Currently, we at the Shea-Hellervik Global Foundation are focused on Supporting Parents of justice-involved youth. We empower professionals who work with potential and serious juvenile offenders. They are the ones who drive change through the use of programs that work. Through deployment of innovative cognitive behavioral programs, we strive to translate research findings into practical techniques from experiments to effective use by both parents and professionals.
We
- Publish
- Grant Awards & Scholarships
- Support Parents and Professionals
- Sponsor Conferences
- Fund Research
Changing the Behavior of Juvenile Offenders
As a Director at the Hennepin County Home School near Minneapolis, Cay Shea-Hellervik and her staff created a groundbreaking program that guided serious juvenile offenders toward lasting change. In a one-year follow up study, it was determined that seventy four percent of the most serious offenders did not re-offend.
The program applies practical activities and assignments to correct errors in thinking as conceptualized by Drs. Samuel Yochelson and Stanton Samenow, in their book, The Criminal Personality. Offenders learned how “errors in thinking” led to criminal behavior and that changing their behavior FIRST required changing their thinking. Subsequently, many studies have confirmed the power of cognitive behavior techniques in bringing about change.
The Shea-Hellervik Global Foundation works to increase understanding of how cognitive behavioral therapy can be used even more effectively in helping criminally involved youth to change their thinking and behavior.
It’s Not Your Fault: A Workbook for Parents of Offenders by Cay Shea-Hellervik
“As a parent, you could spend years blaming yourself, asking yourself why your child is engaging in criminal activity. Don’t waste your time figuring out who, why, or what is to blame. What matters is moving forward.”
I wrote this book for parents because I found that most people I’ve talked with over the years, automatically blame parents for the criminal behavior of their children. When I told people where I worked, the first thing they would say is “Oh, the parents must be horrible.” I didn’t think the majority of parents were horrible in the least bit. My staff and I felt the closer we could work with parents, the better the results with their child. Forming partnerships with the parents was critical in the change process for the youth.
Probably the biggest myth to overcome when a professional or parents are working with offenders is the “bad parents” myth, followed by the “drug dealer” myth and the “bad teacher” myth. Parents and professionals alike must totally avoid allowing young offenders to blame
anyone or anything for their own criminal acts — period. Doing otherwise is excusing an offender for his crimes and giving him permission to offend again.
We expect kids to learn about the errors in thinking that allow them to excuse their own behavior. Through a long process they learn to internalize the messages that keep them from acting on those errors that they know will lead to criminal behavior. They leave the program with the inner strength and thinking to stop themselves from criminal behavior.
Excerpt from It’s Not Your Fault: A Workbook for Parents of Offenders, by Cay Shea-Hellervik on Amazon.com
In the book, the author offers practical tools and support to parents of juvenile offenders, based on her firsthand experience with offenders. She also outlines specific techniques that helped change the anti-social thinking of juveniles at the facility, increasing their chances for productive lives.
Letter from CEO Cay Shea-Hellervik
Juvenile offenders are a huge problem in our country and in the world. SERIOUS juvenile offenders are the ten percent of the criminals who commit ninety percent of the crimes in the USA.
I’ve dedicated much of my life to understanding how they think and the best ways to help them change.
