Sample records for abusing juvenile offenders

  1. Potential mediators between child abuse and both violence and victimization in juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Day, David M; Hart, Trevor A; Wanklyn, Sonya G; McCay, Elizabeth; Macpherson, Alison; Burnier, Nathalie

    2013-02-01

    Juvenile offenders are at risk for involvement in both fighting behavior and peer victimization. Understanding the potential causal mechanisms leading to these outcomes is important to address the needs of this population. The present study tested four mediator models of violent perpetration and peer victimization in a sample of 112 incarcerated youth (68 males and 44 females). In the models, the relationship between child physical and emotional abuse and fighting and victimization was expected to be mediated by impulsiveness, depression, and drug use. Multiple mediator models were tested according to Preacher and Hayes (2008). Depression fully mediated the relation between child emotional abuse and victimization and partially mediated the relation between child physical abuse and victimization. Drug use fully mediated the relation between child emotional abuse and fighting. These results suggest that treatment of depressive symptoms and drug use among juvenile offenders with a history of child physical or emotional abuse may limit violent perpetration and peer victimization in this population.

  2. Heterogeneity in drug abuse among juvenile offenders: is mixture regression more informative than standard regression?

    PubMed

    Montgomery, Katherine L; Vaughn, Michael G; Thompson, Sanna J; Howard, Matthew O

    2013-11-01

    Research on juvenile offenders has largely treated this population as a homogeneous group. However, recent findings suggest that this at-risk population may be considerably more heterogeneous than previously believed. This study compared mixture regression analyses with standard regression techniques in an effort to explain how known factors such as distress, trauma, and personality are associated with drug abuse among juvenile offenders. Researchers recruited 728 juvenile offenders from Missouri juvenile correctional facilities for participation in this study. Researchers investigated past-year substance use in relation to the following variables: demographic characteristics (gender, ethnicity, age, familial use of public assistance), antisocial behavior, and mental illness symptoms (psychopathic traits, psychiatric distress, and prior trauma). Results indicated that standard and mixed regression approaches identified significant variables related to past-year substance use among this population; however, the mixture regression methods provided greater specificity in results. Mixture regression analytic methods may help policy makers and practitioners better understand and intervene with the substance-related subgroups of juvenile offenders.

  3. Childhood Maltreatment and Unprotected Sex among Female Juvenile Offenders: Evidence of Mediation by Substance Abuse and Psychological Distress.

    PubMed

    Clements-Nolle, Kristen; Larson, Sandra; Buttar, Aliya; Dermid-Gray, Lindsey

    Research has shown that childhood maltreatment is associated with sexual risk taking among female juvenile offenders; however, the mechanisms by which maltreatment influences sexual risk remain poorly understood. We assessed whether substance abuse, psychological distress, and dating violence mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and unprotected sex. Sexually active female juvenile offenders (13-17 years of age) completed audio computer-assisted self-interviews (n = 232). Logistic regression with a risk decrement approach, the Sobel test, and the Goodman I test were used to evaluate mediation. Maltreatment before sixth grade was common in our sample, including physical abuse (48.7%), sexual abuse (14.7%), supervision neglect (57.3%), and physical neglect (18.5%). Cumulative childhood maltreatment was also high with 42.2% reporting two or more types. In the fully adjusted model, cumulative childhood maltreatment remained associated with unprotected sex (odds ratio, 2.43; 95% confidence interval, 1.27, 4.65). The percent of the total effect in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and unprotected sex that was mediated by substance abuse was 16.4% (Sobel = 2.54 [p = .01]; Goodman I = 2.49 [p = .01]) and psychological distress accounted for 23.7% (Sobel = 2.55 [p = .01]; Goodman I = 2.51 [p = .01]). Dating violence was not a significant mediator in our analyses. We found a strong relationship between childhood maltreatment and unprotected sex among female juvenile offenders that was partially mediated through substance abuse and psychological distress. These findings can be used to develop public health strategies to increase condom use among female juvenile offenders. Trauma-informed approaches to sexual health promotion that address substance abuse and psychological distress are warranted. Copyright © 2016 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Juvenile Sexual Offending: Causes, Consequences, and Correction. New and Revised Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ryan, Gail, Ed.; Lane, Sandy, Ed.

    A comprehensive resource on juvenile sexual offense, this book provides information on the abused and the abuser, and on the cycle of abuse and appropriate treatment. Part 1 provides an overview of "The Problem of Juvenile Sexual Offending," including: (1) "Sexually Abusive Youth: Defining the Population" (G. Ryan); and (2)…

  5. Juvenile Offender Comprehensive Reentry Substance Abuse Treatment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Watson, Donnie W.

    2004-01-01

    The literature provides ample evidence of the relationship of substance abuse to crime. Research over the last 20 years has established a strong correlation between substance abuse and juvenile delinquency (held, 1998). Currently, there are more than 350,000 juveniles on probation and in continuing care programs in the U.S. who have substance…

  6. Juvenile sex offenders compared to non-sex offenders: a review of the literature 1995-2005.

    PubMed

    van Wijk, Anton; Vermeiren, Robert; Loeber, Rolf; 't Hart-Kerkhoffs, Lisette; Doreleijers, Theo; Bullens, Ruud

    2006-10-01

    An unresolved but clinically important issue in the literature on juvenile delinquency is to what extent juvenile sex offenders resemble non-sex offenders with respect to individual, familial, and environmental characteristics. The current article reviewed published studies (1995-2005) comparing sex offenders with non-sex offenders. The 17 articles meeting the inclusion criteria suggest that differences exist between sex offenders and non-sex offenders on personality characteristics, behavioral problems, history of sexual abuse, nonsexual offending, and peer functioning. Inconsistent results were found for demographic factors, family functioning and background, antisocial attitudes, and intellectual and neurological functioning. Although it is likely that sex offenders can be differentiated from nonsex offenders on a number of characteristics, caution is warranted because of methodological differences between studies and small samples size. Also, studies show that sex offenders are a heterogeneous group. Further research should take into account this heterogeneity by including sex offenders from clearly circumscribed groups and investigating characteristics specifically related to sexual behavior.

  7. The Influence of a Juvenile’s Abuse History on Support for Sex Offender Registration

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    We investigated whether and how a juvenile’s history of experiencing sexual abuse affects public perceptions of juvenile sex offenders in a series of 5 studies. When asked about juvenile sex offenders in an abstract manner (Studies 1 and 2), the more participants (community members and undergraduates) believed that a history of being sexually abused as a child causes later sexually abusive behavior, the less likely they were to support sex offender registration for juveniles. Yet when participants considered specific sexual offenses, a juvenile’s history of sexual abuse was not considered to be a mitigating factor. This was true when participants considered a severe sexual offense (forced rape; Study 3 and Study 4) and a case involving less severe sexual offenses (i.e., statutory rape), when a juvenile’s history of sexual abuse backfired and was used as an aggravating factor, increasing support for registering the offender (Study 3 and Study 5). Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. PMID:26074717

  8. Correlates of Male and Female Juvenile Offender Abuse Experiences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dembo, Richard; Schmeidler, James; Childs, Kristina

    2007-01-01

    This paper reports the results of developing and evaluating a classification of 315 arrested youth processed at the Hillsborough County Juvenile Assessment Center from September 1, 1994 to January 31, 1998. Youth were characterized as physically or sexually abused if they reported abuse or if they had been referred to juvenile court for abuse.…

  9. Incarcerated Dutch Juvenile Sex Offenders Compared with Non-Sex Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    van Wijk, Anton Ph.; Vreugdenhil, Coby; van Horn, Joan; Vermeiren, Robert; Doreleijers, Theo A. H.

    2007-01-01

    There is some debate about whether or not sex offenders are similar to non-sex offenders with regard to family background (parental characteristics), personality, and psychopathology. The central aim of this study focused on the comparison of juvenile sex offenders and non-sex offenders. The sample consisted of incarcerated juvenile male sex (n =…

  10. How Perceptions of Mortality and HIV Morbidity Relate to Substance Abuse Problems and Risky Sexual Behaviors among Former Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gromet, Dena M.; Ramchand, Rajeev; Griffin, Beth Ann; Morral, Andrew R.

    2010-01-01

    This study investigates whether high-risk young adults' perceptions of their likelihood of living to age 35 and of acquiring HIV are related to their substance abuse problems and risky sexual behaviors. The sample consists of data from the 72- and 87-month follow-up assessments of 449 juvenile offenders referred to probation in 1999 and 2000.…

  11. [Drug abuse in adolescent offenders: analysis of the psychosocial variables involved].

    PubMed

    Contreras Martínez, Lourdes; Molina Banqueri, Virginia; Cano Lozano, Ma Carmen

    2012-01-01

    Research shows that drugs and delinquency are frequently linked, the abuse of various types of substance being a widespread practice among young offenders. At the same time, some psychosocial characteristics are associated with both drug abuse and criminal/antisocial behavior. To help us explore the relationship between young offenders' drug abuse and certain psychosocial variables, we examined closed judicial files on young offenders from the Juvenile Justice Service in Jaen (Spain) corresponding to the period 2001 to 2010. From the contents of these judicial files we analyzed demographic variables such as gender and age, as well as psychosocial variables such as drug abuse, peer group, violent behavior, self-control, tolerance to frustration and attributional style. The results show that most of the young offenders use some type of drug, as well as revealing differential patterns of use according to gender. Also observed is a link between drug abuse and deviant peer group, violent behavior and the above-mentioned psychological variables. Finally, we found some differences in these psychological variables depending on the type of drug used.

  12. The relation between abuse and violent delinquency: the conversion of shame to blame in juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Gold, Jason; Sullivan, Margaret Wolan; Lewis, Michael

    2011-07-01

    While the relationship between abusive parenting and violent delinquency has been well established, the cognitive and emotional processes by which this occurs remain relatively unidentified. The objective of this work is to apply a conceptual model linking abusive parenting to the conversion of shame into blaming others and therefore to violent delinquency. A retrospective study of 112 adolescents (90 male; 22 female; ages 12-19 years; M=15.6; SD=1.4) who were incarcerated in a juvenile detention facility pending criminal charges, completed measures of exposure to abusive and nonabusive discipline, expressed and converted shame, and violent delinquency. Findings tend to confirm the conceptual model. Subjects who converted shame (i.e., low expressed shame, high blaming others) tended to have more exposure to abusive parenting and showed more violent delinquent behavior than their peers who showed expressed shame. Subjects who showed expressed shame (i.e., high expressed shame, low blaming others) showed less violent delinquency than those who showed converted shame. Abusive parenting impacts delinquency directly and indirectly through the effects of shame that is converted. Abusive parenting leads to the conversion of shame to blaming others, which in turn leads to violent delinquent behavior. For juvenile offenders, the conversion of shame into blaming others appears to contribute to pathological outcomes in relation to trauma. Translation of this work into clinical practice is recommended. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. The relation between abuse and violent delinquency: The conversion of shame to blame in juvenile offenders

    PubMed Central

    Gold, Jason; Sullivan, Margaret Wolan; Lewis, Michael

    2013-01-01

    Objective While the relationship between abusive parenting and violent delinquency has been well established, the cognitive and emotional processes by which this occurs remains relatively unidentified. The objective of this work is to apply a conceptual model linking abusive parenting to the conversion of shame into blaming others and therefore to violent delinquency. Methods A retrospective study of 112 adolescents (90 male; 22 female; ages 12 to 19 years; M = 15.6; SD = 1.4) who were incarcerated in a juvenile detention facility pending criminal charges, completed measures of exposure to abusive and nonabusive discipline, expressed and converted shame, and violent delinquency. Results Findings tend to confirm the conceptual model. Subjects who converted shame (i.e., low expressed shame, high blaming others) tended to have more exposure to abusive parenting and showed more violent delinquent behavior than their peers who showed expressed shame. Subjects who showed expressed shame (i.e., high expressed shame, low blaming others) showed less violent delinquency than those who showed converted shame. Conclusions Abusive parenting impacts delinquency directly and indirectly through the effects of shame that is converted. Abusive parenting leads to the conversion of shame to blaming others, which in turn leads to violent delinquent behavior. Practice implications For juvenile offenders, the conversion of shame into blaming others appears to contribute to pathological outcomes in relation to trauma. Translation of this work into clinical practice is recommended. PMID:21783253

  14. Contagion and Repeat Offending among Urban Juvenile Delinquents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mennis, Jeremy; Harris, Philip

    2011-01-01

    This research investigates the role of repeat offending and spatial contagion in juvenile delinquency recidivism using a database of 7166 male juvenile offenders sent to community-based programs by the Family Court of Philadelphia. Results indicate evidence of repeat offending among juvenile delinquents, particularly for drug offenders. The…

  15. Psychopathology in Female Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dixon, Angela; Howie, Pauline; Starling, Jean

    2004-01-01

    Background: The aim was to document the spectrum of present and lifetime psychological disorders in female juvenile offenders, and to examine the relations between mental health status and socio-demographic, family and trauma variables. Method: One hundred juvenile offenders were matched with a comparison group of 100 females on age and…

  16. Do juveniles bully more than young offenders?

    PubMed

    Ireland, Jane L

    2002-04-01

    This study compares bullying behaviour among juvenile and young offenders and incorporates two different methods to measure bullying. Ninety-five male juvenile and 196 male young offenders completed two questionnaires, one that measured bullying directly and one that measured behaviours indicative of "being bullied" or of "bullying others". Juveniles perceived a higher extent of bullying than young offenders. Juveniles reported significantly more physical, psychological or verbal and overall direct forms of bullying behaviour than young offenders. A number of differences were found between juveniles and young offenders with regard to the types of prisoners likely to become victims, who they would advise a victim to speak to and how bullying could be prevented. The results are discussed in relation to developmental theories of aggression and how bullying behaviour can be defined and measured among prisoners. Copyright 2002 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Youth Offender Care Needs Assessment Tool (YO-CNAT): an actuarial risk assessment tool for predicting problematic child-rearing situations in juvenile offenders on the basis of police records.

    PubMed

    van der Put, Claudia E; Stams, Geert Jan J M

    2013-12-01

    In the juvenile justice system, much attention is paid to estimating the risk for recidivism among juvenile offenders. However, it is also important to estimate the risk for problematic child-rearing situations (care needs) in juvenile offenders, because these problems are not always related to recidivism. In the present study, an actuarial care needs assessment tool for juvenile offenders, the Youth Offender Care Needs Assessment Tool (YO-CNAT), was developed to predict the probability of (a) a future supervision order imposed by the child welfare agency, (b) a future entitlement to care indicated by the youth care agency, and (c) future incidents involving child abuse, domestic violence, and/or sexual norm trespassing behavior at the juvenile's address. The YO-CNAT has been developed for use by the police and is based solely on information available in police registration systems. It is designed to assist a police officer without clinical expertise in making a quick assessment of the risk for problematic child-rearing situations. The YO-CNAT was developed on a sample of 1,955 juvenile offenders and was validated on another sample of 2,045 juvenile offenders. The predictive validity (area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve) scores ranged between .70 (for predicting future entitlement to care) and .75 (for predicting future worrisome incidents at the juvenile's address); therefore, the predictive accuracy of the test scores of the YO-CNAT was sufficient to justify its use as a screening instrument for the police in deciding to refer a juvenile offender to the youth care agency for further assessment into care needs.

  18. The Relationship of Trauma Exposure to Sex Offending Behavior among Male Juvenile Offenders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McMackin, Robert A.; Leisen, Mary Beth; Cusack, John R.; LaFratta, Joseph; Litwin, Peter

    2002-01-01

    Study identifies ways that traumatic experiences and trauma-associated feelings can be offense triggers for juvenile sex offenders. Researchers interviewed the treating clinicians of 40 male juvenile sex offenders. Overall, clinicians identified prior trauma exposure as being related to the offense triggers in 85% of offenders. Implications for…

  19. Intelligence Score Profiles of Female Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Werner, Shelby Spare; Hart, Kathleen J.; Ficke, Susan L.

    2016-01-01

    Previous studies have found that male juvenile offenders typically obtain low scores on measures of intelligence, often with a pattern of higher scores on measures of nonverbal relative to verbal tasks. The research on the intelligence performance of female juvenile offenders is limited. This study explored the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for…

  20. Moral Development of Solo Juvenile Sex Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Van Vugt, Eveline; Stams, Geert Jan; Dekovic, Maja; Brugman, Daan; Rutten, Esther; Hendriks, Jan

    2008-01-01

    This study compared the moral development of solo juvenile male sex offenders (n = 20) and juvenile male non-offenders (n = 76), aged 13-19 years, from lower socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. The Moral Orientation Measure (MOM) was used to assess punishment- and victim-based moral orientation in sexual and non-sexual situations. Moral…

  1. Troubled adolescents: substance abuse and mental disorder in young offenders.

    PubMed

    Ribas-Siñol, Maria; Del Prado-Sanchez, Noemi; Claramunt-Mendoza, Jaume; Civit-Ramirez, Monica; Canalias-Perez, Oriol; Ochoa, Susana

    2015-01-01

    Many studies indicate the high prevalence of juvenile substance abuse. There is increasingly more dual diagnosis and mental illnesses in adolescents and many juvenile offenses are related to drug abuse. This is a descriptive study about the relationship between drug abuse and clinical, demographic and criminal characteristics in a sample of 144 youths seen in the Therapeutic Juvenile Justice Unit (UTJJ) of the Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Deu. A total of 65.3% of the sample had a disorder on Axis I, 22.2% of which were related with the psychotic spectrum and 18.1% ADHD. Personality disorder occurred in 42.4%, the most frequent ones being antisocial disorder (16%), and borderline personality disorder (6.9%). Of the sample, 78.5% were drug consumers and 51.4% of the total only consumed 1 substance. There is a tendency among psychotic teenagers to consume cannabis and ADHD patients to consume cannabis and cocaine. A significant relationship is found between nationality and inhalants drugs, social and economic level and sedative drugs and alcohol, and parental death and alcohol (p<0.05-0.005). The level of drug use/abuse in juvenile justice is very high. Although there is no evidence about the relationship between the substance they consume and the profile of the young offender, some tendencies are observed.

  2. Counseling Juvenile Offenders in Institutional Settings.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chaneles, Sol, Ed.

    1982-01-01

    Reviews several aspects of counseling services for institutionalized juvenile offenders. The six articles include studies on the functional analysis of behavior in detention, vocational and social rehabilitation, the impact of a juvenile awareness program on personality traits, and the effectiveness of a juvenile transition center. (JAC)

  3. The puzzle of intrafamilial child sexual abuse: a meta-analysis comparing intrafamilial and extrafamilial offenders with child victims.

    PubMed

    Seto, Michael C; Babchishin, Kelly M; Pullman, Lesleigh E; McPhail, Ian V

    2015-07-01

    Intrafamilial child sexual abuse is a serious social and health problem, yet explanations of sexual offending against children that emphasize antisocial tendencies and atypical sexual interests do not adequately explain intrafamilial offending. In this meta-analysis, we tested other explanations of intrafamilial child sexual abuse by examining 78 independent samples that compared a total of 6605 intrafamilial offenders to a total of 10,573 extrafamilial offenders, in studies disseminated between 1978 and 2013 (Mdn=2000). Intrafamilial offenders were significantly lower on variables reflecting antisocial tendencies (e.g., criminal history, juvenile delinquency, impulsivity, substance use, and psychopathy) and atypical sexual interests (e.g., pedophilia, other paraphilias, and excessive sexual preoccupation). Contrary to other explanations that have been proposed, intrafamilial offenders scored lower on offense-supportive attitudes and beliefs, emotional congruence with children, and interpersonal deficits; intrafamilial offenders also did not differ from extrafamilial offenders on most indicators of psychopathology. Intrafamilial offenders were, however, more likely to have experienced sexual abuse, family abuse or neglect, and poor parent-child attachments. There were too few studies to examine family dynamics - spousal relationship quality, parent-child victim relationship, and family functioning more generally - even though these factors have been frequently mentioned in the clinical and theoretical literatures. Implications for theories of intrafamilial sexual offending, treatment, and future directions for research are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Substance Related Disorders among Juvenile Offenders: What Role Do Psychopathic Traits Play?

    PubMed Central

    Kimonis, Eva R.; Tatar, Joseph R.; Cauffman, Elizabeth

    2012-01-01

    Substance use disorders are associated with psychopathy, a personality disorder that is heterogeneous in both adults and youth; secondary variants of psychopathy with comorbid psychopathology and primary variants without comorbidity show distinct correlates and outcomes. In adult criminal populations, secondary variants report greater substance abuse compared with primary variants. The primary aim of this study is to replicate and extend these findings to a juvenile offender population. Compared with primary variants of juvenile psychopathy, secondary variants (a) reported significantly more frequent substance—particularly alcohol—use within the six months prior to incarceration (d = .43), (b) were almost twice as likely to abuse substances while incarcerated, and (c) were more likely to be diagnosed with a current DSM-IV substance use disorder. Practical implications for working with justice-involved youth are discussed. PMID:22564205

  5. Prevalence of traumatic brain injury in juvenile offenders: a meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    Farrer, Thomas J; Frost, R Brock; Hedges, Dawson W

    2013-01-01

    Studies of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among adult populations demonstrate that such injuries can lead to aggressive behaviors. Related findings suggest that incarcerated individuals have high rates of brain injuries. Such studies suggest that traumatic brain injury may be related to the etiology and recidivism of criminal behavior. Relatively few studies have examined the prevalence of TBI using a delinquent juvenile sample. In order to assess the relationship between TBI and juvenile offender status, the current study used meta-analytic techniques to examine the odds of having a TBI among juvenile offenders. Across 9 studies, we found that approximately 30% of juvenile offenders have sustained a previous brain injury. Across 5 studies that used a control group, a calculated summary odds ratio of 3.37 suggests that juvenile offenders are significantly more likely to have a TBI compared to controls. Results suggest that the rate of TBIs within the juvenile offender population is significant and that there may be a relationship between TBIs and juvenile criminal behavior.

  6. Prevention of Serious and Violent Juvenile Offending. Juvenile Justice Bulletin.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wasserman, Gail A.; Miller, Laurie S.; Cothern, Lynn

    This bulletin explores the proximal risk factors for juvenile offending, reviews the early developmental precursors to violent offending, and summarizes approaches to prevention. It also discusses components of intervention programs, limitations of single-focus prevention, examples of multi systemic interventions, and limitations of prevention…

  7. Prospective Prediction of Juvenile Homicide/Attempted Homicide among Early-Onset Juvenile Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Baglivio, Michael T.; Wolff, Kevin T.

    2017-01-01

    While homicide perpetrated by juveniles is a relatively rare occurrence, between 2010 and 2014, approximately 7%–8% of all murders involved a juvenile offender. Unfortunately, few studies have prospectively examined the predictors of homicide offending, with none examining first-time murder among a sample of adjudicated male and female youth. The current study employed data on 5908 juvenile offenders (70% male, 45% Black) first arrested at the age of 12 or younger to prospectively examine predictors of an arrest for homicide/attempted homicide by the age of 18. Among these early-onset offenders, males, Black youth, those living in households with family members with a history of mental illness, those engaging in self-mutilation, and those with elevated levels of anger/aggression (all measured by age 13) were more likely to be arrested for homicide/attempted homicide by age 18. These findings add to the scant scientific literature on the predictors of homicide, and illustrate potential avenues for intervention. PMID:28212340

  8. Prospective Prediction of Juvenile Homicide/Attempted Homicide among Early-Onset Juvenile Offenders.

    PubMed

    Baglivio, Michael T; Wolff, Kevin T

    2017-02-16

    While homicide perpetrated by juveniles is a relatively rare occurrence, between 2010 and 2014, approximately 7%-8% of all murders involved a juvenile offender. Unfortunately, few studies have prospectively examined the predictors of homicide offending, with none examining first-time murder among a sample of adjudicated male and female youth. The current study employed data on 5908 juvenile offenders (70% male, 45% Black) first arrested at the age of 12 or younger to prospectively examine predictors of an arrest for homicide/attempted homicide by the age of 18. Among these early-onset offenders, males, Black youth, those living in households with family members with a history of mental illness, those engaging in self-mutilation, and those with elevated levels of anger/aggression (all measured by age 13) were more likely to be arrested for homicide/attempted homicide by age 18. These findings add to the scant scientific literature on the predictors of homicide, and illustrate potential avenues for intervention.

  9. Juvenile and adult offenders arrested for sexual homicide: an analysis of victim-offender relationship and weapon used by race.

    PubMed

    Chan, Heng Choon Oliver; Heide, Kathleen M; Myers, Wade C

    2013-01-01

    Limited information is available on racial offending patterns of sexual homicide offenders (SHOs). This study used a 30-year U.S. Supplementary Homicide Reports sample of SHOs arrested in single-victim situations (N = 3745). The analysis strength was used to determine whether the findings yielded meaningful patterns for offender profiling. Several important findings emerged for the juvenile offenders. Juvenile White SHOs were likely to target victims with whom they shared a mutual relationship. In contrast, Black juveniles were equally likely to murder strangers and those with whom they had prior and familial relationships. Notably, no juvenile Black SHOs were arrested for murdering intimate partners. Juvenile White SHOs were twice as likely to use edged weapons as their Black counterparts. Black juveniles, conversely, were more likely than White juveniles to use personal weapons. Beyond these findings, known victim-offender relationships and weapon used may not have significant utility for investigators in identifying the SHO race, even after controlling for offender age. Limitations and future directions are discussed. © 2012 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

  10. Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents: Profiles of Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mowder, Melissa H.; Cummings, Jack A.; McKinney, Robert

    2010-01-01

    An exploratory study of resiliency profiles of male and female juvenile offenders committed to a juvenile correctional facility was conducted. The goal of the present study was to examine juvenile offenders' positive characteristics (e.g., adaptability, optimism, self-efficacy, tolerance of differences). To assess positive characteristics and…

  11. Racial differences in the associations of neighborhood disadvantage, exposure to violence, and criminal recidivism among female juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Chauhan, Preeti; Reppucci, N Dickon; Turkheimer, Eric N

    2009-01-01

    The current study examined the impact of exposure to violence and neighborhood disadvantage on criminal recidivism among Black (n = 69) and White (n = 53) female juvenile offenders. Participants were girls between the ages of 13 and 19 (M = 16.8; SD = 1.2) who were sentenced to secure custody. Using a multi-method research design, the study assessed neighborhood disadvantage through census level data, exposure to violence through self-report, and criminal recidivism through official records. Results indicated that Black girls were significantly more likely than White girls to live in disadvantaged neighborhoods, but both reported similar levels of parental physical abuse and witnessing neighborhood violence. In structural equation models, neighborhood disadvantage and witnessing neighborhood violence were indicative of future recidivism for the group as a whole. However, multiple group analyses indicated the existence of race specific pathways to recidivism. Witnessing neighborhood violence was associated with recidivism for Black girls while parental physical abuse was associated with recidivism for White girls. Results suggest that characteristics within the neighborhood play a considerable role in recidivism among female juvenile offenders generally and Black female juvenile offenders, specifically. Race specific risk models warrant further investigation, and may help lawmakers and clinicians in addressing racial disparities in the justice system. (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  12. Elder-Abuse Offenders: A Typology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ramsey-Klawsnik, Holly

    2000-01-01

    Addresses some of the perplexing issues involved in understanding and responding to elder-abuse offenders. Offers a typology of offenders to elucidate the dynamics when people mistreat the elderly. (Contains 13 references.) (Author)

  13. Treatment and postrelease rehabilitative programs for juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Underwood, Lee A; Knight, Pamela

    2006-04-01

    The juvenile justice system has become notably aware of the increasing use of postrelease rehabilitative treatment interventions for offenders. In many instances, juvenile justice systems are required to ensure that core treatment needs of youth are met. As a result of the heightened awareness of the need for postrelease rehabilitation treatment programs, many researchers and providers are calling for more systematic approaches to offender treatment. This article summarizes a body of literature on juvenile offenders who have specialized postrelease rehabilitative treatment needs. It reviews cognitive-behavioral theoretical models and core postrelease treatment strategies. It presents a review of youth who have specialized needs in light of postrelease practices, describes several model postrelease rehabilitation programs, and reviews outcomes of these programs.

  14. Sexual Abuse History among Adult Sex Offenders and Non-Sex Offenders: A Meta-Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jespersen, Ashley F.; Lalumiere, Martin L.; Seto, Michael C.

    2009-01-01

    Objective: The sexually abused-sexual abuser hypothesis states there is a specific relationship between sexual abuse history and sexual offending, such that individuals who experience sexual abuse are significantly more likely to later engage in sexual offenses. Therefore, samples of adult sex offenders should contain a disproportionate number of…

  15. Substance-related disorders among juvenile offenders: what role do psychopathic traits play?

    PubMed

    Kimonis, Eva R; Tatar, Joseph R; Cauffman, Elizabeth

    2012-06-01

    Substance use disorders are associated with psychopathy, a personality disorder that is heterogeneous in both adults and youth; secondary variants of psychopathy with comorbid psychopathology and primary variants without comorbidity show distinct correlates and outcomes. In adult criminal populations, secondary variants report greater substance abuse compared with primary variants. The primary aim of this study is to replicate and extend these findings to a juvenile offender population. Compared with primary variants of juvenile psychopathy, secondary variants (a) reported significantly more frequent substance use--particularly alcohol--within the 6 months prior to incarceration (d = .43), (b) were almost twice as likely to abuse substances while incarcerated, and (c) were more likely to be diagnosed with a current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) substance use disorder. Practical implications for working with justice-involved youth are discussed.

  16. 28 CFR 2.4 - Same: Youth offenders and juvenile delinquents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Same: Youth offenders and juvenile delinquents. 2.4 Section 2.4 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PAROLE, RELEASE, SUPERVISION AND RECOMMITMENT OF PRISONERS, YOUTH OFFENDERS, AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS United States Code Prisoners and Parolees...

  17. 28 CFR 2.4 - Same: Youth offenders and juvenile delinquents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Same: Youth offenders and juvenile delinquents. 2.4 Section 2.4 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PAROLE, RELEASE, SUPERVISION AND RECOMMITMENT OF PRISONERS, YOUTH OFFENDERS, AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS United States Code Prisoners and Parolees...

  18. Prediction of Recidivism in Juvenile Offenders Based on Discriminant Analysis.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Proefrock, David W.

    The recent development of strong statistical techniques has made accurate predictions of recidivism possible. To investigate the utility of discriminant analysis methodology in making predictions of recidivism in juvenile offenders, the court records of 271 male and female juvenile offenders, aged 12-16, were reviewed. A cross validation group…

  19. The Cycle of Abuse: When Victims Become Offenders.

    PubMed

    Plummer, Malory; Cossins, Annie

    2016-07-19

    Various psychological theories exist in the literature to explain the behavior of men who commit child sex offences, including the belief that child sexual abuse (CSA) is a predisposing factor for the transition from victim to offender. These theories are, however, unable to explain the fact that while most victims of CSA are female, most perpetrators of CSA are male. The sex specificity of CSA in terms of victims and offenders suggests that the experience of CSA and its psychosocial effects may be different for boys, compared to girls. We hypothesize that CSA experiences may involve risk factors that affect the development of sexually abusive behavior for boys, rather than girls. Our aim was to determine whether the literature provides evidence of a cycle of abuse from victim to offender, and, if so, to document its characteristics. We undertook a comprehensive literature review of studies on both victims and offenders, including studies which revealed the following: age of onset of CSA, duration of abuse, gender of the abuser, the relationship between victim and abuser, grooming behaviors, the types and severity of abuse, and disclosure of abuse. While we found no evidence for the existence of a cycle of abuse for female CSA victims, we discovered evidence to support the existence of a cycle of abuse for male CSA victims who had experienced particular abuse characteristics. As an original contribution to the literature, we identified four factors that may be associated with a boy's transition from victim to offender as well as the methodological issues to be addressed in future research. Based on criminological theories, we argue that these four factors share a common theme, that is, that they represent experiences of power (for the abuser) and powerlessness (for the victim). © The Author(s) 2016.

  20. Occupational Interests and Aptitudes of Juvenile Offenders: Influence of Special Education Experience and Gender

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zabel, Robert; Nigro, Frank

    2007-01-01

    Juvenile offenders, particularly those with disabilities, are at high risk for school failure and diminished educational, employment, and social opportunities that contribute to continued social maladjustment as adults. To better understand the occupational preferences and aptitudes of juvenile offenders, 201 juvenile offenders, including 52 who…

  1. Clarifying the link between childhood abuse history and psychopathic traits in adult criminal offenders

    PubMed Central

    Dargis, Monika; Newman, Joseph; Koenigs, Michael

    2015-01-01

    Childhood abuse is a risk factor for the development of externalizing characteristics and disorders, including antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy. However, the precise relationships between particular types of childhood maltreatment and subsequent antisocial and psychopathic traits remain unclear. Using a large sample of incarcerated adult male criminal offenders (n = 183), the current study confirmed that severity of overall childhood maltreatment was linked to severity of both psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder in adulthood. Moreover, this relationship was particularly strong for physical abuse and the antisocial facet of psychopathy. Sexual abuse history was uniquely related to juvenile conduct disorder severity, rather than adult psychopathy or antisocial behaviors. Additionally, there was a significantly stronger relationship between childhood maltreatment and juvenile conduct disorder than between childhood maltreatment and ASPD or psychopathy. These findings bolster and clarify the link between childhood maltreatment and antisocial behavior later in life. PMID:26389621

  2. Predictors of support for juvenile sex offender registration: educated individuals recognize the flaws of juvenile registration.

    PubMed

    Stevenson, Margaret C; Smith, Amy C; Sekely, Ady; Farnum, Katlyn S

    2013-01-01

    We investigated demographic predictors of support for juvenile sex offender registration policies, including education level, gender, political orientation, and age. Participants were 168 individuals recruited from public places in a Midwest community (45% women; M age = 42). In line with hypotheses, as education level increased, support for juvenile registration decreased, as did the belief that juvenile registration protects the community. In addition, as education level increased, belief that the juvenile understood his actions decreased, as did support for juvenile registration when it is framed as ineffective at reducing sex crime. These beliefs mediated the relationship between education level and diminished support for juvenile registration. Implications of these results for the advancement of effective juvenile sex offender policy are discussed.

  3. Juvenile sex offenders: Personality profile, coping styles and parental care.

    PubMed

    Margari, Francesco; Lecce, Paola Alessandra; Craig, Francesco; Lafortezza, Elena; Lisi, Andrea; Pinto, Floriana; Stallone, Valentina; Pierri, Grazia; Pisani, Rossella; Zagaria, Giuseppina; Margari, Lucia; Grattagliano, Ignazio

    2015-09-30

    In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in juvenile sex offenders showing that this population is highly heterogeneous. The aim of the present study was to identify possible different profiles that could help understand the motivation behind offending, comparing 31 Juvenile Sexual Offenders (JSOs), 31 Juvenile Sexual Non Offenders (JSNOs) and 31 Juvenile Non Offenders (Control Group). A data collection form, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) or Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) and the Parental Bonding Inventory (PBI) were administered to all participants. The results show that JSOs differs from JNSOs in some domains, such as living in single-parent homes, while maintain some common aspects such as academic failure and previous sexual intercourse. Moreover, JNSOs showed more abnormal personality traits, such as Authority Problems, MacAndrew Alcoholism, Acknowledgement and Alcohol-Drug Problem Proneness compared to JSOs and the Control Group, while JSOs and JNSOs use a coping strategy more oriented to Avoidance and Distraction compared to the Control group. Finally, JSOs described the relationships with fathers characterized by higher care and protection than JNSOs. These findings provide additional evidence with respect the prevention and treatment of criminal sexual behavior in adolescent. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Ethnic Identity and Offending Trajectories among Mexican American Juvenile Offenders: Gang Membership and Psychosocial Maturity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Knight, George P.; Losoya, Sandra H.; Cho, Young Il; Chassin, Laurie; Williams, Joanna Lee; Cota-Robles, Sonia

    2012-01-01

    We examined the association of joint trajectories of ethnic identity and criminal offending to psychosocial maturity, gang membership, and Mexican American affiliation among 300 Mexican American male juvenile offenders from ages 14 to 22. There were two low-offending groups: one was the highest in ethnic identity and changing slightly with age and…

  5. Mental Illness and Juvenile Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Underwood, Lee A.; Washington, Aryssa

    2016-01-01

    Within the past decade, reliance on the juvenile justice system to meet the needs of juvenile offenders with mental health concerns has increased. Due to this tendency, research has been conducted on the effectiveness of various intervention and treatment programs/approaches with varied success. Recent literature suggests that because of interrelated problems involved for youth in the juvenile justice system with mental health issues, a dynamic system of care that extends beyond mere treatment within the juvenile justice system is the most promising. The authors provide a brief overview of the extent to which delinquency and mental illness co-occur; why treatment for these individuals requires a system of care; intervention models; and the juvenile justice systems role in providing mental health services to delinquent youth. Current and future advancements and implications for practitioners are provided. PMID:26901213

  6. Trauma Exposure, Posttraumatic Stress, and Psychiatric Comorbidity in Female Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dixon, Angela; Howie, Pauline; Starling, Jean

    2005-01-01

    Objective: To document the rate of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in female juvenile offenders and its relationship to trauma history, comorbid diagnoses, attributional style, and family functioning. Method: The psychological profiles and trauma histories of 100 incarcerated female juvenile offenders (ages 13.5-19 years) were assessed using…

  7. Recent research related to juvenile sex offending: findings and directions for further research.

    PubMed

    Malin, H Martin; Saleh, Fabian M; Grudzinskas, Albert J

    2014-04-01

    Serious scholarly inquiry into juvenile sex offending represents a relatively new field, dating from the mid 1940s. During the next 4 decades, a mere handful of articles exploring aspects of juvenile sex offending were added to the available literature. By the 1980s, however, the literature began to increase rapidly, a trend that continues today. The purpose of this article is a focused review of the juvenile sex offender literature cited in PubMed over the last 5 years (2009-2013). The authors have chosen studies that will bring readers up to date on research they believe impacts our current understanding of best practices in the management of juvenile sex offending. For convenience, our review is organized into topical categories including research into characteristics and typologies of juvenile sex offenders, risk assessment and recidivism, assessment and treatment, the ongoing debate about mandatory registration of sex offenders as it applies to juveniles, and other thought provoking studies that do not fit neatly into the aforementioned categories. The studies included contain findings that both reinforce and challenge currently held notions about best practices concerning treatment and public policy, suggesting that our knowledge of the field continues to evolve in important ways.

  8. Adolescent neglect, juvenile delinquency and the risk of recidivism.

    PubMed

    Ryan, Joseph P; Williams, Abigail B; Courtney, Mark E

    2013-03-01

    Victims of child abuse and neglect are at an increased risk of involvement with the juvenile justice and adult correctional systems. Yet, little is known about the continuation and trajectories of offending beyond initial contact with law enforcement. Neglect likely plays a critical role in continued offending as parental monitoring, parental rejection and family relationships are instrumental in explaining juvenile conduct problems. This study sought to determine whether neglect is associated with recidivism for moderate and high risk juvenile offenders in Washington State. Statewide risk assessments and administrative records for child welfare, juvenile justice, and adult corrections were analyzed. The sample was diverse (24 % female, 13 % African American, 8 % Hispanic, 5 % Native American) and included all moderate and high risk juvenile offenders screened by juvenile probation between 2004 and 2007 (n = 19,833). Official records from child protection were used to identify juvenile offenders with a history of child neglect and to identify juvenile offenders with an ongoing case of neglect. Event history models were developed to estimate the risk of subsequent offending. Adolescents with an ongoing case neglect were significantly more likely to continue offending as compared with youth with no official history of neglect. These findings remain even after controlling for a wide range of family, peer, academic, mental health, and substance abuse covariates. Interrupting trajectories of offending is a primary focus of juvenile justice. The findings of the current study indicate that ongoing dependency issues play a critical role in explaining the outcomes achieved for adolescents in juvenile justice settings. The implications for improved collaboration between child welfare and juvenile justice are discussed.

  9. Transitions and Turning Points: Examining the Links between Child Maltreatment and Juvenile Offending

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stewart, Anna; Livingston, Michael; Dennison, Susan

    2008-01-01

    Objective: The links between child maltreatment and juvenile offending are well established. However, the majority of maltreated children do not offend. The research presented in this paper examines the impact that timing and chronicity of child maltreatment have on juvenile offending. Methods: Administrative data were obtained on all children who…

  10. Individual, Family, Peer, and Academic Characteristics of Male Juvenile Sexual Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ronis, Scott T.; Borduin, Charles M.

    2007-01-01

    This study examined the individual functioning, interpersonal relations, and academic performance of 115 male juveniles who were divided into 5 demographically matched groups (sexual offenders with peer/adult victims, sexual offenders with child victims, violent nonsexual offenders, nonviolent nonsexual offenders, and nondelinquent youths).…

  11. Internalizing and externalizing problems, depression, and self-esteem in non-detained male juvenile offenders

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background High rates of mental disorders have been found in detained juvenile offenders, whereas the role of psychopathology in non-detained offenders is less clear. Therefore, the present study compared psychopathology in male non-detained delinquent juveniles and two matched samples from the community and an adolescent psychiatric clinic. Methods 125 male adolescents aged 11 to 19 years (m = 16.2 years, SD = 1.5 years) from an outpatient adolescent forensic clinic were compared to a community sample from the Zurich Adolescent Psychology and Psychopathology Study (ZAPPS) and a referred sample from a psychiatric clinic matched for age and nationality. All subjects responded to questionnaires measuring internalizing and externalizing problems, depressive symptoms and self-esteem. Results The sample of non-detained juvenile offenders showed similar rates of self-reported internalizing and externalizing problems when compared to the community sample, whereas the clinic sample displayed an increased rate of various disturbances. Similar results were found also for self-esteem. In agreement with these findings, non-detained juvenile offenders less frequently had a psychiatric diagnosis after full clinical assessment when compared to the clinical sample. However, a diagnosis of conduct disorders and a lower IQ range was found more frequently in non-detained juvenile offenders. Offenders with serious delinquent acts and involving weapons showed higher depression scores than the rest of the offenders. Conclusion In non-detained assessment situations before court examination, juvenile offenders present rather normal behaviour. Their lack of awareness of potential behavioural problems should be considered during assessment and treatment of this group of offenders. PMID:23445953

  12. The future of criminal violence: juveniles tried as adults.

    PubMed

    Kirkish, P; Sreenivasan, S; Welsh, R; Van Gorp, W; Eth, S; Shoptaw, S; Ling, W

    2000-01-01

    Juveniles tried as adults (JTA) represent a select and small subsample of juvenile offenders. This study seeks to provide a profile of habitually violent JTAs transferred to the adult penal system and to compare them with their adult counterparts. Twenty-nine incarcerated violent male juveniles tried as adults were compared with a sample of 27 incarcerated violent male offenders across demographic, neuropsychological, criminal history, psychopathy, and substance abuse variables. The JTAs were characterized by a high rate of gang membership (96%), substance abuse (alcohol, marijuana, and phenylcyclidene), and use of guns. In the juvenile sample, 65 percent used guns in violence not leading to arrest, and 93 percent used guns in a violent crime leading to arrest. Juvenile offenders were similar to their adult counterparts in patterns of criminality, although adult offenders had higher psychopathy scores. Both groups revealed generally intact neuropsychological functioning with the exception of a higher rate of perseverative responses in the adult sample. The results are discussed in terms of the implication of the degree of violence in a young offender population.

  13. School and Community Interventions To Prevent Serious and Violent Offending. Juvenile Justice Bulletin.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Catalano, Richard F.; Loeber, Rolf; McKinney, Kay C.

    Recent research indicates that children exposed to certain risk factors in their families, at school, among their peers, and in their communities are at greater risk of becoming serious violent juvenile (SVJ) offenders. The Study Group on Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders, a group of 22 researchers convened by the Office of Juvenile Justice…

  14. Treating the drug-abusing offender.

    PubMed

    Leukefeld, C; Matthews, T; Clayton, R

    1992-01-01

    The association between drug abuse treatment and criminal justice control is examined in this article. A framework is presented for mental health administrators and policy-makers to examine and appreciate the use of authority derived from the criminal justice system for drug abusers involved in community treatment. In addition, an overview of relevant literature is provided to encapsulate the literature related to the drug-abusing criminal offender which is most useful for mental health administrators and policy-makers.

  15. Neurophysiological correlates of error monitoring and inhibitory processing in juvenile violent offenders.

    PubMed

    Vilà-Balló, Adrià; Hdez-Lafuente, Prado; Rostan, Carles; Cunillera, Toni; Rodriguez-Fornells, Antoni

    2014-10-01

    Performance monitoring is crucial for well-adapted behavior. Offenders typically have a pervasive repetition of harmful-impulsive behaviors, despite an awareness of the negative consequences of their actions. However, the link between performance monitoring and aggressive behavior in juvenile offenders has not been closely investigated. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were used to investigate performance monitoring in juvenile non-psychopathic violent offenders compared with a well-matched control group. Two ERP components associated with error monitoring, error-related negativity (ERN) and error-positivity (Pe), and two components related to inhibitory processing, the stop-N2 and stop-P3 components, were evaluated using a combined flanker-stop-signal task. The results showed that the amplitudes of the ERN, the stop-N2, the stop-P3, and the standard P3 components were clearly reduced in the offenders group. Remarkably, no differences were observed for the Pe. At the behavioral level, slower stop-signal reaction times were identified for offenders, which indicated diminished inhibitory processing. The present results suggest that the monitoring of one's own behavior is affected in juvenile violent offenders. Specifically, we determined that different aspects of executive function were affected in the studied offenders, including error processing (reduced ERN) and response inhibition (reduced N2 and P3). However, error awareness and compensatory post-error adjustment processes (error correction) were unaffected. The current pattern of results highlights the role of performance monitoring in the acquisition and maintenance of externalizing harmful behavior that is frequently observed in juvenile offenders. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Talking with juvenile offenders about gay males and lesbians: implications for combating homophobia.

    PubMed

    Van de Ven, P

    1995-01-01

    Violence against gay males and lesbians, much of it perpetrated by young people, has emerged as a significant social problem. Thirty-one juvenile offenders were asked a series of structured questions in order to elucidate the functions their attitudes toward homosexuals serve. In addition, responses were examined for evidence of social-structural and cognitive variables which mediate offending behaviors. Juvenile offenders were found to hold attitudes toward homosexuals characterized by negativity, ambivalence, and defensiveness. These attitudes were maintained by particular myths and stereotypes about gay and lesbian culture, and were related to Opportunism, Impulsivity, Role-Taking Inability, and Disabilities in Social Problem Solving. Specific recommendations for combating homophobic attitudes and behaviors in juvenile offender populations are discussed.

  17. Coping Style and Psychological Health among Adolescent Prisoners: A Study of Young and Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ireland, J.L.; Boustead, R.; Ireland, C.A.

    2005-01-01

    The current study explores the role of coping styles as a predictor of poor psychological health among adolescent offenders. It presents the first study to compare young and juvenile offenders. Two hundred and three male offenders took part: 108 young (18-21 years) and 95 juvenile (15-17 years) offenders. All completed the General Health…

  18. Social Support as a Buffer Between Discrimination and Cigarette Use in Juvenile Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Hershberger, Alexandra; Zapolski, Tamika; Aalsma, Matthew C.

    2016-01-01

    Cigarette use is a prominent problem in juvenile offenders, leading to negative health outcomes and substance use. One interesting precipitator of cigarette use in this population is discrimination. Social support could potentially buffer the positive relationship between cigarette use and discrimination in juvenile offenders, which could be dependent on the context in which the discrimination is experienced, such as peer, institutional (e.g., stores, restaurants), or educational contexts. The present study explored the relationship between three types of discrimination, social support, and smoking outcomes among 112 detained and probated juvenile offenders (mean age = 16.24, SD = 2.11, 29.2% female, 54.9% Caucasian, 40.4% detention, 53.8% smokers). Results indicated that the relationship between institutional discrimination (OR = −0.10, p = 0.005) and peer discrimination (OR = −0.11, p = 0.01) were significantly moderated by social support, with a higher likelihood of being a smoker, compared to a non-smoker at higher levels of peer and institutional discrimination. Further, based on a moderated regression analysis, results indicated that youth who experienced greater educational discrimination and lower levels of social support, they were at higher risk of nicotine addiction (b = −0.09, p = 0.03). Overall, results indicate that varying avenues of social support, such as parent, peer, and teacher support, can mitigate negative effects of discrimination on juvenile offenders, particularly cigarette use. Addressing discrimination in smoking treatment and prevention in juvenile offenders may be of great utility. Future studies should examine the potential mechanisms underlying the discrimination and cigarette use connection in juvenile offenders. PMID:27010849

  19. Mental health care for Brazilian juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Costa, Nilson do Rosário; Silva, Paulo Roberto Fagundes da

    2017-05-01

    This paper analyzes the use of psychoactive drugs by juvenile offenders in Brazil in socio-educational facilities (USEs). It describes the guidelines of the national public policy and the quality of mental healthcare coordination by subnational public governments. This work draws on the hypothesis that USEs vertical governance is associated with the use of psychoactive medication. This is comparative study of two cases in Rio Grande do Sul and Minas Gerais. Data resulted from a sample of medical records and interviews with key informants. The paper shows that vertical governance observed in Rio Grande do Sul is directly associated with high prevalence of mental health disorder diagnosis, use of psychoactive medication and psychiatric medicalization by juvenile offenders deprived of liberty. These findings indicate that sanctions of imprisonment for illegal acts are producing a set of medicalization decisions that undermine juveniles' health rights. The national mental health policy guidelines encourage cautious decisions. Psychotherapies and rehabilitation actions are the advocated first-line interventions. The poor management of the psychopharmacological intervention favors multiple prescriptions.

  20. Childhood attachment, childhood sexual abuse, and onset of masturbation among adult sexual offenders.

    PubMed

    Smallbone, Stephen W; McCabe, Billee-Anne

    2003-01-01

    Written autobiographies of 48 incarcerated adult male sexual offenders (22 rapists, 13 intrafamilial child molesters, and 13 extrafamilial child molesters) were used to generate retrospective self-report measures of their childhood maternal and paternal attachment, childhood sexual abuse experiences, and onset of masturbation. Contrary to expectation, the offenders as a combined group more often reported secure than they did insecure childhood maternal and paternal attachment. There were no differences between the three offender subgroups with respect to maternal attachment; however the rapists and the intrafamilial child molesters were more likely to report insecure paternal attachment than were the extrafamilial child molesters. There were no differences between these offender subgroups in the frequency with which childhood sexual abuse was reported. However, offenders with insecure paternal attachment were more likely to report having been sexually abused than were those with secure paternal attachment. Sexually abused offenders in turn reported earlier onset of masturbation than did those who were not sexually abused. These results are consistent with contemporary attachment models linking insecure childhood attachment to childhood sexual abuse, and with traditional conditioning models linking childhood sexual abuse, early masturbation, and sexual offending.

  1. Factors associated with trait anger level of juvenile offenders in Hubei province: A binary logistic regression analysis.

    PubMed

    Tang, Li-Na; Ye, Xiao-Zhou; Yan, Qiu-Ge; Chang, Hong-Juan; Ma, Yu-Qiao; Liu, De-Bin; Li, Zhi-Gen; Yu, Yi-Zhen

    2017-02-01

    The risk factors of high trait anger of juvenile offenders were explored through questionnaire study in a youth correctional facility of Hubei province, China. A total of 1090 juvenile offenders in Hubei province were investigated by self-compiled social-demographic questionnaire, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-II (STAXI-II). The risk factors were analyzed by chi-square tests, correlation analysis, and binary logistic regression analysis with SPSS 19.0. A total of 1082 copies of valid questionnaires were collected. High trait anger group (n=316) was defined as those who scored in the upper 27th percentile of STAXI-II trait anger scale (TAS), and the rest were defined as low trait anger group (n=766). The risk factors associated with high level of trait anger included: childhood emotional abuse, childhood sexual abuse, step family, frequent drug abuse, and frequent internet using (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Birth sequence, number of sibling, ranking in the family, identity of the main care-taker, the education level of care-taker, educational style of care-taker, family income, relationship between parents, social atmosphere of local area, frequent drinking, and frequent smoking did not predict to high level of trait anger (P>0.05). It was suggested that traumatic experience in childhood and unhealthy life style may significantly increase the level of trait anger in adulthood. The risk factors of high trait anger and their effects should be taken into consideration seriously.

