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November 24, 2022
Pro-social influence absent in boot camp plan
Peter Verschaffelt
Posted On November 24, 2022
Download AudioAuckland University psychology lecturer Dr Melanie Woodfield says boot camps are the opposite of what’s needed to address youth offending.
She says military-style training camps have been tried before, with little success.
Changing behaviour requires understanding what is driving negative behaviour and tailoring programmes to the needs of individuals.
“In that process we want what we call pro-social influences and that might come through a sports team, it might come from being on a marae, it might come from surrounding them with the potential for really positive influences as they shape their identity of who they are, what they stand for, what’ s important to them,” Dr Woodfield says.
She says boot camps surround young people with other young people struggling to stay on the right side of the law.
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