Juvenile Justice Anger Management (JJAM) Treatment for Girls

The Juvenile Justice Anger Management (JJAM) Treatment for Girls is a manualized anger management and aggression reduction treatment designed for adolescent girls and young women placed in residential juvenile justice facilities. This gender-specific treatment is an 8-week, cognitive-behavioral group intervention that consists of 16 90-minute sessions. The JJAM Facilitator Manual includes a user-friendly, session-by-session guide, along with the accompanying workbook materials for youth participants.

JJAM addresses the unique gender- and developmental-needs of girls and young women in juvenile justice system, such as the link between relational and physical aggression, the importance of strengthening and repairing damaged relationships, and the need to transfer skills learned in a facility to day-to-day life in the community following discharge. Session activities elicit real-life examples from participants so that activities and content can be tailored to the characteristics, needs, and interests of the specific girls and young women in each group.

JJAM was developed through a rigorous research process and is identified as an empirically based program and empirically supported treatment. Studies have shown that JJAM significantly reduced anger and aggression among girls in residential juvenile justice facilities, making it an essential resource for any clinician working on anger management treatment.

Naomi E. S. Goldstein, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology, Co-Director of the JD/PhD Program in Law and Psychology, and Director of the Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab at Drexel University. For more than 20 years, Dr. Goldstein has collaborated with community stakeholders to use social science research to improve juvenile justice policy and practice. She uses research to guide large-scale system change, leads implementation projects to promote high-quality dissemination of juvenile justice reforms, and evaluates the effects of new programs and policies on youth and communities. She also provides training and technical assistance to juvenile justice practitioners to help agencies develop and implement new policies and practices to improve outcomes for youth and communities.

Jennifer M. Serico, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist specializing child and adolescent trauma. Dr. Serico completed her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Drexel University. Following her graduate work with justice-involved youth, she sought training opportunities in trauma-focused prevention and intervention. She has been implementing evidence-based treatments (e.g., PCIT, TF-CBT and DBT) for families who have experienced trauma at the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress at Kennedy Krieger Institute since 2013. Dr. Serico currently provides education, training, and supervision, and conducts research focused on complex trauma and emotional dysregulation in her role at KKI and Johns Hopkins.

Emily Haney-Caron, J.D., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Director of the Youth Law & Psychology Lab at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She holds a law degree and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Drexel University, and she completed a pre-doctoral clinical internship at Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School. Her research, scholarship, policy work, and teaching are all focused on the juvenile legal system, with a primary goal of contributing to system reform to increase racial justice and improve the system's developmental appropriateness. Dr. Haney-Caron is a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania and a licensed psychologist in New York.

Christy Giallella, Ph.D., is Clinical Forensic Manager with the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services. Dr. Giallella manages programs for justice-involved individuals with behavioral health challenges, including initiatives with the jail, state hospital, state prisons, and probation and parole. Dr. Giallella earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Drexel University and BA in Psychology from Georgetown University. She is a licensed clinical psychologist with a specialization in forensic psychology. Dr. Giallella has worked in numerous community-based and correctional settings with justice-involved adolescents and adults. Her research background includes juvenile justice, forensic mental health assessment, and public policy.

Rachel Kalbeitzer, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist specializing in the assessment of juveniles and adults involved in the criminal justice system. She earned a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology with a Forensic Concentration from Drexel University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Forensic Psychology through the University of Massachusetts Law and Psychiatry Program. She has provided forensic evaluation services in juvenile and adult court clinics, prisons, and psychiatric hospitals. She currently works for the Department of Defense and has a private forensic practice conducting criminal forensic evaluations. Her research interests focus on juvenile justice issues and adjudicative competence.

Amanda Zelechoski, J.D., Ph.D., is a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist and attorney, specializing in trauma. She is board certified in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and has worked clinically with adults, children, and families. She is a Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training at Purdue University Northwest. Dr. Zelechoski's research examines the intersection between psychology, law, and trauma, particularly for underserved and vulnerable populations.

Kathleen Kemp, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor (Research) at the Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School and Director of the Rhode Island Family Court Mental Health Clinic, where she specializes in forensic mental health evaluations with adolescents. She earned her doctoral degree at Drexel University and completed her forensic psychology fellowship at the University of Virginia's Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy and Western State Hospital. Her NIMH-funded clinical research focuses on suicide prevention as well as the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practice with juvenile justice involved-youth.

Christina L. Riggs Romaine, Ph.D., received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Forensic Psychology at Drexel University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Forensic Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in collaboration with the Department of Youth Services. She has worked as an evaluator and service provider in pre- and post-adjudication facilities, and as a forensic evaluator in the MA Juvenile Court Clinics. She is now an Associate Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College where she conducts research on juvenile adjudicative competence, risk, and developmental maturity.