  2. The care of Filipino juvenile offenders in residential facilities evaluated using the risk-need-responsivity model.

    PubMed

    Spruit, Anouk; Wissink, Inge B; Stams, Geert Jan J M

    2016-01-01

    According to the risk-need-responsivity model of offender, assessment and rehabilitation treatment should target specific factors that are related to re-offending. This study evaluates the residential care of Filipino juvenile offenders using the risk-need-responsivity model. Risk analyses and criminogenic needs assessments (parenting style, aggression, relationships with peers, empathy, and moral reasoning) have been conducted using data of 55 juvenile offenders in four residential facilities. The psychological care has been assessed using a checklist. Statistical analyses showed that juvenile offenders had a high risk of re-offending, high aggression, difficulties in making pro-social friends, and a delayed socio-moral development. The psychological programs in the residential facilities were evaluated to be poor. The availability of the psychological care in the facilities fitted poorly with the characteristics of the juvenile offenders and did not comply with the risk-need-responsivity model. Implications for research and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Social support as a buffer between discrimination and cigarette use in juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Hershberger, Alexandra; Zapolski, Tamika; Aalsma, Matthew C

    2016-08-01

    Cigarette use is a prominent problem in juvenile offenders, leading to negative health outcomes and substance use. One interesting precipitator of cigarette use in this population is discrimination. Social support could potentially buffer the positive relationship between cigarette use and discrimination in juvenile offenders, which could be dependent on the context in which the discrimination is experienced, such as peer, institutional (e.g., stores, restaurants), or educational contexts. The present study explored the relationship between three types of discrimination, social support, and smoking outcomes among 112 detained and probated juvenile offenders (mean age=16.24, SD=2.11, 29.2% female, 54.9% Caucasian, 40.4% detention, 53.8% smokers). Results indicated that the relationship between institutional discrimination (OR=-0.10, p=0.005) and peer discrimination (OR=-0.11, p=0.01) were significantly moderated by social support, with a higher likelihood of being a smoker, compared to a non-smoker at higher levels of peer and institutional discrimination. Further, based on a moderated regression analysis, results indicated that youth who experienced greater educational discrimination and lower levels of social support, they were at higher risk of nicotine addiction (b=-0.09, p=0.03). Overall, results indicate that varying avenues of social support, such as parent, peer, and teacher support, can mitigate negative effects of discrimination on juvenile offenders, particularly cigarette use. Addressing discrimination in smoking treatment and prevention in juvenile offenders may be of great utility. Future studies should examine the potential mechanisms underlying the discrimination and cigarette use connection in juvenile offenders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Criminal history and future offending of juveniles convicted of the possession of child pornography.

    PubMed

    Aebi, Marcel; Plattner, Belinda; Ernest, Melanie; Kaszynski, Katie; Bessler, Cornelia

    2014-08-01

    Most child pornography is distributed online. It is estimated that 3% to 15% of child pornography consumers are juveniles. The present study analyzed a consecutive sample of 54 male juveniles convicted of the possession of child pornography. Demographic characteristics, criminal history, and subsequent offending were assessed from criminal files and official reports. Juvenile possessors of child pornography were compared to three different groups of juveniles: Juvenile possessors of other illegal pornography (n = 42), juveniles who committed a sexual contact offense against a child (n = 64), and juveniles who committed a sexual contact offense against a peer or adult (n = 104). Juvenile possessors of child pornography were found to have downloaded the illegal material more frequently and over a longer time period than juvenile possessors of other illegal pornography. Furthermore, juvenile possessors of child pornography differed from juveniles who had committed a sexual contact offense in terms of demographics and showed fewer previous and subsequent offending than juveniles who sexually offended against a peer or adult. We conclude that juvenile possessors of child pornography need a specific target intervention focusing on dysfunctional Internet use and sexually deviant arousal. © The Author(s) 2013.

  5. Weapons used by juveniles and adult offenders in U.S. parricide cases.

    PubMed

    Heide, Kathleen M; Petee, Thomas A

    2007-11-01

    In recent decades, attention has focused on juveniles who kill their parents. Research has indicated that increases in juvenile homicide have been associated with the availability of firearms, but little is known about the weapons juveniles use to kill their parents and whether their weapon usage is different from that of adult children who kill their parents. This article uses Supplementary Homicide Report data for the 24-year period 1976 to 1999 to investigate weapons selected by parricide offenders to kill biological mothers and fathers. Significant differences were found in the weapons used in matricide and patricide incidents and in the weapons selected by juvenile and adult offenders. A comparison with an earlier study by Heide revealed that weapon usage in parricide events is stable. Differences found in both studies between weapons used to kill parents and offender age are consistent with a physical strength hypothesis proposed by Heide in 1993.

  6. Identifying Risk and Protective Factors in Recidivist Juvenile Offenders: A Decision Tree Approach

    PubMed Central

    Ortega-Campos, Elena; García-García, Juan; Gil-Fenoy, Maria José; Zaldívar-Basurto, Flor

    2016-01-01

    Research on juvenile justice aims to identify profiles of risk and protective factors in juvenile offenders. This paper presents a study of profiles of risk factors that influence young offenders toward committing sanctionable antisocial behavior (S-ASB). Decision tree analysis is used as a multivariate approach to the phenomenon of repeated sanctionable antisocial behavior in juvenile offenders in Spain. The study sample was made up of the set of juveniles who were charged in a court case in the Juvenile Court of Almeria (Spain). The period of study of recidivism was two years from the baseline. The object of study is presented, through the implementation of a decision tree. Two profiles of risk and protective factors are found. Risk factors associated with higher rates of recidivism are antisocial peers, age at baseline S-ASB, problems in school and criminality in family members. PMID:27611313

  7. Abuse Characteristics and Psychiatric Consequences Associated with Online Sexual Abuse.

    PubMed

    Say, Gökçe Nur; Babadağı, Zehra; Karabekiroğlu, Koray; Yüce, Murat; Akbaş, Seher

    2015-06-01

    The current study examined the rate and psychiatric correlates of sexual abuse involving the use of digital technologies by the offender in a wide sample of juvenile victims. Sociodemographic, abuse, and psychiatric characteristics of 662 sexually abused children and adolescents were evaluated. Of these, 93 reported that digital devices were used by the offender in several ways to facilitate the sexual abuse. The offender-victim relationship was initiated through the Internet in 39 victims. Involvement of digital technologies in sexual abuse was significantly associated with penetrative and recurrent form of sexual abuse commited by multiple offenders with coexisting violence. Additionally, victims of sexual abuse with a digital component were 4.21 times more likely to develop any psychopathology, 3.77 times more likely to have depression, and 2.14 times more likely to have post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of sexual abuse. These results indicated that the offender's use of digital technology may aid the initiation and facilitation of the sexual abuse of youths and may relate to more severe outcomes. This study revealed the importance of raising the awareness of professionals and the community about the potential risks associated with digital technologies and sexual abuse. Mental health professionals should consider this additional form of victimization, especially when dealing with sexual abuse victims.

  8. Juvenile Sex Offending Through a Developmental Life Course Criminology Perspective.

    PubMed

    Lussier, Patrick

    2017-02-01

    Current American policies and responses to juvenile sex offending have been criticized for being based on myths, misconceptions, and unsubstantiated claims. In spite of the criticism, no organizing framework has been proposed to guide policy development with respect to the prevention of juvenile sex offending. This article proposes a developmental life course (DLC) criminology perspective to investigate the origins, development, and termination of sex offending among youth. It also provides a review of the current state of knowledge regarding various parameters characterizing the development of sex offending (e.g., prevalence, age of onset, frequency, persistence, continuity in adulthood, and versatility). The review highlights some heterogeneity across these developmental parameters suggesting the presence of different sex offending patterns among youth. In fact, it is proposed that, based on the current knowledge, such heterogeneity can be accounted for by a dual taxonomy of adolescents involved in sexual offenses: (a) the adolescent-limited and (b) the high-rate/slow-desister. The DLC criminology approach and the dual taxonomy are proposed as organizing frameworks to conduct prospective longitudinal research to better understand the origins and development of sex offending and to guide policy development and responses to at-risk youth and those who have committed sexual offenses.

  9. ESTIMATING A DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LENGTH OF STAY AND FUTURE RECIDIVISM IN SERIOUS JUVENILE OFFENDERS*

    PubMed Central

    Loughran, Thomas A.; Mulvey, Edward P.; Schubert, Carol A.; Fagan, Jeffrey; Piquero, Alex R.; Losoya, Sandra H.

    2009-01-01

    The effect of sanctions on subsequent criminal activity is of central theoretical importance in criminology. A key question for juvenile justice policy is the degree to which serious juvenile offenders respond to sanctions and/or treatment administered by the juvenile court. The policy question germane to this debate is finding the level of confinement within the juvenile justice system that maximizes the public safety and therapeutic benefits of institutional confinement. Unfortunately, research on this issue has been limited with regard to serious juvenile offenders. We use longitudinal data from a large sample of serious juvenile offenders from two large cities to 1) estimate a causal treatment effect of institutional placement, as opposed to probation, on future rate of rearrest and 2) investigate the existence of a marginal effect (i.e., benefit) for longer length of stay once the institutional placement decision had been made. We accomplish the latter by determining a dose-response relationship between the length of stay and future rates of rearrest and self-reported offending. The results suggest that an overall null effect of placement exists on future rates of rearrest or self-reported offending for serious juvenile offenders. We also find that, for the group placed out of the community, it is apparent that little or no marginal benefit exists for longer lengths of stay. Theoretical, empirical, and policy issues are outlined. PMID:20052309

  10. Potential and Dunkelfeld offenders: two neglected target groups for prevention of child sexual abuse.

    PubMed

    Schaefer, Gerard A; Mundt, Ingrid A; Feelgood, Steven; Hupp, Elena; Neutze, Janina; Ahlers, Christoph J; Goecker, David; Beier, Klaus M

    2010-01-01

    Little is known about men who have not yet committed child sexual abuse but may be at risk of doing so (potential offenders) and the factors that distinguish these men from undetected child sexual abuse offenders with a sexual interest in children (Dunkelfeld offenders). The present study describes and compares potential and Dunkelfeld offenders, which can be viewed as ideal target groups for (primary) prevention efforts with respect to child sexual abuse. Also, this study seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of using a telephone screening procedure to conduct research with these groups. Using a computer assisted telephone interview (CATI), data on demographics, mental health, sexuality, criminal history, and victim characteristics were collected from respondents in a nation-wide media campaign, which informed potential (re-)offenders of child sexual abuse of a research and treatment project. Many participants reported recurrent sexual fantasies involving minors, as well as related distress, suggesting a high prevalence of pedophilia and hebephilia. More than half feared they would sexually abuse a minor, and Dunkelfeld offenders reported 3.2 victims on average. Group comparisons revealed that Dunkelfeld offenders were, for example, more likely to perceive themselves being at risk of offending, compared to potential offenders. The results suggest that targeting potential and Dunkelfeld offenders could prove a worthwhile approach in the prevention of child sexual abuse.

  11. Brief Report: The Sexual and Physical Abuse Histories of Offenders with Intellectual Disability

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lindsay, W.; Steptoe, L.; Haut, F.

    2012-01-01

    Background: Some studies have found higher rates of childhood sexual abuse in sex offenders while others have failed to find such relationships. Method: This study reviews the sexual and physical abuse histories of 156 male sex offenders with intellectual disability (ID), 126 non-sexual male offenders with ID and 27 female offenders with ID.…

  12. Juvenile Residential Facility Census, 2010: Selected Findings. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: National Report Series. Bulletin NCJ 241134

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hockenberry, Sarah; Sickmund, Melissa; Sladky, Anthony

    2013-01-01

    This bulletin is part of the "Juvenile Offenders and Victims National Report Series." The "National Report" offers a comprehensive statistical overview of the problems of juvenile crime, violence, and victimization and the response of the juvenile justice system. During each interim year, the bulletins in the "National…

  13. Sex differences in predictors of violent and non-violent juvenile offending.

    PubMed

    Stephenson, Zoe; Woodhams, Jessica; Cooke, Claire

    2014-01-01

    In response to concerns regarding the rise in female juvenile violent crime and the dearth of gender-specific research, this study aimed to identify predictors of violent offending in female offenders. Data were extracted from risk assessments of 586 male and female juvenile offenders (aged 11-17 years) conducted between 2005 and 2009 by the Youth Offending Service in Gloucestershire, an English county. Information regarding the young people's living arrangements, family and personal relationships, education, emotional/mental health, thinking and behavior, and attitudes to offending was recorded. Comparisons were made between the violent male offenders (N = 185), the violent female offenders (N = 113), the non-violent male offenders (N = 150), and the non-violent female offenders (N = 138) for these variables. These were followed by a multinomial logistic regression analysis. The findings indicated that engaging in self-harm was the best predictor of being a female violent offender, with the predictors of giving into pressure from others and attempted suicide nearing significance. Furthermore, non-violent females were significantly less likely to lose control of their temper and more likely to give in to pressure from others than their violent counterparts. Non-violent males were significantly less likely to lose control of their temper and more likely to self-harm and give in to pressure from others than violent males. Although many similarities existed between sexes for predictors of violent offending, the findings of this study indicate that more attention needs to be paid to the mental health of female offenders. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Delinquent Youth and Family Violence: A Study of Abuse and Neglect in the Homes of Serious Juvenile Offenders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Guarino, Susan

    This report on a study of family violence in the homes of serious juvenile offenders in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts contains a brief introduction and seven substantive sections. Sections 2, 3 and 4 review the literature with regard to the extent of family violence, the consequences of childhood victimization, and societal reaction to the…

  15. The Role of ADHD in Predicting the Development of Violent Behavior Among Juvenile Offenders: Participation Versus Frequency.

    PubMed

    Wojciechowski, Thomas W

    2017-10-01

    Past research has identified attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a risk factor for engagement in violent offending. Despite the link between the disorder and violent offending, this risk factor has yet to be examined as a predictor of heterogeneity in the development of violent offending among juvenile offenders. It is likely that the impulsivity, genetic link, and generally chronic disorder course which are characteristics of the disorder play roles in predicting violent offending, which is consistent with both self-control theory and general developmental theory related to early life deficits and life-course persistent offending. Past research has also elucidated a developmental trajectory model of violent offending, which is utilized by the present research. The present research examines ADHD as a risk factor predicting trajectory group assignment. The Pathways to Desistance data followed 1,354 juvenile offenders for 84 months following conviction for a serious offense. Using multinomial logistic regression, this study extends past research on the development of violent offending among juvenile offenders by examining ADHD as a risk factor predicting assignment to violent offending trajectory groups. Results indicate that meeting criteria for ADHD at baseline predicted membership to all trajectory groups relative to the Abstaining group when all covariates were included. This increase in risk is highest for the trajectory group characterized by the highest frequency of violent offending. This indicates the relevance of identifying and treating ADHD among juvenile offenders to best mitigate risk of violent recidivism throughout adolescence and early adulthood.

  16. Rehabilitation of the Personality of Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zaitsev, G. K.; Zaitsev, A. G.; Dmitriev, M. G.; Apal'kova, I. Iu.

    2009-01-01

    Russian youth has in recent years been increasingly involved in crime, narcotics addiction, and alcoholism, possibly due to a failure of socialization in childhood. Researchers are seeking the origins of this phenomenon and searching for ways to combat it through rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. The essential nature of social and pedagogical…

  17. Language and Communication Difficulties in Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bryan, Karen; Freer, Jackie; Furlong, Cheryl

    2007-01-01

    Background: Studies of the prison population suggest that the numbers of prisoners with language and communication disorders is higher than that of the overall population. However, the prison population is heterogeneous and it is important to focus on specific areas of the population. This study focuses on juvenile offenders. Aims: The study aimed…

  18. Recidivism Patterns Among Two Types of Juvenile Homicide Offenders: A 30-Year Follow-Up Study.

    PubMed

    Khachatryan, Norair; Heide, Kathleen M; Hummel, Erich V

    2018-02-01

    Although juvenile homicide has been a matter of concern in the United States since the 1980s, prior research has not addressed long-term recidivism patterns for convicted juvenile murderers. Furthermore, a prominent juvenile homicide typology had not previously been tested with U.S. offenders. The present study examined whether juvenile offenders who killed or attempted to kill during the commission of a crime differed from those who killed due to some type of conflict on pre-incarceration, incarceration, and post-incarceration variables. These offenders were sentenced to adult prison in the early 1980s. Follow-up data spanned 30 years. The results indicated that approximately 88% of released offenders have been rearrested. Analyses of pre-incarceration variables revealed that crime-oriented offenders were significantly more likely to commit the homicide offense using accomplices than conflict-oriented offenders, and the latter were significantly more likely to use a firearm during the homicide incident. The circumstances of the homicide, however, were not significantly related to any other pre-incarceration variables, release from prison, number of post-release arrests, and number of post-release violent offenses. The implications of the findings, their comparability to previous follow-up research on this typology, and avenues for future research are discussed.

  19. Removal of Status Offenders from the Juvenile Justice System: The Florida Experience.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Polivka, Larry; And Others

    1979-01-01

    Describes the results of an experiment in Florida in which jurisdiction over juvenile status offenders (i.e., runaways, truants, or incorrigibles) was transferred from the juvenile justice system to the child welfare system. (BD)

  20. Predictors of Sexual Coercion and Alcohol Use among Female Juvenile Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Yeater, Elizabeth A.; Montanaro, Erika A.; Bryan, Angela D.

    2014-01-01

    Female juvenile offenders report high rates of sexual coercion and substance use, yet the temporal relationship between the two remains unclear. The focus of this study was to conduct a prospective examination of predictors of sexual coercion and substance use for a group of high-risk young women. Two hundred and forty five adolescent females (34% of a sample including males and females), between the ages of 14-17, and from a larger study of juvenile offenders, were recruited from juvenile probation offices to participate in a longitudinal study on substance use and sexual risk. At baseline, participants completed measures associated with increased risk for sexual coercion, including substance use, perceived relationship control, and externalizing behavior. At 6- and 24-month follow-up, participants also completed a measure assessing sexually coercive experiences. Path analysis revealed that less relationship control at baseline predicted sexual coercion at 6-months. Additionally, 6-month sexual coercion predicted alcohol use and sexual coercion at 24-month follow-up. Logistic regression analysis revealed also that alcohol use at 6-months predicted sexual revictimization at 24-months. Sexual coercion appears to be associated with subsequent increases in alcohol use, suggesting that female juvenile offenders may be using alcohol to cope with the psychological and emotional consequences of victimization. Alcohol use is linked to increased risk for repeat sexual coercion, suggesting that exposure to risky environments also may be important in understanding these girls' risk. Difficulties responding assertively in sexual relationships (i.e., low relationship control) also seem to increase female juvenile offenders' risk for sexual coercion. Finally, previous sexual coercion appears to increase risk for future victimization, highlighting the importance of early intervention for this at-risk group. PMID:25107488

  1. Substance involvement among juvenile murderers: comparisons with older offenders based on interviews with prison inmates.

    PubMed

    Fendrich, M; Mackesy-Amiti, M E; Goldstein, P; Spunt, B; Brownstein, H

    1995-09-01

    We evaluated substance involvement among incarcerated juvenile offenders convicted of murder of manslaughter. Patterns of substance involvement among juvenile offenders were compared with patterns found in older offenders. Irrespective of age group, close to one-third of all homicide perpetrators reported that they were affected by alcohol prior to the offense. In every age group, alcohol was the substance showing the highest rate of "regular" lifetime use and the highest rate of ingestion in the week preceding the homicide. In many respects, the reported substance use patterns in the 16-17-year-old age group were closer to the patterns demonstrated by the oldest (36+) age group than they were to the adjacent 18-20-year-old group. Juvenile offenders were generally less substance involved than all but the oldest group of offenders. Almost all of the juveniles who were substance involved prior to the homicide attributed the homicide to the effects of those substances. Narrative accounts suggest that substances (almost always alcohol) escalated impulsive, spontaneous violent outbursts. Implications for the interpretation of self-reports about substance use provided by murderers are also discussed.

  2. The Organizational Context of Courts' Treatment Referrals for Juvenile Offenders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Breda, Carolyn S.

    This study examined the rate at which juvenile courts refer youthful offenders to mental health care and organizational factors that may account for variation in treatment referral rates. The study was based on 73 juvenile courts in Tennessee. Data sources included secondary, statewide data on youth referred to the courts in 1997 and responses of…

  3. Before the Doors Are Locked: Effective Alternatives to Incarceration for Non-Violent Juvenile Offenders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Voices for Illinois Children, Chicago.

    Juvenile crime threatens the immediate safety and well-being of its victims. The cost of processing and punishing the offender takes money from more productive purposes. If the juvenile offender either continues a life of crime or otherwise drops out of the lawful economy, the cost to the community is a long-term burden. In the early 1970s, many…

  4. The effectiveness of reintegrative shaming and restorative justice conferences: focusing on juvenile offenders' perceptions in Australian reintegrative shaming experiments.

    PubMed

    Kim, Hee Joo; Gerber, Jurg

    2012-10-01

    This article examines the effectiveness of diversionary restorative justice (RJ) conferences through the eyes of juvenile offenders. In Australia, Reintegrative Shaming Experiments (RISE) are based on Braithwaite's theory of reintegrative shaming. Previous studies, although showing that RISE reported high levels of victim satisfaction and positive changes in the attitudes of offenders, also demonstrated that it has different outcomes for juvenile offenders depending on the type of offense with which they were charged. However, the effectiveness of RISE in terms of the offenders' perceptions has not been addressed, and the impact of the offenders' perceptions about RISE still remains under investigation. Using Australian data from RISE between 1995 and 1999, this article examines juvenile offenders' perceptions on preventing reoffending, repaying the victim and society, and the degree of repentance. The data were taken from interviews with juvenile offenders to measure their perceptions after the court or RISE processing. A comparison of standard court processing effects and RISE on juvenile offending, including property crime, shoplifting, and violent offenses, was undertaken. The results from this study were somewhat inconsistent with previous research. In this study, there was no significant relationship between RJ conference and the offenders' own perceptions on the prevention of future offending. However, it was found that there were treatment effects on repaying the victim, repaying society, and the degree of feeling repentance, and that younger offenders wanted to repay the victim/society and feel repentance.

  5. Restorative Justice: New Horizons in Juvenile Offender Counseling

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ryals, John S. Jr.

    2004-01-01

    Treatment strategies of the juvenile justice system focus singularly on rehabilitation of offenders, and victims and communities are excluded from the rehabilitative process. Restorative justice views victims and communities as essential components in rehabilitative efforts. In this article, the principles and practices of restorative justice,…

  6. Multidimensional family therapy HIV/STD risk-reduction intervention: an integrative family-based model for drug-involved juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Marvel, Francoise; Rowe, Cynthia L; Colon-Perez, Lissette; DiClemente, Ralph J; Liddle, Howard A

    2009-03-01

    Drug and juvenile justice involved youths show remarkably high rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted disease (STD) risk behaviors. However, existing interventions aimed at reducing adolescent HIV risk behavior have rarely targeted these vulnerable young adolescents, and many approaches focus on individual-level change without attention to family or contextual influences. We describe a new, family-based HIV/ STD prevention model that embeds HIV/STD focused multifamily groups within an adolescent drug abuse and delinquency evidence-based treatment, Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT). The approach has been evaluated in a multisite randomized clinical trial with juvenile justice involved youths in the National Institute on Drug Abuse Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (www.cjdats.org). Preliminary baseline to 6-month outcomes are promising. We describe research on family risk and protective factors for adolescent problem behaviors, and offer a rationale for family-based approaches to reduce HIV/STD risk in this population. We describe the development and implementation of the Multidimensional Family Therapy HIV/STD risk-reduction intervention (MDFT-HIV/ STD) in terms of using multifamily groups and their integration in standard MDFT and also offers a clinical vignette. The potential significance of this empirically based intervention development work is high; MDFT-HIV/STD is the first model to address largely unmet HIV/STD prevention and sexual health needs of substance abusing juvenile offenders within the context of a family-oriented evidence-based intervention.

  7. Abuse Experiences of Family Members, Child Maltreatment, and the Development of Sex Offending Among Incarcerated Adolescent Males.

    PubMed

    McCuish, Evan C; Cale, Jesse; Corrado, Raymond R

    2017-02-01

    Child sexual abuse is considered a risk factor for the development of sexual offending in adolescence. Beyond this, comparisons of the risk factor profiles between adolescent sex offenders (ASOs) and adolescent non-sex offenders (ANSOs) have uncovered minimal differences. However, differences between ASOs and ANSOs in terms of patterns in the abuse histories of their family members have rarely been studied. The aim in the current study was to retrospectively examine histories of abuse among family members of ASOs compared with ANSOs to determine whether and how these were related to youth abuse experiences and sexual offending in adolescence. The current study is based on a sample of 482 incarcerated male adolescents (ASOs = 67, ANSOs = 415). Latent class analysis was conducted to determine multidimensional familial abuse profiles, and a series of logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between family abuse profiles, youth abuse experiences, and adolescent sexual offending. Overall, familial abuse profiles were related to subsequent youth abuse experiences and sexual offending, and these abuse profiles differentiated ASOs and ANSOs.

  8. Juvenile Sexual Homicide Offenders: Thirty-Year Follow-Up Investigation.

    PubMed

    Khachatryan, Norair; Heide, Kathleen M; Hummel, Erich V; Chan, Heng Choon Oliver

    2016-02-01

    Sexual homicide by a juvenile offender occurs approximately 9 times per year in the United States. Little is known about the post-incarceration adjustment of these offenders. The current study was designed to follow up 30 years later on a sample of eight adolescent sexual homicide offenders who were convicted of murder and sentenced to adult prison. The results indicated that six out of eight offenders were released from prison, and their mean sentence length was 12 years and 2 months. Four offenders out of the six released were rearrested, but none of the arrests were for homicide, sexual or otherwise. The post-incarceration arrests were for violent, drug-related, and property crimes, as well as possession of a firearm. Three out of the four recidivists have been recommitted to prison. Implications concerning the comparability of results to past research, time served in prison, and types of post-release offenses are discussed. © The Author(s) 2014.

  9. Juvenile Offender Recidivism: An Examination of Risk Factors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Calley, Nancy G.

    2012-01-01

    One hundred and seventy three male juvenile offenders were followed two years postrelease from a residential treatment facility to assess recidivism and factors related to recidivism. The overall recidivism rate was 23.9%. Logistic regression with stepwise and backward variable selection methods was used to examine the relationship between…

  10. An Empirical Evaluation of Juvenile Awareness Programs in the United States: Can Juveniles Be "Scared Straight"?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Klenowski, Paul M.; Bell, Keith J.; Dodson, Kimberly D.

    2010-01-01

    Juvenile awareness programs like Scared Straight became popular crime prevention strategies during the 1970s. Juvenile offenders and at-risk youth who participate in these programs are taken to prisons where inmates use confrontational methods to recount stories about violence, sex, and abuse perpetrated by fellow inmates while living a life…

  11. Children with Disabilities in Poor Households: Association with Juvenile and Adult Offending.

    PubMed

    Oshima, Karen M Matta; Huang, Jin; Jonson-Reid, Melissa; Drake, Brett

    2010-06-01

    Disabled youths are arrested, adjudicated, and recidivate at higher rates than their nondisabled peers. Although multiple theories have been offered to explain the relationship between disability and delinquency, the empirical evidence is limited and contradictory. Little is known about how disability may be associated with offending once poverty and family risks like maltreatment are controlled for. Using administrative data from a Midwest state, this article discusses results from a Cox regression of juvenile and young adult offending outcomes for low income disabled compared with nondisabled youths (N = 1,568). Youths with disabilities had higher rates of juvenile court petitions than similarly low-income peers. In models of adult offending, there was no relationship between disability status and adult arrest, but youths who had received educational services for emotional disturbance or other categories of health impairment had higher risk of entering adult corrections.

  12. The Impact of the Vocational Assessment Process on Juvenile Offender Self Concept

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McAuley-Davis, Talisha

    2013-01-01

    Juvenile crime and recidivism continue to be significant, costly issues in American society. Employment contributes to successful reentry and lower recidivism. However, low self concept and problems with exploring careers and identifying options may interfere with juvenile offenders' abilities to plan for employment and successfully carry out…

  13. Violent Lives: A Lifestyle Model Linking Exposure to Violence to Juvenile Violent Offending

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nofziger, Stacey; Kurtz, Don

    2005-01-01

    Studies examining the consequences of juvenile exposure to violence focus largely on psychological outcomes and often ignore the ways in which exposure is associated with deviant peers and juvenile offending. Using data from the National Survey of Adolescents (NSA), a nationally representative sample of juveniles between the ages of 12 and 17, we…

  14. Risk Factors for School Dropout in a Sample of Juvenile Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Fernández-Suárez, Asunción; Herrero, Juan; Pérez, Beatriz; Juarros-Basterretxea, Joel; Rodríguez-Díaz, Francisco J.

    2016-01-01

    Backgrounds: The high rates of school dropout worldwide and their relevance highlight the need for a close study of its causes and consequences. Literature has suggested that school dropout might be explained by multiple causes at different levels (individual, family, school, and neighborhood). The aim of the current study is to examine the relation between individual (defiant attitude, irresponsibility, alcohol abuse, and illegal drugs use), family (educational figure absent and parental monitoring), school factors (truancy and school conflict) and school dropout. Method: Judicial files of all juvenile offenders (218 males and 46 females) with a judicial penal measure in Asturias (Spain) in the year 2012 were examined. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the relationships between school dropout and individual, family and school variables. Results: As for the individual characteristics, results showed that school dropouts were more irresponsible than non-dropouts. Also they had higher rates of illegal drug use and alcohol abuse. Moreover, lack of parental monitoring emerged as a key predictive factor of school dropout, beyond the type of family structure in terms of the presence of both or only one educational figure. Finally, school factors did not show a significant relationship to school dropout. Conclusions: These findings indicate that school dropout is a multidimensional process. School and family policies that emphasize the role of parental monitoring and prevent alcohol and substance abuse are recommended. PMID:28082934

  15. Risk Factors for School Dropout in a Sample of Juvenile Offenders.

    PubMed

    Fernández-Suárez, Asunción; Herrero, Juan; Pérez, Beatriz; Juarros-Basterretxea, Joel; Rodríguez-Díaz, Francisco J

    2016-01-01

    Backgrounds: The high rates of school dropout worldwide and their relevance highlight the need for a close study of its causes and consequences. Literature has suggested that school dropout might be explained by multiple causes at different levels (individual, family, school, and neighborhood). The aim of the current study is to examine the relation between individual (defiant attitude, irresponsibility, alcohol abuse, and illegal drugs use), family (educational figure absent and parental monitoring), school factors (truancy and school conflict) and school dropout. Method: Judicial files of all juvenile offenders (218 males and 46 females) with a judicial penal measure in Asturias (Spain) in the year 2012 were examined. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the relationships between school dropout and individual, family and school variables. Results: As for the individual characteristics, results showed that school dropouts were more irresponsible than non-dropouts. Also they had higher rates of illegal drug use and alcohol abuse. Moreover, lack of parental monitoring emerged as a key predictive factor of school dropout, beyond the type of family structure in terms of the presence of both or only one educational figure. Finally, school factors did not show a significant relationship to school dropout. Conclusions : These findings indicate that school dropout is a multidimensional process. School and family policies that emphasize the role of parental monitoring and prevent alcohol and substance abuse are recommended.

  16. A prospective examination of whether childhood sexual abuse predicts subsequent sexual offending.

    PubMed

    Widom, Cathy Spatz; Massey, Christina

    2015-01-01

    Childhood sexual abuse has been assumed to increase the risk for sexual offending. However, despite methodological limitations of prior research, public policies and clinical practice have been based on this assumption. To empirically examine the commonly held belief that sexually abused children grow up to become sexual offenders and specialize in sex crimes. This prospective cohort study and archival records check included cases and control individuals originally from a metropolitan county in the Midwest. Children with substantiated cases of physical and sexual abuse and neglect (aged 0-11 years) were matched with children without such histories on the basis of age, sex, race/ethnicity, and approximate family social class (908 cases and 667 control individuals). Both groups were followed up into adulthood (mean age, 51 years). The court cases were from 1967 to 1971; the follow-up extended to 2013. Criminal history information was collected from federal and state law enforcement agency records at 3 points in time and from state sex offender registries. Overall, individuals with histories of childhood abuse and neglect were at increased risk for being arrested for a sex crime compared with control individuals (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.17; 95% CI, 1.38-3.40), controlling for age, sex, and race/ethnicity. Specifically, individuals with histories of physical abuse (AOR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.02-4.16) and neglect (AOR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.39-3.51) were at significantly increased risk for arrest for sex offenses, whereas for sexual abuse, the AOR (2.13; 95% CI, 0.83-5.47) did not reach significance. Physically abused and neglected males (not females) were at increased risk and physically abused males also had a higher mean number of sex crime arrests compared with control individuals. The results did not provide support for sex crime specialization. The widespread belief that sexually abused children are uniquely at risk to become sex offenders was not supported by

  17. Implicit Theories and Offender Representativeness in Judgments About Sexual Crime.

    PubMed

    Harper, Craig A; Bartels, Ross M

    2018-04-01

    Implicit theories structure the way people understand and respond to various human actions. Typically, people believe attributes are either fixed (entitists) or malleable (incrementalists). The present study aimed to examine (a) whether attitudes toward sexual offenders differ depending upon one's implicit theory about human nature and sexual offenders, and (b) whether implicit theories are associated with judgments made about different types of child abusers. A sample of 252 community participants was recruited. Their attitudes, implicit theories, and political orientation were assessed via self-report. One of three vignettes describing an incidence of child sexual abuse was then presented. The cases were identical except the perpetrator was either an adult male, an adult female, or a male juvenile. Participants then made judgments about the offender's deserved sentence and moral character. Entitists (across both domains) held more negative attitudes than incrementalists, although the magnitude of the difference was greatest when examining implicit theories about sexual offenders. Compared with those with an incremental theory of sexual offenders, entity theorists judged sexual offending to be more (a) indicative of the perpetrator's moral character and (b) deserving of punishment. However, scores were greater toward the adult male relative to the adult female and juvenile. The findings suggest that implicit theories about sexual offenders are domain specific. They also indicate that judgments made by those with an entity theory (about sexual offenders) are affected by whether a case is representative of a stereotypical sexual offender. Implications of the findings are discussed, along with limitations and future research.

  18. Self-perceptions and their Prediction of Aggression in Male Juvenile Offenders.

    PubMed

    Smith, Stephanie D; Lynch, Rebecca J; Stephens, Haley F; Kistner, Janet A

    2015-08-01

    This study evaluated multiple facets of self-perceptions that have been theorized and shown to play a contributory role in the development of aggression for less clinically severe populations in a sample of youths from the juvenile justice system. Independent and unique associations of low self-esteem and inflated self-perceptions with aggression were examined in a sample of male juvenile offenders (N = 119; Mean age = 16.74 years) using a longitudinal study design. Latent growth curve modeling analyses revealed that self-esteem, adaptive and maladaptive narcissism independently predicted juvenile offenders' initial levels of aggression. It was also found that perceptual bias independently predicted changes in aggression over time. With the inclusion of all variables in the same model, self-esteem was no longer associated with aggression; however, all other relationships remained significant. The implications of these findings as well as the importance of interventions targeting self-perceptions to decrease aggression among high-risk youths are discussed.

  19. Juvenile Drug Court: Enhancing Outcomes by Integrating Evidence-Based Treatments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henggeler, Scott W.; Halliday-Boykins, Colleen A.; Cunningham, Phillippe B.; Randall, Jeff; Shapiro, Steven B.; Chapman, Jason E.

    2006-01-01

    Evaluated the effectiveness of juvenile drug court for 161 juvenile offenders meeting diagnostic criteria for substance abuse or dependence and determined whether the integration of evidence-based practices enhanced the outcomes of juvenile drug court. Over a 1-year period, a four-condition randomized design evaluated outcomes for family court…

  20. Comparison of Attitudes, Knowledge and Drug Abuse Among Military Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ratliff, Bascom W.

    1977-01-01

    Military offenders' (N=69) attitudes towards drugs, knowledge about drugs, and reported drug abuse histories were analyzed. Results indicated a significantly positive relationship between all three variables. Military offenders who had drug use histories also had more liberal attitudes toward drug use and a greater degree of knowledge about drugs.…

  1. Comparing Male and Female Juveniles Charged with Homicide: Child Maltreatment, Substance Abuse, and Crime Details

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roe-Sepowitz, Dominique Eve

    2009-01-01

    This study examines a sample of 136 male and female juveniles charged with attempted homicide or homicide. The purpose of this study is to explore the differences between nondirect file male and female juvenile homicide offenders regarding individual, family, and crime circumstances. Findings suggest that compared to male juvenile offenders,…

  2. Mental health problems in male young offenders in custodial versus community based-programs: implications for juvenile justice interventions.

    PubMed

    Rijo, Daniel; Brazão, Nélio; Barroso, Ricardo; da Silva, Diana Ribeiro; Vagos, Paula; Vieira, Ana; Lavado, Ana; Macedo, Ana Margarida

    2016-01-01

    Young offenders are known to be a population with high prevalence of mental health disorders. In most cases, these disorders are neither identified nor treated properly, with the majority of them being chronic and difficult to treat. In many countries, the prevalence rates of psychopathology in male young offenders are still unknown and no psychotherapeutic interventions are delivered. Therefore, the main goal of the present study was to assess mental health problems in Portuguese male young offenders placed in either custodial or community-based programs and discuss treatment implications within the juvenile justice interventions. Participants in this study included 217 male young offenders aged between 14 and 20 years old that were randomly selected using a random number table. From the total sample, 122 (56.3 %) participants were placed in juvenile detention facilities, and 95 (43.7 %) were receiving community-based programs. Participants were interviewed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents, a structured interview that assesses DSM-IV Axis I Mental Disorders. Participants aged 18 years or older were also assessed with the antisocial personality disorder section from the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders. Results showed a high prevalence of mental health disorders, with a global prevalence of 91.2 % in the total sample. In both groups, global prevalence rates were equally high (93.4 % in youth in custodial versus 88.4 % in youth in community-based programs). Substance-related disorders were more prevalent in youth placed in juvenile facilities, whereas anxiety and mood disorders were more often found in the community-based group. Moreover, oppositional defiant disorder was more prevalent in youth from the community, whereas antisocial personality disorder and conduct disorder were less prevalent than expected in this same group. A high comorbidity rate was also found, with

  3. Adolescent Neglect, Juvenile Delinquency and the Risk of Recidivism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ryan, Joseph P.; Williams, Abigail B.; Courtney, Mark E.

    2013-01-01

    Victims of child abuse and neglect are at an increased risk of involvement with the juvenile justice and adult correctional systems. Yet, little is known about the continuation and trajectories of offending beyond initial contact with law enforcement. Neglect likely plays a critical role in continued offending as parental monitoring, parental…

  4. Temperament of juvenile delinquents with history of substance abuse.

    PubMed

    Chang, Hsueh-Ling; Chen, Sue-Huei; Huang, Chien

    2007-01-01

    The etiological factors and interrelations of juvenile delinquents, with psychiatric morbidity and substance abuse have been continuously debated. Cloninger's Tridimensional Theory of Temperament has been reported to predict patterns of substance abuse and comorbidity. In the current study, we aimed to examine the usability of the theory in predicting juvenile delinquency and substance abuse. Sixty consecutive and newly incarcerated male delinquents with history of substance abuse were recruited from a juvenile correctional facility in northwestern Taiwan from January 2002 through December 2003. All subjects were assessed of their temperament, behavioral problems, and psychiatric disorders on an individual base. The juvenile delinquent subjects with childhood history of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were significantly younger, consumed less betel nuts, and had more siblings with history of drug abuse. Consistent with the results of Cloninger's studies, novelty seeking positively correlated to the amount of substance abuse, while harm avoidance inversely correlated in juvenile delinquents. Endemic trend of choice of substance abuse needs to be taken into consideration in future research projects.

  5. Mediators of change for multisystemic therapy with juvenile sexual offenders.

    PubMed

    Henggeler, Scott W; Letourneau, Elizabeth J; Chapman, Jason E; Borduin, Charles M; Schewe, Paul A; McCart, Michael R

    2009-06-01

    The mediators of favorable multisystemic therapy (MST) outcomes achieved at 12 months postrecruitment were examined within the context of a randomized effectiveness trial with 127 juvenile sexual offenders and their caregivers. Outcome measures assessed youth delinquency, substance use, externalizing symptoms, and deviant sexual interest/risk behaviors; hypothesized mediators included measures of parenting and peer relations. Data were collected at pretreatment, 6 months postrecruitment, and 12 months postrecruitment. Consistent with the MST theory of change and the small extant literature in this area of research, analyses showed that favorable MST effects on youth antisocial behavior and deviant sexual interest/risk behaviors were mediated by increased caregiver follow-through on discipline practices as well as decreased caregiver disapproval of and concern about the youth's bad friends during the follow-up. These findings have important implications for the community-based treatment of juvenile sexual offenders. Copyright 2009 APA

  6. Restitution Programs for Juvenile Offenders. Technical Assistance Bulletin 23.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National School Resource Network, Washington, DC.

    Restitution programs have been organized in many areas of the country to make juvenile offenders more accountable for their criminal behavior, more aware of the consequences to themselves, their victims, and the community, and thus, less likely to continue committing crimes. The programs also provide direct compensation for victims of crime.…

  7. A Two-Week Psychosocial Intervention Reduces Future Aggression and Incarceration in Clinically Aggressive Juvenile Offenders.

    PubMed

    Kendall, Ashley D; Emerson, Erin M; Hartmann, William E; Zinbarg, Richard E; Donenberg, Geri R

    2017-12-01

    There is a largely unmet need for evidence-based interventions that reduce future aggression and incarceration in clinically aggressive juvenile offenders serving probation. We addressed this gap using a group randomized controlled trial. Offenders both with and without clinical aggression were included, enabling comparison of intervention effects. Juveniles 13 to 17 years old (N = 310, mean = 16 years, 90% African-American, 66% male) on probation were assigned to a 2-week intervention targeting psychosocial factors implicated in risky behavior (e.g., learning strategies to manage "hot" emotions that prompt risk taking) or to an equally intensive health promotion control. Participants completed aggression measures at baseline, 6-, and 12-month follow-up and reported on incarceration at 12 months. Spline regression tested symptom change. Among clinically aggressive offenders (n = 71), the intervention arm showed significantly greater reductions in aggression over the first 6 months compared with controls. Juveniles from the intervention no longer met clinical criteria, on average, but clinically significant symptoms persisted in the control group. By 12 months, participants from the intervention appeared to maintain treatment gains, but their symptom levels no longer differed significantly from those in the control. However, the intervention group was nearly 4 times less likely than controls to report incarceration. Intervention effects were significantly stronger for offenders with clinical than with nonclinical (n = 239) baseline aggression. A 2-week intervention expedited improvements in aggression and reduced incarceration in clinically aggressive juvenile offenders. The findings underscore the importance of directing intervention resources to the most aggressive youth. Clinical trial registration information-PHAT Life: Preventing HIV/AIDS Among Teens in Juvenile Justice (PHAT Life); http://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT02647710. Copyright © 2017 American

  8. Juvenile Delinquency and Teenage Pregnancy: A Comparison of Ecological Risk Profiles among Midwestern White and Black Female Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Khurana, Atika; Cooksey, Elizabeth C.; Gavazzi, Stephen M.

    2011-01-01

    The authors examined ecological risk factors associated with teen pregnancy with a sample of 1,190 court-involved female juvenile offenders between 11 and 18 years of age. Data were obtained from five Midwestern juvenile county courts using a recently developed youth risk assessment instrument called the global risk assessment device (GRAD). In…

  9. Mediators of Change for Multisystemic Therapy with Juvenile Sexual Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henggeler, Scott W.; Letourneau, Elizabeth J.; Chapman, Jason E.; Borduin, Charles M.; Schewe, Paul A.; McCart, Michael R.

    2009-01-01

    The mediators of favorable multisystemic therapy (MST) outcomes achieved at 12 months postrecruitment were examined within the context of a randomized effectiveness trial with 127 juvenile sexual offenders and their caregivers. Outcome measures assessed youth delinquency, substance use, externalizing symptoms, and deviant sexual interest/risk…

  10. Can We Distinguish Juvenile Violent Sex Offenders, Violent Non-Sex Offenders, and Versatile Violent Sex Offenders Based on Childhood Risk Factors?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wanklyn, Sonya G.; Ward, Ashley K.; Cormier, Nicole S.; Day, David M.; Newman, Jennifer E.

    2012-01-01

    Understanding the developmental precursors of juvenile violent sex offending can contribute to the promotion of effective early intervention and prevention programs for high-risk children and youth. However, there is currently a lack of research on the early characteristics of adolescents who commit violent sex offenses. Drawing on the literature…

  11. Religiosity, Crime, and Drug Use Among Juvenile Offenders: A Test of Reciprocal Relationships Over Time.

    PubMed

    Jang, Sung Joon

    2018-05-01

    This article examines whether an individual's religiosity has reciprocal relationships with crime and drug use among juvenile offenders. Structural equation modeling is applied to analyze 11-wave panel data from a study of juveniles adjudicated or found guilty of a serious offense in two states. Offenders' religiosity is measured both objectively (participation in religious activities) and subjectively (religious salience, experiences, and efficacy). While holding constant an offender's exposure time (the proportion of time on the street), previous levels of crime and drug use, and sociodemographic controls, this study found the relationship between religiosity and crime (i.e., nondrug offending) to be either bidirectional or unidirectional. The relationship between religiosity and drug use (binge drinking, marijuana use, and hard drug use) is, however, unidirectional over time. When unidirectional relationship is found, it is religiosity that decreases crime and drug use, not the other way around. Implications of findings are discussed.

  12. Child Abuse and Neglect, and Psychiatric Disorders in Nonviolent and Violent Female Offenders.

    PubMed

    Trauffer, Nicole; Widom, Cathy Spatz

    2017-12-01

    Although the percentage of crimes committed by females has increased over the last 20 years in the United States, most research focuses on crimes by males. This article describes an examination of the extent to which childhood maltreatment predicts violent and nonviolent offending in females and the role of psychiatric disorders. Using data from a prospective cohort design study, girls with substantiated cases of physical and sexual abuse and neglect were matched with nonmaltreated girls (controls) on the basis of age, race, and approximate family socioeconomic class, and followed into adulthood ( N  = 582). Information was obtained from official arrest records and participant responses to a standardized structured psychiatric interview. Women with a history of any childhood maltreatment, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect were at significantly increased risk for having an arrest for violence, compared to control women. Except for those with a history of physical abuse, abused and neglected women were also at increased risk for arrest for a nonviolent crime, compared to controls. In bivariate chi-square comparisons, the three groups of women (violent offenders, nonviolent offenders, and nonoffenders) differed significantly in the diagnoses of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and dysthymia, but not major depressive disorder, and violent female offenders had significantly higher rates of these disorders compared to nonoffenders. However, with controls for age and race, PTSD was the only psychiatric disorder to distinguish women arrested for a violent crime compared to a nonviolent crime (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 6.32, confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.84-21.68, p  < 0.01), and PTSD moderated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and violent offending (AOR = 5.55, 95% CI = 1.49-20.71): women with histories of childhood maltreatment were equally likely to have an arrest for violence, regardless

  13. Expectations, Fears, and Strategies: Juvenile Offender Thoughts on a Future outside of Incarceration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clinkinbeard, Samantha S.; Zohra, Tusty

    2012-01-01

    The current article explores the possible selves, or future expectations, of 543 incarcerated juvenile offenders in four Western states in the United States. We argue that juveniles who are able to articulate future expectations and fears and generate concrete strategies for achieving their goals have higher levels of motivational capital (i.e.,…

  14. Evidence-Based Interventions for Juvenile Offenders and Juvenile Justice Policies that Support Them. Social Policy Report. Volume 25, Number 1

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henggeler, Scott W.; Schoenwald, Sonja K.

    2011-01-01

    In a context where more than 1,000,000 American adolescents are processed by juvenile courts annually and approximately 160,000 are sent to residential placements, this paper examines "what works" and "what doesn't work" in reducing the criminal behavior of juvenile offenders and presents examples of government initiatives that have successfully…

  15. Predictors of Support for Juvenile Sex Offender Registration: Educated Individuals Recognize the Flaws of Juvenile Registration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stevenson, Margaret C.; Smith, Amy C.; Sekely, Ady; Farnum, Katlyn S.

    2013-01-01

    We investigated demographic predictors of support for juvenile sex offender registration policies, including education level, gender, political orientation, and age. Participants were 168 individuals recruited from public places in a Midwest community (45% women; M age = 42). In line with hypotheses, as education level increased, support for…

  16. Influences of neighborhood context, individual history and parenting behavior on recidivism among juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Grunwald, Heidi E; Lockwood, Brian; Harris, Philip W; Mennis, Jeremy

    2010-09-01

    This study examined the effects of neighborhood context on juvenile recidivism to determine if neighborhoods influence the likelihood of reoffending. Although a large body of literature exists regarding the impact of environmental factors on delinquency, very little is known about the effects of these factors on juvenile recidivism. The sample analyzed includes 7,061 delinquent male juveniles committed to community-based programs in Philadelphia, of which 74% are Black, 13% Hispanic, and 11% White. Since sample youths were nested in neighborhoods, a hierarchical generalized linear model was employed to predict recidivism across three general categories of recidivism offenses: drug, violent, and property. Results indicate that predictors vary across the types of offenses and that drug offending differs from property and violent offending. Neighborhood-level factors were found to influence drug offense recidivism, but were not significant predictors of violent offenses, property offenses, or an aggregated recidivism measure, despite contrary expectations. Implications stemming from the finding that neighborhood context influences only juvenile drug recidivism are discussed.

  17. The Role of Family Affect in Juvenile Drug Court Offenders' Substance Use and HIV Risk

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tolou-Shams, Marina; Hadley, Wendy; Conrad, Selby M.; Brown, Larry K.

    2012-01-01

    Family-based interventions targeting parenting factors, such as parental monitoring and parent-child communication, have been successful in reducing adolescent offenders' substance use and delinquency. This pilot, exploratory study focuses on family and parenting factors that may be relevant in reducing juvenile offenders' substance use and sexual…

  18. The Relationship between Intellectual Disability, Indigenous Status and Risk of Reoffending in Juvenile Offenders on Community Orders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frize, M.; Kenny, D.; Lennings, C.

    2008-01-01

    Background: Intellectual disability (ID), age and aboriginal status have been independently implicated as risk factors for offending to varying degrees. This study examined the relationship between age, ID and the Indigenous status of juvenile offenders. It also examined the outcomes of the sample's offending in terms of court appearances and…

  19. Issues in the Treatment of Antisocial Adolescent Substance Abusers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McKay, James R.; Buka, Stephen L.

    1994-01-01

    Presents findings from research programs: first on substance abuse in juvenile offenders/adolescents with psychiatric/behavioral disorders focused on treatment issues (attributions for substance use, beliefs about effects of drugs, perceptions of family functioning); and second on psychiatric disorders in adolescent substance abuse patients…

  20. Alcohol abuse as the strongest risk factor for violent offending in patients with paranoid schizophrenia.

    PubMed

    Kudumija Slijepcevic, Marija; Jukic, Vlado; Novalic, Darko; Zarkovic-Palijan, Tija; Milosevic, Milan; Rosenzweig, Ivana

    2014-04-01

    To determine predictive risk factors for violent offending in patients with paranoid schizophrenia in Croatia. The cross-sectional study including male in-patients with paranoid schizophrenia with (N=104) and without (N=102) history of physical violence and violent offending was conducted simultaneously in several hospitals in Croatia during one-year period (2010-2011). Data on their sociodemographic characteristics, duration of untreated illness phase (DUP), alcohol abuse, suicidal behavior, personality features, and insight into illness were collected and compared between groups. Binary logistic regression model was used to determine the predictors of violent offending. Predictors of violent offending were older age, DUP before first contact with psychiatric services, and alcohol abuse. Regression model showed that the strongest positive predictive factor was harmful alcohol use, as determined by AUDIT test (odds ratio 37.01; 95% confidence interval 5.20-263.24). Psychopathy, emotional stability, and conscientiousness were significant positive predictive factors, while extroversion, pleasantness, and intellect were significant negative predictive factors for violent offending. This study found an association between alcohol abuse and the risk for violent offending in paranoid schizophrenia. We hope that this finding will help improve public and mental health prevention strategies in this vulnerable patient group.

  1. When love hurts: assessing the intersectionality of ethnicity, socio-economic status, parental connectedness, child abuse, and gender attitudes in juvenile violent delinquency.

    PubMed

    Lahlah, Esmah; Lens, Kim M E; Bogaerts, Stefan; van der Knaap, Leontien M

    2013-11-01

    Researchers have not yet reached agreement about the validity of several competing explanations that seek to explain ethnic differences in juvenile violent offending. Ethnicity cannot solely explain why boys with an ethnic minority background commit more (violent) crimes. By assessing the intersectionality of structural, cultural and individual considerations, both the independent effects as well as the interplay between different factors can be examined. This study shows that aforementioned factors cumulatively play a role in severe violent offending, with parental connectedness and child abuse having the strongest associations. However, since most variables interact and ethnicity is associated with those specific factors, a conclusion to be drawn is that ethnicity may be relevant as an additional variable predicting severe violent offending although indirectly. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Substance abuse among high-risk sexual offenders: do measures of lifetime history of substance abuse add to the prediction of recidivism over actuarial risk assessment instruments?

    PubMed

    Looman, Jan; Abracen, Jeffrey

    2011-03-01

    There has been relatively little research on the degree to which measures of lifetime history of substance abuse add to the prediction of risk based on actuarial measures alone among sexual offenders. This issue is of relevance in that a history of substance abuse is related to relapse to substance using behavior. Furthermore, substance use has been found to be related to recidivism among sexual offenders. To investigate whether lifetime history of substance abuse adds to prediction over and above actuarial instruments alone, several measures of substance abuse were administered in conjunction with the Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide (SORAG). The SORAG was found to be the most accurate actuarial instrument for the prediction of serious recidivism (i.e., sexual or violent) among the sample included in the present investigation. Complete information, including follow-up data, were available for 250 offenders who attended the Regional Treatment Centre Sex Offender Treatment Program (RTCSOTP). The Michigan Alcohol Screening Test (MAST) and the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST) were used to assess lifetime history of substance abuse. The results of logistic regression procedures indicated that both the SORAG and the MAST independently added to the prediction of serious recidivism. The DAST did not add to prediction over the use of the SORAG alone. Implications for both the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders are discussed.

