance 150,000 Program Equipment 50,000 Property Insurance 75,000 Total Expenses 1,545,000 Total revenue 1,600,000 Net Profit 55,000 Source-(Samuel, 2007) 15.0 Conclusion Bonnie Brae Residential Facility is treatment center that is based in New Jersey. The major taken initiative of the facility is to enhance the lives of the juvenile adolescent males thus reducing the number of crimes such as theft, murder and use of drugs among others. However, been discharged from the facility, majority of the juvenile adolescent males goes back to the criminal activities due to lack of parental and community support, peer influence and lack of skills to exploit the local resources. As a result, the number of crimes in the northern part of New Jersey has continued to rise in the recent past. This has necessitated the establishment of a program as discussed in this paper whose main purpose will be to improve the lives of the discharged juvenile adolescent males. Commencing on August 1, 2012 and ending on July 31, 2012, the program will provide the participants with adequate entrepreneurial and communication skills, counseling and mentoring activities, and proper time management among others. The key outcomes of this program is improved self esteem, reduced crimes, motivation, aspiration, self confidence and strong ability to make personal judgments. To achieve its objectives, this program will engage various partners including parents, law enforcement officers, clinical officers, local agencies, counselors and mentors. Through the financial grants from the Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program and MacArthur Foundation, the program will have adequate financial resources to undertake its activities. Based on the above paper, it is clear that even though young people undergoes punishment as a result of committing crimes, this does not deter them from repeating the crimes. This means that government authorities and local agencies should be flexible in giving funds to individuals and organizations that are focused at improving the lives of the discharged juvenile adolescent males. 16.0 References Bamberger, M. (2000). 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Understanding Criminology – Current Theoretical Debates. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Read More