An Experiment in the Prevention of Delinquency by Edwin Powers and Helen Witmer

A longitudinal clinical outcome study based primarily on a questionnaire method is the purpose of this two part paper. Techniques and approaches honed from fifteen years of para-analytic experience with one continuous Saturday morning group (seventy-five adolescents and young adults) are highlighted in this first part. Attention is focused on such pertinent issues as: lateness, selection, duration, individual sessions, physical setting, outside contacts, decreasing anxiety, parents and the important involvement of a female cotherapist. Catalyzing agents in the form of art therapy and mini-silent groups are described. The psychological position is presented for an age-mixed group (adolescents and young adults—age range twenty to thirty) to facilitate a natural flow of topics in the group dialogue rather than a “topic” format.