  3. Differences between juvenile offenders with and without substance use problems in the prevalence and impact of risk and protective factors for criminal recidivism.

    PubMed

    van der Put, Claudia E; Creemers, Hanneke E; Hoeve, Machteld

    2014-01-01

    Little is known about the needs of substance-using juveniles in treatment aimed at reducing criminal recidivism. Therefore, we aimed to examine treatment needs of substance-using juvenile offenders. Differences were examined between juvenile offenders who abstain from substance use (ASU; n=1974) and substance-using juvenile offenders without (SU; n=7000) and with substance use problems (SUP; n=3317), in the prevalence of risk/protective factors for criminal recidivism and strength of associations between risk/protective factors and criminal recidivism. We conducted secondary data analysis on recidivism risk assessments, collected with the Washington State Juvenile Court Assessment, and re-offending data. Analyses of variance and Partial correlations, adjusted for age, gender and ethnicity were applied, as well as Fisher's z tests and logistic regression analyses. Results showed that substance-using offenders, especially those with substance use problems, had more risk factors and less protective factors than ASU youths in the domains of school, use of free time, relationships, family, attitude, aggression and skills. The associations between most of the risk/protective factors and recidivism were stronger in the ASU group than in the SUP group. Substance use uniquely predicted recidivism, net of risk factors. These results suggest that general interventions for juvenile offenders addressing risk and protective factors with the aim to reduce recidivism may be less effective for offenders with substance use problems, and that substance use (problems) should be addressed, too. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Clinical Prediction Making: Examining Influential Factors Related to Clinician Predictions of Recidivism among Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Calley, Nancy G.; Richardson, Emily M.

    2011-01-01

    This study examined factors influencing clinician predictions of recidivism for juvenile offenders, including youth age at initial juvenile justice system involvement, youth age at discharge, program completion status, clinician perception of strength of the therapeutic relationship, and clinician perception of youth commitment to treatment.…

  5. Mapping a Process of Negotiated Identity among Incarcerated Male Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abrams, Laura S.; Hyun, Anna

    2009-01-01

    Building on theories of youth identity transitions, this study maps a process of negotiated identity among incarcerated young men. Data are drawn from ethnographic study of three juvenile correctional institutions and longitudinal semistructured interviews with facility residents. Cross-case analysis of 10 cases that finds youth offenders adapted…

  6. Entertainment and music magazine reading and binge drinking among a group of juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Thomsen, Steven R; Rekve, Dag

    2006-01-01

    This study examines the relative contribution of exposure to entertainment and music magazines on binge drinking among a group of teenagers under the supervision of a juvenile court system in a medium-sized western United States community. Despite having a large proportion of adolescent readers, entertainment and music magazines typically include a substantial number of advertisements for alcoholic beverages in each issue. Data were collected via a self-report questionnaire administered to 342 juvenile offenders (ages 12-18 years). Three-quarters of our respondents reported they have used alcohol and about 37% indicated they were binge drinkers. As anticipated, binge drinkers were more frequent readers of entertainment and music magazines than non-binge drinkers. Binge drinkers also estimated that larger portions of their classmates used alcohol and would be more accepting of regular drinking than non-binge drinkers. Results of a multivariate logistic regression analysis to predict whether our subjects typically consumed five or more drinks during a drinking episode indicated that perceived ease of access, age, gender, the number of best friends who drink, parental drinking (inversely), and entertainment and music magazine reading frequency were significant predictors of binge drinking. We conclude that the predictive influence entertainment and music magazine reading frequency may actually reflect a selectivity bias among a segment of the youth sub-culture already inclined toward alcohol use and abuse. We recommend that entertainment and music magazine reading should be considered only within the constellation of other risk factors when assessing risk for potential alcohol abuse.

  7. Fresh Start: A Meta-Analysis of Aftercare Programs for Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weaver, Robert D.; Campbell, Derek

    2015-01-01

    Objectives: A meta-analysis was conducted in order to generate more understanding regarding the efficacy of aftercare programs in reducing the recidivism rates of juvenile offenders reentering their communities following a period of custody. Method: 30 eligible primary studies were obtained through a systematic literature review and were coded.…

  8. Animal Abuse and Youth Violence. Juvenile Justice Bulletin.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ascione, Frank R.

    The forms of abuse that animals are subjected to are similar to the forms of abuse children experience, such as physical abuse, serious neglect, and psychological abuse. This document describes psychiatric, psychological, and criminal research linking animal abuse to violence perpetrated by juveniles and adults. Particular attention is given to…

  9. Gender differences in comorbid disorders among offenders in prison substance abuse treatment programs.

    PubMed

    Zlotnick, Caron; Clarke, Jennifer G; Friedmann, Peter D; Roberts, Mary B; Sacks, Stanley; Melnick, Gerald

    2008-01-01

    This study examined gender differences in a range of lifetime psychiatric disorders in a sample of 272 offenders newly admitted to a prison substance abuse program. Although these men and women did not differ in severity of substance use in the six months prior to incarceration, women were significantly more likely than men to report a lifetime psychiatric disorder and a lifetime severe disorder. Furthermore, gender differences emerged in the pattern of lifetime psychiatric comorbidity. Women reported greater lifetime major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, eating disorder, and borderline personality disorder; men were more likely than women to meet criteria for antisocial personality disorder. Additionally, female offenders were found to have a higher degree of internalizing disorders than male offenders, but there were no gender differences in degree of externalizing disorders. The study concluded that women offenders newly admitted to a prison substance abuse program present with a greater psychiatric vulnerability and a different pattern of psychiatric comorbidity than their male counterparts.

  10. Effects of defendant and victim race on perceptions of juvenile sex offenders.

    PubMed

    Stevenson, Margaret C; Sorenson, Katlyn M; Smith, Amy C; Sekely, Ady; Dzwairo, Rukudzo A

    2009-01-01

    We investigated effects of defendant race, victim race, and juror gender on public perceptions of a juvenile sex offense. We predicted that participants, particularly men, would support registering a juvenile defendant as a sex offender more when he was Black than White and that participants, particularly women, would support registering the defendant more when the female crime victim was portrayed as White than as Black. We also expected that support for registration would be higher when the defendant and victim were different races than when they were the same race. As expected, women (but not men) recommended registration more when the victim was White than Black. Further, participants supported registration more when the defendant and the victim were different races than when they were the same race. These effects were mediated by retributive goals to punish the offender-not by utilitarian goals to protect society. Explanations and implications are discussed.

  11. Assessing Violence Risk and Psychopathy in Juvenile and Adult Offenders: A Survey of Clinical Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Viljoen, Jodi L.; McLachlan, Kaitlyn; Vincent, Gina M.

    2010-01-01

    This study surveyed 199 forensic clinicians about the practices that they use in assessing violence risk in juvenile and adult offenders. Results indicated that the use of risk assessment and psychopathy tools was common. Although clinicians reported more routine use of psychopathy measures in adult risk assessments compared with juvenile risks…

  12. Post-incarceration Recidivism of Lone versus Group Juvenile Homicide Offenders.

    PubMed

    Khachatryan, Norair; Heide, Kathleen M; Rad, Jordyn; Hummel, Erich V

    2016-11-01

    Killings by juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) who use accomplices have been increasing since the 1980s and currently represent approximately half of juvenile arrests for murder in the United States. Nevertheless, prior research has not compared JHOs who kill alone with JHOs who kill in groups. The present research followed up 30 years later on a sample of 59 male murderers and attempted murderers sentenced to adult prison. This study was designed to analyze whether lone and group JHOs differed on pre-incarceration, incarceration, and post-incarceration variables. Significant findings indicated that compared with lone offenders, group JHOs had a higher mean of pre-homicide arrests and were more likely to be Black, have a pre-homicide delinquent record, commit a crime-related homicide offense, and target a stranger. With respect to post-homicide variables, group JHOs were more likely to be released from prison and more likely to be rearrested. The two types of JHOs did not differ significantly in relation to the number of post-release violent offenses. Preliminary implications of the findings and avenues for future investigation are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Factor Structure of the Counselor Burnout Inventory in a Sample of Sexual Offender and Sexual Abuse Therapists

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Jayoung; Wallace, Sam; Puig, Ana; Choi, Bo Young; Nam, Suk Kyung; Lee, Sang Min

    2010-01-01

    This study empirically tested and compared three different models of factor structure with a sample of therapists working with sexual offenders, survivors of sexual abuse, or both. Results indicated that a modified five-factor model was the most appropriate. Practical implications for sexual offender/abuse survivor therapists are discussed.…

  14. A Comparison of Individual-Level and Community-Level Predictors of Marijuana and Cocaine Use among a Sample of Newly Arrested Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Childs, Kristina; Dembo, Richard; Belenko, Steven; Wareham, Jennifer; Schmeidler, James

    2011-01-01

    Variations in drug use have been found across individual-level factors and community characteristics, and by type of drug used. Relatively little research, however, has examined this variation among juvenile offenders. Based on a sample of 924 newly arrested juvenile offenders, two multilevel logistic regression models predicting marijuana test…

  15. Supporting Every Child: School Counselors' Perceptions of Juvenile Sex Offenders in Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morgan, Leann Wyrick; McClendon, Levi S.; McCarty, Jenna; Zinck, Kirk

    2016-01-01

    Researchers explored the attitudes and concerns of professional school counselors in their roles in working with juvenile sex offenders (JSOs) who attend school. Little empirical data exist regarding school counselors' roles in effectively engaging and supporting JSOs toward school success. Focus groups contributed to the consensual qualitative…

  16. Money Matters: Cost-Effectiveness of Juvenile Drug Court with and without Evidence-Based Treatments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sheidow, Ashli J.; Jayawardhana, Jayani; Bradford, W. David; Henggeler, Scott W.; Shapiro, Steven B.

    2012-01-01

    The 12-month cost-effectiveness of juvenile drug court and evidence-based treatments within court were compared with traditional Family Court for 128 substance-abusing/dependent juvenile offenders participating in a 4-condition randomized trial. Intervention conditions included Family Court with community services (FC), Drug Court with community…

  17. RCT of a Promising Vocational/Employment Program for High-Risk Juvenile Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Schaeffer, Cindy M.; Henggeler, Scott W.; Ford, Julian D.; Mann, Marc; Chang, Rocio; Chapman, Jason E.

    2013-01-01

    Juvenile offenders with substance use problems are at high risk for deleterious long-term outcomes. This study evaluated the capacity of a promising vocational and employment training program in the building sector (i.e., Community Restitution Apprenticeship-Focused Training, CRAFT) to mitigate such outcomes through enhanced employment and education. Participants were 97 high-risk juvenile offenders (mean age = 15.8 years) randomized to CRAFT versus education as usual (EAU) intervention conditions. Multi-method procedures measured employment, education, substance use, mental health, and criminal outcomes through a 30-month post-baseline follow-up. CRAFT was significantly more effective than EAU at increasing rates of youth employment and GED attendance. Intervention effects were not observed, however, for months employed, hours worked, or hourly wage. Measures of youth substance use, mental health symptoms, and criminal activity showed no favorable or iatrogenic effects. The potential of CRAFT was modestly supported, and suggestions were made for future research. PMID:23958035

  18. Examining the effectiveness of a restorative justice program for various types of juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Bergseth, Kathleen J; Bouffard, Jeffrey A

    2013-09-01

    Restorative justice (RJ) programs have become widespread in the United States and in other countries. These programs are often seen as a viable alternative to traditional retributive processing, especially for minor, and sometimes more serious, forms of delinquency and adult criminality. The programs hold promise for achieving several goals, including increased community and victim involvement, greater satisfaction with the case outcomes, improved offender compliance, increased perceptions of fairness, and even recidivism reduction. Meta-analyses have demonstrated varying degrees of program success in recidivism reduction, which may in part reflect differential effectiveness of the RJ approach for various kinds of offenders. This study examined whether an RJ program for juvenile offenders had differential impacts on recidivism across various offender characteristics (including age, gender, racial group, offending history, and current offense). Results generally support the effectiveness of the program for many types of offenders. Implications for future research and potential improvements to the RJ model are discussed.

  19. Knowledge of Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Laws Predicts Adolescent Sexual Behavior

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stevenson, Margaret C.; Najdowski, Cynthia J.; Wiley, Tisha R. A.

    2013-01-01

    Because juveniles can now be registered as sex offenders, we conducted a pilot study to investigate awareness of these policies and sexual behavior histories in a convenience sample of 53 young adults (ages 18 to 23, 79% women). These preliminary data revealed that 42% percent of participants were unaware that youth under the age of 18 can be…

  20. A Strategy for Making Decisions and Evaluating Alternative Juvenile Offender Treatment Programs: Compensating for Missing Information.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roberts, Albert R.; Schervish, Phillip

    1988-01-01

    National survey data on the cost-effectiveness and cost-benefits of 11 different juvenile offender treatment program types are reviewed. Best-worst-midpoint, threshold, and convergency analyses are applied to these studies. Meaningful ways of dealing with missing information when evaluating alternative juvenile justice policies and programs are…

  1. Implementation outcomes of Multidimensional Family Therapy-Detention to Community: a reintegration program for drug-using juvenile detainees.

    PubMed

    Liddle, Howard A; Dakof, Gayle A; Henderson, Craig; Rowe, Cindy

    2011-06-01

    Responding to urgent calls for effective interventions to address young offenders' multiple and interconnected problems, a new variant of an existing empirically-validated intervention for drug-using adolescents, Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT)-Detention to Community (DTC) was tested in a two-site controlled trial. This article (a) outlines the rationale and protocol basics of the MDFT-DTC intervention, a program for substance-using juvenile offenders that links justice and substance abuse treatment systems to facilitate adolescents' post-detention community reintegration; (b) presents implementation outcomes, including fidelity, treatment engagement and retention rates, amount of services received, treatment satisfaction, and substance abuse-juvenile justice system collaboration outcomes; and (c) details the implementation and sustainability challenges in a cross-system (substance abuse treatment and juvenile justice) adolescent intervention. Findings support the effectiveness of the MDFT-DTC intervention, and the need to develop a full implementation model in which transfer and dissemination issues could be explored more fully, and tested experimentally.

  2. Juvenile Offenders: Developing Motivation, Engagement, and Meaning-Making through Video Game Creation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ruggiero, Dana; Garcia de Hurtado, Belen; Watson, William R.

    2013-01-01

    In this study, the authors examined juvenile offender experiences in Project Tech, a research-based educational pilot program to teach socially responsible serious game development at a major Midwest university's Games Lab. Using open-ended interviews, learner feedback surveys, and learner journaling during the program, the researchers examined…

  3. Child maltreatment among boy and girl probationers: does type of maltreatment make a difference in offending behavior and psychosocial problems?

    PubMed

    van der Put, Claudia E; Lanctôt, Nadine; de Ruiter, Corine; van Vugt, Eveline

    2015-08-01

    This study examined differences in offending behavior and psychosocial problems between juvenile offenders who have been sexually abused (n=231), physically abused (n=1,568), neglected (n=1,555), exposed to multiple forms of maltreatment (n=1,767), and non-victims (n=8,492). In addition, the moderating effect of gender in the association between type of maltreatment and offending behavior/psychosocial problems was examined. Results showed that violent offenses were more common in victims of physical abuse and victims of multiple forms of abuse than in non-victims, both in boys and girls. In boys, sexual offenses were far more common in victims of sexual abuse than in victims of other or multiple forms of maltreatment or in non-victims. In girls, no group differences were found in sexual offending behavior. For both boys and girls, externalizing problems were relatively common in victims of physical abuse and neglect whereas internalizing problems were relatively common in victims of sexual abuse. In victims of multiple forms of maltreatment, both internalizing and externalizing problems were relatively common. Implications for clinical practice are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. A Family-Oriented Policy and Treatment Program for Female Juvenile Status Offenders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Druckman, Joan M.

    1979-01-01

    Families of female juvenile status offenders were administered the Moos Family Environment Scale. The families could be described as moderately cohesive and adaptive. Results suggest that the dysfunctioning family may not be the primary cause of status offenses and that family-oriented treatment is possibly not the choice treatment for status…

  5. Strengthening community-based programming for juvenile sexual offenders: key concepts and paradigm shifts.

    PubMed

    Hunter, John A; Gilbertson, Stephen A; Vedros, Dani; Morton, Michael

    2004-05-01

    The past decade has been witness to a sharp increase in residential placement of adjudicated delinquent youth, including juvenile sexual offenders. It is argued that this trend has fiscal implications and may be clinically contraindicated for less characterologically disturbed and dangerous youth. The authors advocate greater investment of public funds in the development and refinement of community-based intervention programs. It is believed that clinically and legally integrated programming, using newer social-ecological methodologies and supports, offers promise of reducing the number of youth who require residential placement, shortening residential lengths of stay and improving the transition of residentially treated youth back into community settings. Key concepts relevant to bolstering community-based programming for juvenile sexual offenders are identified and discussed. Two programs are described, and program evaluation data reviewed, in support of the viability of innovative community-based approaches to the management of this population.

  6. Juvenile Justice: DOJ Is Enhancing Information on Effective Programs, But Could Better Assess the Utility of This Information. Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives. GAO-10-125

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Larence, Eileen R.

    2009-01-01

    State juvenile justice systems face critical problems when it comes to juvenile delinquency issues such as reentry--when offenders return home from incarceration--and substance abuse. GAO was asked to review juvenile reentry and substance abuse program research and efforts by the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Juvenile Justice and…

  7. Childhood Experiences of Sexual Abuse and Later Parenting Practices among Non-Offending Mothers of Sexually Abused and Comparison Girls

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kim, Kihyun; Trickett, Penelope K.; Putnam, Frank W.

    2010-01-01

    Objective: The primary goal of this study was to explore the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and parenting practices among non-offending mothers of sexually abused girls. Guided by a developmental-ecological perspective of parenting, several models with different potential pathways starting from the mothers' childhood experiences of…

  8. Effectiveness of Child Advocacy Centers and the multidisciplinary team approach on prosecution rates of alleged sex offenders and satisfaction of non-offending caregivers with allegations of child sexual abuse: a systematic review.

    PubMed

    Nwogu, Ngozi N; Agrawal, Lynet; Chambers, Stephanie; Buagas, Archiel B; Daniele, Rose Mary; Singleton, Joanne K

    2016-01-15

    Child sexual abuse is a multifaceted issue that negatively affects the lives of millions of children worldwide. These children suffer numerous medical and psychological long-term adverse effects both in childhood and adulthood. It is imperative to implement evidence- based interventions for the investigation of this crime. The use of Child Advocacy Centers and the multidisciplinary team approach may improve the investigation of child sexual abuse. To evaluate the effectiveness of Child Advocacy Centers and the multidisciplinary team approach on prosecution rates of alleged sex offenders and satisfaction of non-offending caregivers of children less than 18 years of age, with allegations of child sexual abuse. Children under 18 years, of any race, ethnicity or gender with allegations of child sexual abuse. Other participants included in this review are non-offending caregivers of children with allegations of child sexual abuse, and alleged sex offenders. Type of intervention : The use of Child Advocacy Centers and the multidisciplinary team approach on child sexual abuse investigations. Types of outcomes : Prosecution rates of alleged sex offenders and the satisfaction of non-offending caregivers of children with allegations of child sexual abuse. Types of studies: This review includes quasi-experimental and descriptive studies. The search strategy aimed to find published and unpublished articles in the English language published from 1985 through April 2015 for inclusion. The databases searched include: PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, Criminal Justice Periodicals, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses and Criminal Justice Collections. An additional grey literature search was conducted. Two reviewers evaluated the included studies for methodological quality using standardized critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute. Data were extracted using

  9. Juvenile Drug Courts and Teen Substance Abuse

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Butts, Jeffrey A., Ed.; Roman, John, Ed.

    2004-01-01

    Juvenile justice officials across the United States are embracing a new method of dealing with adolescent substance abuse. Importing a popular innovation from adult courts, state and local governments have started hundreds of specialized drug courts to provide judicial supervision and coordinate substance abuse treatment for drug-involved…

  10. Mental Health Referrals Reduce Recidivism in First-Time Juvenile Offenders, But How Do We Determine Who is Referred?

    PubMed

    Zeola, Michael P; Guina, Jeffrey; Nahhas, Ramzi W

    2017-03-01

    While psychiatric disorders are common among juvenile delinquents, many mental health problems go undetected, increasing the likelihood for persistent difficulties. This is the first known study to examine mental health referral rates and recidivism in the juvenile justice system. In addition to the study, we review juvenile justice mental health screening to improve detection and treatment. Juvenile criminal records in conjunction with behavioral health screenings were analyzed to determine differences in referrals and recidivism among first time offenders. Recidivism rates were significantly lower (p = 0.04) and time to recidivism was significantly longer (p = 0.03) for those referred specifically for mental health services than for those without any referrals, even after adjusting for offense severity. While black youths had a significantly higher recidivism rate (p = 0.02) and a shorter time to recidivism (p = 0.009) than white youths, there was no significant difference between races when referred specifically for mental health services. Among the groups studied, black youths had the most profound positive effect from mental health referrals (p < 0.0001). This study indicates the importance of detecting mental health problems among juvenile delinquents, especially for black offenders. The apparent protective effect of mental health interventions necessitates screening that better identifies underlying psychosocial factors rather than strict reliance upon diagnostic criteria and self-report. Broader or even universal mental health referrals for juvenile offenders could reduce future legal system involvement and costs to society. We review potential reasons that mental health problems go undetected and provide recommendations.

  11. Predictors of victim disclosure in child sexual abuse: Additional evidence from a sample of incarcerated adult sex offenders.

    PubMed

    Leclerc, Benoit; Wortley, Richard

    2015-05-01

    The under-reporting of child sexual abuse by victims is a serious problem that may prolong the suffering of victims and leave perpetrators free to continue offending. Yet empirical evidence indicates that victim disclosure rates are low. In this study, we perform regression analysis with a sample of 369 adult child sexual offenders to examine potential predictors of victim disclosure. Specifically, we extend the range of previously examined potential predictors of victim disclosure and investigate interaction effects in order to better capture under which circumstances victim disclosure is more likely. The current study differs from previous studies in that it examines the impact of victim and offense variables on victim disclosure from the perspective of the offender. In line with previous studies, we found that disclosure increased with the age of the victim and if penetration had occurred. In addition, we found that disclosure increased when the victim came from a non-dysfunctional family and resisted the abuse. The presence of an interaction effect highlighted the impact of the situation on victim disclosure. This effect indicated that as victims get older, they are more likely to disclose the abuse when they are not living with the offender at the time of abuse, but less likely to do so when they are living with the offender at the time of abuse. These findings are discussed in relation to previous studies and the need to facilitate victim disclosure. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Understanding the school outcomes of juvenile offenders: an exploration of neighborhood influences and motivational resources.

    PubMed

    Chung, He Len; Mulvey, Edward P; Steinberg, Laurence

    2011-08-01

    As a group, delinquent youth complete less education and show poor academic outcomes compared to their non-delinquent peers. To better understand pathways to school success, this study integrated individual- and neighborhood-level data to examine academic functioning among 833 White, Black, and Hispanic male juvenile offenders (age 14-17) living in two urban communities. A multilevel path analysis confirmed that youth in relatively more affluent communities report greater access to opportunities in the areas of education and employment, and that these opportunities are associated with higher expectations to succeed and better grades. Findings highlight the importance of taking an ecological approach for understanding processes that shape school effort and achievement. Implications are discussed in the context of promoting academic success among juvenile offenders, specifically, and for understanding pathways to healthy adjustment, more generally.

  13. Identifying gender specific risk/need areas for male and female juvenile offenders: Factor analyses with the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY).

    PubMed

    Hilterman, Ed L B; Bongers, Ilja; Nicholls, Tonia L; van Nieuwenhuizen, Chijs

    2016-02-01

    By constructing risk assessment tools in which the individual items are organized in the same way for male and female juvenile offenders it is assumed that these items and subscales have similar relevance across males and females. The identification of criminogenic needs that vary in relevance for 1 of the genders, could contribute to more meaningful risk assessments, especially for female juvenile offenders. In this study, exploratory factor analyses (EFA) on a construction sample of male (n = 3,130) and female (n = 466) juvenile offenders were used to aggregate the 30 items of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) into empirically based risk/need factors and explore differences between genders. The factor models were cross-validated through confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) on a validation sample of male (n = 2,076) and female (n = 357) juvenile offenders. In both the construction sample and the validation sample, 5 factors were identified: (a) Antisocial behavior; (b) Family functioning; (c) Personality traits; (d) Social support; and (e) Treatability. The male and female models were significantly different and the internal consistency of the factors was good, both in the construction sample and the validation sample. Clustering risk/need items for male and female juvenile offenders into meaningful factors may guide clinicians in the identification of gender-specific treatment interventions. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved.

  14. Subtypes of female juvenile offenders: a cluster analysis of the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory.

    PubMed

    Stefurak, Tres; Calhoun, Georgia B

    2007-01-01

    The current study sought to explore subtypes of adolescents within a sample of female juvenile offenders. Using the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory with 101 female juvenile offenders, a two-step cluster analysis was performed beginning with a Ward's method hierarchical cluster analysis followed by a K-Means iterative partitioning cluster analysis. The results suggest an optimal three-cluster solution, with cluster profiles leading to the following group labels: Externalizing Problems, Depressed/Interpersonally Ambivalent, and Anxious Prosocial. Analysis along the factors of age, race, offense typology and offense chronicity were conducted to further understand the nature of found clusters. Only the effect for race was significant with the Anxious Prosocial and Depressed Intepersonally Ambivalent clusters appearing disproportionately comprised of African American girls. To establish external validity, clusters were compared across scales of the Behavioral Assessment System for Children - Self Report of Personality, and corroborative distinctions between clusters were found here.

  15. The Discontinuity of Offending among African American Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williams, Abigail B.; Ryan, Joseph P.; Davis-Kean, Pamela E.; McLoyd, Vonnie C.; Schulenberg, John E.

    2017-01-01

    Little is known about what factors contribute to African American youth desisting from offending. Participants were 3,230 moderate- to high-risk adolescents from Washington State who completed a statewide risk assessment to assess the likelihood of recidivism. Participants were screened by juvenile probation officers between 2003 and 2010.…

  16. Detained Male Adolescent Offender's Emotional, Physical and Sexual Maltreatment Profiles and Their Associations to Psychiatric Disorders and Criminal Behaviors.

    PubMed

    Aebi, Marcel; Linhart, Susanne; Thun-Hohenstein, Leonhard; Bessler, Cornelia; Steinhausen, Hans-Christoph; Plattner, Belinda

    2015-07-01

    The objective of the present study was to analyse patterns of emotional, physical and sexual maltreatment in detained male juvenile offenders using latent class analysis (LCA). The association of maltreatment related LCA profiles with psychopathology and criminal behaviors was also studied. LCA based on the items of the Child Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) assessing childhood emotional, physical, and sexual abuse was performed in a sample of 260 male adolescent offenders (mean age = 16.5 years, SD = 1.29 years). Chi square tests and general linear models were performed to assess the associations of CTQ profiles with categorical interview-based psychiatric disorders, dimensional Youth Self-Report problem scales, and officially registered offenses. LCA suggested a three class solution: (1) a no/mild trauma (NM; 76 %) (2) emotional and physical trauma (EP; 18 %) and (3) emotional, physical, and sexual trauma (EPS; 8 %). The classes EP and EPS were related to a variety of psychiatric disorders and self-reported mental health problems. Furthermore, EPS showed higher presence of a subsequent re-incarceration compared to NM. A majority of sexually abused juveniles also experienced emotional and physical abuse reflecting gravely disturbed family systems. Multiple abuse in childhood was associated with a broad variety of disorders including externalizing disorders and repeated criminal offending. Such findings indicate that trauma assessment is also relevant in externalizing youth. A comprehensive treatment approach for detained boys with multiple abuse experiences is required targeting both mental health needs and the reduction of criminal behaviors.

  17. A Gender-Specific Pathway to Serious, Violent, and Chronic Offending?: Exploring Howell's Risk Factors for Serious Delinquency

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johansson, Pernilla; Kempf-Leonard, Kimberly

    2009-01-01

    In "Preventing and Reducing Juvenile Delinquency," Howell proposes a female-specific pathway to serious, violent, and chronic offending. Incorporating ideas from feminist research about risk factors for female delinquency, he proposes five distinct and interrelated risk factors--child abuse victimization, mental health problems, running…

  18. [The characteristics of sexual offenders abusing alcohol in view of forensic-psychiatric assessments].

    PubMed

    Juszczak, Dariusz; Korzeniewski, Krzysztof; Czupryńska, Katarzyna; Furs, Maciej

    2015-06-01

    The relationship between alcohol consumption and sexual crime appears to be unquestionable. However, the mechanisms that lead to violence and aggression under the influence of alcohol are not entirely understood in this group of offenders. The aim of this paper was to attempt answering the question: what are the features characterizing sexual offenders declaring alcohol abuse. The research material consisted of 180 forensic psychiatric- sexology assessments issued by experts from Outpatient Psychiatric Clinic in 10 Military Hospital Clinic in Bydgoszcz between 2004 to 2012. A specially designed questionnaire titled "Charter of Diagnosis of Factors Determining Criminal Sexual Activity" has been used. Relevant statistical dependences were observed. The obtained results show that, a alcohol abuse has a sexual criminogenic effect especially in the coincidence that there are sustainable personality abnormalities and organic CNS damage. The conducted study prove that the sexual perpetrators who abuse alcohol have a poor level of social functioning and brought up in dysfunction families having alcoholic problems. © 2015 MEDPRESS.

  19. The Effects of a Peer-Mediated Reading Intervention on Juvenile Offenders' Main Idea Statements about Informational Text

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wexler, Jade; Reed, Deborah K.; Barton, Erin E.; Mitchell, Marisa; Clancy, Erin

    2018-01-01

    Many youth in the juvenile justice system with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders struggle with reading. A multiple-baseline-across-participants single-case research design was used to examine the relationship between a supplemental peer-mediated reading intervention and juvenile offenders' generation of main idea statements about…

  20. Offenders with mental health problems and problematic substance use: affective psychopathic personality traits as potential barriers to participation in substance abuse interventions.

    PubMed

    Durbeej, Natalie; Palmstierna, Tom; Berman, Anne H; Kristiansson, Marianne; Gumpert, Clara Hellner

    2014-01-01

    Substance abuse is related to re-offending, and treatment of substance abuse may reduce criminal recidivism. Offender characteristics including problem severity, violence risk and psychopathic personality traits may be positively or negatively associated with participation in substance abuse treatment. We explored the relationships between such characteristics and participation in substance abuse interventions among Swedish offenders with mental health problems and problematic substance use. Our analyses revealed that problem severity regarding drugs, employment, and family/social situations predicted intervention participation, and that affective psychopathic personality traits were negatively associated with such participation. Thus, affective psychopathic personality traits could be considered as potential barriers to participation in substance abuse interventions. Among offenders with mental health problems and problematic substance use, such personality traits should be taken into account in order to optimize treatment participation and treatment outcome. Approaches used in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) could be applicable for these patients. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Victim Resistance in Child Sexual Abuse: A Look into the Efficacy of Self-Protection Strategies Based on the Offender's Experience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leclerc, Benoit; Wortley, Richard; Smallbone, Stephen

    2011-01-01

    This study examines the efficacy, as experienced by offenders with their victim, of self-protection strategies used in child sexual abuse cases. It also investigates whether the efficacy of self-protection varies according to victim characteristics. The sample consists of 94 adult offenders who sexually abused a single child and who agreed to…

  2. Collateral Consequences of Juvenile Sex Offender Registration and Notification: Results From a Survey of Treatment Providers.

    PubMed

    Harris, Andrew J; Walfield, Scott M; Shields, Ryan T; Letourneau, Elizabeth J

    2016-12-01

    Among many in the research, policy, and practice communities, the application of sex offender registration and notification (SORN) to juveniles who sexually offend (JSO) has raised ongoing concerns regarding the potential collateral impacts on youths' social, mental health, and academic adjustment. To date, however, no published research has systematically examined these types of collateral consequences of juvenile SORN. Based on a survey of a national sample of treatment providers in the United States, this study investigates the perceived impact of registration and notification on JSO across five key domains: mental health, harassment and unfair treatment, school problems, living instability, and risk of reoffending. Results indicate that treatment providers overwhelmingly perceive negative consequences associated with registration with an incremental effect of notification indicating even greater concern across all five domains. Providers' demographics, treatment modalities, and client profile did not influence their perceptions of the collateral consequences suggesting that provider concern about the potential harm of SORN applied to juveniles is robust. Policy implications are discussed. © The Author(s) 2015.

  3. Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Psychiatric Diagnoses and Treatment in a Sample of Serious Juvenile Offenders.

    PubMed

    Baglivio, Michael T; Wolff, Kevin T; Piquero, Alex R; Greenwald, Mark A; Epps, Nathan

    2017-07-01

    Psychiatric disorder prevalence has been shown demonstrably higher among justice-involved adolescents than youth in the general population. Yet, among arrested juveniles, little is known regarding racial/ethnic differences in disorder prevalence, the role of trauma exposure in the diagnosis of behavioral disorders, or subsequent psychiatric treatment provided to adolescents with such diagnoses. The current study examines racial/ethnic disparity in psychiatric diagnoses and treatment of behavioral disorders associated with delinquency, controlling for traumatic experiences, behavioral indicators, and prior offending among serious juvenile offenders. Logistic regression is employed to explore the racial/ethnic disproportionality in behavioral disorder diagnoses and psychiatric treatment provision among 8763 males (57.7 % Black, 11.8 % Hispanic) and 1,347 females (53.7 % Black, 7.6 % Hispanic) admitted to long-term juvenile justice residential placements in Florida. The results indicate Black males are 40 % more likely, and Black females 54 % more likely to be diagnosed with conduct disorder than Whites, even upon considerations of trauma, behavioral indicators, and criminal offending. Black and Hispanic males are approximately 40 % less likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than White males, with no racial/ethnic differences for females. Importantly, Black males are 32 % less likely to receive psychiatric treatment than White males, with no differences between White and Hispanic males, or any female subgroups. Traumatic exposures increased the odds of oppositional defiant disorder and ADHD, but not conduct disorder for males, though adverse childhood experiences were unrelated to behavioral disorder diagnoses among females.

  4. Risk and protective factors for recidivism among juveniles who have offended sexually.

    PubMed

    Spice, Andrew; Viljoen, Jodi L; Latzman, Natasha E; Scalora, Mario J; Ullman, Daniel

    2013-08-01

    Literature on risk factors for recidivism among juveniles who have sexually offended (JSOs) is limited. In addition, there have been no studies published concerning protective factors among this population. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of risk and protective factors to sexual and nonsexual recidivism among a sample of 193 male JSOs (mean age = 15.26). Youths were followed for an average of 7.24 years following discharge from a residential sex offender treatment program. The risk factor opportunities to reoffend, as coded based on the Estimate of Risk of Adolescent Sexual Offense Recidivism, was associated with sexual recidivism. Several risk factors (e.g., prior offending; peer delinquency) were associated with nonsexual recidivism. No protective factors examined were associated with sexual recidivism, although strong attachments and bonds as measured by the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth was negatively related to nonsexual recidivism. These findings indicate that risk factors for nonsexual recidivism may be consistent across both general adolescent offender populations and JSOs, but that there may be distinct protective factors that apply to sexual recidivism among JSOs. Results also indicate important needs for further research on risk factors, protective factors, and risk management strategies for JSOs.

  5. An exploration of psychopathy in self-report measures among juvenile sex offenders.

    PubMed

    Morrell, Laura M; Burton, David L

    2014-05-01

    Researchers have indicated that adult psychopathy often originates in childhood or adolescence. It has also been established that psychopathic traits are linked to disruptive behavior, criminality, and violence. As knowledge about psychopathy and its manifestations in juvenile sex offender populations remains limited, several instruments have been developed in an effort to measure the construct. In this study, we assessed how the relationship of diverse scales of psychopathy related to characteristics of sexual aggression, and determined which scales were most correlated to sexual and nonsexual delinquency. We utilized four measures of juvenile psychopathy: the Modified Childhood Psychopathy Scale (mCPS; Lynam, 1997), the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; Frick & Hare, 2001; Frick, O'Brien, Wootton, & McBurnett, 1994), the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI; Millon & Davis, 1993; using two derived psychopathy scales), and the Inventory of Callous and Unemotional (ICU) Traits (Frick, 2003), in a sample of 191 incarcerated adolescent sex offenders located in juvenile detention facilities across a Midwestern state. We found that of the four instruments and seven subscales, only the APSD Narcissism and Impulsivity Scale was significantly correlated to a characteristic of sexual crime (i.e., number of victims, level of crime severity). No subscales were found to predict sexual crime at a significant level. However, several scales were correlated to the total delinquency score as measured by the Self-Reported Delinquency Measure. In a series of multiple regressions, the MACI Factor 2 and ICU total score were determined as the best fit to total nonsexual delinquency. Implications are offered.

  6. The Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health Services Cascade: A new framework for measuring unmet substance use treatment services needs among adolescent offenders.

    PubMed

    Belenko, Steven; Knight, Danica; Wasserman, Gail A; Dennis, Michael L; Wiley, Tisha; Taxman, Faye S; Oser, Carrie; Dembo, Richard; Robertson, Angela A; Sales, Jessica

    2017-03-01

    Substance use and substance use disorders are highly prevalent among youth under juvenile justice (JJ) supervision, and related to delinquency, psychopathology, social problems, risky sex and sexually transmitted infections, and health problems. However, numerous gaps exist in the identification of behavioral health (BH) problems and in the subsequent referral, initiation and retention in treatment for youth in community justice settings. This reflects both organizational and systems factors, including coordination between justice and BH agencies. This paper presents a new framework, the Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health Services Cascade ("Cascade"), for measuring unmet substance use treatment needs to illustrate how the cascade approach can be useful in understanding service delivery issues and identifying strategies to improve treatment engagement and outcomes for youth under community JJ supervision. We discuss the organizational and systems barriers for linking delinquent youth to BH services, and explain how the Cascade can help understand and address these barriers. We provide a detailed description of the sequential steps and measures of the Cascade, and then offer an example of its application from the Juvenile Justice - Translational Research on Interventions for Adolescents in the Legal System project (JJ-TRIALS), a multi-site research cooperative funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. As illustrated with substance abuse treatment, the Cascade has potential for informing and guiding efforts to improve behavioral health service linkages for adolescent offenders, developing and testing interventions and policies to improve interagency and cross-systems coordination, and informing the development of measures and interventions for improving the implementation of treatment in complex multisystem service settings. Clinical Trials Registration number - NCT02672150. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. The Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health Services Cascade: A New Framework for Measuring Unmet Substance Use Treatment Services Needs among Adolescent Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Knight, Danica; Wasserman, Gail A.; Dennis, Michael L.; Wiley, Tisha; Taxman, Faye S.; Oser, Carrie; Dembo, Richard; Robertson, Angela A.; Sales, Jessica

    2017-01-01

    Overview Substance use and substance use disorders are highly prevalent among youth under juvenile justice (JJ) supervision, and related to delinquency, psychopathology, social problems, risky sex and sexually transmitted infections, and health problems. However, numerous gaps exist in the identification of behavioral health (BH) problems and in the subsequent referral, initiation and retention in treatment for youth in community justice settings. This reflects both organizational and systems factors, including coordination between justice and BH agencies. Methods and Results This paper presents a new framework, the Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health Services Cascade (“Cascade”), for measuring unmet substance use treatment needs to illustrate how the cascade approach can be useful in understanding service delivery issues and identifying strategies to improve treatment engagement and outcomes for youth under community JJ supervision. We discuss the organizational and systems barriers for linking delinquent youth to BH services, and explain how the Cascade can help understand and address these barriers. We provide a detailed description of the sequential steps and measures of the Cascade, and then offer an example of its application from the Juvenile Justice – Translational Research on Interventions for Adolescents in the Legal System project (JJ-TRIALS), a multi-site research cooperative funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Conclusion As illustrated with substance abuse treatment, the Cascade has potential for informing and guiding efforts to improve behavioral health service linkages for adolescent offenders, developing and testing interventions and policies to improve interagency and cross-systems coordination, and informing the development of measures and interventions for improving the implementation of treatment in complex multisystem service settings. PMID:28132705

  8. Understanding the School Outcomes of Juvenile Offenders: An Exploration of Neighborhood Influences and Motivational Resources

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chung, He Len; Mulvey, Edward P.; Steinberg, Laurence

    2011-01-01

    As a group, delinquent youth complete less education and show poor academic outcomes compared to their non-delinquent peers. To better understand pathways to school success, this study integrated individual- and neighborhood-level data to examine academic functioning among 833 White, Black, and Hispanic male juvenile offenders (age 14-17) living…

  9. Differences between Juvenile Offenders with and without Intellectual Disabilities in the Importance of Static and Dynamic Risk Factors for Recidivism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    van der Put, C. E.; Asscher, J. J.; Stams, G. J. J. M.; Moonen, X. M. H.

    2014-01-01

    Background: Juvenile offenders with intellectual disability (ID) have been largely ignored in the literature of risk assessment, while they are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, and ID is a risk factor for juvenile delinquency and recidivism. The aim of this study was to examine whether there are differences between juvenile…

  10. Death penalty support for special offender populations of legally convicted murderers: juveniles, the mentally retarded, and the mentally incompetent.

    PubMed

    Boots, Denise Paquette; Heide, Kathleen M; Cochran, John K

    2004-01-01

    The U.S. Supreme Court recently re-examined the constitutionality of the death penalty in the context of two of three special offender populations of murderers (juveniles, mentally retarded, and mentally incompetent). The Court reaffirmed the imposition of the death penalty for juveniles 16 and 17, while reversing itself on the mentally retarded. In reaching its decision, the Court relied on society's "evolving standards of decency." Using Likert-type items, this study is the first to have prospective jurors assess support for the death penalty for these specific offender groups. The public's support for the execution of each of the groups is then compared with existing case law. Descriptive statistics and regression analyses indicate that, as expected, the levels of support for the applicability of capital punishment to the various special offender populations are much lower than that for the general adult offender. Moreover, these findings are congruent with the holdings of the Court with one notable exception: a slight majority of respondents supported executing the mentally incompetent. Reasons for the public's apparent departure from the Supreme Court holding prohibiting the execution of mentally incompetent convicted murderers are discussed. The Court's continued role in protecting marginalized populations from "cruel and unusual punishment" is explored in the context of strong public sentiment demanding justice and finality despite changes in offenders' mental capacity. Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  11. Overlooked Victims: Working with Non-Offending Caregivers in Child Sexual Abuse Cases

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grant, Deborah Dillon

    2006-01-01

    The national statistics for child sexual abuse are staggering. In 2004, there were 209,880 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assaults according to the National Crime Victimization Survey. While effective treatment alternatives for victims are being provided, non-offending caregivers can be easily overlooked. Mason and Erooga (1990) have…

  12. Examining the Influence of Ethnic/Racial Socialization on Aggressive Behaviors Among Juvenile Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Zapolski, Tamika C. B.; Garcia, Crystal A.; Jarjoura, G. Roger; Lau, Katherine S. L.; Aalsma, Matthew C.

    2016-01-01

    Risk assessment instruments are commonly used within the juvenile justice system to estimate a juvenile's likelihood of reoffending or engaging in aggressive or violent behavior. Although such instruments assess a broad range of factors, the influence of culture is often excluded. The current study examines the unique effect of ethnic/racial socialization on recent aggressive behaviors above and beyond three well-established risk and protective factors: delinquency history, moral disengagement, and social support. Participants were 95 juveniles who were either on probation or in detention centers in three Midwestern counties and who completed structured surveys related to personal experiences within and outside of the juvenile justice system. The findings provided partial support for our hypotheses: Consistent with previous findings, delinquency history and moral disengagement were significant predictors of recent aggressive behavior. Furthermore, when ethnic/racial socialization was added to the model, promotion of mistrust provided additional predictive validity for aggressive behavior above and beyond the other factors assessed. Based on these findings, the inclusion of education on culture may prove to be an important supplement to established intervention tools for juvenile offenders. PMID:27453798

  13. Potential for Suicide and Aggression in Delinquents at Juvenile Court in a Southern City.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Battile, Allen O.; And Others

    1993-01-01

    Questioned 263 Juvenile Court offenders about whether they wished to be dead, kill themselves, or kill others and about their existential experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Used stepwise multiple logistic regression to pinpoint experiences associated with high likelihood of verbalizing wish for destructive behavior. Found sexual abuse as risk…

  14. Evaluation of the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act: client characteristics, treatment completion and re-offending three years after implementation.

    PubMed

    Evans, Elizabeth; Longshore, Douglas; Prendergast, Michael; Urada, Darren

    2006-11-01

    Representing a major shift in criminal justice policy, Proposition 36 became law in November 2000 as the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (SACPA), permitting eligible offenders to receive probation with drug treatment instead of probation or incarceration. UCLA's Integrated Substance Abuse Programs was chosen by the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs to conduct an independent evaluation of SACPA. Analysis of the first three years of data provides information on the flow of offenders through SACPA, client and program characteristics, treatment completion rates, and effects on re-offending. Results show that most eligible offenders chose to participate in SACPA; almost two-thirds of these went on to enter treatment. Compared to other treatment clients, SACPA treatment clients included fewer women, were predominately between 26 and 45 years old, were more likely to use methamphetamine, and had been using drugs a longer. Most SACPA clients were referred to outpatient drug-free treatment regardless of primary drug problem, and about one-third completed treatment. Re-offending was lowest among SACPA offenders who completed treatment. Felony and misdemeanor drug arrests were higher among SACPA-era drug offenders than in a similar group of pre-SACPA drug offenders. Future reports will cover possible SACPA cost savings, additional clients outcomes, and overall lessons learned.

  15. Ensuring Human Rights and the Development of Legal Awareness of Juvenile Offenders in Closed Institutions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pevtsova, Elena A.; Sapogov, Vladimir M.; Timofeev, Stanislav V.; Knyazeva, Elena Y.

    2016-01-01

    The relevance of the investigated problem is caused by the need to study the negative effects of juvenile offenders placement in places of social exclusion, violations of their social and legal development and effective methods of formation of socio-legal competence of students of closed type institutions. In this regard, this article aims to…

  16. Childhood maltreatment and post-traumatic stress disorder among incarcerated young offenders.

    PubMed

    Moore, Elizabeth; Gaskin, Claire; Indig, Devon

    2013-10-01

    Young offenders have a high prevalence of mental illness and a large proportion report experiencing a number of traumatic events during childhood, but there is little research exploring this association. This study describes the prevalence of, and association between, child maltreatment and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among young offenders. The study uses data collected as part of the 2009 NSW Young People in Custody Health Survey which was conducted in nine juvenile detention centers. This paper reports on findings from the baseline questionnaires and 18-months of re-offending data. The analysis included 291 participants who were assessed for PTSD and child maltreatment. The sample was 88% male, 48% Aboriginal, with an average age of 17 years (range 13-21 years). One in five (20%) participants were diagnosed with PTSD, with females significantly more likely to have PTSD than males (40% vs. 17%, p<0.05). Over half (60%) of young offenders reported any child abuse or neglect, with females nearly 10 times more likely to report three or more kinds of severe child maltreatment than males. The main correlate for a diagnosis of PTSD was having three or more kinds of severe child maltreatment (OR=6.73, 95% CI: 1.06-42.92). This study provides evidence for the need to comprehensively assess child abuse and neglect among young offenders in order to provide appropriate treatment in custody and post-release. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Lifetime exposure to traumatic events among adolescents in contact with the Nigerian juvenile justice systems compared with a comparison group of secondary school students.

    PubMed

    Atilola, Olayinka; Omigbodun, Olayinka; Bella-Awusah, Tolulope

    2014-05-01

    There are some knowledge gaps in what is known about pre-contact exposure to traumatic events among adolescents within the juvenile justice system. Data often focus on psychological sequelae without describing the traumatic events. In addition, there are few data from sub-Saharan Africa where juvenile justice inmates are often minor offenders and may themselves have been victims of abuse and neglect. To present detailed data on the lifetime prevalence rate and pattern of traumatic events among a cohort of adolescents in juvenile justice custody in Nigeria and to compare inmates who are 'offenders' with those who are 'victims'. Inmates of a borstal and a remand home comprised the study group and age- and gender-matched adolescents from two government schools were the secondary comparison group. The trauma-checklist of the Current and Lifetime Version of the Kiddies Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia was used as a guide in assessing traumatic events. Of a total of 408 adolescents, 204 were recruited from the two juvenile justice institutions and 204 from secondary schools. Ninety per cent of participants were male and the mean (SD) age was 15·9 (2·8) years. The prevalence rate of lifetime exposure to traumatic events among the juvenile justice offenders was 88·7% compared with 48·5% of the comparison group (P = 0·001). The most commonly reported specific lifetime traumatic event was physical abuse (52·8%). The institutionalised adolescents were significantly more likely to report lifetime exposure to almost all the traumatic events assessed. Apart from the perpetrators of violent crime, there was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence and pattern of lifetime exposure to traumatic events between the offenders and the victims. This study provides further evidence that exposure to traumatic events is a fact of life for inmates of juvenile institutions, irrespective of whether they are offenders or victims. The implications

  18. Adult-onset offenders: Is a tailored theory warranted?

    PubMed Central

    Beckley, Amber L.; Caspi, Avshalom; Harrington, Honalee; Houts, Renate M.; Mcgee, Tara Renae; Morgan, Nick; Schroeder, Felix; Ramrakha, Sandhya; Poulton, Richie; Moffitt, Terrie E.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose To describe official adult-onset offenders, investigate their antisocial histories and test hypotheses about their origins. Methods We defined adult-onset offenders among 931 Dunedin Study members followed to age 38, using criminal-court conviction records. Results Official adult-onset offenders were 14% of men, and 32% of convicted men, but accounted for only 15% of convictions. As anticipated by developmental theories emphasizing early-life influences on crime, adult-onset offenders’ histories of antisocial behavior spanned back to childhood. Relative to juvenile-offenders, during adolescence they had fewer delinquent peers and were more socially inhibited, which may have protected them from conviction. As anticipated by theories emphasizing the importance of situational influences on offending, adult-onset offenders, relative to non-offenders, during adulthood more often had schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and alcohol-dependence, had weaker social bonds, anticipated fewer informal sanctions, and self-reported more offenses. Contrary to some expectations, adult-onset offenders did not have high IQ or high socioeconomic-status families protecting them from juvenile conviction. Conclusions A tailored theory for adult-onset offenders is unwarranted because few people begin crime de novo as adults. Official adult-onset offenders fall on a continuum of crime and its correlates, between official non-offenders and official juvenile-onset offenders. Existing theories can accommodate adult-onset offenders. PMID:27134318

  19. Discriminant factors for adolescent sexual offending: On the usefulness of considering both victim age and sibling incest.

    PubMed

    Joyal, Christian C; Carpentier, Julie; Martin, Caroline

    2016-04-01

    Understanding the pathways and circumstances of juvenile sexual offending is of utmost importance. However, juvenile sexual offenders (JSO) represent an especially diverse group of individuals, and several categorizations have been proposed to obtain more homogeneous subgroups. Victim age-based and family relation-based categorizations are particularly promising because they seem theoretically and clinically relevant. Empirical results however are still inconsistent, and most studies have not considered these two dimensions jointly. The first goal of this study was to further examine the value of subgrouping JSO according to the age of their victim. A second goal was to determine the supplementary value, if any, of considering sibling incest. Based on a sample of 351 male JSO, it was first confirmed that sexual abuse of children was more strongly related to asociality (social skill deficits) than sexual abuse of peers, the latter being more closely associated with antisociality (general delinquency). The relevance of considering mixed-type JSO (with both child and peer victims) separately was also confirmed. More importantly, multivariate statistical analyses demonstrated that adding sibling incest to the equation was useful. JSO of intra-familial child were significantly more likely to have been victimized during their own childhood compared to JSO with extra-familial victims. Nevertheless, adolescents who had committed sibling incest obtained middle ground results on most variables (except for crime severity), suggesting that they constitute a distinct but not extreme, subgroup. This study confirmed the utility of using both the age and the family relation with the victim in characterizing juvenile sexual offending. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. The development and validation of the Youth Actuarial Care Needs Assessment Tool for Non-Offenders (Y-ACNAT-NO).

