Wow, I just read the entire study and what a load of crap it was!
One of the things we learned so soon after arriving at one of these teen prisons was how our parents had no clue what our real problems were. So the study is making an apples and oranges comparison right from the start. Much like asking cops and criminals to make reports on each other. Both are biased.
Also, the reports taken at admission time in to the program are obviously going to be high skewed and totally unreliable. And this was clearly evident in the study for the reasons stated above. Parents reported far more symptoms at admissions and students reported more at the outcome. Which is very revealing in itself. Our parents had no clue of our problems and therefore came to conclusions about what was wrong with us that were often based on faulty information and generally just a lack of communication between parents and their teens. An example is that my parents, at my admission to RMA, claimed I was using drugs, alcohol, smoking, sneaking out at night, stealing, etc. None of which was true. So there are a bunch of factually wrong "symptoms" that a parent might report.
Whereas we are prisoners were forced to endure endless humiliations, deprivations, cruel punishments and strange cult rituals, thus we obviously came to have symptoms we didn't have when we arrived. And through the forced disclosures and labeling that went on, we were often made to believe we had guilt and issues that we didn't have when we arrived. Having rapes blamed on the victim, feeling your parents divorce was your fault, etc. So the study above was based on data that was intended and known to be skewed from the start. So much of the study was self-fulfilling.
Obviously if you are forced to attend a teen prison camp, you are not going to want to be there and are likely to learn, as we did, that giving the wrong answers that the parents or staff wanted to hear resulted in harsh and abusive punishments. Thus you quickly learned from admission to discharge how to hide your true feelings and emotions, but were equipped with a large vocabulary of psycho-babble and information on what was expected of you and how to say so. So when a student is asked how they feel, do they think they benefited from the program, do they think their lives are better...? They know the answers they are expected to give and know the consequences for failing to give them. Thus, the study gets the answers it sought as there was no other possible outcome as the teens were taught that not providing the correct responses would lead to discipline. And similarly, the teens knew that ultimately pleasing their parents was the goal, not the staff. Thus they would show from admissions to discharge exactly what the parents needed to see and hear from them in order to leave and be able to live normal lives once more. Self fulfilling all the way.
However, it was suggested that the study included a post-discharge questionnaire at one year, whereas it was stated in the study itself that this was a goal in the future, so they did not in fact have any reliable information about outcomes based on how the teens performed once out of the programs for any length of time. Just the period from admissions to discharge. Therefore we have no reliable aspect to tell parents, the real customers intended to gobble up this nonsense success story, whether their kids are really changed positively for the long term.
A real study would have had independent analysis conducted of the students themselves. Even something as simple as whether they could land a job and hold on to it for a significant period of time, or if they were able to enroll in a college and actually complete course work with a satisfactory grade point average. These would be far more revealing and relevant to the subject of success. Asking kids and their parents to rate their own perceptions and success is silly as it pertains to deciding whether a program is successful or not. If you go to a gym to work out and they ask you at the start for the reasons you are there, whether you want to be there, whether you think you will meet with success...? The answers given are really not all the important to anything. So if you ask the gym attendee two years later if they felt they have improved, or met goals they wanted to meet while there, if they feel better about themselves for having attended, what value can you place on their answers? And then add in the other group being interviewed are the trainers at the gym and their perceptions of the attendees initial needs, their progress through the program and their final position on improvements... There is little here that isn't self fulfilling or revealing of anything substantial.
Interviewer to attendee-- Why did you come to this gym? Answer: "I was hoping to get in better shape, improve my appearance, get more energy, maybe meet some nice people."
Interviewer to trainer-- Why do you think the attendee has joined this gym? Answer: "I think they have low self esteem, have no drive to succeed, need help getting out of their rut."
Two years later...
Interviewer to attendee-- Do you feel like you have made some improvements or met your goals since you arrived here? Answer: "I feel like I have made a lot of progress. I think I could do more, but I think I have come a long way since when I first arrived. I feel better about myself, I have met some nice people. The trainers are nice, but firm. I think they have helped me a lot. I guess I am better now than I would have been if I never came to this gym."
Interviewer to trainer-- Do you feel like your student has improved over the last two years? Do you think they are where they need to be? Answer: "I think they have more to do, they aren't quite there yet, but they have progressed a lot since arriving and I see a change in attitude. I think they have improved a lot in the area of self esteem, and have learned a lot. They are certainly better than when they first arrived."
Self fulfilling answers to questions of no value. The results were expected. What else would they have said to such questions? Sure, there would be a slight variance to the answers if you asked 1000 different people, but they would start off similarly and end similarly. And since you'd know that going in, of what value would it be to have bothered to ask in the first place? None.
Thus the Aspen Study was of no value because the criteria used to judge success was based on useless information to begin with.
But had actual trained psychologists and therapists show up and ask the students: "Did you feel as though the screaming and yelling in raps, the humiliations, the endless threats of punishments helped you to improve?" What would the answer be? Were the methods used on you successful by themselves?
The study comes off more like this... You have just been released from prison. Someone asks if you are happy to be out? Then they ask if you felt like being in there scared you enough not to do it again? Would you do it all over again knowing you'd go back in? What are the answers going to be?
