Case Study
Patient Demographic: Client s Age: Client 1: age 12 Client 2: age 14 Client 3: age 14 Client 4: age 16 Client 5: age 13 Client 6: age 16 Sex: Males Gender: Males Sexuality: Varying Ethnicity: Multiracial Relationship Status: Single Counseling Setting: Juvenile Justice Facility Type of Counseling: Group Counseling Presenting Problem: Involvement with the Justice System That Includes Various Mental Health Disorders and Crimes Diagnosis: Imprisonment (Z65.1)
Mental Status Exam: Mental Status Exam: All of the clients appear to maintainappropriate hygiene, and they are all oriented to person, place, time, and situation. They are all somewhat reserved with regard to going into deeper topics, but theyparticipate f
Presenting Problem: You are a licensed counselor working in a juvenile justice facility for teenage males. The group comprises six males that are required to attend as part of their incarceration with the expectation that it will shorten their sentences. The purpose of the group is to work on emotional regulation and to work together to share common experiences and identify goals that can be helpful in preventing reincarceration. During the intake session, you explained the purpose of the group and started with an ice-breakeractivity. The clients participated in the ice-breaker activity that required you to redirect them back to the activity several times because they would joke and get off task. You attempt to go a little deeper by encouraging your clients to start talking about what happened to get them incarcerated, and they appear to be taking pride in the reasons they were in juvenile detention and making fun of those with lesser sentences. You redirect the clients to another topic.
Other Contexts: You meet with the group, and they appear to be starting to become more comfortable with one another. You noticed that throughout the past week, when you saw your clients on their unit, they were spending more time together and that they are all talking when they come in for the session. During the session, you and the clients discuss past experiences that led to them engaging in the crimes that led to their incarceration. During this conversation, client 1 is talking about his father and how he killed a pedestrian while driving. Client 4 then asserts that client 1’s father is going to hell for killing someone. You cut off client 4 and redirect the attention back to client 1.  Toward the end of this group session, you and the group talk about how being with peers who engage in antisocial behavior often leads to all members engaging in antisocial behavior

Question: Toward the end of this group session, you and the group talk about how being with peers who engage in antisocial behavior often leads to all members engaging in antisocial behavior. All of the following are mechanisms of peer group influence EXCEPT:
(A): Transmission of skills and values
(B): Extinction
(C): Reinforcement
(D): Social comparison

Correct Answer: Extinction
Explanation: Extinction is a behavioral modification technique that focuses on removing reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior with the hopes that it decreases and stops the behavior. This is not part of peer group influence. Reinforcement is present peer group influence, referring to the use of coercion, teasing, encouragement, criticism, and validation to dictate desired behavior. Social comparison is when an individual compares oneself to others in the group, which could lead to the individual changing their behavior to match the group’s behavior. Transmission of skills and values happens when older or more experienced group members share values and skills with younger or less experienced group members. Therefore, the correct answer is (D)
Competency: counseling skills and interventions