    PubMed

    Assink, Mark; van der Put, Claudia E; Oort, Frans J; Stams, Geert Jan J M

    2015-03-04

    In The Netherlands, police officers not only come into contact with juvenile offenders, but also with a large number of juveniles who were involved in a criminal offense, but not in the role of a suspect (i.e., juvenile non-offenders). Until now, no valid and reliable instrument was available that can be used by Dutch police officers for estimating the risk for future care needs of juvenile non-offenders. In the present study, the Youth Actuarial Care Needs Assessment Tool for Non-Offenders (Y-ACNAT-NO) was developed for predicting the risk for future care needs that consisted of (1) a future supervision order as imposed by a juvenile court judge and (2) future worrisome incidents involving child abuse, domestic violence/strife, and/or sexual offensive behavior at the juvenile's living address (i.e., problems in the child-rearing environment). Police records of 3,200 juveniles were retrieved from the Dutch police registration system after which the sample was randomly split in a construction (n = 1,549) and validation sample (n = 1,651). The Y-ACNAT-NO was developed by performing an Exhaustive CHAID analysis using the construction sample. The predictive validity of the instrument was examined in the validation sample by calculating several performance indicators that assess discrimination and calibration. The CHAID output yielded an instrument that consisted of six variables and eleven different risk groups. The risk for future care needs ranged from 0.06 in the lowest risk group to 0.83 in the highest risk group. The AUC value in the validation sample was .764 (95% CI [.743, .784]) and Sander's calibration score indicated an average assessment error of 3.74% in risk estimates per risk category. The Y-ACNAT-NO is the first instrument that can be used by Dutch police officers for estimating the risk for future care needs of juvenile non-offenders. The predictive validity of the Y-ACNAT-NO in terms of discrimination and calibration was sufficient to justify

  1. An Integrated Experiential Approach to Treating Young People Who Sexually Abuse

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Longo, Robert E.

    2004-01-01

    This article promotes the use of an integrated (holistic) approach to treating juvenile sexual offenders. An integrated model takes into account the fact that: (a) youth are resilient, (b) youth progress through various stages of development, (c) these stages are often arrested as a result of trauma, child abuse and neglect, and attachment…

  2. The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Recidivism in a Sample of Juvenile Offenders in Community-Based Treatment.

    PubMed

    Wolff, Kevin T; Baglivio, Michael T; Piquero, Alex R

    2017-08-01

    Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been identified as a key risk factor for a range of negative life outcomes, including delinquency. Much less is known about how exposure to negative experiences relates to continued offending among juvenile offenders. In this study, we examine the effect of ACEs on recidivism in a large sample of previously referred youth from the State of Florida who were followed for 1 year after participation in community-based treatment. Results from a series of Cox hazard models suggest that ACEs increase the risk of subsequent arrest, with a higher prevalence of ACEs leading to a shorter time to recidivism. The relationship between ACEs and recidivism held quite well in demographic-specific analyses. Implications for empirical research on the long-term effects of traumatic childhood events and juvenile justice policy are discussed.

  3. Developmental Risk Factors for Sexual Offending.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Joseph K. P.; Jackson, Henry J.; Pattison, Pip; Ward, Tony

    2002-01-01

    A study involving 64 Australian sex offenders and 33 non-sex offenders found childhood emotional abuse and family dysfunction, childhood behavior problems, and childhood sexual abuse were developmental risk factors for paraphilia. Emotional abuse and family dysfunction was found to be a risk factor for pedophilia, exhibitionism, rape, or multiple…

  4. Sexual offending in adolescence: a comparison of sibling offenders and nonsibling offenders across domains of risk and treatment need.

    PubMed

    Latzman, Natasha E; Viljoen, Jodi L; Scalora, Mario J; Ullman, Daniel

    2011-05-01

    Sibling sexual offending has received limited empirical attention, despite estimates that approximately half of all adolescent-perpetrated sexual offenses involve a sibling victim. The present study addresses this gap by examining male adolescent sibling (n = 100) and nonsibling offenders (n = 66) with regard to maltreatment histories and scores on two adolescent risk/need assessment instruments, the ERASOR and YLS/CMI. Adolescents who sexually abused a sibling, versus a nonsibling, were more likely to have histories of sexual abuse and been exposed to domestic violence and pornography. There were no group differences on ERASOR and YLS/CMI scales. This study adds to the limited discourse on sibling sexual offending and the larger literature on the heterogeneity of adolescents who have sexually offended.

  5. Childhood physical abuse, aggression, and suicide attempts among criminal offenders

    PubMed Central

    Swogger, Marc T.; You, Sungeun; Cashman-Brown, Sarah; Conner, Kenneth R.

    2010-01-01

    Childhood physical abuse (CPA) has numerous short and long-term negative effects. One of the most serious consequences of CPA is an increased risk for suicide attempts. Clarifying the mechanisms by which CPA increases risk for suicidal behavior may enhance preventative interventions. One potential mechanism is a tendency toward aggression. In a sample of 266 criminal offenders, ages 18–62, we examined the relationships among CPA, lifetime aggression, and suicide attempts and tested lifetime history of aggression as a mediator of the relationship between CPA and suicide attempts. Results indicated that CPA and aggression were associated with suicide attempts. Consistent with our hypothesis, lifetime aggression mediated the CPA-suicide attempt relationship. Findings suggest that aggression may be an important mediator of the relationship between CPA and suicide attempts among criminal offenders, and are consistent with the possibility that treating aggression may reduce risk for suicide attempts. PMID:20724000

  6. Male Adolescent Sex Offenders against Children: Similarities and Differences between Those Offenders with and Those without a History of Sexual Abuse.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hummel, Peter; Thomke, Volker; Oldenburger, Hartmut A.; Specht, Friedrich

    2000-01-01

    Compares sample of male adolescents (n=36) in relation to their personal development, family characteristics, and types of offense they committed, including those (n=16) with a history of sexual abuse who had offended against children. The most important difference between the two groups was the more frequent absence of the parents of adolescents…

  7. Filling Service Gaps: Providing Intensive Treatment Services for Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Young, Douglas W.; Farrell, Jill L.; Henderson, Craig E.; Taxman, Faye S.

    2009-01-01

    Consistent with the few studies that have previously examined treatment prevalence and access in the adult and juvenile justice systems, the recent National Criminal Justice Treatment Practices (NCJTP) survey indicated that there is a particular need to expand intensive treatment modalities for offenders in both institutional and community corrections settings. Applying multilevel modeling techniques to NCJTP survey data, this study explores conditions and factors that may underlie the wide variation among states in the provision of intensive treatment for offenders. Results indicate that states' overall rates of substance abuse and dependence, funding resources, and the state governor's political party affiliation were significantly associated with intensive treatment provision. Numerous factors that have been implicated in recent studies of evidence-based practice adoption, including state agency executives' views regarding rehabilitation, agency culture and climate, and other state-level measures (e.g., household income, crime rates, expenditures on treatment for the general population) were not associated with treatment provision. Future research should examine further variations in offenders' service needs, the role of legislators' political affiliations, and how other factors may interact with administrator characteristics in the adoption and expansion of intensive treatment services for offenders. PMID:19261394

  8. Filling service gaps: Providing intensive treatment services for offenders.

    PubMed

    Young, Douglas W; Farrell, Jill L; Henderson, Craig E; Taxman, Faye S

    2009-08-01

    Consistent with the few studies that have previously examined treatment prevalence and access in the adult and juvenile justice systems, the recent National Criminal Justice Treatment Practices (NCJTP) survey indicated that there is a particular need to expand intensive treatment modalities for offenders in both institutional and community corrections settings. Applying multilevel modeling techniques to NCJTP survey data, this study explores conditions and factors that may underlie the wide variation among states in the provision of intensive treatment for offenders. Results indicate that states' overall rates of substance abuse and dependence, funding resources, and the state governor's political party affiliation were significantly associated with intensive treatment provision. Numerous factors that have been implicated in recent studies of evidence-based practice adoption, including state agency executives' views regarding rehabilitation, agency culture and climate, and other state-level measures (e.g., household income, crime rates, expenditures on treatment for the general population) were not associated with treatment provision. Future research should examine further variations in offenders' service needs, the role of legislators' political affiliations, and how other factors may interact with administrator characteristics in the adoption and expansion of intensive treatment services for offenders.

  9. Relations Between Neighborhood Factors, Parenting Behaviors, Peer Deviance, and Delinquency Among Serious Juvenile Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Chung, He Len; Steinberg, Laurence

    2009-01-01

    The present study examined relations among neighborhood structural and social characteristics, parenting practices, peer group affiliations, and delinquency among a group of serious adolescent offenders. The sample of 14–18-year-old boys (N = 488) was composed primarily of economically disadvantaged, ethnic-minority youth living in urban communities. The results indicate that weak neighborhood social organization is indirectly related to delinquency through its associations with parenting behavior and peer deviance and that a focus on just 1 of these microsystems can lead to oversimplified models of risk for juvenile offending. The authors also find that community social ties may confer both pro- and antisocial influences to youth, and they advocate for a broad conceptualization of neighborhood social processes as these relate to developmental risk for youth living in disadvantaged communities. PMID:16569170

  10. Predictors of emotional and physical dating violence in a sample of serious juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Sweeten, Gary; Larson, Matthew; Piquero, Alex R

    2016-10-01

    We estimate group-based dating violence trajectories and identify the adolescent risk factors that explain membership in each trajectory group. Using longitudinal data from the Pathways to Desistance Study, which follows a sample of 1354 serious juvenile offenders from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Phoenix, Arizona between mid-adolescence and early adulthood, we estimate group-based trajectory models of both emotional dating violence and physical dating violence over a span of five years in young adulthood. We then estimate multinomial logistic regression models to identify theoretically motivated risk factors that predict membership in these groups. We identified three developmental patterns of emotional dating violence: none (33%), low-level (59%) and high-level decreasing (8%). The best-fitting model for physical dating violence also had three groups: none (73%), low-level (24%) and high-level (3%). Race/ethnicity, family and psychosocial variables were among the strongest predictors of both emotional and physical dating violence. In addition, delinquency history variables predicted emotional dating violence and relationship variables predicted physical dating violence. Dating violence is quite prevalent in young adulthood among serious juvenile offenders. Numerous predictors distinguish between chronic dating violence perpetrators and other groups. These may suggest points of intervention for reducing future violence. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  11. Childhood physical abuse, aggression, and suicide attempts among criminal offenders.

    PubMed

    Swogger, Marc T; You, Sungeun; Cashman-Brown, Sarah; Conner, Kenneth R

    2011-02-28

    Childhood physical abuse (CPA) has numerous short and long-term negative effects. One of the most serious consequences of CPA is an increased risk for suicide attempts. Clarifying the mechanisms by which CPA increases risk for suicidal behavior may enhance preventive interventions. One potential mechanism is a tendency toward aggression. In a sample of 266 criminal offenders, ages 18-62, we examined the relationships among CPA, lifetime aggression, and suicide attempts and tested lifetime history of aggression as a mediator of the relationship between CPA and suicide attempts. Results indicated that CPA and aggression were associated with suicide attempts. Consistent with our hypothesis, lifetime aggression mediated the CPA and suicide attempts relationship. Findings suggest that aggression may be an important mediator of the relationship between CPA and suicide attempts among criminal offenders, and are consistent with the possibility that treating aggression may reduce risk for suicide attempts. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. The Longitudinal Association of Relationship Quality and Reoffending Among First-Time Juvenile Offenders and Their Mothers.

    PubMed

    Cavanagh, Caitlin; Cauffman, Elizabeth

    2017-07-01

    To understand how youth desist from crime after their first arrest, it is necessary to investigate their primary support system: their parents. As such, this study examined the reciprocal effects of justice system contact on the mother-child dyad. Interviews with 317 mothers and their sons from Orange County, CA, Jefferson Parish, LA, and Philadelphia, PA were conducted semiannually over two and a half years. At the beginning of the study, the sons were first-time offenders aged 13-17 and mostly non-White (i.e., 19.2 White, 56.5 Latino, 21.5 Black, and 2.8% another race/ethnicity). The results revealed that a high quality initial mother-son relationship reduces youths' re-offending over time. Furthermore, as mothers perceived that their sons were offending more, they reported less warmth in their relationships with their sons two and a half years later. Interestingly, youth's age emerged as a moderator. First, older youth were less likely to engage in reoffending if they had a warm maternal relationship. Second, decreases in relationship warmth associated with re-offending were steeper for younger youth. The findings have implications for juvenile justice policy in terms of improving probationary outcomes for youth offenders, and alleviating the financial and emotional burden on justice system-involved families.

  13. Using the MAYSI-2 to identify mental disorder among Latino juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Eno Louden, Jennifer; Kang, Tamara; Ricks, Elijah P; Marquez, Lorae

    2017-06-01

    Many juvenile justice agencies have adopted the Massachusetts Youth Screening Inventory-Version 2 (MAYSI-2; Grisso & Barnum, 2006) to facilitate appropriate programming for young offenders with mental illness. Although Latinos are the fastest-growing ethnic group in the criminal justice system, there is scant research on the utility of the MAYSI-2 among Latino adolescents. The present study examined the utility of the MAYSI-2 in detecting diagnosable mental illness among 398 Latino and 60 European American adolescents in a juvenile justice agency. In addition to testing the scoring configuration used by the agency to identify adolescents in need of further attention, we tested 2 additional scoring configurations of the MAYSI-2. We found that the MAYSI-2 had similar utility at identifying serious mood and anxiety disorders for both ethnic groups, but was less sensitive to behavioral and substance use disorders among Latinos than it was among European Americans. In addition, the MAYSI-2 overall was less sensitive to mental illness among Latino boys compared with Latina girls. We discuss these findings within the context of best practices for identifying adolescents with mental illness in juvenile justice agencies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  14. Female and Male Juvenile Offenders with Disabilities: Differences in the Barriers to Their Transition to the Community

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Unruh, Deanne; Bullis, Michael

    2005-01-01

    This article examined differences between young women and men who were incarcerated juvenile offenders with disabilities in Oregon in terms of the barriers they faced in their transition from the correctional system back into the community. Data were gathered on 72 females and 276 males, all of whom presented disabilities and who were…

  15. Miranda Rights: Implications for Juveniles with Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Katsiyannis, Antonis; Barrett, David E.; Losinski, Mickey L.

    2011-01-01

    Juvenile delinquency in the United States has been a persistent concern for decades. Consequently, because more juveniles have been referred to juvenile court and the arrest rate of preteen offenders has increased to almost three times that of older youth, the persistent and often controversial issue of the capacity of juvenile offenders to waive…

  16. The Brief Peer Conflict Scale: Psychometric Properties Among a Sample of Incarcerated Male Juvenile Offenders.

    PubMed

    Pechorro, Pedro; Russell, Justin D; Ayala-Nunes, Lara; Gonçalves, Rui Abrunhosa; Nunes, Cristina

    2018-06-01

    Aggression can be considered a multidimensional construct that influences various forms of antisocial behavior, including juvenile delinquency and conduct problems. The aim of the present study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Brief Peer Conflict Scale-20 item version (PCS-20) among a Portuguese forensic sample (N = 192) of incarcerated male juvenile offenders ( M = 16.62 years; SD = 1.52 years; age range = 13-18 years). The PCS-20 demonstrated good psychometric properties in terms of its four-factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity that generally justify its use among incarcerated male youth. The findings provide additional support for the extension of the PCS-20 across different cultures, ethnic groups, and samples.

  17. Substance Abuse among High-Risk Sexual Offenders: Do Measures of Lifetime History of Substance Abuse Add to the Prediction of Recidivism over Actuarial Risk Assessment Instruments?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Looman, Jan; Abracen, Jeffrey

    2011-01-01

    There has been relatively little research on the degree to which measures of lifetime history of substance abuse add to the prediction of risk based on actuarial measures alone among sexual offenders. This issue is of relevance in that a history of substance abuse is related to relapse to substance using behavior. Furthermore, substance use has…

  18. Violent offending among juveniles: A 7-year longitudinal study of recidivism, desistance, and associations with mental health.

    PubMed

    Hein, Sascha; Barbot, Baptiste; Square, Amanda; Chapman, John; Geib, Catherine Foley; Grigorenko, Elena L

    2017-06-01

    Serious and violent offending among juveniles is a consistent concern of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, yet the development of violent offending remains poorly understood because of limited availability of relevant data, small sample sizes, and shortage of longitudinal data sets. This study analyzed developmental patterns of violent offending over 7 years in the complete population of court-referred youth in Connecticut between 2006 and 2012 (N = 58,678; mean age at first offense = 14.7 years). This unique dataset provided several key findings: First, results from a latent class growth analysis showed that violent crimes peaked at age 14-15, with high-rate adolescent offenders (3.7% of the sample) accounting for 31.9% of all violent offenses. Further, 74.2% of this group desisted from violent crimes in adulthood. Higher levels of self-reported anger/irritability slightly increased the odds of violent recidivism (odds ratio, OR = 1.09), where higher levels of depression/anxiety depressed the odds (OR = 0.89). The overrepresentation of males, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic youth among high-rate adolescence offenders were traceable through adolescence but not beyond the age of 18. Together, these finding may help to inform new delinquency interventions that target the needs of this proportionally small group of violent adolescent offenders accounting for a large amount of violent crimes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  19. Learning and Thinking: A Behavioral Treatise on Abuse and Antisocial Behavior in Young Criminal Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Prather, Walter; Golden, Jeannie A.

    2009-01-01

    Social learning theory provides a useful conceptual framework for understanding abuse and the teaching and learning of antisocial or criminal behavior in young offenders. This article examines social learning theory and the quality of parent-child relationships from the perspective of behavioral analysis, and provides a rationale for a…

  20. A meta-analysis of experimental studies of diversion programs for juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Schwalbe, Craig S; Gearing, Robin E; MacKenzie, Michael J; Brewer, Kathryne B; Ibrahim, Rawan

    2012-02-01

    Research to establish an evidence-base for the treatment of conduct problems and delinquency in adolescence is well established; however, an evidence-base for interventions with offenders who are diverted from the juvenile justice system has yet to be synthesized. The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis of experimental studies testing juvenile diversion programs and to examine the moderating effect of program type and implementation quality. A literature search using PsycINFO, Web of Science, and the National Criminal Justice Reference Service data-bases and research institute websites yielded 28 eligible studies involving 57 experimental comparisons and 19,301 youths. Recidivism was the most common outcome reported across all studies. Overall, the effect of diversion programs on recidivism was non-significant (k=45, OR=0.83, 95%CI=0.43-1.58). Of the five program types identified, including case management (k=18, OR=0.78), individual treatment (k=11, OR=0.83), family treatment (k=4, OR=0.57), youth court (k=6, OR=0.93), and restorative justice (k=6, OR=0.87), only family treatment led to a statistically significant reduction in recidivism. Restorative justice studies that were implemented with active involvement of researchers led to statistically significant reductions in recidivism (k=3, OR=0.69). Other outcomes, including frequency of offending, truancy, and psycho-social problems were reported infrequently and were not subjected to meta-analysis. High levels of heterogeneity characterize diversion research. Results of this study recommend against implementation of programs limited to case management and highlight the promise of family interventions and restorative justice. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Adolescent and young adult male sex offenders: understanding the role of recidivism.

    PubMed

    Riser, Diana K; Pegram, Sheri E; Farley, Julee P

    2013-01-01

    The current review explores the complex paths that can lead to adolescent and young adult males becoming sexually abusive. Because sexual abuse is an ongoing issue in our society that is often oversimplified, this article distinguishes between the various risk factors that predict sexually abusive behavior and types of sex offenders, particularly recidivistic offenders. It is imperative to focus on adolescents and young adults who sexually abuse because they represent a particularly important intervention point in preventing sexual abuse in comparison to older age groups and address the importance of differentiating among youths who sexually abuse, particularly between one-time offenders and recidivistic offenders. Implications for addressing these differences are discussed.

  2. Sentencing convicted juvenile felony offenders in the adult court: the direct effects of race.

    PubMed

    Howell, Rebecca J; Hutto, Tonya Spicer

    2012-01-01

    While research indicates that Black and Hispanic adults sentenced in the criminal court tend to be rendered more severe punishments than their White counterparts, only one prior study has examined whether this finding holds for juveniles tried in the adult system. The findings from this sole study need replication, however, since the effects posed by trial type were not taken into account and it is likely that the results are confounded by measurement error resulting from overlap in criminal sentencing. The current study addressed these issues by assessing whether race has a direct impact on waived juveniles being criminally sentenced to restitution, probation, or jail. Data were derived from a secondary, cross-sectional national dataset on felony juvenile offenders convicted in the adult system. Three hypotheses were tested. After controlling for a number of important legal and extra-legal predictors of sentencing, race differences in sentencing outcomes were observed and the findings yielded partial support for the hypotheses. The implications of the research are noted. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  3. Exploring links between juvenile offenders and social disorganization at a large map scale: a Bayesian spatial modeling approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Law, Jane; Quick, Matthew

    2013-01-01

    This paper adopts a Bayesian spatial modeling approach to investigate the distribution of young offender residences in York Region, Southern Ontario, Canada, at the census dissemination area level. Few geographic researches have analyzed offender (as opposed to offense) data at a large map scale (i.e., using a relatively small areal unit of analysis) to minimize aggregation effects. Providing context is the social disorganization theory, which hypothesizes that areas with economic deprivation, high population turnover, and high ethnic heterogeneity exhibit social disorganization and are expected to facilitate higher instances of young offenders. Non-spatial and spatial Poisson models indicate that spatial methods are superior to non-spatial models with respect to model fit and that index of ethnic heterogeneity, residential mobility (1 year moving rate), and percentage of residents receiving government transfer payments are, respectively, the most significant explanatory variables related to young offender location. These findings provide overwhelming support for social disorganization theory as it applies to offender location in York Region, Ontario. Targeting areas where prevalence of young offenders could or could not be explained by social disorganization through decomposing the estimated risk map are helpful for dealing with juvenile offenders in the region. Results prompt discussion into geographically targeted police services and young offender placement pertaining to risk of recidivism. We discuss possible reasons for differences and similarities between the previous findings (that analyzed offense data and/or were conducted at a smaller map scale) and our findings, limitations of our study, and practical outcomes of this research from a law enforcement perspective.

  4. Treatment Outcome Research with the Non-Offending Parents of Sexually Abused Children: A Critical Review

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Corcoran, Jacqueline

    2004-01-01

    Potentially deleterious effects arise from the experience of childhood sexual abuse, but maternal supportiveness has been identified as a crucial mediator. Consequently, a body of knowledge has begun to develop on interventions designed to improve the supportiveness and adjustment of the non-offending parent. The present paper attempts to provide…

  5. Police attitudes toward domestic violence offenders.

    PubMed

    Logan, T K; Shannon, Lisa; Walker, Robert

    2006-10-01

    Police attitudes are important in facilitating a sense of safety and comfort in women seeking justice-system support for protection from partner violence. This study examined police attitudes toward sanctions and treatment for domestic violence offenders compared with other violent and nonviolent offenders. In addition, police attitudes toward domestic violence offenders who do and do not use substances were examined. Officers from one city police department (n = 315) participated in a survey. Results indicate there is a trend toward attitudes that treatment, rather than sanctions, was more appropriate for domestic violence offenders. In addition, officers rated the use of sanctions higher for domestic violence offenders who abuse alcohol or drugs compared with domestic violence offenders who did not abuse alcohol or drugs. Understanding police attitudes toward domestic violence offenders may have implications for police training and victim services in facilitating the use of the justice system in protecting women from partner violence.

  6. [The characteristics of offenders abusing alcohol in view of forensic-psychiatric assessments].

    PubMed

    Juszczak, Dariusz; Talarowska, Monika

    2009-09-01

    The relationship between alcohol consumption and crime appears to be unquestionable. However, the mechanisms that lead to violence and aggression under the influence of alcohol are not entirely understood. To attempt answering the question: what are the features characterizing offenders declaring alcohol abuse. The research material consisted of 581 forensic-psychiatric assessments issued by experts from Psychiatric Ward of 107 Military Hospital in Walcz between 1990 and 2000. A specially designed questionnaire titled "Charter of Diagnosis of Factors Determining Criminal Activity" has been used. Results. Relevant statistical dependencies were observed. (1) Alcohol consumption has a criminogenic effect and is characteristic for offences against life and health and family. (2) Alcohol abuse is a trigger mechanism for psychiatric disturbances, particularly those with underlying organic damage to CNS.

  7. Isolation, gratification, justification: offenders' explanations of child molesting.

    PubMed

    Lawson, Louanne

    2003-01-01

    Child sexual abusers' descriptions of their thoughts, behaviors, and relationships were identified by reviewing qualitative research studies published between 1982 and 2001. Offenders used cognitive distortions to meet personal needs, protect themselves from aversive self-awareness, and overcome internal inhibitions against engaging children in sexual activity. Offenders carefully groomed their victims by systematically separating them from their families and peers and socializing them into sexual relationships. Specific cognitive and behavioral processes were used to translate sexual arousal into offending behavior. Offenders justified the abuse by making excuses and redefining their actions as love and mutuality. Throughout the process, offenders exploited the power imbalance inherent in all adult-child relationships. The participants in these studies provided a unique perspective on child sexual abuse that can be used to help victims cope, guide treatment development and evaluation, and suggest new questions for future research.

  8. Anger experience, styles of anger expression, sadistic personality disorder, and psychopathy in juvenile sexual homicide offenders.

    PubMed

    Myers, W C; Monaco, L

    2000-05-01

    Sexual homicide by juveniles is a rare phenomenon, and information regarding the psychological and behavioral characteristics of this group is limited. No studies exist which have investigated anger experience and styles of anger expression, and the relationship between anger, sadistic personality disorder, and psychopathy, in this type of youthful offender. These areas were explored by evaluating 14 juvenile sexual homicide offenders through clinical assessment, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP), the Revised Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R), and review of correctional records. Descriptive information for the STAXI scales and internal consistency data are presented. Trait Anger was significantly higher than State Anger for the youth, but still comparable to adolescent norms. The difference between Anger-In and Anger-Out scale scores was not significant. Unexpectedly, Anger Control scale scores were significantly higher than Anger Out scale scores, clinically consistent with efforts by some of these boys to resist sadistic impulses. Those four (31%) participants who met criteria for sadistic personality had significantly higher Anger-Out scale scores than those without the disorder, and were also higher on Trait Anger to a marginally significant degree. Psychopathy was significantly negatively associated with Anger Control. This study is intended to contribute to the scant literature on juvenile sexual homicide, and lends some support to the validity and utility of sadistic personality disorder as a diagnosis in younger forensic populations. The findings did not support the contention that this form of violence is necessarily an outgrowth of excessive anger.

  9. Juvenile Offender Corrections Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Michigan State Council on Vocational Education, Lansing.

    The vocational education programs offered in Michigan's juvenile corrections institutions were reviewed. Information was collected from the following sources: review of student outcomes; student and teacher surveys; and team reviews and surveys of students at two residential training schools for juveniles (Maxley and Adrian training schools); site…

  10. Family Foundations: A New Program for Pregnant and Parenting Women Offenders with Substance Abuse Histories

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wiewel, Brenda; Mosley, Toni

    2006-01-01

    A new program in California partners the California Department of Corrections with a non-profit drug treatment agency on behalf of pregnant or parenting women who are drug offenders with substance abuse histories. The women are sentenced to the family foundations facility for one year and receive a range of special services to prepare for…

  11. Child pornography possessors: trends in offender and case characteristics.

    PubMed

    Wolak, Janis; Finkelhor, David; Mitchell, Kimberly

    2011-03-01

    This article describes trends in child pornography (CP) possession cases that ended in arrest in 2000 and in 2006, using data from the National Juvenile Online Victimization Study, a two-wave longitudinal survey of a national sample of more than 2,500 U.S. law enforcement agencies. In 2006, there were an estimated 3,672 arrests for CP possession, compared with 1,713 arrests in 2000. Many characteristics of the offenders and the offense remained stable. In both 2006 and 2000, most offenders were White, non-Hispanic males and socioeconomically diverse. Few were known to have committed previous sex crimes. Most had CP that depicted preteen children and serious sexual abuse. In 2006, however, a higher proportion of offenders were aged 18 to 25 years, used peer-to-peer (p2p) networks, had images of children younger than 3 years, and had CP videos. P2p users had more extreme images (e.g., younger victims, sexual violence) and larger numbers of images than those who did not use p2p networks. Findings reflect heightened efforts in the criminal justice system to combat CP crimes. More cases originated with investigations of CP possession and involved proactive investigations aimed at detecting CP. The great majority of cases were successfully prosecuted, with more offenders sentenced to incarceration and serving longer sentences than in 2000. As in 2000, one in six cases that began with investigations of CP possession detected offenders who had molested children.

  12. Juvenile crime and criminal justice: resolving border disputes.

    PubMed

    Fagan, Jeffrey

    2008-01-01

    Rising juvenile crime rates during the 1970s and 1980s spurred state legislatures across the country to exclude or transfer a significant share of offenders under the age of eighteen to the jurisdiction of the criminal court, essentially redrawing the boundary between the juvenile and adult justice systems. Jeffrey Fagan examines the legal architecture of the new boundary-drawing regime and how effective it has been in reducing crime. The juvenile court, Fagan emphasizes, has always had the power to transfer juveniles to the criminal court. Transfer decisions were made individually by judges who weighed the competing interests of public safety and the possibility of rehabilitating young offenders. This authority has now been usurped by legislators and prosecutors. The recent changes in state law have moved large numbers of juveniles into the adult system. As many as 25 percent of all juvenile offenders younger than eighteen, says Fagan, are now prosecuted in adult court. Many live in states where the age boundary between juvenile and criminal court has been lowered to sixteen or seventeen. The key policy question is: do these new transfer laws reduce crime? In examining the research evidence, Fagan finds that rates of juvenile offending are not lower in states where it is relatively more common to try adolescents as adults. Likewise, juveniles who have been tried as adults are no less likely to re-offend than their counterparts who have been tried as juveniles. Treating juveniles as adult criminals, Fagan concludes, is not effective as a means of crime control. Fagan argues that the proliferation of transfer regimes over the past several decades calls into question the very rationale for a juvenile court. Transferring adolescent offenders to the criminal court exposes them to harsh and sometimes toxic forms of punishment that have the perverse effect of increasing criminal activity. The accumulating evidence on transfer, the recent decrease in serious juvenile

  13. The Influence of Age and Sexual Drive on the Predictive Validity of the Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-Revised.

    PubMed

    Wijetunga, Charity; Martinez, Ricardo; Rosenfeld, Barry; Cruise, Keith

    2018-01-01

    The Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-Revised (J-SOAP-II) is the most commonly used measure in the assessment of recidivism risk among juveniles who have committed sexual offenses (JSOs), but mixed support exists for its predictive validity. This study compared the predictive validity of the J-SOAP-II across two offender characteristics, age and sexual drive, in a sample of 156 JSOs who had been discharged from a correctional facility or a residential treatment program. The J-SOAP-II appeared to be a better predictor of sexual recidivism for younger JSOs (14-16 years old) than for older ones (17-19 years old), with significant differences found for the Dynamic Summary Scale and Scale III (Intervention). In addition, several of the measure's scales significantly predicted sexual recidivism for JSOs with a clear pattern of sexualized behavior but not for those without such a pattern, indicating that the J-SOAP-II may have greater clinical utility for JSOs with heightened sexual drive. The implications of these findings are discussed.

  14. “The Chain Has to Be Broken”: A Qualitative Investigation of the Experiences of Young Women Following Juvenile Court Involvement

    PubMed Central

    Bright, Charlotte Lyn; Ward, Sara K.; Negi, Nalini Junko

    2012-01-01

    Whereas the number of girls involved in the juvenile justice system is on the rise, little is known about female juvenile offenders after they reach adulthood. This study aims to explore the meaning that young adult women ascribe to their juvenile court experiences and assess their perceptions of facilitators and barriers to progress in their adult lives. Data on services and support are presented from nine semistructured interviews. Findings include the commonality of mental health issues, substance abuse, and problematic relationships with intimate partners. Implications for service provision and policy, as well as future research directions, are outlined. PMID:29710878

  15. A population-based study of juvenile perpetrators of homicide in England and Wales.

    PubMed

    Rodway, Cathryn; Norrington-Moore, Victoria; While, David; Hunt, Isabelle M; Flynn, Sandra; Swinson, Nicola; Roscoe, Alison; Appleby, Louis; Shaw, Jenny

    2011-02-01

    This study aimed to describe the social, behavioural and offence characteristics of all convicted perpetrators of homicide aged 17 and under; to examine their previous contact with mental health services, and to discuss strategies for homicide prevention. An eight-year (1996-2004) sample of 363 juvenile homicide perpetrators in England and Wales was examined. The majority of perpetrators were male, used a sharp instrument, and most victims were acquaintances or strangers. Over half had previously offended. A history of alcohol and/or drug misuse was common, as was the prevalence of family dysfunction, abuse, educational difficulties or discipline problems. Previous contact with mental health services was rare. Earlier intervention targeting social and psychological adversity and substance misuse could help to reduce the level of risk for future violence, and may reduce homicide rates among juveniles. Strengthening engagement with young offenders and increasing resources to prevent recidivism may also be beneficial. Copyright © 2010 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. All rights reserved.

  16. Incarcerated Youths' Perspectives on Protective Factors and Risk Factors for Juvenile Offending: A Qualitative Analysis.

    PubMed

    Barnert, Elizabeth S; Perry, Raymond; Azzi, Veronica F; Shetgiri, Rashmi; Ryan, Gery; Dudovitz, Rebecca; Zima, Bonnie; Chung, Paul J

    2015-07-01

    We sought to understand incarcerated youths' perspectives on the role of protective factors and risk factors for juvenile offending. We performed an in-depth qualitative analysis of interviews (conducted October-December 2013) with 20 incarcerated youths detained in the largest juvenile hall in Los Angeles. The adolescent participants described their homes, schools, and neighborhoods as chaotic and unsafe. They expressed a need for love and attention, discipline and control, and role models and perspective. Youths perceived that when home or school failed to meet these needs, they spent more time on the streets, leading to incarceration. They contrasted the path through school with the path to jail, reporting that the path to jail felt easier. All of them expressed the insight that they had made bad decisions and that the more difficult path was not only better but also still potentially achievable. Breaking cycles of juvenile incarceration will require that the public health community partner with legislators, educators, community leaders, and youths to determine how to make success, rather than incarceration, the easier path for disadvantaged adolescents.

  17. Incarcerated Youths’ Perspectives on Protective Factors and Risk Factors for Juvenile Offending: A Qualitative Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Perry, Raymond; Azzi, Veronica F.; Shetgiri, Rashmi; Ryan, Gery; Dudovitz, Rebecca; Zima, Bonnie; Chung, Paul J.

    2015-01-01

    Objectives. We sought to understand incarcerated youths’ perspectives on the role of protective factors and risk factors for juvenile offending. Methods. We performed an in-depth qualitative analysis of interviews (conducted October–December 2013) with 20 incarcerated youths detained in the largest juvenile hall in Los Angeles. Results. The adolescent participants described their homes, schools, and neighborhoods as chaotic and unsafe. They expressed a need for love and attention, discipline and control, and role models and perspective. Youths perceived that when home or school failed to meet these needs, they spent more time on the streets, leading to incarceration. They contrasted the path through school with the path to jail, reporting that the path to jail felt easier. All of them expressed the insight that they had made bad decisions and that the more difficult path was not only better but also still potentially achievable. Conclusions. Breaking cycles of juvenile incarceration will require that the public health community partner with legislators, educators, community leaders, and youths to determine how to make success, rather than incarceration, the easier path for disadvantaged adolescents. PMID:25521878

  18. Psychosocial adversity, delinquent pathway and internalizing psychopathology in juvenile male offenders.

    PubMed

    Lemos, Ida; Faísca, Luis

    2015-01-01

    The main aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of a set of risk factors relating to childhood life events and other psychosocial factors that may be associated with criminal indicators and with the prevalence of internalizing psychopathology in a sample of adolescent offenders. Fifty male adolescents in the custody of the Portuguese Juvenile Justice System participated in the study (M=15.8 years of age). The Adolescent Psychopathology Scale - Short Form (APS-SF) was administered in a structured interview format, and the sociodemographic, family and criminal data questionnaire was filled in by the justice professional after consulting the adolescent's file. Forty-six percent of all subjects had previous delinquent behavior. About 32% of the boys had committed violent offenses and 88% acted with peers. Also, the persistence of the delinquent behavior (50% of the offenders), coupled with the increase in the severity of the crimes committed (38% of the sample), suggests that these adolescents were at risk for serious and chronic delinquency at the time of the intervention. About 32% of the participants reported posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, 20% had suicide ideation, and a lower percentage reported other internalizing problems. Institutionalization, maltreatment and conduct problems in childhood, and family risk factors (parental conflict, absence of a father figure, lack of parental control and family substance addiction) were related with the report of internalizing problems. Moreover, the increase in the severity of criminal offenses and living in a correctional facility were associated with higher levels of posttraumatic stress, interpersonal problems, anxiety and depression. This study draws attention to the importance of assessing indicators of psychopathology and of psychosocial risk in intervention programs with young offenders, but also to the need of family focused interventions in order to help prevent recidivism. Copyright

  19. Factors Related to Co-Offending and Coerced Offending Among Female Sex Offenders: The Role of Childhood and Adult Trauma Histories.

    PubMed

    Comartin, Erin B; Burgess-Proctor, Amanda; Kubiak, Sheryl; Kernsmith, Poco

    2018-02-01

    Research suggests two important domains of women's sexual offending: co-offending, in which additional perpetrators are present with the woman during the crime, and coerced offending, in which the woman feels pressured by someone else to commit the crime. This exploratory analysis examines these 2 domains using self-report data from 60 incarcerated female sex offenders (FSOs) in a Midwestern state. In addition to indicating whether a co-offender was present and whether they felt pressure to commit the sex offense for which they were incarcerated, participants provided demographic information about themselves, the victim, and the offense, as well as about their own trauma, substance abuse, and mental illness histories. Results indicate that childhood and adult trauma histories are related to both co-offending and coerced offending among FSOs. Implications for theory, policy and practice, and future research are discussed.

  20. Toward a Rational Policy on Status Offenders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boisvert, Maurice J.; Wells, Robert

    1980-01-01

    Records of 125 randomly selected status offenders who appeared before Worcester, Massachusetts Juvenile Court (1973) were reviewed; demographic and offense-related data were analyzed. Exposes myths surrounding decriminalization, views decriminalization as effective in removing status offenders from stigmatizing effects of court involvement. (NRB)

  1. Do adolescent drug users fare the worst? Onset type, juvenile delinquency, and criminal careers.

    PubMed

    DeLisi, Matt; Angton, Alexia; Behnken, Monic P; Kusow, Abdi M

    2015-02-01

    Although substance abuse often accompanies delinquency and other forms of antisocial behavior, there is less scholarly agreement about the timing of substance use vis-à-vis an individual's antisocial trajectory. Similarly, although there is extraordinary evidence that onset is inversely related to the severity of the criminal career, there is surprisingly little research on the offense type of onset or the type of antisocial behavior that was displayed when an individual initiated his or her offending career. Drawing on data from a sample of serious adult criminal offenders (N = 500), the current study examined 12 forms of juvenile delinquency (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, auto theft, arson, weapons, sexual offense, drug sales, and drug use) in addition to age at arrest onset, age, sex, race to explore their association with chronicity (total arrests), extreme chronicity (1 SD above the mean which was equivalent to 90 career arrests), and lambda (offending per year). The only onset offense type that was significantly associated with all criminal career outcomes was juvenile drug use. Additional research on the offense type of delinquent onset is needed to understand launching points of serious antisocial careers. © The Author(s) 2013.

  2. The Colorado Sex Offender Risk Scale.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    English, Kim; Retzlaff, Paul; Kleinsasser, Dennis

    2002-01-01

    Documents the development of an adult sex offender risk assessment tool. A risk scale was developed based upon criminal and therapeutic outcomes of 494 sex offenders. The final risk scale included prior juvenile felony convictions, prior adult felony convictions, victim being intoxicated, denial in therapy, sexual deviance in therapy, and…

  3. Characteristics of females who sexually offend: a comparison of solo and co-offenders.

    PubMed

    Gillespie, Steven M; Williams, Rebecca; Elliott, Ian A; Eldridge, Hilary J; Ashfield, Sherry; Beech, Anthony R

    2015-06-01

    Although recent typologies of female sexual offenders have recognized the importance of having a co-offender, the clinical characteristics of solo and co-female sexual offenders remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to compare solo (n = 20) and co- (n = 20) female sexual offenders on a variety of clinical characteristics. It was found that although solo and co-offenders reported similar developmental experiences and psychological dispositions, differences were found in environmental niche, offense preceding, and positive factors. Specifically, solo offenders demonstrated a greater presence of personal vulnerabilities including mental health and substance abuse difficulties. Co-offenders reported a greater presence of environmentally based factors, including a current partner who was a known sex offender and involvement with antisocial peers. It is suggested that these results have implications for understanding assessment and intervention needs for these groups of sexual offenders. © The Author(s) 2014.

  4. Witnessing domestic violence during childhood is associated with psychopathic traits in adult male criminal offenders

    PubMed Central

    Dargis, Monika; Koenigs, Michael

    2017-01-01

    While there is growing evidence that suffering physical abuse during childhood is subsequently associated with psychopathic traits in both juvenile and adult offenders, there is considerably less research on whether exposure to domestic violence as a witness, rather than as a direct victim, influences the subsequent presentation of psychopathic traits in adulthood. Accordingly, the current study examined the relationship between witnessing domestic violence during childhood (i.e., witnessing, hearing, or intervening in abuse against a parent/sibling) and psychopathic traits in adulthood in a sample of n = 127 incarcerated male offenders. As predicted, witnessing domestic violence was significantly associated with overall level of psychopathy, with a particularly strong relationship to the interpersonal/affective features of psychopathy. Importantly, this relationship held when controlling for the experience of domestic violence as a direct victim. These results add to the growing body of literature linking adverse and traumatic events during childhood with psychopathic traits later in life, and suggest that domestic violence exposure may be one factor contributing to the manipulative, interpersonal style exhibited by individuals high in psychopathy. PMID:28150975

  5. Association of Normative Beliefs and Anger with Aggression and Antisocial Behavior in Russian Male Juvenile Offenders and High School Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sukhodolsky, Denis G.; Ruchkin, Vladislav V.

    2004-01-01

    Examined the association of anger experience and two types of normative beliefs with physical aggression and nonaggressive antisocial behavior in 361 juvenile offenders and 206 high school students in Russia. All participants were male and ranged in age from 14 to 18 years. Higher frequency of aggressive acts was significantly associated with…

  6. Patterns of Competence and Adjustment Among Adolescents from Authoritative, Authoritarian, Indulgent, and Neglectful Homes: A Replication in a Sample of Serious Juvenile Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Steinberg, Laurence; Blatt-Eisengart, Ilana; Cauffman, Elizabeth

    2009-01-01

    The correlates of authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful parenting were examined within a sample of 1,355 14- to 18-year-olds adjudicated of serious criminal offenses. The sample is composed primarily of poor, ethnic-minority youth living in impoverished urban neighborhoods. As has been found in community samples, juvenile offenders who describe their parents as authoritative are more psychosocially mature, more academically competent, less prone to internalized distress, and less prone to externalizing problems than their peers,whereas those who describe their parents as neglectful are less mature, less competent, and more troubled. Juvenile offenders who characterize their parents as either authoritarian or indulgent typically score somewhere between the two extremes, although those from authoritarian homes are consistently better functioning than those from indulgent homes. These patterns did not vary as a function of adolescents' ethnicity or gender. PMID:20016759

  7. Patterns of Competence and Adjustment Among Adolescents from Authoritative, Authoritarian, Indulgent, and Neglectful Homes: A Replication in a Sample of Serious Juvenile Offenders.

    PubMed

    Steinberg, Laurence; Blatt-Eisengart, Ilana; Cauffman, Elizabeth

    2006-03-01

    The correlates of authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful parenting were examined within a sample of 1,355 14- to 18-year-olds adjudicated of serious criminal offenses. The sample is composed primarily of poor, ethnic-minority youth living in impoverished urban neighborhoods. As has been found in community samples, juvenile offenders who describe their parents as authoritative are more psychosocially mature, more academically competent, less prone to internalized distress, and less prone to externalizing problems than their peers,whereas those who describe their parents as neglectful are less mature, less competent, and more troubled. Juvenile offenders who characterize their parents as either authoritarian or indulgent typically score somewhere between the two extremes, although those from authoritarian homes are consistently better functioning than those from indulgent homes. These patterns did not vary as a function of adolescents' ethnicity or gender.

  8. Characteristics of Female Solo and Female Co-Offenders and Male Solo Sexual Offenders Against Children.

    PubMed

    Williams, Rebecca; Gillespie, Steven M; Elliott, Ian A; Eldridge, Hilary J

    2017-09-01

    Studies have highlighted differences in the victim choice, offender, and offense characteristics of female and male sexual offenders. However, little is known about how solo and co-offending females differ from solo male sexual offenders. We compared the characteristics of 20 solo and 20 co-offending females (co-offended with a male and/or female accomplice), and 40 male sexual offenders against children. We found that solo female offenders showed the most evidence of personal problems, including depression and sexual dissatisfaction. Compared with male offenders, female co-offenders showed poorer self-management, but better sexual self-regulation. Male offenders had a greater history of offending and showed more evidence of sexual abuse supportive cognitions relative to both solo and co-offending females. These results are consistent with the need for a gender-specific approach to working with sexual offenders and may have implications for understanding the often complex treatment needs of these clients.

  9. The Status of the Rural Status Offender.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gross, Carol J.

    1990-01-01

    Describes studies of two rural programs for diverting status offenders from court system to alternative community programs. Examines communities and programs, suggests rural offender characteristics are similar to urban ones. Recommends development of community-based alternatives to child welfare and juvenile justice systems. (TES)

  10. Juvenile Offenders' Alcohol and Marijuana Trajectories: Risk and Protective Factor Effects in the Context of Time in a Supervised Facility

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mauricio, Anne M.; Little, Michelle; Chassin, Laurie; Knight, George P.; Piquero, Alex R.; Losoya, Sandra H.; Vargas-Chanes, Delfino

    2009-01-01

    The current study modeled trajectories of substance use from ages 15 to 20 among 1,095 male serious juvenile offenders (M age = 16.54; 42% African-American, 34% Latino, 20% European-American, and 4% other ethnic/racial backgrounds) and prospectively predicted trajectories from risk and protective factors before and after controlling for time spent…

  11. Association of normative beliefs and anger with aggression and antisocial behavior in Russian male juvenile offenders and high school students.

    PubMed

    Sukhodolsky, Denis G; Ruchkin, Vladislav V

    2004-04-01

    Examined the association of anger experience and two types of normative beliefs with physical aggression and nonaggressive antisocial behavior in 361 juvenile offenders and 206 high school students in Russia. All participants were male and ranged in age from 14 to 18 years. Higher frequency of aggressive acts was significantly associated with higher levels of anger and stronger beliefs that physical aggression is an appropriate course of action in conflicts. After statistically controlling for nonaggressive antisocial behavior, the relationship between physical aggression and antisocial beliefs was not significant. Similarly, with physical aggression controlled, nonaggressive antisocial behavior was uniquely associated with approval of deviancy, but not with anger or beliefs legitimizing aggression. Juvenile offenders reported higher levels of anger experience and higher frequency of aggression and antisocial behavior compared to high school students. There were no differences in normative beliefs between these two groups. This specificity of association of social-cognitive and emotion-regulation processes to aggressive and nonaggressive forms of antisocial behavior may be relevant to understanding the mechanisms of cognitive-behavioral therapy for conduct disorder and antisocial behavior.

  12. Predictors of HIV-Risk Sexual Behavior: Examining Lifetime Sexual and Physical Abuse Histories in Relation to Substance Use and Psychiatric Problem Severity Among Ex-Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Majer, John M.; Rodriquez, Jaclyn; Bloomer, Craig; Jason, Leonard A.

    2015-01-01

    Predictors of HIV-risk sexual behavior were analyzed among a sample of ex-offenders who were completing inpatient treatment for substance dependence. Hierarchical linear regression was conducted to examine increases in participants’ number of sexual partners in relation to sociodemographic characteristics, recent substance use and current psychiatric problem severity in addition to lifetime histories of sexual and physical abuse. Gender, substance use, and psychiatric problem severity predicted increases in HIV-risk sexual behaviors beyond what was predicted by abuse histories. Proportionately more women than men reported abuse histories. In addition, significantly more unprotected sexual than safer sexual practices were observed, but differences in the frequency of these practices based on lifetime abuse histories and gender were not significant. Findings suggest recent substance use and current psychiatric problem severity are risk-factors for HIV-risk sexual behavior among ex-offenders with and without lifetime abuse histories. PMID:24717831

  13. Childhood Sexual Abuse in Adolescents Adjudicated for Sexual Offenses: Mental Health Consequences and Sexual Offending Behaviors.

    PubMed

    Morais, Hugo B; Alexander, Apryl A; Fix, Rebecca L; Burkhart, Barry R

    2018-02-01

    Most studies on the mental health consequences of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) focus predominantly on CSA survivors who do not commit sexual offenses. The current study examined the effects of CSA on 498 male adolescents adjudicated for sexual offenses who represent the small portion of CSA survivors who engage in sexual offenses. The prevalence of internalizing symptoms, parental attachment difficulties, specific sexual offending behaviors, and risk for sexually offending were compared among participants with and without a history of CSA. Results indicated that participants with a history of CSA were more likely to be diagnosed with major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder than those who did not report a history of CSA. A history of CSA was also positively correlated with risk for sexually offending and with specific offense patterns and consensual sexual behaviors. No significant differences emerged on parental attachment difficulties. These results highlight that adolescents adjudicated for sexual offenses with a history of CSA present with differences in sexual and psychological functioning as well as markedly different offending patterns when compared with those without a CSA history. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.

  14. Substance-Abusing Female Offenders as Victims: Chronological Sequencing of Pathways Into the Criminal Justice System

    PubMed Central

    Smith, Vivian C.

    2017-01-01

    This study assesses the entrance of substance-abusing female offenders (N=1,209) into the criminal justice system through temporal patterns (using age of first victimization, drug use and arrest). Nine pathways were identified. Unexpectedly, the leading path was a sequence where drug use preceded arrest in absence of childhood victimization. However, women under a path inclusive of victimization possessed more risk factors. Findings support feminist pathway research, which states that childhood victimization is generally present in female offenders’ lives. Nevertheless, results also revealed that a drug pathway without childhood abuse proved to be as important and even more dominant among criminal justice-involved women. PMID:28824349

  15. Comprehending and Rehabilitating Roman Catholic Clergy Offenders of Child Sexual Abuse.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Jane

    2015-01-01

    Many have studied Roman Catholic clergy who have sexually abused children, but the range of investigations remains disconnected. This article brings together various disciplinary perspectives to form a comprehensive view. A review of the literature is first undertaken to comprehend how clergy offenders have been conceptualized in psychosocial, sociocultural, and moral-religious studies. These perspectives are then used as a foundation for examining how these clergy can be rehabilitated. Three rehabilitative modalities--psychological treatment, rehabilitation through restorative justice, and ritual healing--are explored. The article concludes with a discussion of the insights gained from the literature review and how the modalities can be advanced in an interdependent and considered approach.

  16. Substance use by soldiers who abuse their spouses.

    PubMed

    Martin, Sandra L; Gibbs, Deborah A; Johnson, Ruby E; Sullivan, Kristen; Clinton-Sherrod, Monique; Walters, Jennifer L Hardison; Rentz, E Danielle

    2010-11-01

    Data on 7,424 soldier spouse abuse offenders were analyzed to determine the prevalence of substance use during abusive incidents, and to examine differences between substance-using and non-substance-using offenders. Results showed that 25% of all offenders used substances during abusive incidents, with males and non-Hispanic Whites being more likely to hav e used substances. Substance-using offenders were more likely to perpetrate physical spouse abuse and more severe spouse abuse. These findings underscore the importance of educating military personnel (including commanders) about links between substance use and domestic violence, and of coordinating preventive and therapeutic substance abuse and violence-related interventions.

  17. Adolescent Offenders with Mental Disorders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grisso, Thomas

    2008-01-01

    In this paper, the author points out that youth with mental disorders make up a significant subgroup of youth who appear in U.S. juvenile courts. And he notes that juvenile justice systems today are struggling to determine how best to respond to those youths' needs, both to safeguard their own welfare and to reduce re-offending and its…

  18. Sex offender registration and notification policy increases juvenile plea bargains.

    PubMed

    Letourneau, Elizabeth J; Armstrong, Kevin S; Bandyopadhyay, Dipankar; Sinha, Debajyoti

    2013-04-01

    The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that South Carolina's sex offender registration and notification policy influenced juvenile sex offense case plea bargains. Two types of plea bargains were examined: initial sex offense charges amended to nonsex offense charges and amended to lower severity charges. Comparison analyses were conducted with juvenile assault and robbery offense cases. Archival data on cases involving 19,215 male youth charged with sex, assault, and/or robbery offenses between 1990 and 2004 informed analyses. Of these youth, 2,991 were charged with one or more sex offense, 16,091 were charged with one or more assault offense, and 2,036 were charged with at one or more robbery offense. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to model changes in the probabilities of plea bargain outcomes across three time intervals: before policy implementation (1990 to 1994), after initial policy implementation (1995 to 1998), and after implementation of a revised policy that included online registration requirements (1999 to 2004). Results indicate significant increases in the probability of plea bargains for sex offense cases across subsequent time periods, supporting the hypothesis that South Carolina's initial and revised registration and notification policies were associated with significant increases the likelihood of plea bargains to different types of charges and to lower severity charges. Results were either nonsignificant or of much lower magnitude for the comparison assault and robbery analyses. Suggestions for revising South Carolina and national registration and notification policies are discussed.

  19. "Just dreaming of them": The Berlin Project for Primary Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse by Juveniles (PPJ).

    PubMed

    Beier, Klaus M; Oezdemir, Umut C; Schlinzig, Eliza; Groll, Anna; Hupp, Elena; Hellenschmidt, Tobias

    2016-02-01

    The Berlin Project for Primary Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse by Juveniles (PPJ) offers diagnostic and therapeutic help to 12-to-18-year-old juveniles with a sexual preference for the prepubescent and/or early pubescent body of children and who apply for treatment on a voluntary basis. The project goal is to prevent primary or recurrent child sexual abuse as well as primary or recurrent use of child abuse images. Treatment aims to enable affected juveniles to obtain control over their conflictual sexual behaviors. In the present article, the origin of the PPJ; its main approach, including the conception of a media campaign; as well as results from the first year of a three-year study are presented. Further, initial characterizations of juveniles taking part in the project for the first 12 months are provided. The results confirmed that the group of 12-to-18-year-old juveniles with a sexual preference for prepubescent and/or early pubescent minors exists as a target group for primary preventive measures and that they can be assessed for their sexual preferences. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. The Juvenile and Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Program: An Evaluation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Talpade, Medha; Lynch, Diane; Lattimore, Barbara; Graham, Ashlee

    2008-01-01

    The Juvenile and Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Program (JASAP) is a curriculum-based prevention and health promotion program for youth between the ages of 13 to 18 years in Fulton County, Georgia. The program was established in 2007 to promote healthy decision-making skills that would eventually lead to informed choices and decisions…

  1. PTSD Symptoms Mediate the Relationship Between Sexual Abuse and Substance Use Risk in Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth.

    PubMed

    Sanders, Jasmyn; Hershberger, Alexandra R; Kolp, Haley M; Um, Miji; Aalsma, Matthew; Cyders, Melissa A

    2017-01-01

    Juvenile justice-involved youth face disproportionate rates of sexual abuse, which increases the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUDs), both of which are associated with poor long-term outcomes. The present study tested two mediation and moderation models, controlling for age, race, and history of physical abuse, with gender as a moderator, to determine whether PTSD symptoms serve as a risk factor and/or mechanism in the relationship between sexual abuse and substance use. Data were examined for 197 juvenile justice-involved youth (mean age = 15.45, 68.9% non-White, 78.4% male) that completed court-ordered psychological assessments. Results indicated that PTSD symptoms significantly mediated the relationship between sexual abuse and drug (β = 3.44, confidence interval [CI] [0.26, 7.41]; test for indirect effect z = 2.41, p = .02) and alcohol use (β = 1.42, CI [0.20, 3.46]; test for indirect effect z = 2.23, p = .03). PTSD symptoms and gender were not significant moderators. Overall, PTSD symptoms mediate the relationship between sexual abuse and SUDs in juvenile justice-involved youth, which suggests viability of targeting PTSD symptoms as a modifiable risk factor to reduce the effects of sexual abuse on substance use in this high-risk population.

  2. Evaluating the "Reasoning and Rehabilitation" Program for Young Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mitchell, Jonathan; Palmer, Emma J.

    2004-01-01

    The effectiveness of the Reasoning and Rehabilitation (R and R) program with juvenile offenders in an English prison was evaluated using reconviction and reimprisonment at eighteen months post-release as outcomes. A group of offenders who completed the program (n = 31) were compared with a group of offenders who did not receive the program (n =…

  3. Overview of the Portable Guides to Investigating Child Abuse: Update 2000. Juvenile Justice Bulletin.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McNaughton, Janet

    In response to requests from law enforcement professionals for guidelines on investigating child abuse and neglect, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention developed the Portable Guides to Investigating Child Abuse series. This document is a synposis of each Portable Guide and provides annotated bibliographies of the series. The…

  4. Family transitions and juvenile delinquency.

    PubMed

    Schroeder, Ryan D; Osgood, Aurea K; Oghia, Michael J

    2010-01-01

    There is a large body of research that shows children from non-intact homes show higher rates of juvenile delinquency than children from intact homes, partially due to weaker parental control and supervision in non-intact homes. What has not been adequately addressed in the research is the influence of changes in family structure among individual adolescents over time on delinquent offending. Using the first and third waves of the National Youth Study, we assess the effect of family structure changes on changes in delinquent offending between waves through the intermediate process of changes in family time and parental attachment. Although prior research has documented adolescents in broken homes are more delinquent than youth in intact homes, the process of family dissolution is not associated with concurrent increases in offending. In contrast, family formation through marriage or cohabitation is associated with simultaneous increases in offending. Changes in family time and parental attachment account for a portion of the family formation effect on delinquency, and prior parental attachment and juvenile offending significantly condition the effect of family formation on offending.

  5. Job frustration in substance abuse counselors working with offenders in prisons versus community settings.

    PubMed

    Perkins, Elizabeth B; Oser, Carrie B

    2014-06-01

    Substance abuse counselors who work with offenders are facing increasing caseloads, which puts them at higher risk of job frustration. The purpose of this study was to explore differences between substance abuse counselors employed in prison versus community settings in terms of level of organizational support and job frustration. This study also investigated whether organizational support was associated with job frustration after controlling for counselor characteristics and workplace setting. This was accomplished utilizing data that were collected from 267 counselors as part of the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies research cooperative. Results indicated that counselors employed in community settings, as compared with those employed in prisons, are more likely to report higher levels of perceived organizational support. In addition, ordinal logistic regression results reveal that counselors who are non-White and have greater levels of organizational support have less job frustration, after controlling for counselor characteristics and workplace setting. The researches to practice implications are discussed.

  6. Job Frustration in Substance Abuse Counselors Working with Offenders in Prisons Versus Community Settings

    PubMed Central

    Perkins, Elizabeth B.; Oser, Carrie B.

    2014-01-01

    Substance abuse counselors who work with offenders are facing increasing caseloads which puts them at higher risk for job frustration. The purpose of this study was to explore differences between substance abuse counselors employed in prison versus community settings in terms of level of organizational support and job frustration. This study also investigated whether organizational support was associated with job frustration after controlling for counselor characteristics and workplace setting. This was accomplished utilizing data that was collected from 267 counselors as part of the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS) research cooperative. Results indicated that counselors employed in community settings, as compared to those employed in prisons, are more likely to report higher levels of perceived organizational support. In addition, ordinal logistic regression results reveal that counselors who are non-white and have greater levels of organizational support have less job frustration, after controlling for counselor characteristics and workplace setting. The research to practice implications are discussed. PMID:23525175

  7. Validating the Attitudes toward Sex Offenders Scale

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Whitehead, Charmeka

    2009-01-01

    This study investigated the reliability and validity of the Attitudes Toward Sex Offenders Scale (ATS) measurement by assessing attitudes of counselors in training towards juvenile sex offenders. The specific aims of this study were to determine (a) internal consistency of the ATS, (b) construct validity of the ATS based on exploratory factor…

  8. Race and the Fragility of the Legal Distinction between Juveniles and Adults

    PubMed Central

    Rattan, Aneeta; Levine, Cynthia S.; Dweck, Carol S.; Eberhardt, Jennifer L.

    2012-01-01

    Legal precedent establishes juvenile offenders as inherently less culpable than adult offenders and thus protects juveniles from the most severe of punishments. But how fragile might these protections be? In the present study, simply bringing to mind a Black (vs. White) juvenile offender led participants to view juveniles in general as significantly more similar to adults in their inherent culpability and to express more support for severe sentencing. Indeed, these differences in participants’ perceptions of this foundational legal precedent distinguishing between juveniles and adults accounted for their greater support for severe punishment. These results highlight the fragility of protections for juveniles when race is in play. Furthermore, we suggest that this fragility may have broad implications for how juveniles are seen and treated in the criminal justice system. PMID:22649496

  9. Race and the fragility of the legal distinction between juveniles and adults.

    PubMed

    Rattan, Aneeta; Levine, Cynthia S; Dweck, Carol S; Eberhardt, Jennifer L

    2012-01-01

    Legal precedent establishes juvenile offenders as inherently less culpable than adult offenders and thus protects juveniles from the most severe of punishments. But how fragile might these protections be? In the present study, simply bringing to mind a Black (vs. White) juvenile offender led participants to view juveniles in general as significantly more similar to adults in their inherent culpability and to express more support for severe sentencing. Indeed, these differences in participants' perceptions of this foundational legal precedent distinguishing between juveniles and adults accounted for their greater support for severe punishment. These results highlight the fragility of protections for juveniles when race is in play. Furthermore, we suggest that this fragility may have broad implications for how juveniles are seen and treated in the criminal justice system.

  10. Abused and Neglected Children in the Juvenile and Family Courts.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    White, Patricia J.

    1994-01-01

    Considers dilemma of juvenile and family court judges who decide whether it is in best interest of abused and neglected children to remain with parents or whether foster care or other substitute placement is necessary. Discusses changes in federal and state legislation over past decade. Includes views of children who have been in foster care. (NB)

  11. Witnessing domestic violence during childhood is associated with psychopathic traits in adult male criminal offenders.

    PubMed

    Dargis, Monika; Koenigs, Michael

    2017-04-01

    While there is growing evidence that suffering physical abuse during childhood is subsequently associated with psychopathic traits in both juvenile and adult offenders, there is considerably less research on whether exposure to domestic violence as a witness, rather than as a direct victim, influences the subsequent presentation of psychopathic traits in adulthood. Accordingly, the current study examined the relationship between witnessing domestic violence during childhood (i.e., witnessing, hearing, or intervening in abuse against a parent/sibling) and psychopathic traits in adulthood in a sample of n = 127 incarcerated male offenders. As predicted, witnessing domestic violence was significantly associated with overall level of psychopathy, with a particularly strong relationship to the interpersonal/affective features of psychopathy. Importantly, this relationship held when controlling for the experience of domestic violence as a direct victim. These results add to the growing body of literature linking adverse and traumatic events during childhood with psychopathic traits later in life, and suggest that domestic violence exposure may be one factor contributing to the manipulative, interpersonal style exhibited by individuals high in psychopathy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  12. Gender differences in homicide offenders' criminal career, substance abuse and mental health care. A nationwide register-based study of Finnish homicide offenders 1995-2004.

    PubMed

    Putkonen, Hanna; Weizmann-Henelius, Ghitta; Lindberg, Nina; Rovamo, Tuija; Häkkänen-nyholm, Helinä

    2011-02-01

    It is generally considered that women who kill are more likely to have a psychiatric disorder than their male counterparts, but as a relatively small group, women are much less often studied than men in this context. To explore gender differences in the psychosocial history of homicide offenders. In this nationwide register-based study, data were extracted from the forensic psychiatric examination and crime reports of all 91 women prosecuted for homicide in Finland between 1995 and 2004 and from those of the next adjacent man convicted of a separate homicide (n = 91). Both female and male homicide offenders had a troubled childhood, but more women had witnessed or experienced family violence; more women had failed to complete their primary education. Men, however, were more likely to have had an offending history. Although there were no differences between the men and women in the frequencies of psychiatric diagnoses or of substance abuse, the women had more often received prior mental health treatment. The women were also more likely to have had a history of suicidal behaviour. Both female and male homicide offenders are a troubled group of people, with slightly different criminal careers. Many use mental health services and therefore prevention could be improved. The suggestion of a special sub-group of women characterised by early educational and behavioural difficulties needs replication, as it may have implications for service development. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Developmental experiences of child sexual abusers and rapists.

    PubMed

    Simons, Dominique A; Wurtele, Sandy K; Durham, Robert L

    2008-05-01

    The aim of this study is to identify the distinct developmental experiences associated with child sexual abuse and rape. For 269 sexual offenders (137 rapists and 132 child sexual abusers), developmental experiences were recorded from a behavioral checklist, a parental-bonding survey, and a sexual history questionnaire. Offender classification was obtained from official records and verified through polygraph examinations. Compared to rapists, child sexual abusers reported more frequent experiences of child sexual abuse (73%), early exposure to pornography (65% before age 10), an earlier onset of masturbation (60% before age 11), and sexual activities with animals (38%). In contrast to child sexual abusers, rapists reported more frequent experiences of physical abuse (68%), parental violence (78%), emotional abuse (70%), and cruelty to animals (68%). Both child sexual abusers and rapists (>93%) reported frequent exposure to violent media during their childhood. Most offenders (94%) described having insecure parental attachment bonds; 76% of rapists reported avoidant parental attachments and 62% of child sexual abusers reported anxious parental attachments. Findings from this study support the role of specific developmental experiences as etiological factors in differential sexual offending. Child sexual abusers' developmental histories were characterized by heightened sexuality; whereas rapists' childhood histories were more indicative of violence. These findings have implications for the treatment of sexual abusers and the prevention of sexual abuse. This study's findings suggest that sexual offenders have been socialized to satisfy human needs of intimacy and sexuality through maladaptive means, which implies that a risk management approach may not be sufficient treatment. Although risk models teach offenders skills to avoid high-risk situations, they fail to address the maladaptive strategies that they may have developed for satisfying needs. Instead, the focus

  14. Status Offender Project: County Data Reports--Buncombe County.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Deimel, Betty; And Others

    The first of three reports on a North Carolina project to help counties plan community based status offender programs describes a statewide needs assessment to collect information about the needs of status offenders and youth at risk of entering the juvenile justice system. A questionnaire covered situational and behavioral problems experienced…

  15. The impact of sexual abuse in the lives of young women involved or at risk of involvement with the juvenile justice system.

    PubMed

    Goodkind, Sara; Ng, Irene; Sarri, Rosemary C

    2006-05-01

    Girls in the juvenile justice system have high rates of past sexual abuse. To better understand the relationship between sexual abuse and justice system involvement, we analyzed survey interviews with 169 young women involved or at risk of involvement with juvenile justice, comparing girls who experienced sexual abuse with those who did not. Girls experiencing sexual abuse had more negative mental health, school, substance use, risky sexual behavior, and delinquency outcomes. These findings highlight a need for interventions to assist girls who have experienced abuse and efforts to prevent abuse and improve child welfare and social service systems.

  16. Juvenile offenders: competence to stand trial.

    PubMed

    Soulier, Matthew

    2012-12-01

    This article details the legal background and assists the reader in the preparation and practical conduct of evaluations regarding juvenile adjudicative competency. The material is presented to be useful as a guide to direct questions of competency and covers aspects of evaluation that include: legal standard for competency to stand trial, developmental immaturity, current practice in juvenile competency to stand trial, forensic evaluation of juvenile competency to stand trial, organizing the evaluation, collateral sources of information, psychiatric evaluation of juvenile adjudicative competency, assessment of mental disorder and intellectual disability, assessment of developmental status, assessment of functional abilities for adjudicative competence, and reaching the forensic opinion. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Correlates of Competency to Stand Trial Among Youths Admitted to a Juvenile Mental Health Court.

    PubMed

    Bath, Eraka; Reba-Harrelson, Lauren; Peace, Robyn; Shen, Jie; Liu, Honghu

    2015-09-01

    Competency to stand trial (CST) assessment of juvenile offenders is a relatively recent phenomenon, as are juvenile mental health courts. Factors associated with youths' ability to participate in legal proceedings are not well understood, regardless of the court venue. Using a sample of 324 juveniles participating in the Los Angeles County Juvenile Mental Health Court (LAJMHC), we sought to explore the relationships of age, mental health diagnosis, and history of mental health treatment to CST status. Results suggest youths under the age of 15 were significantly more likely to have been found incompetent to stand trial (IST) when compared with older youths (p = .007). Youths with a diagnosis of a pervasive developmental disorder or intellectual disability were also more likely to be found IST than those without these diagnoses (p = .02 and p = .0001, respectively). Conversely, participants aged 16 or 17 years and diagnosed with a mood, substance abuse, or psychotic disorder were more likely to be found CST than those without these diagnoses (p < .0001, p = .035, and p = .0064, respectively). Participants with a history of psychotherapy or psychotropic medication were more likely to be found CST than were those without any treatment history (p < .0001). Further research on factors that affect CST status in juveniles who participate in mental health courts may be particularly salient to improve understanding of specific treatment and rehabilitative needs of youthful offenders, and to inform approaches to competency attainment and recidivism prevention services, both within these specialty courts and in juvenile proceedings in general. © 2015 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

  18. Sex differences in empathy and its relation to juvenile offending.

    PubMed

    Broidy, Lisa; Cauffman, Elizabeth; Espelage, Dorothy L; Mazerolle, Paul; Piquero, Alex

    2003-10-01

    Implicit in most theoretical accounts of sex differences in offending is the assumption that females are less likely than males to engage in crime--especially serious, violent crime--in part because of their comparatively higher levels of concern for others and stronger affiliative ties. Much research suggests that significant sex differences in both empathy and serious offending emerge in adolescence, with females displaying notably higher levels of empathy and males engaging in notably higher levels of serious offending. However, there has been little empirical work assessing the degree to which sex differences in empathy among adolescents can account for sex differences in offending. This research uses data from a sample of adolescents attending public high schools in Philadelphia (n = 425) and a sample of adolescents incarcerated in the California Youth Authority (CYA) (n = 232) to examine the relation between empathy and serious offending. Results suggest that empathy acts as a protective factor for both males and females but that there are subtle differences among males and females in the relation between empathy and offending.

  19. "I Wanted to Rebel, But There They Hit Me Even Harder": Discourse Analysis of Israeli Women Offenders' Accounts of Their Pathways to Substance Abuse and Crime.

    PubMed

    Gueta, Keren; Chen, Gila

    2016-05-01

    This study examined women offenders' accounts of their pathways to substance abuse and crime and the intersection between them, to reach a holistic understanding that captures the dynamics of victimization, agency, and gender. Discourse analyses of the accounts of 11 Israeli women offenders indicated differential use of two discourses. Five participants used the victimization discourse, which viewed substance abuse as an attempt to medicate the self that was injured following victimization experiences; two used the agency discourse, which viewed substance abuse as a way to experience pleasure, leisure, and control over their destiny. Four of the participants used these two contradictory discourses simultaneously. The findings indicate the absence of a cultural discourse that encompasses women's complex experience of gender, victimization, and agency. Possible implications for intervention are discussed. © The Author(s) 2015.

  20. Social Support, Motivation, and the Process of Juvenile Reentry: An Exploratory Analysis of Desistance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Panuccio, Elizabeth A.; Christian, Johnna; Martinez, Damian J.; Sullivan, Mercer L.

    2012-01-01

    Many scholarly works and studies have explored the experience of reentry and desistance for adult offenders, but fewer studies have focused on these processes among juvenile offenders. Using qualitative case studies of juveniles released from secure confinement, this study explores the desistance process during juvenile reentry by examining how…

  1. Factors Affecting Sentence Severity for Young Adult Offenders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Greenwood, Peter W.; And Others

    This document analyzes the sentencing of young adult defendants in comparison with older adult and younger juvenile offenders, and disputes prior research which held that young adults received more lenient sentencing, perhaps because of the restrictions on disclosing juvenile delinquency histories. The document presents data from samples of young…

  2. Multimethod prediction of child abuse risk in an at-risk sample of male intimate partner violence offenders.

    PubMed

    Rodriguez, Christina M; Gracia, Enrique; Lila, Marisol

    2016-10-01

    The vast majority of research on child abuse potential has concentrated on women demonstrating varying levels of risk of perpetrating physical child abuse. In contrast, the current study considered factors predictive of physical child abuse potential in a group of 70 male intimate partner violence offenders, a group that would represent a likely high risk group. Elements of Social Information Processing theory were evaluated, including pre-existing schemas of empathy, anger, and attitudes approving of parent-child aggression considered as potential moderators of negative attributions of child behavior. To lend methodological rigor, the study also utilized multiple measures and multiple methods, including analog tasks, to predict child abuse risk. Contrary to expectations, findings did not support the role of anger independently predicting child abuse risk in this sample of men. However, preexisting beliefs approving of parent-child aggression, lower empathy, and more negative child behavior attributions independently predicted abuse potential; in addition, greater anger, poorer empathy, and more favorable attitudes toward parent-child aggression also exacerbated men's negative child attributions to further elevate their child abuse risk. Future work is encouraged to consider how factors commonly considered in women parallel or diverge from those observed to elevate child abuse risk in men of varying levels of risk. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Types of Empathy and Adolescent Sexual Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Varker, Tracey; Devilly, Grant J.

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine general empathy, general victim empathy and own victim empathy in adolescent sexual offenders. Sixteen adolescent sexual offenders completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Personal Reaction Inventory, a "general sexual abuse victim" form of the Victim Empathy Distortions Scale…

  4. Juvenile Confinement in Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mendel, Richard A.

    2012-01-01

    For more than a century, the predominant strategy for the treatment and punishment of serious and sometimes not-so-serious juvenile offenders in the United States has been placement into large juvenile corrections institutions, alternatively known as training schools, reformatories, or youth corrections centers. America's heavy reliance on…

  5. Physical punishment/maltreatment during childhood and adjustment in young adulthood.

    PubMed

    Fergusson, D M; Lynskey, M T

    1997-07-01

    To study the relationships between retrospective reports of physical punishment/maltreatment and rates of adjustment difficulties at age 18 in a birth cohort of New Zealand subjects. Data were gathered over the course of an 18 year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1,265 New Zealand born children. At age 18 retrospective reports of exposure to physical punishment/maltreatment were obtained. At this time the cohort was also assessed on measures of psychosocial adjustment juvenile offending, substance abuse behaviors, and psychiatric disorder. Young people reporting exposure to harsh or abusive treatment during childhood had elevated rates of juvenile offending, substance abuse, and mental health problems. However, subsequent analysis using logistic regression methods showed that much of the elevated risk shown by this group was explained by social and contextual factors that were associated with patterns of childhood punishment/maltreatment. Nonetheless, even after control for confounding factors those reporting harsh or abusive childhood experiences were at increased risks of violent offending, suicide attempts, being a victim of violence, and alcohol abuse. This study leads to three major conclusions: (1) Those exposed to harsh or abusive treatment during childhood are an at-risk population for juvenile offending, substance abuse, and mental health problems; (2) Much of this elevated risk arises from the social context within which harsh or abusive treatment occurs; (3) Nonetheless, exposure to abuse appears to increase risks of involvement in violent behavior and alcohol abuse.

  6. The Remodeling Process: A Grounded Theory Study of Perceptions of Treatment among Adult Male Incest Offenders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scheela, Rochelle A.

    1992-01-01

    Conducted grounded theory study to explore incest offender perceptions of treatment to generate explanatory theory of sexual abuse treatment process. Findings from theoretical sampling of 20 adult male incest offenders revealed that offenders felt remodeling process occurred as they faced discovery of their abuse and went through treatment.…

  7. Juvenile Solitary Confinement as a Form of Child Abuse.

    PubMed

    Clark, Andrew B

    2017-09-01

    Placing incarcerated juveniles into solitary confinement continues to occur in certain states of the United States, despite the accumulating evidence that it may cause substantial psychological damage to the teenagers who must endure it. The practice has been widely condemned by professional and human rights organizations, amid a growing appreciation of the immaturity and vulnerability of the adolescent brain. Although several states and the federal government have been successful in abolishing or dramatically reducing the use of juvenile solitary confinement, it remains common practice in many facilities. Clinicians working in correctional facilities where juvenile solitary confinement is employed are therefore faced with difficult questions of ethics, as to how best to balance their competing duties, and how to respond to such state-sanctioned ill treatment of their patients. Given the emerging consensus around the psychological damage wrought by sustained solitary confinement, clinicians may well reach the difficult conclusion that they are both legally mandated and ethically bound to file a report of suspected child abuse. Such a report would be unlikely to be investigated for administrative reasons, but it would allow clinicians to communicate the gravity of their concern effectively. © 2017 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

  8. Adverse childhood experiences in the lives of female sex offenders.

    PubMed

    Levenson, Jill S; Willis, Gwenda M; Prescott, David S

    2015-06-01

    This study explored the prevalence of early trauma in a sample of U.S. female sexual offenders (N = 47) using the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) scale. Compared with females in the general population, sex offenders had more than three times the odds of child sexual abuse, four times the odds of verbal abuse, and more than three times the odds of emotional neglect and having an incarcerated family member. Half of the female sex offenders had been sexually abused as a child. Only 20% endorsed zero adverse childhood experiences (compared with 35% of the general female population) and 41% endorsed four or more (compared with 15% of the general female population). Higher ACE scores were associated with having younger victims. Multiple maltreatments often co-occurred in households with other types of dysfunction, suggesting that many female sex offenders were raised within a disordered social environment by adults with problems of their own who were ill-equipped to protect their daughters from harm. By enhancing our understanding of the frequency and correlates of early adverse experiences, we can better devise trauma-informed interventions that respond to the clinical needs of female sex offender clients. © The Author(s) 2014.

  9. Poly-victimization among girls in the justice system: trajectories of risk and associations to juvenile offending.

    PubMed

    DeHart, Dana D; Moran, Robert

    2015-03-01

    Life History Calendars and the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire were used to collect data from 100 delinquent girls to (a) examine range and co-occurrence of different types of violence over the life span, (b) examine independent and cumulative trajectories of risk for varied types of victimization, and (c) examine the relationship of victimization to girls' offending. Risk trajectories demonstrate critical risk periods for different forms of violence exposure. Cox regression was used to examine the predictive value of different forms of violence exposure for the onset of delinquent and criminal behavior. Findings illuminate the need for programs addressing substance use and alternative coping mechanisms. © The Author(s) 2015.

  10. Sociodemographic, Delinquency-Abuse History, and Psychosocial Functioning Differences among Juvenile Offenders of Various Ages.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dembo, Richard; Schmeidler, James; Nini-Gough, Banni; Manning, Darrell

    1998-01-01

    Sociodemographic characteristics, delinquency and dependency referral histories, and psychosocial functioning were compared for three groups of youth (N=9,583) at a juvenile assessment center. Findings indicate that eight- to twelve- year olds tend to be ethnic minorities, live in mother-headed households of low economic status, and have a…

  11. The Genesis of Pedophilia: Testing the "Abuse-to-Abuser" Hypothesis.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fedoroff, J. Paul; Pinkus, Shari

    1996-01-01

    This study tested three versions of the "abuse-to-abuser" hypothesis by comparing men with personal histories of sexual abuse and men without sexual abuse histories. There was a statistically non-significant trend for assaulted offenders to be more likely as adults to commit genital assaults on children. Implications for the abuse-to-abuser…

  12. An evaluation of Teaching-Family (Achievement Place) group homes for juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Kirigin, K A; Braukmann, C J; Atwater, J D; Wolf, M M

    1982-01-01

    Juvenile crime is a serious problem for which treatment approach has been found to be reliably effective. This outcome evaluation assessed during and posttreatment effectiveness of Teaching-Family group home treatment programs for juvenile offenders. The evaluation included the original Achievement Place program, which was the prototype for the development of the Teaching-Family treatment approach, 12 replications of Achievement Place, and 9 comparison group home programs. Primary dependent measures were retrieved from court and police files and included number of alleged offenses, percentage of youths involved in those alleged offenses, and percentage of youths institutionalized. Other dependent measures were subjective ratings of effectiveness obtained from the program consumers, including the group home residents. The results showed difference during treatment favoring the Teaching-Family programs on rate of alleged criminal offenses, percentage of youths involved in those offenses, and consumer ratings of the programs. The consumer ratings provided by the youths and their school teachers were found to be inversely and significantly correlated with the reduction of criminal offenses during treatment. There were no significant differences during treatment on measures of noncriminal offenses (e.g., truancy, runaway, and curfew violations). In the posttreatment year, none of the differences between the groups was significant on any of the outcome measures. The results are discussed in terms of measurement and design issues in the evaluation of delinquency treatment programs and in relation to the evaluation; of Teaching-Family group homes by Richard Jones and his colleagues.

  13. An evaluation of Teaching-Family (Achievement Place) group homes for juvenile offenders.

    PubMed Central

    Kirigin, K A; Braukmann, C J; Atwater, J D; Wolf, M M

    1982-01-01

    Juvenile crime is a serious problem for which treatment approach has been found to be reliably effective. This outcome evaluation assessed during and posttreatment effectiveness of Teaching-Family group home treatment programs for juvenile offenders. The evaluation included the original Achievement Place program, which was the prototype for the development of the Teaching-Family treatment approach, 12 replications of Achievement Place, and 9 comparison group home programs. Primary dependent measures were retrieved from court and police files and included number of alleged offenses, percentage of youths involved in those alleged offenses, and percentage of youths institutionalized. Other dependent measures were subjective ratings of effectiveness obtained from the program consumers, including the group home residents. The results showed difference during treatment favoring the Teaching-Family programs on rate of alleged criminal offenses, percentage of youths involved in those offenses, and consumer ratings of the programs. The consumer ratings provided by the youths and their school teachers were found to be inversely and significantly correlated with the reduction of criminal offenses during treatment. There were no significant differences during treatment on measures of noncriminal offenses (e.g., truancy, runaway, and curfew violations). In the posttreatment year, none of the differences between the groups was significant on any of the outcome measures. The results are discussed in terms of measurement and design issues in the evaluation of delinquency treatment programs and in relation to the evaluation; of Teaching-Family group homes by Richard Jones and his colleagues. PMID:7096223

  14. From Family Violence Exposure to Violent Offending: Examining Effects of Race and Mental Health in a Moderated Mediation Model Among Confined Male Juveniles.

    PubMed

    Fix, Rebecca L; Alexander, Apryl A; Burkhart, Barry R

    2017-09-01

    Depression, substance use, and impulsivity have been linked to family violence exposure and to the development of violent offending during adolescence. Additionally, the indirect effects associated with these factors may not generalize across different racial/ethnic adolescent populations. The present study tested whether race/ethnicity moderated the mediated relationship between family violence exposure and violent offending, with depression, substance use, and impulsivity as mediators. A sample of 1,359 male adolescents was obtained from a juvenile correctional program. Between-racial/ethnic group comparisons were generally consistent with previous findings. The overall moderated mediation model was significant in predicting violence for both racial/ethnic groups. Different factors influenced violent offending among African Americans and European Americans in the tested model. Furthermore, race/ethnicity moderated the relationship between family violence exposure and impulsivity and substance use. Implications and future directions resolving issues are discussed concerning whether race/ethnicity should be included as a moderator in models of violence.

  15. Expertise and Sexual Offending: A Preliminary Empirical Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bourke, Patrice; Ward, Tony; Rose, Chelsea

    2012-01-01

    Rehabilitation and treatment perspectives and interventions have concentrated efforts on areas where perpetrators of sexual abuse are deficient, neglecting those where offenders actively seek and strategically plan sexual offence situations and scenarios. Whereas sexual offenders may display deficiencies in some aspects of their lives, there are…

  16. Treatment Effect on Recidivism for Juveniles Who Have Sexually Offended: a Multilevel Meta-Analysis.

    PubMed

    Ter Beek, Ellis; Spruit, Anouk; Kuiper, Chris H Z; van der Rijken, Rachel E A; Hendriks, Jan; Stams, Geert Jan J M

    2018-04-01

    The current study investigated the effect on recidivism of treatment aimed at juveniles who have sexually offended. It also assessed the potential moderating effect of type of recidivism, and several treatment, participant and study characteristics. In total, 14 published and unpublished primary studies, making use of a comparison group and reporting on official recidivism rates, were included in a multilevel meta-analysis. This resulted in the use of 77 effect sizes, and 1726 participants. A three-level meta-analytic model was used to calculate the combined effect sizes (Cohens d) and to perform moderator analyses. Study quality was assessed with the EPHPP Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. A moderate effect size was found (d = 0.37), indicating that the treatment groups achieved an estimated relative reduction in recidivism of 20.5% as compared to comparison groups. However, after controlling for publication bias, a significant treatment effect was no longer found. Type of recidivism did not moderate the effect of treatment, indicating that treatment groups were equally effective for all types of recidivism. Also, no moderating effects of participant or treatment characteristics were found. Regarding study characteristics, a shorter follow up time showed a trend for larger effect sizes, and the effect size calculation based on proportions yielded larger effect sizes than calculation via mean frequency of offending. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

  17. Involvement in the Juvenile Justice System for African American Adolescents: Examining Associations with Behavioral Health Problems

    PubMed Central

    Voisin, Dexter R.; Kim, Dongha; Takahashi, Lois; Morotta, Phillip; Bocanegra, Kathryn

    2017-01-01

    While researchers have found that African American youth experience higher levels of juvenile justice involvement at every system level (arrest, sentencing, and incarceration) relative to their other ethnic counterparts, few studies have explored how juvenile justice involvement and number of contacts might be correlated with this broad range of problems. A convenience sample of 638 African American adolescents living in predominantly low-income, urban communities participated in a survey related to juvenile justice involvement. Major findings using logistic regression models indicated that adolescents who reported juvenile justice system involvement versus no involvement were 2.3 times as likely to report mental health problems, substance abuse, and delinquent or youth offending behaviors. Additional findings documented that the higher the number of juvenile justice system contacts, the higher the rates of delinquent behaviors, alcohol and marijuana use, sex while high on drugs, and commercial sex. These findings suggest that identifying and targeting youth who have multiple juvenile justice system contacts, especially those in low-resourced communities for early intervention services, may be beneficial. Future research should examine whether peer network norms might mediate the relationships between juvenile justice involvement and youth problem behaviors. PMID:28966415

  18. Involvement in the Juvenile Justice System for African American Adolescents: Examining Associations with Behavioral Health Problems.

    PubMed

    Voisin, Dexter R; Kim, Dongha; Takahashi, Lois; Morotta, Phillip; Bocanegra, Kathryn

    2017-01-01

    While researchers have found that African American youth experience higher levels of juvenile justice involvement at every system level (arrest, sentencing, and incarceration) relative to their other ethnic counterparts, few studies have explored how juvenile justice involvement and number of contacts might be correlated with this broad range of problems. A convenience sample of 638 African American adolescents living in predominantly low-income, urban communities participated in a survey related to juvenile justice involvement. Major findings using logistic regression models indicated that adolescents who reported juvenile justice system involvement versus no involvement were 2.3 times as likely to report mental health problems, substance abuse, and delinquent or youth offending behaviors. Additional findings documented that the higher the number of juvenile justice system contacts, the higher the rates of delinquent behaviors, alcohol and marijuana use, sex while high on drugs, and commercial sex. These findings suggest that identifying and targeting youth who have multiple juvenile justice system contacts, especially those in low-resourced communities for early intervention services, may be beneficial. Future research should examine whether peer network norms might mediate the relationships between juvenile justice involvement and youth problem behaviors.

  19. Treating the Juvenile Offender

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hoge, Robert D., Ed.; Guerra, Nancy G., Ed.; Boxer, Paul, Ed.

    2008-01-01

    This authoritative, highly readable reference and text is grounded in the latest knowledge on how antisocial and criminal behavior develops in youth and how it can effectively be treated. Contributors describe proven ways to reduce juvenile delinquency by targeting specific risk factors and strengthening young people's personal, family, and…

  20. Washington State Juvenile Justice Code: An Experiment in Justice.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Illinois Univ., Champaign. Community Research Center.

    In the Washington State juvenile justice system, serious or repeat offenders receive the full panoply of due process rights and procedures, with the exception of jury trials; minor offenders are diverted to community boards that require community service or victim restitution; and status offenders are removed from the courts' jurisdiction and…

  1. Comparison of violence and abuse in juvenile correctional facilities and schools.

    PubMed

    Davidson-Arad, Bilha; Benbenishty, Rami; Golan, Miriam

    2009-02-01

    Peer violence, peer sexual harassment and abuse, and staff abuse experienced by boys and girls in juvenile correctional facilities are compared with those experienced by peers in schools in the community. Responses of 360 youths in 20 gender-separated correctional facilities in Israel to a questionnaire tapping these forms of mistreatment were compared with those of 7,012 students in a representative sample of Israeli junior high and high schools. Victimization was reported more frequently by those in correctional facilities than by those in schools. However, some of the more prevalent forms of violence and abuse were reported with equal frequency in both settings, and some more frequently in schools. Despite being victimized more frequently, those in the correctional facilities tended to view their victimization as a significantly less serious problem than those in the schools and to rate the staff as doing a better job of dealing with the problem.

  2. Improving Negative Emotion Recognition in Young Offenders Reduces Subsequent Crime.

    PubMed

    Hubble, Kelly; Bowen, Katharine L; Moore, Simon C; van Goozen, Stephanie H M

    2015-01-01

    Children with antisocial behaviour show deficits in the perception of emotional expressions in others that may contribute to the development and persistence of antisocial and aggressive behaviour. Current treatments for antisocial youngsters are limited in effectiveness. It has been argued that more attention should be devoted to interventions that target neuropsychological correlates of antisocial behaviour. This study examined the effect of emotion recognition training on criminal behaviour. Emotion recognition and crime levels were studied in 50 juvenile offenders. Whilst all young offenders received their statutory interventions as the study was conducted, a subgroup of twenty-four offenders also took part in a facial affect training aimed at improving emotion recognition. Offenders in the training and control groups were matched for age, SES, IQ and lifetime crime level. All offenders were tested twice for emotion recognition performance, and recent crime data were collected after the testing had been completed. Before the training there were no differences between the groups in emotion recognition, with both groups displaying poor fear, sadness and anger recognition. After the training fear, sadness and anger recognition improved significantly in juvenile offenders in the training group. Although crime rates dropped in all offenders in the 6 months following emotion testing, only the group of offenders who had received the emotion training showed a significant reduction in the severity of the crimes they committed. The study indicates that emotion recognition can be relatively easily improved in youths who engage in serious antisocial and criminal behavior. The results suggest that improved emotion recognition has the potential to reduce the severity of reoffending.

  3. The Relation between Abuse and Violent Delinquency: The Conversion of Shame to Blame in Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gold, Jason; Sullivan, Margaret Wolan; Lewis, Michael

    2011-01-01

    Objective: While the relationship between abusive parenting and violent delinquency has been well established, the cognitive and emotional processes by which this occurs remain relatively unidentified. The objective of this work is to apply a conceptual model linking abusive parenting to the conversion of shame into blaming others and therefore to…

  4. Sexual Murderers: Sex Offender, Murderer, or Both?

    PubMed

    Beauregard, Eric; DeLisi, Matt; Hewitt, Ashley

    2017-06-01

    Sexual murderers perpetrate homicide and rape/sexual abuse, but it is unclear whether they should primarily be considered homicide offenders, sexual offenders, or both. Most studies have merged together different types of non-homicidal sex offenders (NHSOs), neglecting to consider the potential differences between the nonviolent and violent sex offenders. Here, we suggest it is important to isolate those violent sex offenders who inflict severe physical injuries that could potentially lead to a lethal outcome. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to compare different measures of the criminal career on three groups of sex offenders: NHSOs, violent NHSOs, and sexual homicide offenders (SHOs) using data from 616 incarcerated male sex offenders in a Federal penitentiary in Canada. Interestingly, the group of sex offenders with the worst criminal career profile was not the SHOs, but the violent NHSOs. Violent NHSOs had the greatest number of prior convictions and the most varied and versatile criminal career. Therefore, we suggest that based on their criminal career, SHOs should be considered more as murderers than sex offenders. However, to fully answer this question, future studies should include a group of non-sexual homicide offenders.

  5. Best Practices in Juvenile Accountability: Overview. JAIBG Bulletin.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beyer, Marty

    This bulletin examines the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants (JAIBG) program, which asserts that juvenile offenders should be held accountable for their crimes as a matter of basic justice and to prevent and deter delinquency. It reviews the developmental perspective shaping…

  6. The Gendered Monitoring of Juvenile Delinquents: A Test of Power-Control Theory Using a Retrospective Cohort Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schulze, Corina; Bryan, Valerie

    2017-01-01

    Through the framework of power-control theory (PCT), we provide a model of juvenile offending that places the gendered-raced treatment of juveniles central to the analysis. We test the theory using a unique sample that is predominately African American, poor, and composed entirely of juvenile offenders. Multivariate models compare the predictive…

  7. Female Sex Offenders' Relationship Experiences

    PubMed Central

    Lawson, Louanne

    2010-01-01

    Interventions for child sexual abusers should take into account their perspectives on the context of their offenses, but no descriptions of everyday life from the offender's point of view have been published. This study therefore explored female offenders' views of their strengths and challenges. Documented risk assessments of 20 female offenders were analyzed using inductive content analysis (Cavanagh, 1997; Priest, Roberts & Woods, 2002; Woods, Priest & Roberts, 2002). The Good Lives Model provided the initial coding framework and Atlas/ti software (Muhr, 1997) was used for simultaneous data collection and analysis. The content analysis yielded 999 coding decisions organized in three themes. The global theme was relationship experiences. Offenders described the quality of their relationship experiences, including their personal perspectives, intimate relationships and social lives. These descriptions have implications for treatment planning and future research with women who have molested children. PMID:18624098

  8. The Prevention of Childhood Sexual Abuse

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Finkelhor, David

    2009-01-01

    David Finkelhor examines initiatives to prevent child sexual abuse, which have focused on two primary strategies--offender management and school-based educational programs. Recent major offender management initiatives have included registering sex offenders, notifying communities about their presence, conducting background employment checks,…

  9. Effect of an injury awareness education program on risk-taking behaviors and injuries in juvenile justice offenders: a retrospective cohort study.

    PubMed

    Ho, Kwok M; Litton, Edward; Geelhoed, Elizabeth; Gope, Monica; Burrell, Maxine; Coribel, Jacqueline; McDowall, Angela; Rao, Sudhakar

    2012-01-01

    Risk-taking behavior is a leading cause of injury and death amongst young people. This was a retrospective cohort study on the effectiveness of a 1-day youth injury awareness education program (Prevent Alcohol and Risk-related Trauma in Youth, P.A.R.T.Y.) program in reducing risk taking behaviors and injuries of juvenille justice offenders in Western Australia. Of the 3659 juvenile justice offenders convicted by the court magistrates between 2006 and 2010, 225 were referred to the P.A.R.T.Y. education program. In a before and after survey of these 225 participants, a significant proportion of them stated that they were more receptive to modifying their risk-taking behavior (21% before vs. 57% after). Using data from the Western Australia Police and Department of Health, the incidence of subsequent offences and injuries of all juvenile justice offenders was assessed. The incidence of subsequent traffic or violence-related offences was significantly lower for those who had attended the program compared to those who did not (3.6% vs. 26.8%; absolute risk reduction [ARR] = 23.2%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 19.9%-25.8%; number needed to benefit = 4.3, 95%CI 3.9-5.1; p = 0.001), as were injuries leading to hospitalization (0% vs. 1.6% including 0.2% fatality; ARR = 1.6%, 95%CI 1.2%-2.1%) and alcohol or drug-related offences (0% vs. 2.4%; ARR 2.4%, 95%CI 1.9%-2.9%). In the multivariate analysis, only P.A.R.T.Y. education program attendance (odds ratio [OR] 0.10, 95%CI 0.05-0.21) and a higher socioeconomic background (OR 0.97 per decile increment in Index of Relative Socioeconomic Advantage and Disadvantage, 95%CI 0.93-0.99) were associated with a lower risk of subsequent traffic or violence-related offences. Participation in an injury education program involving real-life trauma scenarios was associated with a reduced subsequent risk of committing violence- or traffic-related offences, injuries, and death for juvenille justice offenders.

  10. Improving Negative Emotion Recognition in Young Offenders Reduces Subsequent Crime

    PubMed Central

    Hubble, Kelly; Bowen, Katharine L.; Moore, Simon C.; van Goozen, Stephanie H. M.

    2015-01-01

    Background Children with antisocial behaviour show deficits in the perception of emotional expressions in others that may contribute to the development and persistence of antisocial and aggressive behaviour. Current treatments for antisocial youngsters are limited in effectiveness. It has been argued that more attention should be devoted to interventions that target neuropsychological correlates of antisocial behaviour. This study examined the effect of emotion recognition training on criminal behaviour. Methods Emotion recognition and crime levels were studied in 50 juvenile offenders. Whilst all young offenders received their statutory interventions as the study was conducted, a subgroup of twenty-four offenders also took part in a facial affect training aimed at improving emotion recognition. Offenders in the training and control groups were matched for age, SES, IQ and lifetime crime level. All offenders were tested twice for emotion recognition performance, and recent crime data were collected after the testing had been completed. Results Before the training there were no differences between the groups in emotion recognition, with both groups displaying poor fear, sadness and anger recognition. After the training fear, sadness and anger recognition improved significantly in juvenile offenders in the training group. Although crime rates dropped in all offenders in the 6 months following emotion testing, only the group of offenders who had received the emotion training showed a significant reduction in the severity of the crimes they committed. Conclusions The study indicates that emotion recognition can be relatively easily improved in youths who engage in serious antisocial and criminal behavior. The results suggest that improved emotion recognition has the potential to reduce the severity of reoffending. PMID:26121148

  11. Spouse Abuse, Child Abuse, and Substance Abuse Among Army Facilities: Co-Occurrence, Correlations and Service Delivery Issues

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-03-01

    refer spouse abuse or child abuse offenders with identified alcohol or other drug involvement to the on-base counseling center for a substance...abuse assessment. The military’s response to combat substance abuse involves a combination of education, prevention, random testing for illicit drug ...data from three Army sources: the Army Central Registry (ACR), the Drug and Alcohol Management Information System (DAMIS), and Army personnel data

  12. Hurricane Katrina’s Impact on the Mental Health of Adolescent Female Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Robertson, Angela A.; Morse, David T.; Baird-Thomas, Connie

    2008-01-01

    Exposure to multiple traumatic events and high rates of mental health problems are common among juvenile offenders. This study draws on Conservation of Resources (COR) stress theory to examine the impact of a specific trauma, Hurricane Katrina, relative to other adverse life events on the mental health of female adolescent offenders in Mississippi. Teenage girls (N = 258, 69% African American) were recruited from 4 juvenile detention centers and the state training school. Participants were interviewed about the occurrence and timing of adverse life events and hurricane-related experiences and completed a self-administered mental health assessment. Hierarchical linear regression models were used to identify predictors of anxiety and depression. Pre-hurricane family stressors, pre-hurricane traumatic events, hurricane-related property damage, and receipt of hurricane-related financial assistance significantly predicted symptoms of anxiety and depression. Findings support COR theory. Family stressors had the greatest influence on symptoms of anxiety and depression, highlighting the need for family-based services that address the multiple, inter-related problems and challenges in the lives of female juvenile offenders. PMID:19296263

  13. Disorganized Amygdala Networks in Conduct-Disordered Juvenile Offenders With Callous-Unemotional Traits.

    PubMed

    Aghajani, Moji; Klapwijk, Eduard T; van der Wee, Nic J; Veer, Ilya M; Rombouts, Serge A R B; Boon, Albert E; van Beelen, Peter; Popma, Arne; Vermeiren, Robert R J M; Colins, Olivier F

    2017-08-15

    The developmental trajectory of psychopathy seemingly begins early in life and includes the presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., deficient emotional reactivity, callousness) in conduct-disordered (CD) youth. Though subregion-specific anomalies in amygdala function have been suggested in CU pathophysiology among antisocial populations, system-level studies of CU traits have typically examined the amygdala as a unitary structure. Hence, nothing is yet known of how amygdala subregional network function may contribute to callous-unemotionality in severely antisocial people. We addressed this important issue by uniquely examining the intrinsic functional connectivity of basolateral amygdala (BLA) and centromedial amygdala (CMA) networks across three matched groups of juveniles: CD offenders with CU traits (CD/CU+; n = 25), CD offenders without CU traits (CD/CU-; n = 25), and healthy control subjects (n = 24). We additionally examined whether perturbed amygdala subregional connectivity coincides with altered volume and shape of the amygdaloid complex. Relative to CD/CU- and healthy control youths, CD/CU+ youths showed abnormally increased BLA connectivity with a cluster that included both dorsal and ventral portions of the anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortices, along with posterior cingulate, sensory associative, and striatal regions. In contrast, compared with CD/CU- and healthy control youths, CD/CU+ youths showed diminished CMA connectivity with ventromedial/orbitofrontal regions. Critically, these connectivity changes coincided with local hypotrophy of BLA and CMA subregions (without being statistically correlated) and were associated to more severe CU symptoms. These findings provide unique insights into a putative mechanism for perturbed attention-emotion interactions, which could bias salience processing and associative learning in youth with CD/CU+. Copyright © 2016 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights

  14. Predictors of Offense Severity, Prosecution, Incarceration and Repeat Violations for Adolescent Male and Female Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barrett, David E.; Katsiyannis, Antonis; Zhang, Dalun

    2006-01-01

    We examined factors predicting severity of first offense, adjudication, incarceration, and repeat offenses for first time juvenile offenders. The sample consisted of 12,468 juveniles, all born in 1985. Each of the juveniles had been assigned to the South Carolina Juvenile Justice System (SCDJJ) on at least one occasion ("referral"). Analysis on…

  15. Taking Responsibility: Preparing Young Offenders to Handle Disclosure on the Job

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pham, Yen K.; Unruh, Deanne K.; Waintrup, Miriam; Sinclair, James; Johnson, Michael D.; Alverson, Charlotte Y.

    2017-01-01

    In facilitating prosocial identity formation and preventing recidivism among adjudicated youth upon reentry to school and community, one key issue to address is the confidentiality of juvenile records. Educators can support young offenders by teaching youth to problem-solve the disclosure of past juvenile involvements. This article discusses two…

  16. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Snyder, Howard N.; Sickmund, Melissa

    2006-01-01

    This report presents comprehensive information on juvenile crime, violence, and victimization and on the juvenile justice system. This report brings together the latest available statistics from a variety of sources and includes numerous tables, graphs, and maps, accompanied by analyses in clear, nontechnical language. The report offers Congress,…

  17. Do pedophiles have a weaker identity structure compared with nonsexual offenders?

    PubMed

    Tardi, M; Van Gijseghem, H

    2001-10-01

    The aim of this study was to determine whether pedophiles have a weaker identity structure compared with nonsexual offenders. The recruitment process secured the participation of 87 male adult subjects, divided into three groups: 27 pedophiles who abused male victims (X = 38.6 years), 30 pedophiles who abused female victims (X = 35.5 years), 30 nonsexual offenders (X = 29.8 years). The concept of identity was examined on the basis of two factors: body image limits and ego identity. Two objective tests, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Ego Identity Scale, and one projective test, the Rorschach scored according to the Fisher and Cleveland method, were used. A multivariate analysis of covariance, at a significance threshold of p < .05, indicated that pedophiles who abused female victims and pedophiles who abused male victims have more fragile body image limits, as measured by the penetration score, and present a higher level of social introversion (Si scale) than do nonsexual offenders. Moreover, pedophiles who abused male victims have a weaker ego (Es scale) than do pedophiles who abused female victims and nonsexual offenders. In other respects, no significant intergroup difference emerged in terms of body image limits as measured by the barrier score and of strength of ego identity (Ego Identity Scale). Conceptual and empirical elements related to body image and ego identity are addressed to shed light on the potential disturbances in the identity of pedophile subjects. These results imply not only that certain impairments exist at the level of the basis structures of the personality, but also that these impairments should be taken into account in formulating a program and devising a therapeutic process for pedophiles.

  18. Practitioner Review: The Victims and Juvenile Perpetrators of Child Sexual Abuse -- Assessment and Intervention

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vizard, Eileen

    2013-01-01

    Background: The assessment of victims of child sexual abuse (CSA) is now a recognized aspect of clinical work for both CAMH and adult services. As juvenile perpetrators of CSA are responsible for a significant minority of the sexual assaults on other children, CAMH services are increasingly approached to assess these oversexualized younger…

  19. Priming unconscious racial stereotypes about adolescent offenders.

    PubMed

    Graham, Sandra; Lowery, Brian S

    2004-10-01

    Two studies examined unconscious racial stereotypes of decision makers in the juvenile justice system. Police officers (Experiment 1) and juvenile probation officers (Experiment 2) were subliminally exposed to words related to the category Black or to words neutral with respect to race. In a presumably unrelated task, officers read 2 vignettes about a hypothetical adolescent who allegedly committed either a property crime (shoplifting from a convenience store) or an interpersonal crime (assaulting a peer). The race of the offender was left unstated and the scenarios were ambiguous about the causes of the crime. Respondents rated the hypothetical offender on a number of traits (e.g., hostility and immaturity) and made judgments about culpability, expected recidivism, and deserved punishment. They also completed a self-report measure of conscious attitudes about race. As hypothesized, officers in the racial prime condition reported more negative trait ratings, greater culpability, and expected recidivism, and they endorsed harsher punishment than did officers in the neutral condition. The effects of the racial primes were not moderated by consciously held attitudes about African Americans. The implications of the findings for racial disparity in the juvenile justice system and for changing unconscious stereotypes were discussed.

  20. Correctional Education Experiences of Female Offenders with a Learning Disability

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smith, Ezekiel

    2012-01-01

    Minimal employable skills, poor work habits, and substance abuse are problems that often result in released female offenders' recidivating within 36 months of their prison release. Recidivism is further compounded when the female offender suffers from a learning disability. Research suggests that correctional education experiences do not address…

  1. Moral Disengagement among Serious Juvenile Offenders: A Longitudinal Study of the Relations between Morally Disengaged Attitudes and Offending

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shulman, Elizabeth P.; Cauffman, Elizabeth; Piquero, Alex R.; Fagan, Jeffrey

    2011-01-01

    The present study investigates the relation between moral disengagement--one's willingness to conditionally endorse transgressive behavior--and ongoing offending in a sample of adolescent male felony offenders (N = 1,169). In addition, the study attempts to rule out callous-unemotional traits as a third variable responsible for observed…

  2. Tried as an adult, housed as a juvenile: a tale of youth from two courts incarcerated together.

    PubMed

    Bechtold, Jordan; Cauffman, Elizabeth

    2014-04-01

    Research has questioned the wisdom of housing juveniles who are convicted in criminal court in facilities with adult offenders. It is argued that minors transferred to criminal court should not be incarcerated with adults, due to a greater likelihood of developing criminal skills, being victimized, and attempting suicide. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the other option, housing these youth with minors who have committed less serious crimes and who are therefore adjudicated in juvenile courts, might have unintended consequences for juvenile court youth. The present study utilizes a sample of youth incarcerated in one secure juvenile facility, with some offenders processed in juvenile court (n = 261) and others processed in adult court (n = 103). We investigate whether youth transferred to adult court engage in more institutional offending (in particular, violence) and experience less victimization than their juvenile court counterparts. Results indicate that although adult court youth had a greater likelihood of being convicted of violent commitment offenses than juvenile court youth, the former engaged in less offending during incarceration than the latter. In addition, no significant differences in victimization were observed. These findings suggest that the concern about the need for separate housing for adult court youth is unfounded; when incarcerated together, those tried in adult court do not engage in more institutional violence than juvenile court youth. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  3. Easy access to firearms: juveniles' risks for violent offending and violent victimization.

    PubMed

    Ruback, R Barry; Shaffer, Jennifer N; Clark, Valerie A

    2011-07-01

    Keeping firearms at home may increase personal safety but it may also increase the risk of injury. This study uses data from three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to assess the extent to which adolescents' easy access to firearms at home increases the risk of violent offending and violent victimization. Access to firearms was higher for males, Whites, and adolescents having two parents, especially fathers. Current access to firearms at home significantly increased the odds of both violent offending and violent victimization, even after controlling for prior access, prior offending, and prior victimization. This relationship persisted into early adulthood; access to firearms still significantly increased the odds of violent offending and violent victimization.

  4. Identity-linked perceptions of the police among African American juvenile offenders: a developmental perspective.

    PubMed

    Lee, Joanna M; Steinberg, Laurence; Piquero, Alex R; Knight, George P

    2011-01-01

    Ethnic identity development can play a role in youths' perceptions and attitudes concerning police, but this process has not been explored in delinquent samples. In this article, we examine how youths' perceptions of police legitimacy and levels of legal cynicism are related to processes of ethnic identity development. Participants were 561 black youth ages 14-18 (12% female) who were adjudicated of a felony or serious misdemeanor. Data were taken from semi-annual interviews conducted over 3 years. Increased ethnic identity exploration was related to positive perceptions of police legitimacy and lower legal cynicism. Higher ethnic identity affirmation predicted higher perceived legitimacy over time, but affirmation was not related to legal cynicism after accounting for psychosocial maturity. This study provides evidence that ethnic identity development operates similarly among high risk youth as in non-delinquent samples, and that it is connected to beliefs that can have implications for juvenile offenders' future compliance with the law.

  5. Back on the streets: Maturation and risk factors for recidivism among serious juvenile offenders.

    PubMed

    Leverso, John; Bielby, William; Hoelter, Lynette F

    2015-06-01

    This study examines how social and cognitive factors shape future criminal activity among serious juvenile offenders and assesses how adolescents' cognitive development affects the relative impact of those factors over time. The sample, from the Pathways to Desistance Study, is comprised of youth (aged 14-18 years) in the United States convicted of serious criminal offenses, and the outcome measure is self-reported crime. We rely on data collected when the youth were first interviewed (n = 1088) and 18-24 months later (n = 904). Logistic regression analyses reveal a strong relationship between impulsiveness and criminal behavior, regardless of age. Susceptibility to peer pressure and perceived risk that friends would be arrested were found to predict future criminal activity among younger adolescents, but have little impact at later ages. External factors such as amount of social support and gang membership have varying effects over time. Copyright © 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. The adoption of wraparound services among substance abuse treatment organizations serving criminal offenders: The role of a women-specific program.

    PubMed

    Oser, Carrie; Knudsen, Hannah; Staton-Tindall, Michele; Leukefeld, Carl

    2009-08-01

    Women's substance abuse treatment outcomes are improved when women-specific needs are addressed through wraparound services, such as the provision of child care, employment assistance, or mental health counseling. Despite a higher prevalence of pre-incarceration drug use, women in prison report receiving fewer services than their male counterparts, suggesting they likely have greater service needs upon release. It is unknown whether community-based treatment organizations with a women-specific program offer more wraparound services than programs without a focus on women. This study uses data from the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS) research cooperative's National Criminal Justice Treatment Practices Survey (NCJTPS), a nationally representative sample of community-based treatment programs serving predominantly criminal offenders (n=217). First, bivariate analyses identified differences between organizations with and without a women-specific program on the number of wraparound services adopted as well as organizational-level characteristics (i.e., organizational structure, personnel characteristics, culture, sources of information, and systems integration) related to their adoption. Second, Poisson regression was used to identify the organizational characteristics associated with the number of adopted wraparound services, with having a women-specific program being the primary covariate of interest. Results indicate larger organizations that utilized a greater number of treatment approaches and believed that treatment could reduce crime were more likely to offer a greater assortment of wraparound services. In an effort to improve behavioral treatment outcomes, it is imperative to examine organizational-level contextual factors that shape the availability of wraparound services for female offenders in community-based substance abuse treatment settings.

  7. The Adoption of Wraparound Services among Substance Abuse Treatment Organizations Serving Criminal Offenders: The Role of a Women-Specific Program

    PubMed Central

    Knudsen, Hannah; Staton-Tindall, Michele; Leukefeld, Carl

    2009-01-01

    Women’s substance abuse treatment outcomes are improved when women-specific needs are addressed through wraparound services, such as the provision of child care, employment assistance, or mental health counseling. Despite a higher prevalence of pre-incarceration drug use, women in prison report receiving fewer services than their male counterparts, suggesting they likely have greater service needs upon release. It is unknown whether community-based treatment organizations with a women-specific program offer more wraparound services than programs without a focus on women. This study uses data from the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS) research cooperative’s National Criminal Justice Treatment Practices Survey (NCJTPS), a nationally representative sample of community-based treatment programs serving predominantly criminal offenders (n = 217). First, bivariate analyses identified differences between organizations with and without a women-specific program on the number of wraparound services adopted as well as organizational-level characteristics (i.e., organizational structure, personnel characteristics, culture, sources of information, and systems integration) related to their adoption. Second, Poisson regression was used to identify the organizational characteristics associated with the number of adopted wraparound services, with having a women-specific program being the primary covariate of interest. Results indicate larger organizations that utilized a greater number of treatment approaches and believed that treatment could reduce crime were more likely to offer a greater assortment of wraparound services. In an effort to improve behavioral treatment outcomes, it is imperative to examine organizational-level contextual factors that shape the availability of wraparound services for female offenders in community-based substance abuse treatment settings. PMID:19181457

  8. Services to Status Offenders and Delinquents under Title XX.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nelson, Gary M.

    1982-01-01

    Found that states prohibiting institutionalization of status offenders and juvenile delinquents were no more likely to provide high levels of child foster care and protective services under Title XX than states not prohibiting institutionalization. (Author)

  9. Child care providers who commit sexual offences: a description of offender, offence, and victim characteristics.

    PubMed

    Moulden, Heather M; Firestone, Philip; Wexler, Audrey F

    2007-08-01

    The aim of this investigation was to undertake an exploratory analysis of child care providers who sexually offend against children and adolescents and the circumstances related to these offences. Archival Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System (ViCLAS) reports were obtained from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and demographic and criminal characteristics for the offender, as well as information about the victim and offence, were selected for analyses. A descriptive approach was used to analyze the qualitative reports for a group of 305 Canadian sexual offenders between 1995 and 2002. Adult male (N = 163) and female ( N = 14), along with juvenile male (N = 100) and female (N = 28) child care providers who were involved in a sexual offence against a child or adolescent are described. This article provides unique information about the crimes committed by child care providers in that it is focused on crime characteristics, rather than on personality or treatment variables. Furthermore, it represents a comprehensive examination of this type of offender by including understudied groups, namely juvenile and female offenders.

  10. Protective Effects of Parental Monitoring on Offending in Victimized Youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nash, James K.; Mujanovic, Eldan; Winfree, L. Thomas

    2011-01-01

    Empirical and conceptual literature in the United States and Western Europe provides robust evidence of victimization as a risk factor for juvenile offending and parental monitoring as a protective factor. The current study examines relationships among victimization, monitoring, and offending using a sample of youth from Bosnia and Herzegovina…

  11. American juvenile justice system: history in the making.

    PubMed

    Meng, Aaron; Segal, Roland; Boden, Eric

    2013-01-01

    The original theory behind separating juvenile offenders from adult offenders was to provide care and direction for youngsters instead of isolation and punishment. This idea took hold in the 19th century and became mainstream by the early 20th century. In the 1950s and 1960s, public concern grew because of a perceived lack of effectiveness and lack of rights. The Supreme Court made a series of rulings solidifying juvenile rights including the right to receive notice of charges, the right to have an attorney and the right to have charges proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In the 1980s, the public view was that the juvenile court system was too lenient and that juvenile crimes were on the rise. In the 1990s, many states passed punitive laws, including mandatory sentencing and blanket transfers to adult courts for certain crimes. As a result, the pendulum is now swinging back toward the middle from rehabilitation toward punishment.

  12. Providing long term care for sex offenders: liabilities and responsibilities.

    PubMed

    Corson, Tyler Rogers; Nadash, Pamela

    2013-11-01

    The high risk for recidivism among sex offenders who need long term care (LTC) raises serious issues when they are cared for alongside frail, vulnerable adults. LTC providers must balance offenders' right to access care with other residents' right to be free from abuse and must assess and manage the risks associated with admitting offenders. This article identifies sources of legal liability that derive from sex offender management and discusses the need for the LTC community to develop reasonable, balanced guidance on how best to mitigate the risks associated with sex offenders, protect the rights of all residents, and reduce provider liabilities. Copyright © 2013 American Medical Directors Association, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Diminished fronto-limbic functional connectivity in child sexual offenders.

    PubMed

    Kneer, Jonas; Borchardt, Viola; Kärgel, Christian; Sinke, Christopher; Massau, Claudia; Tenbergen, Gilian; Ponseti, Jorge; Walter, Henrik; Beier, Klaus M; Schiffer, Boris; Schiltz, Kolja; Walter, Martin; Kruger, Tillmann H C

    2018-02-22

    Child sexual abuse and neglect have been related to an increased risk for the development of a wide range of behavioral, psychological, and sexual problems and increased rates of suicidal behavior. Contrary to the large amount of research focusing on the negative mental health consequences of child sexual abuse, very little is known about the characteristics of child sexual offenders and the neuronal underpinnings contributing to child sexual offending. This study investigates differences in resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC) between non-pedophilic child sexual offenders (N = 20; CSO-P) and matched healthy controls (N = 20; HC) using a seed-based approach. The focus of this investigation of rs-FC in CSO-P was put on prefrontal and limbic regions highly relevant for emotional and behavioral processing. Results revealed a significant reduction of rs-FC between the right centromedial amygdala and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in child sexual offenders compared to controls. Given that, in the healthy brain, there is a strong top-down inhibitory control of prefrontal over limbic structures, these results suggest that diminished rs-FC between the amygdala and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and may foster sexual deviance and sexual offending. A profound understanding of these concepts should contribute to a better understanding of the occurrence of child sexual offending, as well as further development of more differentiated and effective interventions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Drug treatment services for adult offenders: The state of the state

    PubMed Central

    Taxman, Faye S.; Perdoni, Matthew L.; Harrison, Lana D.

    2007-01-01

    We conducted a national survey of prisons, jails, and community correctional agencies to estimate the prevalence of entry into and accessibility of correctional programs and drug treatment services for adult offenders. Substance abuse education and awareness is the most prevalent form of service provided, being offered in 74% of prisons, 61% of jails, and 53% of community correctional agencies; at the same time, remedial education is the most frequently available correctional program in prisons (89%) and jails (59.5%), whereas sex offender therapy (57.2%) and intensive supervision (41.9%) dominate in community correctional programs. Most substance abuse services provided to offenders are offered through correctional programs such as intensive supervision, day reporting, vocational education, and work release, among others. Although agencies report a high frequency of providing substance abuse services, the prevalence rates are misleading because less than a quarter of the offenders in prisons and jails and less than 10% of those in community correctional agencies have access to these services through correctional agencies; in addition, these are predominantly drug treatment services that offer few clinical services. Given that drug-involved offenders are likely to have dependence rates that are four times greater than those among the general public, the drug treatment services and correctional programs available to offenders do not appear to be appropriate for the needs of this population. The National Criminal Justice Treatment Practices survey provides a better understanding of the distribution of services and programs across prisons, jails, and community correctional agencies and allows researchers and policymakers to understand some of the gaps in services and programs that may negatively affect recidivism reduction efforts. PMID:17383549

  15. Dissociative Experiences of Sexual Offenders: A Comparison between Two Outpatient Groups and Those Found to be Falsely Accused.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dwyer, S. Margretta

    1992-01-01

    Administered Dissociative Experiences Scale, which distinguishes between subjects with dissociative disorder and those without, to 71 sex offenders and 14 men who were falsely accused of sexual abuse. Outpatient sex offenders scored in the range attributed to general population. Those falsely accused of child sexual abuse scored lower than…

  16. Competing values among criminal justice administrators: The importance of substance abuse treatment.

    PubMed

    Henderson, Craig E; Taxman, Faye S

    2009-08-01

    This study applied latent class analysis (LCA) to examine heterogeneity in criminal justice administrators' attitudes toward the importance of substance abuse treatment relative to other programs and services commonly offered in criminal justice settings. The study used data collected from wardens, probation and/or parole administrators, and other justice administrators as part of the National Criminal Justice Treatment Practices survey (NCJTP), and includes both adult criminal and juvenile justice samples. Results of the LCA suggested that administrators fell into four different latent classes: (1) those who place a high importance on substance abuse treatment relative to other programs and services, (2) those who place equal importance on substance abuse treatment and other programs and services, (3) those who value other programs and services moderately more than substance abuse treatment, and (4) those who value other programs and services much more than substance abuse treatment. Latent class membership was in turn associated with the extent to which evidence-based substance abuse treatment practices were being used in the facilities, the region of the country in which the administrator worked, and attitudes toward rehabilitating drug-using offenders. The findings have implications for future research focused on the impact that administrators' attitudes have on service provision as well as the effectiveness of knowledge dissemination and diffusion models.

  17. Juveniles in court.

    PubMed

    Soulier, Matthew F; Scott, Charles L

    2010-01-01

    Nineteenth-century American reformers were concerned about the influence of immaturity and development in juvenile offenses. They responded to their delinquent youths through the creation of juvenile courts. This early American juvenile justice system sought to treat children as different from adults and to rehabilitate wayward youths through the state's assumption of a parental role. Although these rehabilitative goals were never fully realized, the field of American child psychiatry was spawned from these efforts on behalf of delinquent youths. Early child psychiatrists began by caring for juvenile offenders. The function of a child psychiatrist with juvenile delinquents expanded beyond strictly rehabilitation, however, as juvenile courts evolved to resemble criminal adult courts-due to landmark Supreme Court decisions and also juvenile legislation between 1966 and 1975. In response to dramatically increased juvenile violence and delinquency rates in the 1980s, juvenile justice became more retributional, and society was forced to confront issues such as capital punishment for juveniles, their transfer to adult courts, and their competency to stand trial. In the modern juvenile court, child psychiatrists are often asked to participate in the consideration of such issues because of their expertise in development. In that context we review the role of psychiatrists in assisting juvenile courts.

  18. TRAUMA-INFORMED TREATMENT DECREASES PTSD AMONG WOMEN OFFENDERS

    PubMed Central

    Messina, Nena; Calhoun, Stacy; Braithwaite, Jeremy

    2013-01-01

    Traumatic experiences among women offenders can impact their psychological well-being and patterns of substance use and offending. However, rigorous research in this area for women offenders with a history of trauma is sparse. This study combined data from two previous studies of women offenders in order to provide greater statistical power in examining the psychological trends found in the individual studies. Specifically, women in gender-responsive treatment (GRT; n = 134) were compared to women in non-GRT (n = 143) in regard to their change in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related symptomatology from baseline to follow-up. The pooled sample of women were predominantly White (58%) or Hispanic (22%) and many had never been married (47%); their mean age was 36 years (SD = 8.9), and, on average, they had 12 years (SD = 1.8) of education. Methamphetamine was their primary drug (71%). Fifty-five percent of the women reported histories of sexual abuse and 37% physical abuse. Thirty-one percent had a PTSD diagnosis. Using Generalized Estimating Equations, significant group*time interactions were detected in PTSD (OR = .17) and some related symptomatology (re-experiencing: OR = .42, and avoidance: OR = .24). Given the aggregate impact of trauma in the lives of women offenders, they, their families, and their communities could benefit from research on how trauma influences their lives and on services that mitigate the negative impact of such histories. PMID:24377969

  19. Performance Intelligence, Sexual Offending and Psychopathy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nijman, Henk; Merckelbach, Harald; Cima, Maaike

    2009-01-01

    Previous studies have suggested that offenders have lowered verbal intelligence compared to their performance intelligence. This phenomenon has been linked traditionally to childhood risk factors (e.g. deficient education, abuse and neglect). Substantial discrepancies between performance intelligence quotients (PIQ) and verbal intelligence…

  20. Is This Kid a Likely Experimenter or a Likely Persister? An Analysis of Individual-Level and Family-Level Risk Factors Predicting Multiple Offending Among a Group of Adjudicated Youth.

    PubMed

    Buker, Hasan; Erbay, Ayhan

    2018-02-01

    To implement effective diversion programs and determine for a well-suited intervention strategy, ascertaining who, among the adjudicated youth, is more likely to involve in multiple offending, rather than desisting after an initial delinquent behavior, is of great significance. The overall objective of this study, therefore, is to contribute to the existing knowledge on assessing the risks for multiple offending during juvenile adjudication processes. In this regard, this study examined the predicting powers of several individual-level and family-level risk factors on multiple offending during adolescence, based on a data set derived from court-ordered social examination reports (SERs) on 400 adjudicated youth in Turkey. Two binomial regression models were implemented to test the predictor values of various risk factors from these two domains. Results indicated the following as significant predictors of multiple offending among the subjects: younger age of onset in delinquency, dropping out of school, having delinquent/drug abusing (risky) friends, being not able to share problems with the family, increased number of siblings, and having a domestically migrated family. Conclusively, these findings were compared with the existing literature, and the policy implications and recommendations for future research were discussed.

  1. Juvenile delinquency in a developing country: a province example in Turkey.

    PubMed

    Ozen, Sakir; Ece, Aydin; Oto, Remzi; Tirasci, Yasar; Goren, Suleyman

    2005-01-01

    The aim of this study was to determine offence behavior, socio-demographic characteristics and some features of the juvenile offenders' families in a selected region, and compare with developed countries. A total of 165 juvenile offenders were included. Information was obtained by individually interviewing all children. Of a total of 165 juveniles, 162 (98%) were boys. The most frequently committed crimes were theft (52%) and wounding (20%). Of these juveniles, 33% were 14 years old when they committed offence, 21% had a history of an offence behavior, 14.5% had an offender sibling, 36% had smoking habits, 21% had a history of running away from home, and 28% had a history of internal migration. Mild psychiatric disorders were detected in 9 (5.4%) and 51% of them were not student at the time of offence behavior. Most of the families were crowded and had rather low economical and educational levels. Some features such as low income and low family educational levels, insufficient parental control, crowded family, migration, repetition of offences, and cigarette smoking were found to be risk factors for offensive behavior. These risk factors can be taken into consideration for the prevention of future crimes.

  2. A Preliminary Examination of Specific Risk Assessment for Sexual Offenders against Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Proeve, Michael

    2009-01-01

    Specific risk questions concerning sexual offending, such as risk of offending against male victims given identified female victims, have seldom been discussed in the child sexual abuse literature. Two approaches to specific risk questions are described: (a) conditional probability calculations, and (b) the development of risk assessment…

  3. Race as a Factor in Juvenile Arrests. Juvenile Justice Bulletin.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pope, Carl E.; Snyder, Howard E.

    This bulletin examines the effect of race on police decisions to take juvenile offenders into custody. Analysis of 1997 and 1998 data on 17 states from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Incident-Based Reporting System indicates that there is no evidence to support the hypothesis that police are more likely to arrest nonwhite juvenile…

  4. The effectiveness of sexual offender treatment for juveniles as measured by recidivism: a meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    Reitzel, Lorraine R; Carbonell, Joyce L

    2006-10-01

    Published and unpublished data from nine studies on juvenile sexual offender treatment effectiveness were summarized by meta-analysis (N=2986, 2604 known male). Recidivism rates for sexual, non-sexual violent, non-sexual non-violent crimes, and unspecified non-sexual were as follows: 12.53%, 24.73%, 28.51%, and 20.40%, respectively, based on an average 59-month follow-up period. Four included studies contained a control group (n=2288) and five studies included a comparison treatment group (n=698). An average weighted effect size of 0.43 (CI=0.33-0.55) was obtained, indicating a statistically significant effect of treatment on sexual recidivism. However, individual study characteristics (e.g., handling of dropouts and non-equivalent follow-up periods between treatment groups) suggest that results should be interpreted with caution. A comparison of odds ratios by quality of study design indicated that higher quality designs yielded better effect sizes, though the difference between groups was not significant.

  5. Coping capacity among women with abusive partners.

    PubMed

    Nurius, P S; Furrey, J; Berliner, L

    1992-01-01

    Coping capacity, although increasingly implicated as a mediating force in how individuals respond to personal threat, is an underrecognized factor in work with women of abusive partners. To explore the utility of coping capacity as a multivariable set to guide intervention with women of abusive partners, findings are reported comparing four groups of women: those whose partners do not engage in abuse, are abusive toward them, are sex offenders of children for whom the woman is a parent, or are offenders of children for whom the woman is not a parent. Three variable sets were included: vulnerability factors that may negatively influence appraisals of threat and ability to cope with abuse; coping responses that include cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions to the abuse; and coping resources expected to mediate effects of vulnerability factors and to influence the mobilization (of lack thereof) of coping responses. There were significant differences in coping capacity profiles across the four groups. These appeared to be a continuum of coping capacity, with women who were most directly threatened showing the lowest and women who were least directly threatened showing the highest levels of coping capacity. In order from the lowest to the highest levels of coping capacity were (1) battered women, (2) women whose partners are offenders against their children, (3) women whose partners are offenders against children of whom they are not the parent, and (4) control group women. The paper ends with a conceptual interpretation of the mediating functions of coping resources and implications for intervention and further study.

  6. Substance Abuse Treatment in Adult and Juvenile Correctional Facilities: Findings from the Uniform Facility Data Set 1997 Survey of Correctional Facilities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marsden, Mary Ellen, Ed.; Straw, Richard S., Ed.

    This report presents methodology and findings from the Uniform Facility Data Set (UFDS) 1997 Survey of Correctional Facilities, which surveyed about 7,600 adult and juvenile correctional facilities to identify those that provide on-site substance abuse treatment to their inmates or residents. The survey assesses substance abuse treatment provided…

  7. Juvenile delinquency treatment and prevention: a literature review.

    PubMed

    May, Jessica; Osmond, Kristina; Billick, Stephen

    2014-09-01

    In the last three decades there has been ample research to demonstrate that instituting Multisystemic Therapy for serious juvenile offenders, keeping them in the community with intensive intervention, can significantly reduce recidivism. When there is recidivism, it is less severe than in released incarcerated juveniles. Multisystemic Therapy provides 24 h available parental guidance, family therapy, individual therapy, group therapy, educational support and quite importantly a change of peer group. In New York City, there is the new mandate through the Juvenile Justice Initiative to implement interventions to keep juvenile offenders in the community rather than sending them to be incarcerated. However, this paper aims to examine how teaching prosocial values in early childhood can reduce the incidence of first-time juvenile delinquency. Programs such as the Perry School Project will be discussed to demonstrate that although somewhat expensive, these innovative programs nonetheless are quite cost-effective as the cost to society of adjudication, incarceration and victim damages are significantly greater. Along with teaching prosocial 0020 values, there has been renewed interest in early identification of youth at risk for developing Antisocial Personality Disorder. An update is given on the status of both promising approaches in early intervention to prevent serious juvenile delinquency and hence adult criminality.

  8. Juvenile Crime and Criminal Justice: Resolving Border Disputes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fagan, Jeffrey

    2008-01-01

    Rising juvenile crime rates during the 1970s and 1980s spurred state legislatures across the country to exclude or transfer a significant share of offenders under the age of eighteen to the jurisdiction of the criminal court, essentially redrawing the boundary between the juvenile and adult justice systems. Jeffrey Fagan examines the legal…

  9. Psychological correlates of violent and non-violent Hong Kong juvenile probationers.

    PubMed

    Chan, Heng Choon Oliver; Chui, Wing Hong

    2012-01-01

    There is little known about Hong Kong juvenile offenders on probation. The purpose of this study was to compare Hong Kong juvenile violent with non-violent probationers on static demographic and psychological variables. The study comprised 109 male juvenile probationers aged 14-20 years (M = 16.97, SD = 1.44) in community transitional housing; 34 were adjudicated for violent offenses, while 75 were non-violent. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Social Bonding Scale-Theft (SBS-T), Social Bonding Scale-Violent Crime (SBS-VC), Positive and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS), Impulsiveness Scale-Short Form (IS-SF) and CRIME-PICS II were administered to measure self-esteem, life satisfaction, social bond, positive and negative affect, impulsivity, pro-offending attitudes, and self-perceived life problems. Data on onset age of delinquent behavior, age of first adjudication, number of prior adjudications, and frequency of self-reported delinquency in the past year were also collected. t-tests were consistent with significant differences for violent offenders including higher self-esteem (p < 0.05). Non-violent offenders self-reported significantly more theft (p < 0.05) with a tendency to deny victim hurt more often (p < 0.01); 76.5% of violent offenders self-reported both violent and non-violent crime, while 58.7% of non-violent offenders reported only non-violent crime. For violent and non-violent offenders, the onset of delinquency was inversely related to the frequency of self-reported delinquency. Using ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression analyses, self-anticipated violent reoffending risk was predicted by age of onset, frequency of self-reported delinquency, social bond (inversely), and impulsivity, while non-violent reoffending risk was predicted by the number of prior convictions and self-reported delinquency. Only two psychological correlates, social bond and impulsivity, were related to violent delinquency; interventions

  10. Adolescent and Young Adult Male Sex Offenders: Understanding the Role of Recidivism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Riser, Diana K.; Pegram, Sheri E.; Farley, Julee P.

    2013-01-01

    The current review explores the complex paths that can lead to adolescent and young adult males becoming sexually abusive. Because sexual abuse is an ongoing issue in our society that is often oversimplified, this article distinguishes between the various risk factors that predict sexually abusive behavior and types of sex offenders, particularly…

  11. [Social perception of the Spanish law for young offenders].

    PubMed

    García, Ma Dolores; Martín, Eduardo; Torbay, Ángela; Rodríguez, Carmen

    2010-11-01

    The implementation of the law 5/2000 for the regulation of Criminal Responsibility for Minors has led to a change in interventions in cases of juvenile offenders. This law promotes the educational and rehabilitative aims of the measures imposed. However, the focus of the media on the most serious cases has generated considerable alarm in society in general. The aim of this study is to determine the social perception of Law 5/2000. For this purpose, a sample of 936 people from the Autonomous Region of the Canary Islands was surveyed. The main results indicate that there is a significant lack of knowledge about the law and that people tend to think that the measures taken are not as effective as studies carried out in connection with this subject have shown. Nevertheless, the people surveyed are more in favour of educational measures than of measures that penalize. These results are discussed in connection with the importance that community factors have in dealing with juvenile delinquency, and in particular, in the power of social pressure to modify legislation, and of the community to assume responsibility for the reinsertion of juvenile offenders.

  12. Treatment for Drug Abusing Offenders during Correctional Supervision: A Nationwide Overview.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lipton, Douglas S.

    1998-01-01

    Discusses problems associated with the increasing number of drug offenders in U.S. correctional institutions. Explores the relationship between drugs and crime, the history of treating drug-using offenders, and efforts afoot in the Federal Correctional Options Program and the Bureau of Prisons to rehabilitate these prisoners. (MKA)

  13. Tracking Juvenile Recidivists: Three Options for Creating Statewide, Longitudinal Records of Juvenile Offenders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rooney, Teresa L.

    This document describes three options for a statewide statistical system for tracking recidivism of juvenile delinquents placed outside their homes in treatment programs. The information is intended for use by the state in allocating resources. The options described involve potential use of juvenile court records, placement data, and/or…

  14. A child sexual abuse research project: a brief endnote.

    PubMed

    Roberts, Susan; Vanstone, Maurice

    2014-01-01

    There is a dearth of research on sexual abuse perpetrated by educators. Although the problem is receiving increasing attention, little emphasis has been placed on abuse directed at younger schoolchildren and on offenders' accounts of this form of abuse. Here, we attempt to address this gap in knowledge by exploring the narratives of five convicted, imprisoned male child sexual abusers, each of whom worked with children in educational settings in the United Kingdom. We draw on four themes that emerged from detailed interviews with offenders, namely: the power of reputation, authority and control, the "front of invulnerability," and disclosure of abuse. We conclude by considering the implications of our work for policy and practice.

  15. Juvenile curfews: are they an effective and constitutional means of combating juvenile violence?

    PubMed

    Fried, C S

    2001-01-01

    Curfew ordinances have become a popular way to attempt to combat juvenile crime and victimization. Although the Supreme Court has yet to hear a curfew case, several constitutional challenges have been brought in lower federal courts. The cases are replete with psychological assumptions for which there is limited empirical evidence. In applying the "strict scrutiny" standard, several courts have also questioned whether juvenile curfews are narrowly tailored to further the State's interest in reducing juvenile crime and victimization. While public opinion and reports from several police jurisdictions support the utility of juvenile curfews, recent empirical studies indicate that curfews are not effective at reducing juvenile offending or victimization. This paper argues that the emerging evidence does not support the use of juvenile curfews and urges policy makers and the courts to examine the efficacy of curfew legislation. Directions for future research that could be helpful to the courts in applying the Bellotti factors to curfew cases are also suggested. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  16. The effects of visitation on incarcerated juvenile offenders: how contact with the outside impacts adjustment on the inside.

    PubMed

    Monahan, Kathryn C; Goldweber, Asha; Cauffman, Elizabeth

    2011-04-01

    The present study investigates how visitation from parents impacts youths' mental health in the first two months of incarceration in a secure juvenile facility. A diverse sample of 276 male, newly incarcerated serious adolescent offenders (14-17 years) was interviewed over a 60-day period. Results indicate that youth who receive visits from parents report more rapid declines in depressive symptoms over time compared to youth who do not receive parental visits. Moreover, these effects are cumulative, such that the greater number of visits from parents, the greater the decrease in depressive symptoms. Importantly, the protective effect of receiving parental visits during incarceration exists regardless of the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship. Policy changes that facilitate visitation may be key for easing adjustment during the initial period of incarceration.

  17. The incidence of dyslexia among young offenders in Kuwait.

    PubMed

    Elbeheri, Gad; Everatt, John; Al Malki, Mohammad

    2009-05-01

    This paper investigates the incidence of dyslexia among young offenders in Kuwait. A total of 91 children/young adults from 8 juvenile delinquent welfare centres across Kuwait were interviewed and tested. A measure of non-verbal reasoning ability was used to exclude those with low general ability. The remaining 53 participants were tested on their ability to identify alliteration and rhyme, retain and manipulate sequences of digit and letter names, decode novel letter strings and identify words within letter chains. Participants' reading accuracy, rate of reading, reading comprehension and ability to spell correctly dictated text were also assessed. These measures were used to determine those with indicators of dyslexia. The results indicated that the percentage of individuals presenting evidence of dyslexia was much larger (greater than 20%) in this population of young offenders than would be expected based on the national average (around 6%) of dyslexics in Kuwait derived from a nationwide study (A survey study of dyslexia in Kuwait, Kuwait Dyslexia Association: Kuwait City; 2002). These findings replicate previous evidence for an increased frequency of dyslexia among young offenders. The implications of such findings are discussed in terms of dyslexia awareness, socio-cultural factors, education and intervention, particularly in Kuwait juvenile delinquent welfare centres.

  18. Pathways to Early Violent Death: The Voices of Serious Violent Youth Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Richardson, Joseph B.; Brown, Jerry; Van Brakle, Michelle

    2013-01-01

    Quantitative studies have uncovered factors associated with early violent death among youth offenders detained in the juvenile justice system, but little is known about the contextual factors associated with pathways to early violent death among youths detained in adult jails. We interviewed young Black male serious violent youth offenders detained in an adult jail to understand their experience of violence. Their narratives reveal how the code of the street, informal rules that govern interpersonal violence among poor inner-city Black male youths, increases the likelihood of violent victimization. Youth offenders detained in adult jails have the lowest rate of service provision among all jail populations. We have addressed how services for youth offenders can be improved to reduce the pathways to early violent death. PMID:23678923

  19. Pathways to early violent death: the voices of serious violent youth offenders.

    PubMed

    Richardson, Joseph B; Brown, Jerry; Van Brakle, Michelle

    2013-07-01

    Quantitative studies have uncovered factors associated with early violent death among youth offenders detained in the juvenile justice system, but little is known about the contextual factors associated with pathways to early violent death among youths detained in adult jails. We interviewed young Black male serious violent youth offenders detained in an adult jail to understand their experience of violence. Their narratives reveal how the code of the street, informal rules that govern interpersonal violence among poor inner-city Black male youths, increases the likelihood of violent victimization. Youth offenders detained in adult jails have the lowest rate of service provision among all jail populations. We have addressed how services for youth offenders can be improved to reduce the pathways to early violent death.

  20. "Scared Straight" and other juvenile awareness programs for preventing juvenile delinquency.

    PubMed

    Petrosino, A; Turpin-Petrosino, C; Buehler, J

    2002-01-01

    'Scared Straight' and other programmes involve organised visits to prison by juvenile delinquents or children at risk for criminal behavior. programmes are designed to deter participants from future offending through first-hand observation of prison life and interaction with adult inmates. These programmes remain in use world-wide despite studies and reviews questioning their effectiveness. To assess the effects of programmes comprising organised visits to prisons by juvenile delinquents (officially adjudicated or convicted by a juvenile court) or pre-delinquents (children in trouble but not officially adjudicated as delinquents), aimed at deterring them from criminal activity. Handsearching by the first author in identifying randomised field trials 1945-1993 relevant to criminology was augmented by structured searches of 16 electronic data bases, including the Campbell SPECTR database of trials and the Cochrane CCTR. Experts in the field were consulted and relevant citations were followed up. Studies that tested the effects of any program involving the organised visits of juvenile delinquents or children at-risk for delinquency to penal institutions were included. Studies that included overlapping samples of juvenile and young adults (e.g. ages 14-20) were included. We only considered studies that randomly or quasi-randomly (i.e. alternation) assigned participants to conditions. Each study had to have a no-treatment control condition with at least one outcome measure of "post-visit" criminal behavior. We report narratively on the nine eligible trials. We conducted one meta-analysis of post-intervention offending rates using official data. Information from other sources (e.g. self-report) was either missing from some studies or critical information was omitted (e.g. standard deviations). We examined the immediate post-treatment effects (i.e. "first-effects") by computing Odds Ratios (OR) for data on proportions of each group re-offending, and assumed both fixed and

  1. Competing Values Among Criminal Justice Administrators: The Importance of Substance Abuse Treatment*

    PubMed Central

    Henderson, Craig E.; Taxman, Faye S.

    2009-01-01

    This study applied latent class analysis (LCA) to examine heterogeneity in criminal justice administrators’ attitudes toward the importance of substance abuse treatment relative to other programs and services commonly offered in criminal justice settings. The study used data collected from wardens, probation and/or parole administrators, and other justice administrators as part of the National Criminal Justice Treatment Practices survey (NCJTP), and includes both adult criminal and juvenile justice samples. Results of the LCA suggested that administrators fell into four different latent classes: (1) those who place a high importance on substance abuse treatment relative to other programs and services, (2) those who place equal importance on substance abuse treatment and other programs and services, (3) those who value other programs and services moderately more than substance abuse treatment, and (4) those who value other programs and services much more than substance abuse treatment. Latent class membership was in turn associated with the extent to which evidence-based substance abuse treatment practices were being used in the facilities, the region of the country in which the administrator worked, and attitudes toward rehabilitating drug-using offenders. The findings have implications for future research focused on the impact that administrators’ attitudes have on service provision as well as the effectiveness of knowledge dissemination and diffusion models. PMID:19054632

  2. An integrated experimental approach to treating young people who sexually abuse.

    PubMed

    Longo, Robert E

    2004-01-01

    This article promotes the use of an integrated (holistic) approach to treating juvenile sexual offenders. An integrated model takes into account the fact that: (a) youth are resilient, (b) youth progress through various stages of development, (c) these stages are often arrested as a result of trauma, child abuse and neglect, and attachment disorders, (d) humanistic approaches and the therapeutic relationship are essential to the healing and recovery process, (e) youth learn and work with a variety of learning styles and multiple intelligences, (f) many traditional assessment and treatment approaches can be modified and blended with an integrated approach, and (g) the use of experiential treatments can have a positive and profound impact in treating youth with sexual behavior problems.

  3. Response inhibition and impulsive decision-making in sexual offenders against children.

    PubMed

    Turner, Daniel; Laier, Christian; Brand, Matthias; Bockshammer, Tamara; Welsch, Robin; Rettenberger, Martin

    2018-05-31

    Current theories view impulsivity as an important factor in the explanation of sexual offending. While impulsivity itself is a multidimensional construct, response inhibition and impulsive decision-making are frequently discussed subcomponents. Impulsivity in sexual offenders could be triggered by sexual cues with high emotional significance. The present study compared response inhibition abilities and the degree of impulsive decision-making between 63 child sexual abusers and 63 nonoffending controls. A Go/No-Go task was used to assess response inhibition, while the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Game of Dice Task (GDT) were used for the assessment of decision-making. In contrast to previous studies, modified versions of the Go/No-Go task and the IGT were used, including pictures of the Not Real People-Set depicting nude adults and children. Child sexual abusers showed more deficits in response inhibition in the Go/No-Go task. Furthermore, decision-making was especially impaired by the presence of child images in child sexual abusers with more intense pedophilic sexual interests. In contrast, in the nonoffending controls the presence of preferred sexual cues (pictures of women) improved decision-making performance. No differences in overall GDT performance were found between the groups; however, child sexual abusers chose the riskiest option more frequently than nonoffending controls. In line with theoretical assumptions about the processes underlying sexual offending, child sexual abusers show more deficits in neuropsychological functioning, which may be related to more impulsive behaviors. These impairments could be triggered by the presence of sexually relevant cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  4. Psychopathology and personality in juvenile sexual homicide offenders.

    PubMed

    Myers, W C; Blashfield, R

    1997-01-01

    This project describes the psychopathology and personality findings in 14 juveniles who committed sexual homicide. These incarcerated youth were assessed using a structured interview, a personality assessment instrument, correctional files review, and an author-designed clinical interview. Nearly all of these youth met DSM-III-R conduct disorder criteria at the time of the crime. The presence of personality disorders and moderately high psychopathy scores at follow-up were common. Two-thirds of these youth reported the presence of violent sexual fantasies before their crimes. Weapons, most often knives, were used by these juvenile sexual murderers to kill known victims in a majority of the cases. They usually acted alone and selected a low risk victim. These findings suggest that juvenile sexual murderers are an emotionally and behaviorally disturbed population with identifiable psychopathology, personality disturbances, and criminal patterns.

  5. The Link: Connecting Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare. Volume 6, Number 3, Winter 2008

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shenk, Emily, Ed.; Price, Jennifer M., Ed.

    2008-01-01

    This issue of "The Link" newsletter contains the following articles: (1) Potential for Change: Public Attitudes and Policy Preferences for Juvenile Justice Systems Reform; (2) Rehabilitation versus Incarceration of Juvenile Offenders: Public Preferences in Four Models for Change States; and (3) Juvenile Justice Bulletin Brief (John Tuell).…

  6. MAOA, abuse exposure and antisocial behaviour: 30-year longitudinal study.

    PubMed

    Fergusson, David M; Boden, Joseph M; Horwood, L John; Miller, Allison L; Kennedy, Martin A

    2011-06-01

    Recent studies have raised issues concerning the replicability of gene × environment (G × E) interactions involving the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene in moderating the associations between abuse or maltreatment exposure and antisocial behaviour. This study attempted to replicate the findings in this area using a 30-year longitudinal study that has strong resemblance to the original research cohort. To test the hypothesis that the presence of the low-activity MAOA genotype was associated with an increased response to abuse exposure. Participants were 398 males from the Christchurch Health and Development Study who had complete data on: MAOA promoter region variable number tandem repeat genotype; antisocial behaviour to age 30; and exposure to childhood sexual and physical abuse. Regression models were fitted to five antisocial behaviour outcomes (self-reported property offending; self-reported violent offending; convictions for property/violent offending; conduct problems; hostility) observed from age 16 to 30, using measures of childhood exposure to sexual and physical abuse. The analyses revealed consistent evidence of G × E interactions, with those having the low-activity MAOA variant and who were exposed to abuse in childhood being significantly more likely to report later offending, conduct problems and hostility. These interactions remained statistically significant after control for a range of potentially confounding factors. Findings for convictions data were somewhat weaker. The present findings add to the evidence suggesting that there is a stable G × E interaction involving MAOA, abuse exposure and antisocial behaviour across the life course.

  7. Metamorphosis: How Missouri Rehabilitates Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dubin, Jennifer

    2012-01-01

    Juveniles convicted of serious offenses usually end up in large correctional facilities that focus on punishment--not rehabilitation. The state of Missouri, however, has found a better way to help end the cycle of crime: by creating a network of small facilities that provide therapy and educational opportunities, it has dramatically reduced…

  8. Relational and Purpose Development in Youth Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coll, Kenneth M.; Thobro, Patti; Haas, Robin

    2004-01-01

    This study explored which risk factors are associated with degrees of relational and purpose development in youth offenders. Results indicate that those with the poorest development particularly struggled with substance abuse, lack of family support, and risky behaviors to self. Several treatment recommendations and clinical strategies are…

  9. Trauma-informed treatment decreases posttraumatic stress disorder among women offenders.

    PubMed

    Messina, Nena; Calhoun, Stacy; Braithwaite, Jeremy

    2014-01-01

    Traumatic experiences among women offenders can impact their psychological well-being and patterns of substance use and offending. However, rigorous research in this area for women offenders with a history of trauma is sparse. This study combined data from 2 previous studies of women offenders in order to provide greater statistical power in examining the psychological trends found in the individual studies. Specifically, women in gender-responsive treatment (GRT; n = 135) were compared to women in non-GRT (n = 142) in regard to their change in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related symptomatology from baseline to follow-up. The pooled sample of women were predominantly White (58%) or Hispanic (22%), and many had never been married (47%); their mean age was 36 years (SD = 8.9), and, on average, they had 12 years (SD = 1.8) of education. Methamphetamine was their primary drug (71%). Moreover, 55% of the women reported histories of sexual abuse and 37% physical abuse. Finally, 31% had a diagnosis of PTSD. Using generalized estimation equations, we detected significant Group × Time interactions in PTSD (odds ratio [OR] = 0.17) and some related symptomatology (reexperiencing: OR = 0.42; and avoidance: OR = 0.24). Given the aggregate impact of trauma in the lives of women offenders, these women, their families, and their communities could benefit from research on how trauma influences their lives and on services that mitigate the negative impact of such histories.

  10. Practitioner review: The victims and juvenile perpetrators of child sexual abuse--assessment and intervention.

    PubMed

    Vizard, Eileen

    2013-05-01

    The assessment of victims of child sexual abuse (CSA) is now a recognized aspect of clinical work for both CAMH and adult services. As juvenile perpetrators of CSA are responsible for a significant minority of the sexual assaults on other children, CAMH services are increasingly approached to assess these oversexualized younger children or sexually abusive adolescents. A developmental approach to assessment and treatment intervention is essential in all these cases. This review examines research on the characteristics of child victims and perpetrators of CSA. It describes evidence-based approaches to assessment and treatment of both groups of children. A selective review of MEDLINE, Psycinfo, Cochrane Library, and other databases was undertaken. Recommendations are made for clinical practice and future research. The characteristics of CSA victims are well known and those of juvenile perpetrators of sexual abuse are becoming recognized. Assessment approaches for both groups of children should be delivered within a safeguarding context where risk to victims is minimized. Risk assessment instruments should be used only as adjuncts to a full clinical assessment. Given high levels of psychiatric comorbidity, assessment, treatment, and other interventions should be undertaken by mental health trained staff. Victims and perpetrators of CSA present challenges and opportunities for professional intervention. Their complex presentations mean that their needs should be met by highly trained staff. However, their youth and developmental immaturity also give an opportunity to nip problem symptoms and behaviors in the bud. The key is in the earliest possible intervention with both groups. Future research should focus on long-term adult outcomes for both child victims and children who perpetrate CSA. Adult outcomes of treated children could identify problems and/or strengths in parenting the next generation and also the persistence and/or desistence of sexualized or abusive

  11. National Survey of Reading Programs for Incarcerated Juvenile Offenders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brunner, Michael S.

    A survey was undertaken to provide a profile of current reading programs in juvenile correctional facilities. Data were gathered to determine whether "illiterates" exist in the juvenile correctional facilities; if oral comprehension is better than reading comprehension; what approaches and strategies are used for teaching word…

  12. Adverse Childhood Experiences and Criminal Propensity Among Intimate Partner Violence Offenders.

    PubMed

    Hilton, N Zoe; Ham, Elke; Green, Michelle M

    2016-10-01

    Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), defined as exposure to abuse and adverse household events, are prevalent among certain offenders including those who commit intimate partner violence (IPV). However, it is not clear how ACEs relate to criminal propensity among IPV offenders, who have been shown to exhibit less antisociality and institutional violence than other offenders. We compared 99 male offenders with a current or previous offense of IPV with 233 non-IPV violent offenders and 103 nonviolent offenders undergoing institutional forensic assessment. This convenience sample allowed for use of extensive psychosocial records as well as study of institutional violence. IPV offenders had the highest mean ACE score and more extensive criminal propensity on some measures (violent and nonviolent criminal history and psychopathy) than both other groups. ACEs were associated with most measures of criminal propensity in the whole sample but with only one (actuarial risk of violent recidivism) in the subsample of IPV offenders. Finding that ACEs are prevalent among IPV offenders even in this sample with extensive mental illness demonstrates the robustness of this phenomenon. IPV offenders, though, are similar to other violent offenders in this respect, and there is insufficient evidence that ACEs represent a criminogenic need among IPV offenders specifically. Further research could draw from the batterer typology literature and attend to IPV offenders' broader criminal careers.

  13. Modifying a Risk Assessment Instrument for Youthful Offenders.

    PubMed

    Shapiro, Cheri J; Malone, Patrick S; Gavazzi, Stephen M

    2018-02-01

    High rates of incarceration in the United States are compounded by high rates of recidivism and prison return. One solution is more accurate identification of individual prisoner risks and needs to promote offender rehabilitation and successful community re-entry; this is particularly important for youthful offenders who developmentally are in late adolescence or early adulthood, and who struggle to reengage in education and/or employment after release. Thus, this study examined the feasibility of administration and initial psychometric properties of a risk and needs assessment instrument originally created for a juvenile justice population (the Global Risk Assessment Device or GRAD) with 895 male youthful offenders in one adult correctional system. Initial feasibility of implementation within the correctional system was demonstrated; confirmatory factor analyses support the invariance of the modified GRAD factor structure across age and race. Future studies are needed to examine the predictive validity and the sensitivity of the instrument.

  14. MAOA alters the effects of heavy drinking and childhood physical abuse on risk for severe impulsive acts of violence among alcoholic violent offenders.

    PubMed

    Tikkanen, Roope; Ducci, Francesca; Goldman, David; Holi, Matti; Lindberg, Nina; Tiihonen, Jari; Virkkunen, Matti

    2010-05-01

    A polymorphism in the promoter region of the monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) has been shown to alter the effect of persistent drinking and childhood maltreatment on the risk for violent and antisocial behaviors. These findings indicate that MAOA could contribute to inter-individual differences in stress resiliency. Recidivism in severe violent crimes was assessed after 8 years of nonincarcerated follow-up in a male sample of 174 impulsive Finnish alcoholic violent offenders, the majority of whom exhibited antisocial (ASPD) or borderline personality disorder (BPD) or both. We examined whether MAOA genotype alters the effects of heavy drinking and childhood physical abuse (CPA) on the risk for committing impulsive recidivistic violent crimes. Logistic regression analyses showed that both heavy drinking and CPA were significant independent predictors of recidivism in violent behavior (OR 5.2, p = 0.004 and OR 5.3, p = 0.003) among offenders having the high MAOA activity genotype (MAOA-H), but these predictors showed no effect among offenders carrying the low MAOA activity genotype (MAOA-L). Carriers of the MAOA-H allele have a high risk to commit severe recidivistic impulsive violent crimes after exposure to heavy drinking and CPA.

  15. Who gets a second chance? An investigation of Ohio's blended juvenile sentence.

    PubMed

    Cheesman, Fred L; Waters, Nicole L; Hurst, Hunter

    2010-01-01

    Factors differentiating blended sentencing cases (Serious Youthful Offenders or SYOs) from conventional juvenile cases and cases transferred to the adult criminal court in Ohio were investigated using a two-stage probit. Conventional juvenile cases differed from cases selected for non-conventional processing (i.e., SYO or transfer) according to offense seriousness, number of prior Ohio Department of Youth Services placements, age and gender. Controlling for probability of selection for nonconventional processing, transfers differed from SYOs according to age, gender, and race. Minorities were significantly more likely than Whites to be transfers rather than SYOs, suggesting possible bias in the decision-making process. Objective risk and needs assessments should be used to identify the most suitable candidates for blended sentences and adult transfer and enhanced services should be provided to juvenile offenders given blended sentences.

  16. Predictors of HIV-risk sexual behavior: examining lifetime sexual and physical abuse histories in relation to substance use and psychiatric problem severity among ex-offenders.

    PubMed

    Majer, John M; Rodriguez, Jaclyn; Bloomer, Craig; Jason, Leonard A

    2014-01-01

    Lifetime histories of sexual and physical abuse have been associated with increased HIV-risk sexual behavior, and some studies have identified other variables associated with these relationships. However, there is a dearth of literature that has critically examined abuse histories and HIV-risk sexual behavior in relation to these other variables. Predictors of HIV-risk sexual behavior were analyzed among a sample of ex-offenders who were completing inpatient substance dependence treatment to identify factors related to increases in HIV-risk sexual behavior beyond that of abuse histories. Hierarchical linear regression was conducted to examine sociodemographic characteristics, recent substance use, and current psychiatric problem severity in addition to lifetime histories of sexual/physical abuse in a cross-sectional design. Gender, substance use, and psychiatric problem severity predicted increases in HIV-risk sexual behavior beyond what was predicted by abuse histories. Proportionately more women than men reported abuse histories. In addition, significantly more unprotected sexual than safer sexual practices were observed, but differences in these practices based on lifetime abuse histories and gender were not significant. Findings suggest recent substance use and current psychiatric problem severity are greater risk factors for HIV-risk sexual behavior than lifetime abuse histories among persons who have substance use disorders.

  17. Predicting psychological distress in sex offender therapists.

    PubMed

    Ennis, Liam; Horne, Sharon

    2003-04-01

    The provision of psychological services to sexual offenders presents therapists with many challenges, including exposure to vivid descriptions of sexual violence and trauma. Although there is an increasingly robust body of literature investigating the effects of such traumatic exposure on therapists who work with the victims of sexual abuse, there have been few studies of its impact on those who treat the perpetrators. This study provides an exploratory investigation of the experience of psychological distress among therapists who work with sex offenders, as well as the social support mechanisms that may serve to mitigate therapist risk. Fifty-nine sex offender therapists completed a self-report measure of posttraumatic stress symptomatology, and rated their perceptions of family and peer support. therapists also reported the number of hours that they devote to sex offender treatment and the amount of clinical supervision they participate in on a weekly basis. As a group, participants reported experiencing low levels of general and trauma-related distress. Although statistical analyses failed to indicate the existence of a significant positive correlation between number of hours devoted to sex offender treatment and the experience of therapist distress, greater perceptions of peer support were significantly predictive of lower levels of psychological distress and PTSD symptoms. These results are discussed relative to their implications for sex offender therapist self-care and future research.

  18. Interventions with Young Female Offenders and Teenage Girls at Risk: Alternative Educational Services in a Singapore Girls' Home

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhang, Kaili Chen; Choo, Andrew; Lim, Liping

    2009-01-01

    This article presents factors that place girls at risk of delinquency and offending as well as the patterns in juvenile delinquency trends for females in Singapore. The authors also describe Singapore's overall structure of services for young offenders and the current status of alternative education programmes for young women engaged in delinquent…

  19. Elder Physical Abuse and Failure to Report Cases: Similarities and Differences in Case Type and the Justice System's Response

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Payne, Brian K.

    2013-01-01

    Treated initially as a social problem, elder abuse has only recently been criminalized. The criminalization of elder abuse involves penalizing offenders for actively abusing offenders as well as for violating mandatory reporting laws. Mandatory reporting laws exist to encourage professionals to report suspected cases of elder abuse. In this study,…

  20. Ability of Substance Abusers to Escape Detection on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–Adolescent (MMPI-A) in a Juvenile Correctional Facility

    PubMed Central

    Stein, L. A. R.; Graham, John R.

    2010-01-01

    The ability of respondents to underreport successfully on substance abuse and validity scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent was evaluated. Incarcerated teens (67 substance abusing, 59 non-substance abusing) completed the MMPI-A twice: once under standard instructions (SI) and once under instructions to fake good (FG). Under SI, substance scales correctly classified about 60% to 85% of adolescents. Under FG, substance- and non-substance-abusing juveniles produced lower scores on substance scales. However, the Lie Scale (L) was able to detect more than 75% of deceptive profiles and about 77% of honest profiles. When scale L and the best substance scale were used in combination, only about 18% of faking substance abusers were not identified as either substance abusers or as underreporting. For feigning substance abusers, only about 10% of substance abusers were detected, with about 72% being categorized as faking and needing further assessment. PMID:15695741

  1. Modified TC for MICA offenders: crime outcomes.

    PubMed

    Sacks, Stanley; Sacks, JoAnn Y; McKendrick, Karen; Banks, Steven; Stommel, Joe

    2004-01-01

    The study randomly assigned male inmates with co-occurring serious mental illness and chemical abuse (MICA) disorders to either modified therapeutic community (MTC) or mental health (MH) treatment programs. On their release from prison, MICA inmates who completed the prison MTC program could enter the MTC aftercare program. The results, obtained from an intent-to-treat analysis of all study entries, showed that inmates randomized into the MTC group had significantly lower rates of reincarceration compared with those in the MH group. The results also show that differences between the MTC + aftercare and comparison group across a variety of crime outcomes (i.e. any criminal activity, and alcohol or drug related criminal activity) are consistent and significant, and persist after an examination of various threats to validity (e.g. initial motivation, duration of treatment, exposure to risk). This study provides some support for the effectiveness of the prison TC only condition. The findings are encouraging and consonant with other studies of integrated prison and aftercare TC programs for substance abusing non-MICA offenders, although qualified by the possibility that selection bias (i.e. differences in motivation on entry into aftercare) may be operating. Nevertheless, given the available evidence and the need for effective programming for MICA offenders, program and policy makers should strongly consider developing integrated prison and aftercare modified TC programs for MICA offenders. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  2. MAOA, abuse exposure and antisocial behaviour: 30-year longitudinal study

    PubMed Central

    Fergusson, David M.; Boden, Joseph M.; Horwood, L. John; Miller, Allison L.; Kennedy, Martin A.

    2011-01-01

    Background Recent studies have raised issues concerning the replicability of gene × environment (G × E) interactions involving the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene in moderating the associations between abuse or maltreatment exposure and antisocial behaviour. This study attempted to replicate the findings in this area using a 30-year longitudinal study that has strong resemblance to the original research cohort. Aims To test the hypothesis that the presence of the low-activity MAOA genotype was associated with an increased response to abuse exposure. Method Participants were 398 males from the Christchurch Health and Development Study who had complete data on: MAOA promoter region variable number tandem repeat genotype; antisocial behaviour to age 30; and exposure to childhood sexual and physical abuse. Results Regression models were fitted to five antisocial behaviour outcomes (self-reported property offending; self-reported violent offending; convictions for property/violent offending; conduct problems; hostility) observed from age 16 to 30, using measures of childhood exposure to sexual and physical abuse. The analyses revealed consistent evidence of G × E interactions, with those having the low-activity MAOA variant and who were exposed to abuse in childhood being significantly more likely to report later offending, conduct problems and hostility. These interactions remained statistically significant after control for a range of potentially confounding factors. Findings for convictions data were somewhat weaker. Conclusions The present findings add to the evidence suggesting that there is a stable G × E interaction involving MAOA, abuse exposure and antisocial behaviour across the life course. PMID:21628708

  3. Sexual abuse in therapy: gender issues.

    PubMed

    Quadrio, C

    1996-02-01

    That sexual abuse in therapy occurs predominantly with male perpetrators and female patients is a phenomenon that requires analysis in terms of gender relations. Such an analysis is undertaken here from the perspective of feminist psychoanalytic and psychosocial theories. Data informing the analysis are derived from assessments of 40 women who experienced sexual abuse in therapy. These women had mostly presented depression, 68% had a history of childhood abuse, and one half were themselves helping professionals. The majority were seriously damaged by the abusive therapy. Offenders were chiefly male (90%) and most were senior, well-qualified therapists of high status: some were charismatic leaders or teachers. Such a group cannot be dismissed as marginal, deviant, or ill-informed; a more systemic analysis is necessary to understand how the professions spawn and sometimes protect offenders. It is concluded that the professional culture mirrors fundamental problems of gender relations that inhere in the larger socio-cultural context where they are expressed in various forms of sexual abuse and violence. A cultural change requires better education on issues of power and sexual politics.

  4. The Incidence of Dyslexia among Young Offenders in Kuwait

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elbeheri, Gad; Everatt, John; Malki, Mohammad Al

    2009-01-01

    This paper investigates the incidence of dyslexia among young offenders in Kuwait. A total of 91 children/young adults from 8 juvenile delinquent welfare centres across Kuwait were interviewed and tested. A measure of non-verbal reasoning ability was used to exclude those with low general ability. The remaining 53 participants were tested on their…

  5. Sentencing Male Sex Offenders Under the Age of 14: A Law Reform Advocacy Journey in Hong Kong.

    PubMed

    Ng, Wai-Ching Irene; Cheung, Monit; Ma, Anny Kit-Ying

    2015-01-01

    The common law presumption that a boy under the age of 14 is incapable of sexual intercourse has provoked controversial debates in Hong Kong. This article describes a 6-step advocacy journey to examine how community efforts have helped modify this law so that juvenile male sexual offenders under the age of 14 who have committed the crime of having sexual intercourse with underage females can be sentenced to receive appropriate treatment. Seven court cases provided by the magistrates' courts in Hong Kong were used in this advocacy effort for the removal of the presumption in July 2012. Although this effort has yet to reveal signs of effectiveness, it represents greater public awareness about providing rehabilitation appropriate for juvenile sex offenders through a formal sentence. Restorative justice, as opposed to retributive or punitive justice, places an emphasis on rehabilitation of the offender and restoration of victims to a place of wholeness.

  6. Predicting the transition from juvenile delinquency to adult criminality: Gender-specific influences in two high-risk samples.

    PubMed

    Rhoades, Kimberly A; Leve, Leslie D; Eddy, J Mark; Chamberlain, Patricia

    2016-12-01

    Most juvenile offenders desist from offending as they become adults, but many continue and ultimately enter the adult corrections system. There has been little prospective examination of which variables may predict the latter transition, particularly for women. Our aim was to find out, for men and women separately, what variables identifiable in adolescent offenders predict their continuation of offending into adult life. Participants were 61 male and 81 female youths who had been referred from the juvenile justice system for chronic delinquency and recruited into randomised controlled trials comparing Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care with group care ('treatment as usual'). All participants had attained adulthood by the time of our study. We first examined gender differences in childhood risk factors and then used Cox proportional-hazards models to estimate the relationship of potential risk factors to first adult arrest. Results indicated that, for men, juvenile justice referrals alone predicted risk of any first adult arrest as well as arrest for felony arrest specifically. Each additional juvenile referral increased the risk of any adult arrest by 9% and of adult felony arrest by 8%. For women, family violence, parental divorce and cumulative childhood risk factors, but not juvenile justice referrals, were significant predictors of adult arrest. Each additional childhood risk factor increased the risk of adult arrest by 21%. Women who experienced parental divorce were nearly three times more likely to be arrested as an adult, and those who experienced family violence 2.5 times more so than those without such experiences. We found preliminary evidence of gender differences in childhood risk factors for adult offending, and, thus potentially, for the development and use of interventions tailored differently for girls and boys and young men and young women to reduce their risk of becoming adult recidivists. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright

  7. Los Angeles County Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act. Fiscal Year 2009-2010 Report. Technical Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fain, Terry; Turner, Susan; Ridgeway, Greg

    2012-01-01

    In 2000, the California State Legislature passed what is now known as the Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA). This effort was designed to provide a stable funding source to counties for juvenile programs that have been proven effective in curbing crime among juvenile probationers and young at-risk offenders. The Corrections Standards…

  8. Does adolescent alcohol and marijuana use predict suppressed growth in psychosocial maturity among male juvenile offenders?

    PubMed

    Chassin, Laurie; Dmitrieva, Julia; Modecki, Kathryn; Steinberg, Laurence; Cauffman, Elizabeth; Piquero, Alex R; Knight, George P; Losoya, Sandra H

    2010-03-01

    Multiple theories suggest mechanisms by which the use of alcohol and drugs during adolescence could dampen growth in psychosocial maturity. However, scant empirical evidence exists to support this proposition. The current study tested whether alcohol and marijuana use predicted suppressed growth in psychosocial maturity among a sample of male serious juvenile offenders (n = 1,170) who were followed from ages 15 to 21 years. Alcohol and marijuana use prospectively predicted lower maturity 6 months later. Moreover, boys with the greatest increases in marijuana use showed the smallest increases in psychosocial maturity. Finally, heterogeneity in the form of age-related alcohol and marijuana trajectories was related to growth in maturity, such that only boys who decreased their alcohol and marijuana use significantly increased in psychosocial maturity. Taken together, these findings suggest that patterns of elevated alcohol and marijuana use in adolescence may suppress age-typical growth in psychosocial maturity from adolescence to young adulthood, but that effects are not necessarily permanent, because decreasing use is associated with increases in maturity.

  9. Shared Stories of Successful Graduates of Juvenile Residential Programs: A Phenomenological Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mincey, Barrett; Maldonado, Nancy

    2011-01-01

    Criminologists, lawmakers, policymakers, educators, and others discuss juvenile delinquency and recidivism and note the relationship to adult offending and cost factors. Poverty, peer relations, family life, and school are risk factors that have been linked to define the problem of juvenile crime. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to…

  10. Harm reduction for drug abusing ex-offenders: outcome of the California prevention and education project MORE project.

    PubMed

    Bowser, Benjamin P; Jenkins-Barnes, Tazima; Dillard-Smith, Carla; Lockett, Gloria

    2010-01-01

    MORE was a mobile outreach drug abuse prevention and HIV harm reduction program primarily for ex-offenders who are active drug users. Through case management, clients were provided substance abuse education, counseling, and referral. Long term goals of these services were to reduce their drug use and re-incarceration for drug related crimes. From January 2002 to May 2006, 487 unduplicated clients were recruited in year long cohorts and offered services. The program evaluation tool was the Federal Office of Budget and Management Government Performance and Results Act questionnaire. Government Performance and Results Act interviews were conducted at in-take into the program, approximately six months later and again approximately 12 months after their initial in-take. By the six and 12 month follow-up interviews, active drug using clients reported significant reductions in their use of alcohol, cocaine/crack, heroin, and fewer sex partners and crimes. Program completers reported significantly reduced cocaine/crack and heroin use as well as fewer days in jail and crimes than non-completers (p < .01 to .001). Six program components account for these reductions: case management, day-treatment, outpatient services, outreach, HIV/AIDS, and substance abuse education. The differences in program service intensity, income, and employment for program completers and non-completers were analyzed using logistic regression. The intensity of case management and all services received along with having higher income by month six were the most significant predictors of program completion.

  11. Program Performance Inventory: Six Juvenile Offender Programs.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thomalla, Terri Groff; Dougherty, Victoria J.

    This report describes the performance of 6 Connecticut juvenile justice alternative sanction programs in 14 qualitative areas: community reintegration; outcomes and evaluation; assessment methods; risk factors; escalation of criminal activity; family involvement; community involvement; work ethic and vocational training; education and life skills;…

  12. MAOA Alters the Effects of Heavy Drinking and Childhood Physical Abuse on Risk for Severe Impulsive Acts of Violence Among Alcoholic Violent Offenders

    PubMed Central

    Tikkanen, Roope; Ducci, Francesca; Goldman, David; Holi, Matti; Lindberg, Nina; Tiihonen, Jari; Virkkunen, Matti

    2011-01-01

    Background A polymorphism in the promoter region of the monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) has been shown to alter the effect of persistent drinking and childhood maltreatment on the risk for violent and antisocial behaviors. These findings indicate that MAOA could contribute to inter-individual differences in stress resiliency. Methods Recidivism in severe violent crimes was assessed after 8 years of nonincarcerated follow-up in a male sample of 174 impulsive Finnish alcoholic violent offenders, the majority of whom exhibited antisocial (ASPD) or borderline personality disorder (BPD) or both. We examined whether MAOA genotype alters the effects of heavy drinking and childhood physical abuse (CPA) on the risk for committing impulsive recidivistic violent crimes. Results Logistic regression analyses showed that both heavy drinking and CPA were significant independent predictors of recidivism in violent behavior (OR 5.2, p = 0.004 and OR 5.3, p = 0.003) among offenders having the high MAOA activity genotype (MAOA-H), but these predictors showed no effect among offenders carrying the low MAOA activity genotype (MAOA-L). Conclusion Carriers of the MAOA-H allele have a high risk to commit severe recidivistic impulsive violent crimes after exposure to heavy drinking and CPA. PMID:20201935

  13. Doing Justice? Criminal Offenders with Developmental Disabilities. Detailed Research Findings.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Petersilia, Joan

    People with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities are a small but increasing portion of offenders in the criminal justice system. People with developmental disabilities are estimated to comprise 2-3% of the general population, but 4-10% of the prison population, and an even higher percentage of those in juvenile facilities and in…

  14. Issues in Education for the Youthful Offender in Correctional Institutions.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dell'Apa, Frank

    The introduction to the survey of educational programs for juvenile offenders in correctional institutions briefly outlines the educational problems and priorities in the prison setting. Chapter one discusses the history of such programs over the last 150 years, especially considering the use and biases of intelligence tests during the last 50…

  15. A comparison of incest offenders based on victim age.

    PubMed

    Firestone, Philip; Dixon, Kristopher L; Nunes, Kevin L; Bradford, John M

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of the present study was to compare incest offenders (IOs) whose victims include infants or toddlers to IOs with adolescent victims on several variables commonly examined in the sexual offender literature. Participants were 48 men whose youngest victim was less than 6 years of age (younger-victim incest offenders; YVs); and 71 men whose youngest victim was 12 to 16 years of age (older-victim incest offenders (OVs). In general, YVs showed more emotional disturbance and pathology than OVs. Compared with OVs, YVs had a greater history of substance abuse and more current problems with alcohol. In addition, YVs reported significantly poorer sexual functioning and were significantly more psychiatrically disturbed. YVs were also more likely to have a male victim, to have victimized a nephew/niece or grandson/granddaughter, and to have denied their offense(s). It was evident that both the YVs and OVs demonstrated clinically significant difficulty with normal sexual functioning and exhibited deviant sexual arousal.

  16. Implementation of the Risk-Need-Responsivity Framework across the Juvenile Justice Agencies in Singapore.

    PubMed

    Chua, Jonathan Raphacis; Chu, Chi Meng; Yim, Grace; Chong, Dominic; Teoh, Jennifer

    2014-11-02

    The Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) framework is regarded as the forefront of offender rehabilitation in guiding youth offender risk assessment and interventions. This article discusses the juvenile justice system in Singapore and the local research that has been conducted in relation to the RNR framework and the associated Youth Level of Service (YLS) measures. It describes a journey that saw the implementation of the RNR framework across the juvenile justice agencies and highlights the challenges that were faced during the implementation process on the ground. Finally, the article concludes by providing future directions for the implementation of the RNR framework in Singapore.

  17. Safeguarding child rights and enhancing caregiver responsibilities among Canadian parents of youth who sexually offend.

    PubMed

    Gervais, Christine L M; Romano, Elisa

    2018-02-01

    Research on youth sexual offending has focused primarily on its prevalence. However, recent efforts have begun to consider the collateral consequences for the relatives of offending youth, although little has been done in this regard toward exploring caregiver accountability. This study presents qualitative data on parents' sense of responsibility in situations where their child engaged in sexual offending behaviour against another child. We analyzed interview data among 16 parents from 10 families in Canada using thematic coding procedures. Findings illustrated the range of responsible actions that caregivers of sexual offending youth undertook with regard to preventing recidivism and accessing appropriate services for all the abuse-affected children. Caregivers reported on the enormous complexities they encountered as they attempted to simultaneously attend to the best interests of both the victim and offending youth. A particularly significant theme was that, despite the overwhelming challenges caregivers faced in dealing with the needs of their offending child, they were also highly attentive to the well-being of the victims. Our findings point to the importance of comprehensive and non-biased support services for both children and caregivers in order to fully uphold the rights of all affected individuals, and to better meet the needs as well as best interests of sexual abuse-affected children. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Post-traumatic stress symptoms among juvenile offenders in nigeria: implications for holistic service provisioning in juvenile justice administration.

    PubMed

    Atilola, Olayinka; Omigbodun, Olayinka; Bella-Awusah, Tolulope

    2014-08-01

    There is hardly any study examining exposure to traumatic events and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among juvenile justice populations in Nigeria or any part of sub-Saharan Africa. We examined the prevalence and trauma determinants of PTSD among a cohort of juvenile justice inmates in Nigeria, compared with a cohort of school-going adolescents. Ninety percent (90%) of the juvenile justice inmates reported exposure to at least one lifetime traumatic event with higher mean incident events, compared with 60% among the comparison group (p=.001). Juvenile justice inmates had significantly higher prevalence rate of current and lifetime PTSD than the comparison group (current: 5.8% vs. 1.4%; lifetime: 9.7% vs. 2.8%, p<.05). Mean incident traumatic event was statistically significantly higher among juvenile justice inmates who had PTSD. Posttraumatic stress symptoms are common among adolescents coming in contact with the juvenile justice system. Implications for holistic service provisioning in juvenile justice administration are discussed.

  19. Child Sexual Abusers' Views on Treatment: A Study of Convicted and Imprisoned Adult Male Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Colton, Matthew; Roberts, Susan; Vanstone, Maurice

    2009-01-01

    In spite of an increasing focus on the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders over the past two decades, much debate persists as to the effectiveness of treatment in reducing recidivism. Given the dearth of research on offenders' perspectives in this area and the potential for offenders' views to inform the development of effective…

  20. PREDICTING RECIDIVISM FOR RELEASED STATE PRISON OFFENDERS

    PubMed Central

    Stahler, Gerald J.; Mennis, Jeremy; Belenko, Steven; Welsh, Wayne N.; Hiller, Matthew L.; Zajac, Gary

    2013-01-01

    We examined the influence of individual and neighborhood characteristics and spatial contagion in predicting reincarceration on a sample of 5,354 released Pennsylvania state prisoners. Independent variables included demographic characteristics, offense type, drug involvement, various neighborhood variables (e.g., concentrated disadvantage, residential mobility), and spatial contagion (i.e., proximity to others who become reincarcerated). Using geographic information systems (GIS) and logistic regression modeling, our results showed that the likelihood of reincarceration was increased with male gender, drug involvement, offense type, and living in areas with high rates of recidivism. Older offenders and those convicted of violent or drug offenses were less likely to be reincarcerated. For violent offenders, drug involvement, age, and spatial contagion were particular risk factors for reincarceration. None of the neighborhood environment variables were associated with increased risk of reincarceration. Reentry programs need to particularly address substance abuse issues of ex-offenders as well as take into consideration their residential locations. PMID:24443612

  1. Enabling Prosecutors To Address Drug, Gang, and Youth Violence. Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants (JAIBG) Program Bulletin.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gramckow, Heike P.; Tompkins, Elena

    This bulletin offers data on recent trends in juvenile violence, juvenile drug offenses, and gang-related juvenile offending, and describes prosecutorial responses to such offenses. Examples of promising prosecutor-led programs combating the illicit use of guns, violence, drugs, and gangs are also provided. These examples provide a range of ideas…

  2. The Impact of External Environment on Service-Related Decisions of Juvenile Courts.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Breda, Carolyn S.

    This report describes outcomes of a survey that investigated the external environment of juvenile courts and whether this environment relates to the treatment of young offenders or custody decisions. In 1997, a statewide survey was administered to all courts with juvenile jurisdiction in a Mid-Southern state. This research was based on 71 courts…

  3. Girls arrested for murder: an empirical analysis of 32 years of U.S. data by offender age groups.

    PubMed

    Heide, Kathleen M; Sellers, Brian G

    2014-01-01

    Most studies on juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) have used small samples and have concentrated on adolescent male offenders. As a result, little is known about the population of female juveniles arrested for murder. This study utilized the Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) database to investigate age differences between younger (aged 6-12 years) and older (aged 13-17 years) females arrested for murder in the United States from 1976 to 2007. As predicted, six variables used to test seven hypotheses with respect to younger and older female JHOs in single victim incidents were significant (victim age, victim gender, victim offender relationship, murder weapon, offender count, and homicide circumstance). Regression analysis revealed that younger girls were seven times more likely than older girls to kill children aged 0-12 years. Girls aged 6-12 years were five times more likely than their teen counterparts to be involved in conflict-related homicides as opposed to crime-related homicides. Although approximately the same percentages of younger and older girls killed infants under the age of 1, the victims were significantly different for the two offender age groups. This article concludes with a discussion of our findings and directions for future research. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. The Challenges in Providing Needed Transition Programming to Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Platt, John S.; Bohac, Paul D.; Wade, Wanda

    2015-01-01

    The transition to and from juvenile justice settings is a complex and challenging process. Effectively preparing juvenile justice personnel to address the transition needs of incarcerated students is an essential aspect of reducing the negative effects of the school-to-prison pipeline. This article examines program and professional development…

  5. Psychological complaints reported by sexually abused children during criminal investigations: Istanbul example.

    PubMed

    Doğangün, Burak; Gönültaş, Burak M; Uzun-Oğuz, Esin; Oral, Gökhan; Öztürk, Meral

    2016-06-01

    The present study aims at describing the psychological complaints reported, as a part of the criminal investigation process, by the victims of sexual abuse as a part of the criminal investigation process, without attempting at reaching a medical diagnosis; and it discusses the relation of these reports with variables such as victim's gender, age and relation to the offender, type and duration of abuse, and parental marital status of the victim. Data is obtained from the statements of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) victims under the age of 15, as taken by Istanbul Juvenile Justice Department between the years 2009 and 2012. The sample consists of 175 cases with a total of 202 victim statements. Through the use of content analysis, the main and sub-categories of themes of the statements were determined. By means of the evaluation of the psychological condition of victims, we evaluated them in two categories: psychological complaints including self-harm and risk taking behaviors and psychological complaints with no self-harm and risk taking behaviors. The statistical analyses yield significant relations between the psychological complaints and children's parental marital status. Analysis of initial statements of sexual abuse victims is important as it may greatly contribute to professionals diagnosing and treating psychological complaints of these victims. It is essential that victims of sexual abuse should receive immediate psychological support starting with the criminal investigation process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Sexual Abuse Perpetrated by Adult and Juvenile Females: An Ultimate Attempt to Resolve a Conflict Associated with Maternal Identity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tardif, M.; Auclair, N.; Jacob, M.; Carpentier, J.

    2005-01-01

    Objective:: The purpose of this article is to report the descriptive and phenomenological aspects of adult females (AF) and juvenile females (JF) who sexually abuse children and adolescents. A major focus is to study the relational problems during childhood and adulthood of this specific population and how they echo the relational aspects of their…

  7. Lifetime criminal history of sex offenders seen for psychological assessment in five decades.

    PubMed

    Langevin, Ron; Curnoe, Suzanne

    2012-10-01

    A sample of 2,190 sex offenders seen between 1966 and 2009 was compared on lifetime sexual and all offending, using charges, convictions, court appearances, and self-report as criteria. Of these various criteria, between 47.4% and 81.1% reoffended. Canadian child abuse reporting laws, which came into effect in the 1980s, were associated with increased charges and convictions for offenders, who victimized children, and with a reduction in their longer term reoffense rates. Immigration and population mobility, use of aliases, study follow-up time, and self-reported undetected sex crimes influenced reoffense rates. Results indicate that sex offenders continued to have short prison sentences and/or spend little or no time incarcerated during the latter part of the 20th century.

  8. 28 CFR 2.60 - Superior program achievement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... substance abuse program of at least 500 hours will be given prompt review by the Commission for a possible... OF PRISONERS, YOUTH OFFENDERS, AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS United States Code Prisoners and Parolees § 2...

  9. 28 CFR 2.60 - Superior program achievement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... substance abuse program of at least 500 hours will be given prompt review by the Commission for a possible... OF PRISONERS, YOUTH OFFENDERS, AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS United States Code Prisoners and Parolees § 2...

  10. 28 CFR 2.60 - Superior program achievement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... substance abuse program of at least 500 hours will be given prompt review by the Commission for a possible... OF PRISONERS, YOUTH OFFENDERS, AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS United States Code Prisoners and Parolees § 2...

  11. 28 CFR 2.60 - Superior program achievement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... substance abuse program of at least 500 hours will be given prompt review by the Commission for a possible... OF PRISONERS, YOUTH OFFENDERS, AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS United States Code Prisoners and Parolees § 2...

  12. 28 CFR 2.60 - Superior program achievement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... substance abuse program of at least 500 hours will be given prompt review by the Commission for a possible... OF PRISONERS, YOUTH OFFENDERS, AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS United States Code Prisoners and Parolees § 2...

  13. TFA Systems: A Unique Group Treatment of Spouse Abusers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clow, Daniel R.; And Others

    1992-01-01

    Presents a group treatment model using Thought-Feeling-Action (TFA) Systems, an offense- and offender-specific group treatment for abusers. Describes use of TFA Systems in group of court-referred male spouse-abusers. Reviews evolution of TFA Systems, then focuses on TFA Systems treatment of spouse abusers. Notes that system can be adapted to other…

  14. Implementation of the Risk–Need–Responsivity Framework across the Juvenile Justice Agencies in Singapore

    PubMed Central

    Chua, Jonathan Raphacis; Chu, Chi Meng; Yim, Grace; Chong, Dominic; Teoh, Jennifer

    2014-01-01

    The Risk–Need–Responsivity (RNR) framework is regarded as the forefront of offender rehabilitation in guiding youth offender risk assessment and interventions. This article discusses the juvenile justice system in Singapore and the local research that has been conducted in relation to the RNR framework and the associated Youth Level of Service (YLS) measures. It describes a journey that saw the implementation of the RNR framework across the juvenile justice agencies and highlights the challenges that were faced during the implementation process on the ground. Finally, the article concludes by providing future directions for the implementation of the RNR framework in Singapore. PMID:25866464

  15. Offenders with antisocial personality disorder show attentional bias for violence-related stimuli.

    PubMed

    Domes, Gregor; Mense, Julia; Vohs, Knut; Habermeyer, Elmar

    2013-08-30

    Offenders with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) may be characterized by a lack in emotional functioning that manifests in irritability and a lack of remorse. The proposed link between ASPD and negative emotionality led to the question of emotional processing anomalies in ASPD. Furthermore, the effect of childhood maltreatment/abuse on emotional processing was tested in the present study. Violent and sexual offenders with ASPD (n=35), without ASPD (n=34), and healthy non-criminal controls (n=24) were compared in an Emotional Stroop Task (EST) using neutral, negative, and violence-related words. Secondary analyses focused on the effect of psychopathic traits and childhood maltreatment. Offenders with ASPD showed a stronger attentional bias to violence-related and negative words as compared to controls. Comparable results were obtained when grouping offenders to high, medium, and low psychopathic subgroups. Offenders with childhood maltreatment specifically showed stronger violence-related attentional bias than non-maltreated offenders. The data suggest that enhanced attention to violence-related stimuli in adult criminal offenders is associated with adverse developmental experiences and delinquency but to a lesser extent with antisocial or psychopathic traits. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. 76 FR 11285 - Notice of Funding Opportunity and Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA) for Serving Juvenile...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-03-01

    ... Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA) for Serving Juvenile Offenders in High-Poverty, High-Crime... offenders, ages 16 to 24, in high-poverty, high-crime communities. The purpose of these grants is to improve... of five high-poverty, high-crime communities in at least two states. The complete SGA and any...

  17. Institutional Misconduct, Delinquent Background, and Rearrest Frequency among Serious and Violent Delinquent Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trulson, Chad R.; DeLisi, Matt; Marquart, James W.

    2011-01-01

    This study examines the relationship of institutional misconduct to postrelease rearrest, controlling for a battery of preincarceration variables typically found to influence recidivism among institutionalized delinquent offenders. Based on data from 1,804 serious and violent male delinquents released from a large southern juvenile correctional…

  18. A Randomized Controlled Trial Assessing the Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Substance-Dependent Domestic Violence Offenders: An Integrated Substance Abuse-Domestic Violence Treatment Approach (SADV).

    PubMed

    Easton, Caroline J; Crane, Cory A; Mandel, Dolores

    2017-11-06

    The current study evaluates a therapy for substance-dependent perpetrators of partner violence. Sixty-three males arrested for partner violence within the past year were randomized to a cognitive behavioral substance abuse-domestic violence (SADV; n = 29) or a drug counseling (DC; n = 34) condition. Seventy percent of offenders completed eight core sessions with no differences between SADV and DC conditions in the amount of substance or aggression at pretreatment. SADV participants had fewer cocaine-positive toxicology screens and breathalyzer results during treatment, were less likely to engage in aggressive behavior proximal to a drinking episode, and reported fewer episodes of violence than DC participants at posttreatment follow-up. SADV shows promise in decreasing addiction and partner violence among substance-dependent male offenders. © 2017 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

  19. Factors Involved in Juveniles' Decisions about Crime.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cimler, Edward; Beach, Lee Roy

    1981-01-01

    Investigated whether delinquency is the result of a rational decision. The Subjective Expected Utility (SEU) model from decision theory was used with male juvenile offenders (N=45) as the model of the decision process. Results showed that the SEU model predicted 62.7 percent of the subjects' decisions. (Author/RC)

  20. Prosecution: An Effective Response to Child Abuse.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harshbarger, Scott

    A district attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, argues that prosecution is the most effective and appropriate response to child abuse cases. Two basic premises are advanced. First, anyone who physically abuses, sexually assaults, or rapes a child has committed a serious crime, regardless of the relationship of the victim to the offender.…

  1. Bad Kids: Race and the Transformation of the Juvenile Court. Studies in Crime and Public Policy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Feld, Barry C.

    This book examines what is wrong with the U.S. juvenile court system and proposes an alternative model for youth crime control and child welfare. Under this model, states would try all offenders in an integrated criminal justice system with appropriate modifications to accommodate younger offenders. The chapters are: (1) "The Social…

  2. Mental Health Services and Public Safety: Substance Abuse Outpatient Visits Were Associated with Reduced Crime Rates in a Swedish Cohort.

    PubMed

    Durbeej, Natalie; Palmstierna, Tom; Rosendahl, Ingvar; Berman, Anne H; Kristiansson, Marianne; Gumpert, Clara Hellner

    2015-01-01

    Substance abuse is related to offending and substance abuse treatment has been associated with reductions in criminal behavior. This cohort study aimed to explore the relationship between participation in substance abuse interventions and general criminal recidivism among offenders with a combination of mental health problems and substance use problems. In total, 150 Swedish offenders with self-reported mental health and substance use problems were followed for approximately three years with regard to participation in substance abuse interventions and criminal recidivism. Participants with at least three planned visits to specialized outpatient substance abuse clinics had a substantially reduced risk of reoffending as compared to those with fewer than three such visits (HR = 0.47, 95% CI 0.29-0.77). For those with at least three planned visits, general criminal recidivism was reduced by 75% during periods of participation in outpatient visits, as compared to periods of non-participation (HR = 0.25, 95% CI 0.11-0.60). For offenders with mental health problems and substance use problems, outpatient substance abuse interventions could be regarded as important from a clinical risk management perspective, and be encouraged.

  3. Mental Health Services and Public Safety: Substance Abuse Outpatient Visits Were Associated with Reduced Crime Rates in a Swedish Cohort

    PubMed Central

    Durbeej, Natalie; Palmstierna, Tom; Rosendahl, Ingvar; Berman, Anne H.; Kristiansson, Marianne; Gumpert, Clara Hellner

    2015-01-01

    Substance abuse is related to offending and substance abuse treatment has been associated with reductions in criminal behavior. This cohort study aimed to explore the relationship between participation in substance abuse interventions and general criminal recidivism among offenders with a combination of mental health problems and substance use problems. In total, 150 Swedish offenders with self-reported mental health and substance use problems were followed for approximately three years with regard to participation in substance abuse interventions and criminal recidivism. Participants with at least three planned visits to specialized outpatient substance abuse clinics had a substantially reduced risk of reoffending as compared to those with fewer than three such visits (HR = 0.47, 95% CI 0.29–0.77). For those with at least three planned visits, general criminal recidivism was reduced by 75% during periods of participation in outpatient visits, as compared to periods of non-participation (HR = 0.25, 95% CI 0.11–0.60). For offenders with mental health problems and substance use problems, outpatient substance abuse interventions could be regarded as important from a clinical risk management perspective, and be encouraged. PMID:26356604

  4. Abnormal hippocampal shape in offenders with psychopathy.

    PubMed

    Boccardi, Marina; Ganzola, Rossana; Rossi, Roberta; Sabattoli, Francesca; Laakso, Mikko P; Repo-Tiihonen, Eila; Vaurio, Olli; Könönen, Mervi; Aronen, Hannu J; Thompson, Paul M; Frisoni, Giovanni B; Tiihonen, Jari

    2010-03-01

    Posterior hippocampal volumes correlate negatively with the severity of psychopathy, but local morphological features are unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate hippocampal morphology in habitually violent offenders having psychopathy. Manual tracings of hippocampi from magnetic resonance images of 26 offenders (age: 32.5 +/- 8.4), with different degrees of psychopathy (12 high, 14 medium psychopathy based on the Psychopathy Checklist Revised), and 25 healthy controls (age: 34.6 +/- 10.8) were used for statistical modelling of local changes with a surface-based radial distance mapping method. Both offenders and controls had similar hippocampal volume and asymmetry ratios. Local analysis showed that the high psychopathy group had a significant depression along the longitudinal hippocampal axis, on both the dorsal and ventral aspects, when compared with the healthy controls and the medium psychopathy group. The opposite comparison revealed abnormal enlargement of the lateral borders in both the right and left hippocampi of both high and medium psychopathy groups versus controls, throughout CA1, CA2-3 and the subicular regions. These enlargement and reduction effects survived statistical correction for multiple comparisons in the main contrast (26 offenders vs. 25 controls) and in most subgroup comparisons. A statistical check excluded a possible confounding effect from amphetamine and polysubstance abuse. These results indicate that habitually violent offenders exhibit a specific abnormal hippocampal morphology, in the absence of total gray matter volume changes, that may relate to different autonomic modulation and abnormal fear-conditioning. 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  5. Online solicitation offenders are different from child pornography offenders and lower risk contact sexual offenders.

    PubMed

    Seto, Michael C; Wood, J Michael; Babchishin, Kelly M; Flynn, Sheri

    2012-08-01

    The current study compared 38 lower risk (based on actuarial risk assessments) men convicted of contact sexual offenses against children, 38 child pornography offenders, and 70 solicitation offenders (also known as luring or traveler offenders). Solicitation and child pornography offenders were better educated than contact offenders but did not differ on other sociodemographic variables. In comparison to child pornography offenders, solicitation offenders had lower capacity for relationship stability and lower levels of sex drive/preoccupation and deviant sexual preference. Solicitation offenders were also more problematic than lower risk contact offenders on sex drive/preoccupation and capacity for relationship stability and had greater self-reported use of child pornography. Differences between groups on two actuarial risk measures, the Static-99 and the VASOR, were inconsistent. This study suggests that solicitation offenders differ in meaningful ways from lower risk contact offenders and child pornography offenders and, consequently, in risk, treatment, and supervision needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. TRAJECTORIES OF ACCULTURATION AND ENCULTURATION IN RELATION TO HEAVY EPISODIC DRINKING AND MARIJUANA USE IN A SAMPLE OF MEXICAN AMERICAN SERIOUS JUVENILE OFFENDERS

    PubMed Central

    Losoya, Sandra H.; Knight, George P.; Chassin, Laurie; Little, Michelle; Vargas-Chanes, Delfino; Mauricio, Anne; Piquero, Alex

    2009-01-01

    This study examines the longitudinal relations of multiple dimensions of acculturation and enculturation to heavy episodic drinking and marijuana use in a sample of 300 male, Mexican-American, serious juvenile offenders. We track trajectories between ages 15 and 20 and also consider the effects of participants’ time spent residing in supervised settings during these years. Results showed some (although not entirely consistent) support for the hypothesis that bicultural adaptation is most functional in terms of lowered substance use involvement. The current findings demonstrate the importance of examining these relations longitudinally and among multiple dimensions of acculturation and enculturation, and they call into question simple models that suggest that greater acculturation is associated with greater substance use among Mexican-American adolescents. PMID:20198119

  7. Lost opportunities for intervention: undetected markers for the development of serious juvenile delinquency.

    PubMed

    Stouthamer-Loeber, Magda; Loeber, Rolf

    2002-01-01

    Persistent serious delinquency in young males rarely starts without a history of problem behaviour in childhood. This paper addresses the following questions: (1) At what age does persistent serious offending emerge for the first time? (2) What proportion of persistent serious delinquent boys qualifies for a diagnosis of a disruptive behaviour disorder? (3) What proportion of persistent serious delinquent boys receive help for their behavioural or educational problems, either from mental health professionals or from personnel at school? Eight waves of assessments from the oldest sample (ages 13 to 18.5) of the Pittsburgh Youth Study were used to classify boys as persistent serious violent offenders, persistent serious property offenders, persistent non-serious offenders, and non-offenders based on their self-reports. Juvenile court records, diagnostic information and information about help for mental health problems were used. Almost half of the boys who eventually become a persistent serious offender already have an onset of their serious delinquent behaviour by age 12. Two-thirds of the boys who come to the attention of the juvenile court already had behaviour problems for at least five years, and one-third were diagnosed as having a disruptive behaviour disorder by age 13. However, less than half of the persistent serious delinquents had received any help from either mental health professionals or from personnel in schools. Early behaviour problems and a diagnosis of disruptive behaviour disorder constitute targets for intervention. The relatively low rate of interventions for boys with these problems and who later become persistent serious offenders indicates a high under-utilization of opportunities to prevent serious delinquency by parents and professionals.

  8. Mental health problems in young male offenders with and without sex offences: a comparison based on the MAYSI-2.

    PubMed

    Boonmann, Cyril; Nelson, Rebecca J; DiCataldo, Frank; Jansen, Lucres M C; Doreleijers, Theo A H; Vermeiren, Robert R J M; Colins, Olivier F; Grisso, Thomas

    2016-12-01

    There is a need for better knowledge about the relationship between sexual offending by young people and mental health problems. This study aimed to compare mental health problems between young people who commit sexual offences and those who do not. After completion of the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-Version 2 (MAYSI-2), 334 young people who, according to MAYSI-2 information, had committed a sex offence were compared with 334 young people whose MAYSI-2 data suggested that they had not committed a sex offence. They were matched for age, race/ethnicity, type of facility and adjudication status. We also examined the young sex offenders for within group differences. The young sex offenders were less likely to report anger-irritability or substance misuse than the comparison youths. Within the sex offender group, older juveniles were more likely to report alcohol and drug use problems than younger ones, Caucasians were more likely to report anger and suicidal ideation than their non-Caucasian peers, those detained were more likely to report alcohol and drug use problems and somatic complaints than those on probation, and convicted youths were more likely to report alcohol and drug use problems and anger-irritability than those awaiting trial. Juvenile sexual offending seems less likely to be committed in the context of an anti-social lifestyle than other offending. Important findings among young sex offenders are their higher levels of mental health problems among those detained and convicted than among those on probation or awaiting trial. Assessment of the mental health of young sex offenders seems to be even more important the further they are into the justice system. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  9. Developmental Experiences of Child Sexual Abusers and Rapists

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simons, Dominique A.; Wurtele, Sandy K.; Durham, Robert L.

    2008-01-01

    Objective: The aim of this study is to identify the distinct developmental experiences associated with child sexual abuse and rape. Method: For 269 sexual offenders (137 rapists and 132 child sexual abusers), developmental experiences were recorded from a behavioral checklist, a parental-bonding survey, and a sexual history questionnaire. Offender…

  10. Offenders become the victim in virtual reality: impact of changing perspective in domestic violence.

    PubMed

    Seinfeld, S; Arroyo-Palacios, J; Iruretagoyena, G; Hortensius, R; Zapata, L E; Borland, D; de Gelder, B; Slater, M; Sanchez-Vives, M V

    2018-02-09

    The role of empathy and perspective-taking in preventing aggressive behaviors has been highlighted in several theoretical models. In this study, we used immersive virtual reality to induce a full body ownership illusion that allows offenders to be in the body of a victim of domestic abuse. A group of male domestic violence offenders and a control group without a history of violence experienced a virtual scene of abuse in first-person perspective. During the virtual encounter, the participants' real bodies were replaced with a life-sized virtual female body that moved synchronously with their own real movements. Participants' emotion recognition skills were assessed before and after the virtual experience. Our results revealed that offenders have a significantly lower ability to recognize fear in female faces compared to controls, with a bias towards classifying fearful faces as happy. After being embodied in a female victim, offenders improved their ability to recognize fearful female faces and reduced their bias towards recognizing fearful faces as happy. For the first time, we demonstrate that changing the perspective of an aggressive population through immersive virtual reality can modify socio-perceptual processes such as emotion recognition, thought to underlie this specific form of aggressive behaviors.

  11. Weapons Used by Juveniles and Adult Offenders in U.S. Parricide Cases

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heide, Kathleen M.; Petee, Thomas A.

    2007-01-01

    In recent decades, attention has focused on juveniles who kill their parents. Research has indicated that increases in juvenile homicide have been associated with the availability of firearms, but little is known about the weapons juveniles use to kill their parents and whether their weapon usage is different from that of adult children who kill…

  12. Homicide offenders 32 years later - a Swedish population-based study on recidivism.

    PubMed

    Sturup, Joakim; Lindqvist, Per

    2014-02-01

    The literature on recidivism by homicide offenders is scarce despite its importance for individuals and for society. To establish the rate of seriously violent re-offending among homicide offenders and identify risk factors for such recidivism. A 1970s incident cohort of all homicide offenders, sane and insane, from two regions of Sweden (N = 153) was followed up until 2007 using data from the national crime register. Ten per cent of the cohort (n = 15) re-offended. The mean time from index offence to recidivism was 9.4 years. Five people (3%) committed a further homicide, and it was established that another five (3%) offenders had killed before the index offence. Prospective risk factors for violent recidivism were young age, psychotic disorder, male victim, acquainted victim and intoxicated victim. The prevalence of repeated homicide is higher than previously reported. Victim variables and mental disorder in conjunction with substance abuse appear to be two domains of particular significance for recidivism. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. The differences between sex offenders who victimise older women and sex offenders who offend against children.

    PubMed

    Browne, K D; Hines, Morag; Tully, Ruth J

    2018-01-01

    Within the literature on sex offending, much attention is paid to the distinction between those sex offenders who offend against adults and those who offend against children. In contrast, there is a paucity of research into sex offenders who offend specifically against elderly or older victims. A detailed interview and psychometric tests were conducted with a sample of 28 sex offenders who had been convicted of a sexually motivated offence against an older female. These data were compared to a sample of 23 child sex offenders. Results indicate that amongst other significant differences between these sub-groups, men who offend against older women are generally younger, are more violent, and are more likely to use a weapon and cause injury and death compared to child sex offenders. The men who offended against children were more likely to think about and plan their offending, spend more time with the victim pre and post offence, admit sexual arousal during the offence, and admit to a sexual motivation for the offence. This study suggests that men who sexually offend against older women and men who sexually offend against children are distinct groups. Treatment and risk management strategies should take this into account. Further exploration of this sub-group of offenders is recommended to help inform treatment and risk management strategies for sex offenders who offend against older people.

  14. Offense History and the Effectiveness of Juvenile Diversion Programs.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Osgood, D. Wayne; And Others

    Some evaluations have concluded that diversion programs for juvenile offenders (programs intended as community-based alternatives to formal justice dispositions) reduce recidivism only among youths with the least serious offense histories. To investigate the relationship of offense history to program effectiveness, three diversion programs were…

  15. Planning primary health-care services for South Australian young offenders: a preliminary study.

    PubMed

    Wilson, Anne

    2007-10-01

    Although many young offenders receive health care during periods of detention, addressing their health needs after release from secure care is a key strategy for successful rehabilitation and reintegration into the community. The purpose of this preliminary study was to examine current discharge planning practices for young offenders in Youth Training Centres in South Australia with a view to improving offenders' connection with primary health-care services on discharge. To determine the strengths and weaknesses of current discharge planning practices, this exploratory study involved in-depth review of literature and a semistructured focus group of stakeholders. Findings were discussed with an expert advisory group before final recommendations were made. This study identified a service model approach to discharge planning that recommended a nurse located within the Divisions of General Practice as the coordinator. The study found that trusted staff in detention centres, with an awareness of services available in the location of release, influence young offenders' decision-making in relation to health-care services. Awareness and recognition of young offenders' health beyond periods of juvenile detention and into their adult lives is valuable in that it has the potential to establish lifelong healthy behaviours. Bonding with young offenders and gaining their trust increases their likelihood of attending primary health-care services.

  16. A profile of pedophilia: definition, characteristics of offenders, recidivism, treatment outcomes, and forensic issues.

    PubMed

    Hall, Ryan C W; Hall, Richard C W

    2007-04-01

    Pedophilia has become a topic of increased interest, awareness, and concern for both the medical community and the public at large. Increased media exposure, new sexual offender disclosure laws, Web sites that list the names and addresses of convicted sexual offenders, politicians taking a 'get tough' stance on sexual offenders, and increased investigations of sexual acts with children have increased public awareness about pedophilia. Because of this increased awareness, it is important for physicians to understand pedophilia, its rate of occurrence, and the characteristics of pedophiles and sexually abused children. In this article, we address research that defines the various types and categories of pedophilia, review available federal data on child molestation and pornography, and briefly discuss the theories on what makes an individual develop a sexual orientation toward children. This article also examines how researchers determine if someone is a pedophile, potential treatments for pedophiles and sexually abused children, the risk of additional sexual offenses, the effect of mandatory reporting laws on both physicians and pedophiles, and limitations of the current pedophilic literature.

  17. Adverse Childhood Experiences of Violent Female Offenders: A Comparison of Homicide and Sexual Perpetrators.

    PubMed

    Pflugradt, Dawn M; Allen, Bradley P; Zintsmaster, Amanda J

    2018-06-01

    Adverse childhood experiences are associated with a multitude of health and social problems. In addition to an increased risk of poor health, mental disorders, and substance abuse, childhood maltreatment is also significantly related to adult violent offending. Although gender-specific analyses suggest that early childhood maltreatment precedes later violence for males across offense categories, it is unknown whether this association also applies to different types of female offenders. This study explores the types and quantity of adverse childhood experiences for two groups of violent female offenders: perpetrators of intentional homicide ( N = 28) and perpetrators of sexual offenses ( N = 47). A nonparametric analysis using odds ratios (OR) indicated that female homicide perpetrators experienced significantly more adverse childhood experiences (as measured by the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire) than female sex offenders. Implications for future research are discussed.

  18. Predictors of involvement in the juvenile justice system among psychiatric hospitalized adolescents.

    PubMed

    Cropsey, Karen L; Weaver, Michael F; Dupre, Madeleine A

    2008-07-01

    Several risk factors for juvenile justice involvement have been identified in previous research among delinquents and include mental illness, substance use, trauma and abuse, family dysfunction, poor parenting, school problems, and aggressive behavior. However, most of these predictors resulted from studies among adolescents incarcerated in the juvenile justice system. We were interested in finding out the prevalence rates of juvenile justice involvement among psychiatric inpatient adolescents and determining predictors of juvenile justice involvement in this high-risk group. Six hundred and thirty-six medical records from adolescents ages 12-17 years who were consecutively admitted to one of two psychiatric inpatient units between July 1, 2003 and June 30, 2004 were examined. Almost half (43.6%) of hospitalized adolescents had a history of juvenile justice involvement. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine predictors of juvenile justice involvement. Significant predictors of juvenile justice involvement included being male, parental legal history, family substance abuse history, disruptive disorder, cocaine use, being sexually active, and having a history of aggressive behavior. Adolescents in mental health or substance abuse treatment settings should be screened for juvenile justice involvement and appropriate referrals made to prevent worsening problems for at-risk youth.

  19. Traumatic brain injury among female offenders in a prison population: results of the FleuryTBI study.

    PubMed

    Durand, Eric; Watier, Laurence; Lécu, Anne; Fix, Michel; Weiss, Jean-Jacques; Chevignard, Mathilde; Pradat-Diehl, Pascale

    2017-01-01

    The study was designed to estimate the prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a French prison population of female offenders, study the variables known to be associated with TBI, and compare our results with those obtained among male offenders as described in a previous paper. All female offenders (adults and juveniles) consecutively admitted to Fleury-Mérogis prison over a 3-month period were included in the study. During the admission procedure, female offenders were interviewed by healthcare staff using a self-reported questionnaire. In all, 100 female offenders were included. The rate of self-reported TBI was high, with a prevalence of 21%. The first cause of TBI was violence related (35%) and a majority of female offenders with a history of TBI reported having sustained more than one TBI. When compared with those who did not report a TBI, epilepsy and use of alcohol were higher among female offenders with a history of TBI. Perceived health was significantly worse for women who reported a TBI. This study findings provide additional evidence that TBI among offender populations is serious and that specific actions need to be developed and implemented in correctional settings such as screening for TBI upon arrival.

  20. The German Dunkelfeld project: a pilot study to prevent child sexual abuse and the use of child abusive images.

    PubMed

    Beier, Klaus M; Grundmann, Dorit; Kuhle, Laura F; Scherner, Gerold; Konrad, Anna; Amelung, Till

    2015-02-01

    Sexual interest toward prepubescents and pubescents (pedophilia and hebephilia) constitutes a major risk factor for child sexual abuse (CSA) and viewing of child abusive images, i.e., child pornography offenses (CPO). Most child sexual exploitation involving CSA and CPO are undetected and unprosecuted in the "Dunkelfeld" (German: "dark field"). This study assesses a treatment program to enhance behavioral control and reduce associated dynamic risk factors (DRF) in self-motivated pedophiles/hebephiles in the Dunkelfeld. Between 2005 and 2011, 319 undetected help-seeking pedophiles and hebephiles expressed interest in taking part in an anonymous and confidential 1-year-treatment program using broad cognitive behavioral methodology in the Prevention Project Dunkelfeld. Therapy was assessed using nonrandomized waiting list control design (n=53 treated group [TG]; n=22 untreated control group [CG]). Self-reported pre-/posttreatment DRF changes were assessed and compared with CG. Offending behavior characteristics were also assessed via self-reporting. No pre-/postassessment changes occurred in the control group. Emotional deficits and offense-supportive cognitions decreased in the TG; posttherapy sexual self-regulation increased. Treatment-related changes were distributed unequally across offender groups. None of the offending behavior reported for the TG was identified as such by the legal authorities. However, five of 25 CSA offenders and 29 of 32 CPO offenders reported ongoing behaviors under therapy. Therapy for pedophiles/hebephiles in the Dunkelfeld can alter child sexual offending DRF and reduce-related behaviors. Unidentified, unlawful child sexual exploitative behaviors are more prevalent in this population than in officially reported recidivism. Further research into factors predictive of problematic sexual behaviors in the Dunkelfeld is warranted. © 2014 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

  1. Child abuse and neglect profiles and their psychosocial consequences in a large sample of incarcerated males.

    PubMed

    Debowska, Agata; Boduszek, Daniel

    2017-03-01

    Research examining child abuse and neglect (CAN) profiles among adult offender populations is lacking. Therefore, the primary aim of the present study was to address this limitation by using latent class analysis (LCA) to identify meaningful classes of individuals who have experienced physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, as well as neglect. Another aim was to estimate the association between CAN class membership and external criteria (psychopathy factors, self-esteem, attitudes towards male sexual violence in dating relationships, child sexual abuse myth acceptance, violent offending, and age). Data were collected among a large systematically selected sample of adult male inmates (N=1261). Based on LCA, three unique classes of CAN were distinguished, including a 'low abuse' group (43.4% of the sample), a 'high physical and emotional abuse' group (51.3%), and a 'poly-victimized' group (5.3%). The analysis revealed that the CAN classes were differentially associated with affective responsiveness, cognitive responsiveness, personal self-esteem, prison self-esteem, attitudes towards male sexual violence in dating relationships, and violent offending. Findings highlight the unique nature of CAN constellations among criminal justice involved participants. The significance of the present results is discussed in relation to past and future research. Potential contributions to treatment strategies are also presented. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Prolonged Exposure Treatment of Chronic PTSD in Juvenile Sex Offenders: Promising Results from Two Case Studies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hunter, John A.

    2010-01-01

    Prolonged exposure (PE) was used to treat chronic PTSD secondary to severe developmental trauma in two adolescent male sex offenders referred for residential sex offender treatment. Both youth were treatment resistant prior to initiation of PE and showed evidence of long-standing irritability and depression/anxiety. Clinical observation and…

  3. Computer-Tailored Intervention for Juvenile Offenders

    PubMed Central

    LEVESQUE, DEBORAH A.; JOHNSON, JANET L.; WELCH, CAROL A.; PROCHASKA, JANICE M.; FERNANDEZ, ANNE C.

    2012-01-01

    Studies assessing the efficacy of juvenile justice interventions show small effects on recidivism and other outcomes. This paper describes the development of a prototype of a multimedia computer-tailored intervention (“Rise Above Your Situation”or RAYS) that relies on an evidence-based model of behavior change, the Transtheoretical Model, and expert system technology to deliver assessments, feedback, printed reports, and counselor reports with intervention ideas. In a feasibility test involving 60 system-involved youths and their counselors, evaluations of the program were favorable: 91.7% of youths agreed that the program could help them make positive changes, and 86.7% agreed that the program could give their counselor helpful information about them. PMID:23264754

  4. Socialization Processes and Clergy Offenders.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Jane

    2016-01-01

    This article uses feminist theory to investigate how the socialization processes used to maintain the clergy community in the Roman Catholic Church contributes to a vulnerability in some clergy for sexually abusing children. This vulnerability is identified first in an examination of the literature on the impact of socialization processes on clergy offenders between the 1960s and 1980s. A comparison is then made with the implications of the apostolic exhortation, Pastores Dabo Vobis, which provides a theological basis to clergy formation. The article argues that the document works to ensure a continuity of socialization processes that not only have been shown to create a vulnerability for committing child sexual abuse but compound existing vulnerabilities. The article concludes that constraints produced by the preservation of a hegemonic masculinity and patriarchy retain a threat of violence against children and require recommended reforms.

  5. The child protection and juvenile justice nexus in Australia: A longitudinal examination of the relationship between maltreatment and offending.

    PubMed

    Malvaso, Catia G; Delfabbro, Paul H; Day, Andrew

    2017-02-01

    There is convincing evidence that many young people who are in the justice system have had contact with child protection services and that victims of childhood maltreatment are at increased risk of subsequent youth justice involvement. In Australia, however, there have been few longitudinal studies that have examined these associations and relatively less is known in this area. This study examines the overlap between the child protection and youth justice involvement in South Australia, and determines how substantiated maltreatment and variations in these experiences (e.g., the type, timing and recurrence of maltreatment) relate to criminal convictions as a youth. The results show that although the majority of child-protection involved youth do not become convicted offenders, the odds of subsequent convictions are significantly greater both for those with notifications and substantiated maltreatment and for those who had been placed in out-of-home care. Multivariate analyses revealed that the strongest predictors for receiving a conviction among maltreated youth were: male gender, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ethnicity, experiences of physical abuse and emotional abuse, a greater number of substantiations (recurrence), experiencing maltreatment that commenced in childhood and continued into adolescence, and placement in out-of-home care. The mechanisms through which maltreatment might be linked with behavior are then considered, along with directions for future research in this area. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Public attitudes toward sexual offenders and sex offender registration.

    PubMed

    Kernsmith, Poco D; Craun, Sarah W; Foster, Jonathan

    2009-01-01

    This study explores the relationship between fear of various types of sexual offenders and a belief that those sexual offenders should be subject to sex offender registration. We hypothesized that those who offend against children would elicit the most fear; consequently, the most feared offenders would be rated as most requiring registration. As part of a telephone survey, 733 participants answered questions about fear of sex offenders and agreement with requirements about registration for offenders convicted of incest, statutory rape, marital rape, pedophilia, date rape, and an offense committed more than 10 years prior. Results indicated that all types of sexual offenders elicited some fear from respondents, and fear was related to support of registration requirements.

  7. Special Issue: Substance Abuse.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fuhrmann, Barbara S., Ed.; Washington, Craig S., Ed.

    1984-01-01

    Presents ten articles about substance abuse: its effects, consequences, and strategies for intervention. Describes specific group therapy techniques and presents both a court service designed for assisting juveniles with drug/alcohol offenses, and a school-based substance abuse prevention program. Looks at strategies for counseling special…

  8. A system for diagnosis, referral, and rehabilitation of persons convicted of driving while intoxicated : a special rehabilitation program for multiple offenders

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1977-11-01

    A rehabilitation program is presented for multiple DWI offenders. The program includes education related to alcohol use and abuse and therapeutic activities to help a client learn new techniques for living and alternatives to alcohol abuse. /Abstract...

  9. The case of juvenile polygraphy as a clinical ethics dilemma.

    PubMed

    Chaffin, Mark

    2011-09-01

    Polygraph interrogations are used by half of all surveyed juvenile sex offender (JSO) treatment programs in the United States. This is a distinctive and controversial practice that is rarely if ever used with other juvenile delinquent populations, and that is rarely used or is banned from JSO treatment programs in other countries. Clinical polygraphy is an ethically sensitive issue because it involves mental health therapists in involuntary coercive interrogations of minors. This article reviews core mental health professional ethics principles for juveniles. JSO polygraphy is used as an illustrative issue for applying human rights principles to a practice in light of its benefits, risks, and available alternatives.

  10. Developing a Policy for Controlled Substance Testing of Juveniles. Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants (JAIBG) Program Bulletin.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crowe, Ann H.; Sydney, Linda

    This bulletin provides an overview of substance testing, describes major indicators of the need for such testing, and summarizes the research for recent trends in substance abuse. It examines the practices of implementing a policy of controlled substance testing for appropriate categories of juveniles within the juvenile justice system. A summary…

  11. Public Attitudes toward Sexual Offenders and Sex Offender Registration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kernsmith, Poco D.; Craun, Sarah W.; Foster, Jonathan

    2009-01-01

    This study explores the relationship between fear of various types of sexual offenders and a belief that those sexual offenders should be subject to sex offender registration. We hypothesized that those who offend against children would elicit the most fear; consequently, the most feared offenders would be rated as most requiring registration. As…

  12. Attacking Crime or Kids? Juvenile Justice at the Crossroads.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Larson, Scott J.

    1997-01-01

    Sounds a strong warning about the destructive political process of using delinquent youth as scapegoats and then giving up on them. Claims that many young, redeemable offenders are being discarded in adult prisons, a process opposed by most professionals. Argues that dismantling the juvenile justice system will increase criminal behavior. (RJM)

  13. Adverse Childhood Experiences and Arrest Patterns in a Sample of Sexual Offenders.

    PubMed

    Levenson, Jill S; Socia, Kelly M

    2016-06-01

    Developmental psychopathology theories suggest that childhood adversity can contribute to antisocial conduct and delinquent activities. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) on arrest patterns in a sample of sexual offenders (N = 740). Higher ACE scores were associated with a variety of arrest outcomes, indicating that the accumulation of early trauma increased the likelihood of versatility and persistence of criminal behavior. Rapists of adults had higher ACE scores, lower levels of specialization, and higher levels of persistence than sex offenders with minor victims only. Child sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and domestic violence in the childhood home were significant predictors of a higher number of sex crime arrests. For measures of nonsexual arrests and criminal versatility, it was the household dysfunction factors-substance abuse, unmarried parents, and incarceration of a family member-that were predictive, suggesting that family dysfunction and a chaotic home environment contributed significantly to increased risk of general criminal behavior. Sex offenders inspire little sympathy in our society but may be among those most in need of trauma-informed models of treatment that recognize the influence of early adversity on maladaptive schema and self-regulation deficits related to criminal behavior. © The Author(s) 2015.

  14. Identifying and Preventing Health Problems among Young Drug-Misusing Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bennett, Trevor; Holloway, Katy

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the health problems and treatment needs of drug-misusing offenders and to draw out the implications of the findings for health education and prevention. Design/methodology/approach: This analysis is based on data collected as part of the New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring…

  15. Juvenile Group Sex Offenders: A Comparison of Group Leaders and Followers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    't Hart-Kerkhoffs, Lisette A.; Vermeiren, Robert R. J. M.; Jansen, Lucres M. C.; Doreleijers, Theo A. H.

    2011-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate group sex offenses with regard to the role of leaders versus followers and to compare both groups on levels of psychopathology, intelligence, and psychosocial and offense-related characteristics. Eighty-nine adolescent group sex offenders (mean age = 14.9, SD = 1.4) referred by the police to the Dutch child…

  16. Development of the Juvenile Justice Anger Management Treatment for Girls

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goldstein, Naomi E. S.; Serico, Jennifer M.; Riggs Romaine, Christina L.; Zelechoski, Amanda D.; Kalbeitzer, Rachel; Kemp, Kathleen; Lane, Christy

    2013-01-01

    Female juvenile offenders exhibit high levels of anger, relational aggression, and physical aggression, but the population has long been ignored in research and practice. No anger management treatments have been developed specifically for this population, and no established anger management treatments are empirically supported for use with…

  17. The differential influence of absent and harsh fathers on juvenile delinquency.

    PubMed

    Simmons, Cortney; Steinberg, Laurence; Frick, Paul J; Cauffman, Elizabeth

    2018-01-01

    Researchers have identified father absence as a contributor to juvenile delinquency. Consequently, politicians and community leaders are making efforts to re-engage fathers. However, it is possible that the presence of fathers is not, in itself, a substantial protective factor and, in some cases, can even be more detrimental than father absence. Employing a diverse sample of male juvenile offenders in the U.S. (ages 13-17), the present study examined the differential effects of absent fathers and harsh fathers on delinquency. Results indicated that youth in the harsh-father group engaged in more offending behaviors and used more substances than youth in the absent-father group. This difference remained even after controlling for the mother-child relationship. Implications of these findings for future research and delinquency prevention programs are discussed. Copyright © 2017 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Eliminating the Competency Presumption in Juvenile Delinquency Cases.

    PubMed

    Katner, David R

    2015-01-01

    The legal presumption used in virtually all juvenile delinquency cases in the U.S. is that all juveniles are competent to stand trial. This Article calls for the elimination of that legal presumption, which is historically based on the Dusky v. United States decision and in the adult criminal justice system. The recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court recognize the developmental and organic brain differences between adults and juveniles. Current research demonstrates a higher frequency rate of incompetence based on intellectual deficiencies among children when compared with adults found to be not legally competent to stand trial. By eliminating the competency presumption for juveniles in both delinquency and adult criminal proceedings, the party seeking an adjudication would be responsible for establishing that the accused juvenile is in fact, competent to stand trial. Foreign jurisdictions in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America have long required higher thresholds--at least fourteen years of age--for holding juveniles accountable for criminal misconduct, none of them presuming that juveniles are competent to go to trial. In the alternative, by expanding the factors currently in use for determination of juvenile competency by adding developmental immaturity and mental illness, juvenile justice systems could identify the reduction of recidivist offending as the primary systemic objective.

  19. Juvenile justice. A role for health professionals.

    PubMed

    Brookman, Monica

    2003-01-01

    The United States is the only nation in the world that continues to execute its youth. The use of the death penalty against those who committed crimes as children is an act contrary to American standards of decency and fairness, as well as international law. The adolescent brain has not fully developed before the age of 18 years of age. Thus children do not have the same emotional and mental capacity as adults. Although juveniles should be held accountable for their crimes, the United States must not impose this most extreme punishment. The medical profession must take a stand to stop the execution of juvenile offenders in the United States.

  20. A Multimethod Assessment of Juvenile Psychopathy: Comparing the Predictive Utility of the PCL:YV, YPI, and NEO PRI

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cauffman, Elizabeth; Kimonis, Eva R.; Dmitrieva, Julia; Monahan, Kathryn C.

    2009-01-01

    The current study compares 3 distinct approaches for measuring juvenile psychopathy and their utility for predicting short- and long-term recidivism among a sample of 1,170 serious male juvenile offenders. The assessment approaches compared a clinical interview method (the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version [PCL:YV]; Forth, Kosson, & Hare,…

  1. Elderly sexual offenders: two unusual cases.

    PubMed

    Carabellese, Felice; Candelli, Chiara; Vinci, Francesco; Tamma, Manuela; Catanesi, Roberto

    2012-09-01

    The aim of this case report is to describe two cases of sexual abuse by elderly subjects for which the Judge commissioned an expert psychiatric-forensic opinion. The elderly are generally believed to commit nonviolent crimes, whereas the two cases we observed feature forcible rape committed by elderly offenders, who showed no form of mental disease and had rationally planned their offense. They had never previously committed similar acts and had no history of homosexuality; both had been married for many years before the death of their wives and had adult children. Finally, no previous episodes of rape emerged in their personal histories during interrogations. The sociocultural context in which the crimes were committed was identical and arouses interest as regards both the method employed and how the crimes were discovered. The legal authorities then commissioned accurate investigations including medicolegal and psychiatric-forensic evaluations of the offenders and their victims. © 2012 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

  2. Offender diversion into substance use disorder treatment: the economic impact of California's proposition 36.

    PubMed

    Anglin, M Douglas; Nosyk, Bohdan; Jaffe, Adi; Urada, Darren; Evans, Elizabeth

    2013-06-01

    We determined the costs and savings attributable to the California Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (SACPA), which mandated probation or continued parole with substance abuse treatment in lieu of incarceration for adult offenders convicted of nonviolent drug offenses and probation and parole violators. We used individually linked, population-level administrative data to define intervention and control cohorts of offenders meeting SACPA eligibility criteria. Using multivariate difference-in-differences analysis, we estimated the effect of SACPA implementation on the total and domain-specific costs to state and county governments, controlling for fixed individual and county characteristics and changes in crime at the county level. The additional costs of treatment were more than offset by savings in other domains, primarily in the costs of incarceration. We estimated the statewide policy effect as an adjusted savings of $2317 (95% confidence interval = $1905, $2730) per offender over a 30-month postconviction period. SACPA implementation resulted in greater incremental cost savings for Blacks and Hispanics, who had markedly higher rates of conviction and incarceration. The monetary benefits to government exceeded the additional costs of SACPA implementation and provision of treatment.

  3. A Latent Class Analysis of Family Characteristics Linked to Youth Offending Outcomes.

    PubMed

    Chng, Grace S; Chu, Chi Meng; Zeng, Gerald; Li, Dongdong; Ting, Ming Hwa

    2016-11-01

    There were two aims to this study: firstly, to identify family subtypes of Singaporean youth offenders based on eight family variables. Secondly, the associations of these family subtypes with youth offending outcomes were tested. With a sample of 3,744 youth, a latent class analysis was first conducted based on eight family variables. Multivariate analyses and a Cox regression were subsequently performed to analyze the associations of the family classes with age at first arrest, age at first charge, and recidivism. A three-class solution was found to have the best fit to the data: (1) intact functioning families had little family risk; (2) families with criminality had higher probabilities of family criminality, of drug/alcohol abuse, and of being nonintact; and (3) poorly managed families received the poorest parenting and were more likely to be nonintact. Youth offenders from the latter two classes were arrested and charged at younger ages. Additionally, they reoffended at a quicker rate. Family backgrounds matter for youth offending outcomes. Interventions have to be multifaceted and targeted at the family in order to mitigate the risk of young offenders from developing into pathological adult criminals.

  4. A Latent Class Analysis of Family Characteristics Linked to Youth Offending Outcomes

    PubMed Central

    Chu, Chi Meng; Zeng, Gerald; Li, Dongdong; Ting, Ming Hwa

    2016-01-01

    Objectives: There were two aims to this study: firstly, to identify family subtypes of Singaporean youth offenders based on eight family variables. Secondly, the associations of these family subtypes with youth offending outcomes were tested. Methods: With a sample of 3,744 youth, a latent class analysis was first conducted based on eight family variables. Multivariate analyses and a Cox regression were subsequently performed to analyze the associations of the family classes with age at first arrest, age at first charge, and recidivism. Results: A three-class solution was found to have the best fit to the data: (1) intact functioning families had little family risk; (2) families with criminality had higher probabilities of family criminality, of drug/alcohol abuse, and of being nonintact; and (3) poorly managed families received the poorest parenting and were more likely to be nonintact. Youth offenders from the latter two classes were arrested and charged at younger ages. Additionally, they reoffended at a quicker rate. Conclusions: Family backgrounds matter for youth offending outcomes. Interventions have to be multifaceted and targeted at the family in order to mitigate the risk of young offenders from developing into pathological adult criminals. PMID:28736458

  5. Review of 125 Children 6 Years of Age and under Who Were Sexually Abused.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mian, Marcellina; And Others

    1986-01-01

    The authors present a chart review of 125 children referred in 1981-1983 because of sexual abuse. Among findings were that 60 percent were victims of intrafamilial abuse. Of the preschoolers, 72.5 percent were victims of intrafamilial abuse. At school age there was a reversal with 73 percent of 6-year-olds being abused by extrafamilial offenders.…

  6. Adult-Perpetrated Animal Abuse: A Systematic Literature Review.

    PubMed

    Alleyne, Emma; Parfitt, Charlotte

    2017-01-01

    Adults perpetrate the majority of animal abuse incidents yet clinicians are left with very little evidence base to advance/enhance their practice. The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize and evaluate the current literature on adult-perpetrated animal abuse and to identify the etiological factors related to this type of offending. Twenty-three studies met the specific inclusion criteria but most importantly, they examined the characteristics of adult perpetrators of animal abuse. The findings from this review were demarcated by sample type: (1) Participants were the perpetrators of the animal abuse or held offense-supportive attitudes and (2) participants were victims of intimate partner violence reporting incidents of animal abuse perpetrated by their partner. From the perpetrator perspective, there were key developmental (i.e., maladaptive parenting strategies), behavioral (such as varied offending behaviors), and psychological (e.g., callousness, empathy deficits) factors highlighted in the literature. Finally, in the context of intimate partner violence, findings indicated that perpetrators abuse animals to control, coerce, intimidate, and/or manipulate their victims (this effect is moderated by the victims' emotional attachment to their pet). This review inherently underlines treatment targets that could achieve greater clinical gains, but we also conclude that more empirical and theoretical work is needed in order to set an agenda that prioritizes future research and effective practice.

  7. Improving Professional Judgments of Risk and Amenability in Juvenile Justice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mulvey, Edward P.; Iselin, Anne-Marie R.

    2008-01-01

    The dual requirement to ensure community safety and promote a youthful offender's positive development permeates policy and frames daily practice in juvenile justice. Balancing those two demands, explain Edward Mulvey and Anne-Marie Iselin, requires justice system professionals at all levels to make extremely difficult decisions about the likely…

  8. Two generations at risk: child welfare, institutional boundaries, and family violence in grandparent homes.

    PubMed

    Day, Susan E; Bazemore, Gordon

    2011-01-01

    Participation of extended family members, particularly custodial grandparents, has generally resulted in better outcomes for abused children and relief for an overburdened child welfare system. This research explores the risk of adolescent perpetrated violence in custodial grandparent households with data from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Findings suggest that living arrangements with custodial grandparents have a significant and differential impact on rates of violent offending for chronic and serious offenders by race and gender.

  9. An assessment of secondary traumatic stress in juvenile justice education workers.

    PubMed

    Smith Hatcher, Schnavia; Bride, Brian E; Oh, Hyejung; Moultrie King, Dione; Franklin Catrett, James

    2011-07-01

    Given the frequency and violent character of the traumas encountered by juvenile offenders, staff members who regularly interact with juveniles in custody are at risk of developing secondary traumatic stress. Juvenile justice teachers and staff (N = 118) were administered a cross-sectional survey, including the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale. Respondents said the students were moderately traumatized (47%), severely traumatized (27%), and very severely traumatized (7%). Regarding STS, the most frequently reported symptom was intrusive thoughts related to work with the students, mentioned by 61% of respondents. Additionally, 81% met at least one, 55% met two, and 39% met all three core diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder. Recommendations for juvenile justice staff members and for the organization are provided to address practice and policy implications.

  10. An Assessment of Secondary Traumatic Stress in Juvenile Justice Education Workers

    PubMed Central

    Hatcher, Schnavia Smith; Bride, Brian E.; Oh, Hyejung; King, Dione Moultrie; Catrett, James “Jack” Franklin

    2013-01-01

    Given the frequency and violent character of the traumas encountered by juvenile offenders, staff members who regularly interact with juveniles in custody are at risk of developing secondary traumatic stress. Juvenile justice teachers and staff (N = 118) were administered a cross-sectional survey, including the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale. Respondents said the students were moderately traumatized (47%), severely traumatized (27%), and very severely traumatized (7%). Regarding STS, the most frequently reported symptom was intrusive thoughts related to work with the students, mentioned by 61% of respondents. Additionally, 81% met at least one, 55% met two, and 39% met all three core diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder. Recommendations for juvenile justice staff members and for the organization are provided to address practice and policy implications. PMID:21571748

  11. Influence of Mental Health and Substance Use Problems and Criminogenic Risk on Outcomes in Serious Juvenile Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schubert, Carol A.; Mulvey, Edward P.; Glasheen, Cristie

    2011-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the relations among certain mental health problems (MHPs; affective, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], and substance use disorders), criminogenic risk, and outcomes in a sample of serious adolescent offenders. Method: Using data from a longitudinal study of serious adolescent offenders (N = 949;…

  12. Social Support among Offenders with Substance Abuse Problems: Overlooked and Underused?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lemieux, Catherine M.

    2002-01-01

    The author examined correlates of social support among 101 offenders in corrections-based treatment programs. Respondents perceived high levels of support despite numerous interpersonal problems. Social support was significantly associated with visits, letters, arrests, and days in treatment. The author describes strategies for implementing…

  13. Profile and programming needs of federal offenders with histories of intimate partner violence.

    PubMed

    Stewart, Lynn A; Power, Jenelle

    2014-10-01

    This study presents data on male perpetrators of domestic violence (DV) in the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) using two samples: (a) a snapshot of all male offenders in CSC who had been assessed for DV (n = 15,166) and (b) a cumulative sample of male offenders in CSC from 2002-2010 who had been assessed as moderate or high risk for further DV (n = 4,261) DV offenders were compared to a cohort sample of non-DV offenders (n = 4,261). Analyses were disaggregated for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal offenders. Results indicated that 40% of the federal male population had a suspected history of DV and were therefore screened in for in-depth DV risk assessment. Of these, 45% were assessed as moderate or high risk for future DV. DV offenders had higher risk and criminogenic need ratings, more learning disabilities, more mental health problems, and more extensive criminal histories than those without DV histories. Aboriginal DV offenders had high levels of alcohol dependence, suggesting a need for substance abuse treatment as part of DV programming. Most federal offenders with DV histories would be described as belonging to the Antisocial/Generalized Aggressive typology and, therefore, adhering to the Risk-Need-Responsivity principles of the effective correctional literature, cognitive-behavioral treatment that focuses on teaching skills of self-management, and changing attitudes supporting relationship violence would be recommended. © The Author(s) 2014.

  14. Conceptualizing juvenile prostitution as child maltreatment: findings from the National Juvenile Prostitution Study.

    PubMed

    Mitchell, Kimberly J; Finkelhor, David; Wolak, Janis

    2010-02-01

    Two studies were conducted to identify the incidence (Study 1) and characteristics (Study 2) of juvenile prostitution cases known to law enforcement agencies in the United States. Study 1 revealed a national estimate of 1,450 arrests or detentions (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1,287-1,614) in cases involving juvenile prostitution during a 1-year period. In Study 2, exploratory data were collected from a subsample of 138 cases from police records in 2005. The cases are broadly categorized into three main types: (a) third-party exploiters, (b) solo prostitution, and (c) conventional child sexual abuse (CSA) with payment. Cases were classified into three initial categories based on police orientation toward the juvenile: (a) juveniles as victims (53%), (b) juveniles as delinquents (31%), and (c) juvenile as both victims and delinquents (16%). When examining the status of the juveniles by case type, the authors found that all the juveniles in CSA with payment cases were treated as victims, 66% in third-party exploiters cases, and 11% in solo cases. Findings indicate law enforcement responses to juvenile prostitution are influential in determining whether such youth are viewed as victims of commercial sexual exploitation or as delinquents.

  15. School Psychology, Juvenile Justice, and the School to Prison Pipeline

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sander, Janay B.

    2010-01-01

    Juvenile offending is associated with several bleak outcomes, including high rates of continued crime and incarceration, substance use, and higher mortality rates due to crime. Academic achievement is a very important consideration in the area of crime and delinquency: Failure is associated with greater delinquency, and success is a protective…

  16. No Place for Kids: The Case for Reducing Juvenile Incarceration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mendel, Richard A.

    2011-01-01

    States confine juvenile offenders in many types of facilities, including group homes, residential treatment centers, boot camps, wilderness programs, or country-run youth facilities (some of them locked, others secured only through staff supervision). But the largest share of committed youth--about 40 percent of the total--are held in locked…

  17. Children with Disabilities in Poor Households: Association with Juvenile and Adult Offending

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matta Oshima, Karen M.; Huang, Jin; Jonson-Reid, Melissa; Drake, Brett

    2010-01-01

    Disabled youths are arrested, adjudicated, and recidivate at higher rates than their nondisabled peers. Although multiple theories have been offered to explain the relationship between disability and delinquency, the empirical evidence is limited and contradictory. Little is known about how disability may be associated with offending once poverty…

  18. Time To Learn: A Study of the Educational Histories of Incarcerated Juveniles. Preliminary Report to [the] Illinois General Assembly.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kyle, Charles; And Others

    In 1990-91, the educational histories of incarcerated juveniles in Illinois were analyzed to assess the value of educational intervention strategies prior to incarceration. Following open-ended interviews with public officials, structured interviews were held with 200 juvenile offenders, of whom 50 were female, from all parts of the state. The…

  19. Dare To Be You: A Diversion Program for First Time Juvenile Offenders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vail, Ann; Nest, Judy

    This document notes that community-based organizations such as the Cooperative Extension Service have joined the efforts to reduce juvenile delinquency through juvenile diversion programs. It then describes the "Dare to be You" program that was developed by the Colorado Cooperative Extension System. The six objectives of the program delineated in…

  20. A Randomized Trial of Probation Case Management for Drug-Involved Women Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Guydish, Joseph; Chan, Monica; Bostrom, Alan; Jessup, Martha A.; Davis, Thomas B.; Marsh, Cheryl

    2011-01-01

    This article reports findings from a clinical trial of a probation case management (PCM) intervention for drug-involved women offenders. Participants were randomly assigned to PCM (n = 92) or standard probation (n = 91) and followed for 12 months using measures of substance abuse, psychiatric symptoms, social support, and service utilization.…

  1. Take Action on 5 Policies America Must Adopt To Reduce and Prevent Substance Abuse.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Join Together, Boston, MA.

    The Join Together National Policy Panel presents five policies that can help communities reduce and prevent substance abuse. They are: (1) compel substance abuse treatment for criminal offenders; (2) ensure that every person who has an addiction gets treatment; (3) make substance abuse prevention an urgent priority in every community; (4) increase…

  2. Offender Diversion Into Substance Use Disorder Treatment: The Economic Impact of California’s Proposition 36

    PubMed Central

    Nosyk, Bohdan; Jaffe, Adi; Urada, Darren; Evans, Elizabeth

    2013-01-01

    Objectives. We determined the costs and savings attributable to the California Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (SACPA), which mandated probation or continued parole with substance abuse treatment in lieu of incarceration for adult offenders convicted of nonviolent drug offenses and probation and parole violators. Methods. We used individually linked, population-level administrative data to define intervention and control cohorts of offenders meeting SACPA eligibility criteria. Using multivariate difference-in-differences analysis, we estimated the effect of SACPA implementation on the total and domain-specific costs to state and county governments, controlling for fixed individual and county characteristics and changes in crime at the county level. Results. The additional costs of treatment were more than offset by savings in other domains, primarily in the costs of incarceration. We estimated the statewide policy effect as an adjusted savings of $2317 (95% confidence interval = $1905, $2730) per offender over a 30-month postconviction period. SACPA implementation resulted in greater incremental cost savings for Blacks and Hispanics, who had markedly higher rates of conviction and incarceration. Conclusions. The monetary benefits to government exceeded the additional costs of SACPA implementation and provision of treatment. PMID:23597352

  3. The Best and Worst of Dispositions: An Analysis of 30 Years of Juvenile Justice Data in La Porte County, Indiana

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kuhn, Jonathan R.; Marsh, Shawn C.; Cotman, Chip

    2017-01-01

    Background: Both observed studies and experimental studies have identified programs, practices, and treatments that are considered effective, ineffective, or harmful for juvenile offenders. Objective: Identify which dispositions were best and worse for each offense in the La Porte County, Indiana, juvenile justice database of over 8500 juvenile…

  4. Adult functioning of mothers with traumatic brain injury at high risk of child abuse: a pilot study.

    PubMed

    van Vliet-Ruissen, Cora; McKinlay, Audrey; Taylor, Annabel

    2014-01-01

    There is little information regarding the impact that traumatic brain injury (TBI) has on the functioning of mothers at risk of child abuse. This study evaluated adult functioning (e.g. child abuse, substance use, criminal convictions, and mental health problems) of mothers, at high risk for child abuse, who also had a history of TBI compared with those without TBI. It was hypothesised that mothers with a history of TBI would engage in higher rates of dysfunctional behaviour compared to those with no history of TBI. Participants were 206 women engaged in a child abuse prevention programme for mothers who are highly socially disadvantaged, and at high risk for child abuse. Using historical data collected as part of the referral, and self report intake process, this study compared child abuse, mental health problems (depression, anxiety, substance use) and rates of criminal offending for mothers with a history of TBI versus those with no history of TBI. Mothers with TBI were no more likely than those without TBI to have engaged in child abuse. However, mothers with a history of TBI were significantly more likely to have one or more mental health problems, engage in substance use and have a history of criminal offending. Parents with TBI who have been identified as high risk for engaging in child abuse have increased risk for mental health problems and criminal offending. These issues need to be considered when designing parenting programmes in order for intervention strategies to be effective.

  5. Temporality, trauma and care of repeat adolescent offenders.

    PubMed

    Kermarrec, Solenn; Mougli, Khaddouj

    2013-09-01

    In recent years the matter of repeat young offenders has raised questions for and bewildered the institutions caring for them. The temporality of these youngsters is ingrained in the current and urgent moment, and in the repetition of acts of delinquency, which preclude them from having a linear perception of time. This study reflects on the different temporalities with which institutions need to work and on how the judicial, educational, and psychological times can, by building bridges between the present and the past, help piece together the story of adolescents' lives. The personal history of each young offender contributes to explain his/her misbehavior. Acting out can symbolize childhood abuse. Thus, repetitive acts of delinquency should not be considered and treated as isolated acts of violence, which each time cause a rupture, but should be seen and as a whole. Repetition of acts of delinquency should prompt questioning about the past of young offenders-a past which is buried and which distorts their perception of present time, preventing them from projecting themselves into and making plans for the future. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  6. Child Pornography Possessors and Child Contact Sex Offenders: A Multilevel Comparison of Demographic Characteristics and Rates of Recidivism.

    PubMed

    Faust, Erik; Bickart, William; Renaud, Cheryl; Camp, Scott

    2015-10-01

    Considerable debate surrounds the topic of whether possessing or distributing online images of child pornography (CP) represents a new type of crime perpetrated by conventional sex offenders (e.g., child contact [CC] sex offenders), or whether individuals who commit these crimes differ from contact sex offenders in meaningful ways. The current study compares groups of Internet (CP) and CC sexual offenders, with each group's sexual offending history exclusively confined to its offense category. T tests were used to conduct bivariate comparisons of group demographics and criminal histories. Rates of recidivism were examined using survival curves and Cox proportional hazard regression models. Results showed significant differences on demographic and criminal history variables, with CP offenders demonstrating a lower frequency of prior criminal offending and substance abuse, and higher rates of pre-incarceration employment and level of education. Rates of recidivism were significantly different between the two groups, with CP offenders showing lower rates of re-offense for most measures of recidivism. When controlling for background characteristics and the timing of the event, CC offenders were at much greater risk for having an arrest for a new crime or a non-sexual violent crime than CP offenders. Treatment and policy implications are discussed, along with suggestions for future research. © The Author(s) 2014.

  7. Perceptions of Successful Graduates of Juvenile Residential Programs: A Phenomenological Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mincey, Barrett; Maldonado, Nancy; Lacey, Candace H.; Thompson, Steve D.

    2007-01-01

    This qualitative study conducted in urban Miami, Florida, explored the essence of juvenile delinquency and recidivism: its causes, its relations to communities, the roles of families, and the myriad roles of residential treatment programs at rehabilitating young offenders. Data were collected from nine young adult participants who had satisfied…

  8. An Internet study of men sexually attracted to children: Correlates of sexual offending against children.

    PubMed

    Bailey, J Michael; Bernhard, Paula A; Hsu, Kevin J

    2016-10-01

    We conducted an Internet survey of 1,102 men sexually attracted to children concerning their history of adjudicated offenses related to child pornography and sexual contact with children. Most of the men reported no offenses, but their rate of offenses was much higher than that expected for adult-attracted men. Correlates of offending are consistent with a strong role of the cumulative effects of temptation, especially age. Older men, men who had repeatedly worked in jobs with children, men who had repeatedly fallen in love with children, and men who had often struggled not to offend were especially likely to have offended. Attraction to male children, relative attraction to children versus adults, and childhood sexual abuse experiences were also strong predictors of offending. In contrast, permissive attitudes regarding child-adult sex and frequent indulgence in sexual fantasies about children were not significantly related to offending. Our findings represent the first large study of offending among men sexually attracted to children who were not recruited via contact with the legal system. Because of methodological limitations, our findings cannot be definitive. Reassuringly, however, results are generally consistent with those from the most pertinent existing studies, of recidivism among convicted sex offenders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  9. Social information processing, subtypes of violence, and a progressive construction of culpability and punishment in juvenile justice.

    PubMed

    Fontaine, Reid Griffith

    2008-01-01

    Consistent with core principles of liberal theories of punishment (including humane treatment of offenders, respecting offender rights, parsimony, penal proportionality, and rehabilitation), progressive frameworks have sought to expand doctrines of mitigation and excuse in order to reduce culpability and punishment. With respect to juvenile justice, scholars have proposed that doctrinal mitigation be broadened, and that adolescents, due to aspects of developmental immaturity (such as decision-making capacity), be punished less severely than adults who commit the same crimes. One model of adolescent antisocial behavior that may be useful to a progressive theory of punishment in juvenile justice distinguishes between instrumental violence, by which the actor behaves thoughtfully and calmly to achieve personal gain, and reactive violence, which is characterized as impulsive, emotional retaliation toward a perceived threat or injustice. In particular, social cognitive differences between instrumental and reactive violence have implications for responsibility, length and structure of incarceration, rehabilitation, and other issues that are central to a progressive theory of juvenile culpability and punishment.

  10. 28 CFR 2.40 - Conditions of release.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... special condition, because available information indicates a low risk of future substance abuse by the..., YOUTH OFFENDERS, AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS United States Code Prisoners and Parolees § 2.40 Conditions of... substance. If the Commission finds after a revocation hearing that a releasee, released after December 31...

  11. 28 CFR 2.40 - Conditions of release.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... special condition, because available information indicates a low risk of future substance abuse by the..., YOUTH OFFENDERS, AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS United States Code Prisoners and Parolees § 2.40 Conditions of... substance. If the Commission finds after a revocation hearing that a releasee, released after December 31...

  12. 28 CFR 2.40 - Conditions of release.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... special condition, because available information indicates a low risk of future substance abuse by the..., YOUTH OFFENDERS, AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS United States Code Prisoners and Parolees § 2.40 Conditions of... substance. If the Commission finds after a revocation hearing that a releasee, released after December 31...

  13. 28 CFR 2.40 - Conditions of release.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... special condition, because available information indicates a low risk of future substance abuse by the..., YOUTH OFFENDERS, AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS United States Code Prisoners and Parolees § 2.40 Conditions of... substance. If the Commission finds after a revocation hearing that a releasee, released after December 31...

  14. Racial differences in treatment effect among men in a substance abuse and domestic violence program.

    PubMed

    Scott, Melanie C; Easton, Caroline J

    2010-11-01

    It is unclear whether racial differences in treatment effect exist for individuals in substance abuse and domestic violence programs. This study examined racial differences in treatment effect among substance dependent Caucasian and African-American male intimate partner violence (IPV) offenders court mandated to an integrated substance abuse and domestic violence treatment. From baseline to completion of treatment (week 12), 75 participants (39 Caucasian; 36 African-American) were assessed on demographics, substance use, legal characteristics, and use of violence (physical, verbal, and psychological). African-American men served more months incarcerated in their life than Caucasian men. Both groups showed decreases in their use of physical violence and alcohol abuse over treatment. Caucasian men also showed a decrease in their use of verbal abuse. At treatment completion, both groups showed a reduction in physical abuse and alcohol abuse. Caucasian men showed a reduction in their use of verbal abuse, but African-American men did not. Substance dependent African-American male IPV offenders may benefit from interventions that thoroughly target communication skills in addition to issues of substance abuse and IPV to reduce use of verbal abuse and improve treatment outcomes among African American men.

  15. Accuracy of actuarial procedures for assessment of sexual offender recidivism risk may vary across ethnicity.

    PubMed

    Långström, Niklas

    2004-04-01

    Little is known about whether the accuracy of tools for assessment of sexual offender recidivism risk holds across ethnic minority offenders. I investigated the predictive validity across ethnicity for the RRASOR and the Static-99 actuarial risk assessment procedures in a national cohort of all adult male sex offenders released from prison in Sweden 1993-1997. Subjects ordered out of Sweden upon release from prison were excluded and remaining subjects (N = 1303) divided into three subgroups based on citizenship. Eighty-three percent of the subjects were of Nordic ethnicity, and non-Nordic citizens were either of non-Nordic European (n = 49, hereafter called European) or African Asian descent (n = 128). The two tools were equally accurate among Nordic and European sexual offenders for the prediction of any sexual and any violent nonsexual recidivism. In contrast, neither measure could differentiate African Asian sexual or violent recidivists from nonrecidivists. Compared to European offenders, AfricanAsian offenders had more often sexually victimized a nonrelative or stranger, had higher Static-99 scores, were younger, more often single, and more often homeless. The results require replication, but suggest that the promising predictive validity seen with some risk assessment tools may not generalize across offender ethnicity or migration status. More speculatively, different risk factors or causal chains might be involved in the development or persistence of offending among minority or immigrant sexual abusers.

  16. Understanding Child Sexual Abuse by Catholic Priests from a Situational Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Terry, Karen J.; Freilich, Joshua D.

    2012-01-01

    Most sexual offense research focuses on offender motivation and individual risk factors rather than the criminal events themselves. This article provides an analysis of data from two studies on child sexual abuse by Catholic priests to help understand the opportunities clergy had or created to abuse youth. Findings show that situational factors…

  17. Maltreatment and Depression in Adolescent Sexual Offenders with an Autism Spectrum Disorder

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walters, Jessica Bleil; Hughes, Tammy L.; Sutton, Lawrence R.; Marshall, Stephanie N.; Crothers, Laura M.; Lehman, Cathryn; Paserba, Dave; Talkington, Vanessa; Taormina, Rochelle; Huang, Ann

    2013-01-01

    This study examined the self-reported presence and severity of abuse, neglect, and depressive symptoms for 43 adolescents adjudicated delinquent due to a sexual offense. Twenty-seven of the adolescent sexual offenders were also diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, and 16 did not carry an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. Both groups…

  18. Challenges of Conducting Research With Young Offenders With Traumatic Brain Injury.

    PubMed

    OʼRourke, Conall; Templeton, Michelle; Cohen, Miriam H; Linden, Mark A

    2018-05-31

    The purpose of this commentary is to highlight the challenges encountered when conducting research with young offenders. This is drawn from the first-hand experience of 3 researchers working on separate projects within this environment. Young offenders present as a complex clinical population with high levels of illiteracy, substance abuse, and mental health issues. Significant planning is therefore required before working with this group. Consideration must be given to the heterogeneity of prison populations alongside the potential limitations of datacollection methods, in particular, reliance on self-report. The capacity of young offenders to comprehend and effectively engage with research is also of concern, posing issues of both a practical and ethical nature. The absence of a consistent "research culture" within prison environments poses further practical challenges, potentially also placing significant burden on both researchers and prison resources. The challenges discussed in this article may help inform future studies in the area and emphasize the need for greater critical reflection among researchers conducting work of this type.

  19. A criminal careers typology of child sexual abusers.

    PubMed

    Wortley, Richard; Smallbone, Stephen

    2014-12-01

    We present a criminal careers typology of child sexual abusers constructed in terms of their offending persistence (persistent vs. limited) and versatility (specialized vs. versatile). Analyses were conducted on the official records of 362 convicted offenders, 213 of whom also provided confidential self-report data on their personal and offending histories. Forty-one percent of the sample were currently serving sentences for their first sexual offense conviction(s) but had at least one prior conviction for a nonsexual offense (limited/versatile); 36.4% had no previous convictions of any kind (limited/specialized); 17.8% had prior convictions for sexual and nonsexual offenses (persistent/versatile); and 4.8% had prior convictions for sexual offenses only (persistent/specialized). These four groups differed on a range of personal and offense-related variables, including abuse histories, sexual orientation, age at first sexual contact with a child, number of victims, duration of sexual involvement with victims, victim gender, and whether victims were familial or nonfamilial. These differences suggest the need to adopt different treatment and prevention strategies that target the specific characteristics of each group. © The Author(s) 2013.

  20. Drug Use Forecasting. 1993 Annual Report on Juvenile Arrestees/Detainees: Drugs and Crime in American Cities. Research in Brief.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Department of Justice, Washington, DC. National Inst. of Justice.

    This report offers data on juvenile drug use and crime so as to increase understanding of the dimensions of drug use among youthful offenders. The report includes information from collaborative efforts at both the Federal and the local levels. Data on male juvenile arrestees and detainees were collected in 12 Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) sites…

  1. Patterns of treatment services and costs for young offenders with mental disorders.

    PubMed

    Shelton, Deborah

    2005-01-01

    This study describes mental health treatment service delivery patterns and costs for youth in a juvenile justice system. A secondary data analysis on a random sample of juvenile offenders (N = 312) was completed. Service patterns and costs were described. Selected variables were examined for their ability to predict who received treatment. Only 23% of youth diagnosed with a mental disorder received any treatment. Older youth and African American youth received fewer services, and race was the only significant predictor for receiving treatment (p = .001). Mental health treatment services were scarce, and the data reflects a race bias in the provision of services. Although the law protects the right to treatment for these individuals, provision of services remains a challenge.

  2. Treating Youths in the Juvenile Justice System.

    PubMed

    Sattler, Ann L

    2017-04-01

    Adolescents involved with the juvenile justice system have higher rates of risky sexual behaviors, resulting in high rates of sexually transmitted infections and increased risk of human immunodeficiency virus, early or complicated pregnancy, and parenting issues. Comorbid substance abuse, gang association, mental health issues, and history of having been abused as children result in further elevated rates. Girls and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youths represent growing subpopulations with special risks. Increasingly diverted to community-based alternatives, juvenile justice-involved teens obtain most of their medical care from community providers, who need to understand their risks to provide appropriate, optimal care. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Female Sex Offenders: Is There a Difference Between Solo and Co-Offenders?

    PubMed

    Ten Bensel, Tusty; Gibbs, Benjamin; Burkey, Chris Rush

    2016-10-01

    Studies on female sex offending have been limited for a number of reasons, such as societal perceptions that females are incapable of engaging in such behaviors because of their role as caretakers and nurturers in society. However, over the past few decades, studies examining female sex offenders have increased, revealing that females do commit sexual offenses and differ from their male counterparts. We examined offender, victim, and offense characteristics of female sex offenders who were convicted from 1995 to 2013 ( N = 223) in Arkansas and were sentenced to serve time in prison or placed on probation. We focused on the similarities and differences of solo and co-female sex offenders because we know from previous studies that the pathway of offending can differ between solo and co-female offenders, yet few studies have exclusively compared the similarities and differences among female sex offenders. Our data were collected from offender files that included basic personal offender information, offender survey and social history, criminal history, incident reports while incarcerated, court records, police investigation reports, initial offender and victim statements (prior to offender incarceration), and probation/parole reports. We believe the results of this study will provide further insight into the types of female sex offenders as well as the possible differences between co- and solo-offenders in relation to their victim preferences, risk levels, rehabilitation amenability, and recidivism propensities.

  4. Trauma, Delinquency, and Substance Use: Co-occurring Problems for Adolescent Girls in the Juvenile Justice System.

    PubMed

    Smith, Dana K; Saldana, Lisa

    2013-07-02

    Girls in the juvenile justice system are known to have high rates of co-occurring childhood abuse, trauma, and substance abuse. Girls with this constellation of problems are at high risk for serious adverse outcomes, including problems with drug dependence and abuse. The relationship between childhood sexual abuse, childhood physical abuse, other types of childhood trauma, and rates of substance use during adolescence were examined for girls in the juvenile justice system. As expected, childhood sexual abuse was significantly related to girls' substance use during adolescence. In contrast to prior research, no link was found between physical abuse, lifetime trauma, and substance use. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

  5. The color of juvenile justice: racial disparities in dispositional decisions.

    PubMed

    Fader, Jamie J; Kurlychek, Megan C; Morgan, Kirstin A

    2014-03-01

    Existing research on dispositional decisions typically models the outcome as merely placed or not placed. However, this does not accurately reflect the wide variation in residential options available to juvenile court actors. In this research, we combine data from ProDES, which tracks adjudicated youth in Philadelphia, with data from the Program Design Inventory, which describes over 100 intervention programs, to further examine the factors that influence court actors' decision making in selecting an appropriate program for a juvenile offender. We find that even after controlling for legal and needs-based factors, race continues to exert a significant influence, with decision makers being significantly more likely to commit minority youth to facilities using physical regimen as their primary modality and reserving smaller, therapeutic facilities for their white counterparts. Using focal concerns theory as an explanatory lens, we suggest that court actors in this jurisdiction employ a racialized perceptual shorthand of youthful offenders that attributes both higher levels of blame and lower evaluations of reformability to minority youth. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Female sexual homicide offenders: an analysis of the offender racial profiles in offending process.

    PubMed

    Chan, Heng Choon Oliver; Frei, Autumn M; Myers, Wade C

    2013-12-10

    Despite the recent effort by Chan and Frei in studying female sexual homicide offenders (SHOs), much is still unknown about this underresearched offender population. One largely unexplored area is how female SHOs of different races commit their killings. Using FBI Supplemental Homicide Reports (SHR) data (1976-2007), 105 White and 94 Black female SHOs (N=204) were examined for their differential offending patterns. Most female SHOs, regardless of race, killed victims of the opposite gender (i.e., heterosexual offenses). Most frequently targeted by female SHOs of both races (44% of Whites and 57% of Blacks) were known victims (e.g., friends, acquaintances) who were not intimate partners or family members. Firearms were the most common weapons used by female SHOs (60% of Whites and 48% of Blacks). The second most common weapon type used by Black offenders was an edged weapon (32%), whereas for White offenders it was a personal weapon (17%). Black female SHOs normally perpetrated their offense in large cities (69%), while White female SHOs most often committed their crime in suburban areas (40%). This study underscores importance of considering the offender racial group in female sexual murder investigations. Hence, several implications for offender profiling are offered. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Exploring the role of the internet in juvenile prostitution cases coming to the attention of law enforcement.

    PubMed

    Wells, Melissa; Mitchell, Kimberly J; Ji, Kai

    2012-01-01

    This exploratory analysis examines the role of the Internet in juvenile prostitution cases coming to the attention of law enforcement. The National Juvenile Prostitution Study (N-JPS) collected information from a national sample of law enforcement agencies about the characteristics of juvenile prostitution cases. In comparison to non-Internet juvenile prostitution cases, Internet juvenile prostitution cases involved younger juveniles and police were more likely to treat juveniles as victims rather than offenders. In addition, these cases were significantly more likely to involve a family or acquaintance exploiter. This analysis suggests that the role of the Internet may impact legal and social service response to juveniles involved in prostitution. In addition, it highlights the need for interventions that acknowledge the vulnerabilities of youth involved in this type of commercial sexual exploitation.

  8. Characteristics of mentally ill offenders from 100 psychiatric court reports

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Background There is an increasing probability that the psychiatrist will, willingly or not, come into contact with mentally ill offenders in the course of their practice. There are increasing rates of violence, substance abuse and other psychiatric disorders that are of legal importance. Therefore, the aim of this work was to investigate the rates of different mental disorders in 100 court reports and to investigate the characteristics of mentally ill offenders. Methods All cases referred from different departments of the legal system to the forensic committee for assessment of legal accountability over 13-months duration were included. A specially designed form was prepared for data collection. Cases were classified into five groups: murder, robbery, financial offences, violent and simple offences and a group for other offences. Data were subjected to statistical analysis and comparisons between different groups of subjects were performed by analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results Men constituted 93% of cases. In all, 73% of offenders were younger than 40 years old. Schizophrenia cases made up 13% of the total, substance related cases constituted 56% and amphetamine cases alone made up 21%; 10% of cases were antisocial personality disorders, and 51% of cases were classified as having a low education level. Unemployment was found in 34% of cases. The final decision of the forensic committee was full responsibility in 46% of cases and partial responsibility in 11% of cases, with 33% considered non-responsible. A total of 58% of cases had had contact with psychiatric healthcare prior to the offence and in 9% of cases contact had been in the previous 12 weeks. A history of similar offences was found in 32% of cases. In all, 14% of the offences were murders, 8% were sexual crimes, and 31% were violent/simple crimes. Conclusions The ability of the legal system to detect cases was good, while the ability of the healthcare system to predict crimes and offences was weak, as

  9. 28 CFR 115.386 - Sexual abuse incident reviews.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Sexual abuse incident reviews. 115.386... NATIONAL STANDARDS Standards for Juvenile Facilities Data Collection and Review § 115.386 Sexual abuse incident reviews. (a) The facility shall conduct a sexual abuse incident review at the conclusion of every...

  10. 28 CFR 115.386 - Sexual abuse incident reviews.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Sexual abuse incident reviews. 115.386... NATIONAL STANDARDS Standards for Juvenile Facilities Data Collection and Review § 115.386 Sexual abuse incident reviews. (a) The facility shall conduct a sexual abuse incident review at the conclusion of every...

  11. 28 CFR 115.386 - Sexual abuse incident reviews.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Sexual abuse incident reviews. 115.386... NATIONAL STANDARDS Standards for Juvenile Facilities Data Collection and Review § 115.386 Sexual abuse incident reviews. (a) The facility shall conduct a sexual abuse incident review at the conclusion of every...

  12. [Childhood in sex offenders; A retrospective study].

    PubMed

    Hadi, G; Linkowski, P; Leistedt, S

    2016-01-01

    This retrospective and observational study is based on the hypothesis that sex offenders have experienced trauma and/or educational dysfunction which have a responsibility in theirs crimes of sexual type. The purpose of this study is to highlight these disturbances, develop a typology of sex offenders and offer a reflection on elements which allowed their acting out. Two groups were selected. A group of 31 patients having committed criminal offences or murders and having been determined as mentally irresponsibles of their act (" Défense Sociale " in Belgium). This group was compared to a group of 31 patients consulting a general practitioner. A survey and a personal interview were used. Most of this questions came from Thomas Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist (this questionnaire highlight psychiatric disorders or pathological behaviors in childhood). The inclusion criteria were: male patients major in social defense; single or series rape(s) (accompanied or not by murder); incest; pedophilia; intelligence quotient greater than or equal to 80 (determined by the scale WAIS). The anova test results showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p ⟨ 0,00063). Several different profiles of rapists were established. Indeed, patient group shows more trauma such as sexual abuse (9.8 times more) and physical abuse (3.1 times more) than the control group. Three factors were identified as a condition to an achieved rape: a pathological family dynamic, impaired impulse control and an empathic deficit.

  13. Local Implementation of Drug Policy and Access to Treatment Services for Juveniles

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Terry-McElrath, Yvonne M.; McBride, Duane C.

    2004-01-01

    Although there is a vigorous national debate regarding effective drug policy, such policies are implemented at the local level. Using a national sample of prosecutors, we examine reported typical processing for first-time juvenile marijuana, cocaine, or crack possession/sales offenders. The relationship between drug offense charge and adjudication…

  14. Fatal child abuse in Japan: does a trend exist toward tougher sentencing?

    PubMed

    Nambu, Saori; Nasu, Ayako; Nishimura, Shigeru; Nishimura, Akiyoshi; Fujiwara, Satoshi

    2011-07-01

    It has been pointed out in Japan that criminal punishment in domestic homicide cases, especially in fatal child abuse cases, tends to be more lenient than in public homicide cases that occur outside the home. In recent news accounts of fatal child abuse cases, however, the media has reported that court-imposed sentences have tended to be stricter every year. Using the online databases of three major Japanese newspapers, we collected articles about fatal child abuse cases that had been published from January 2008 to December 2009. We analyzed these articles to determine, whether a tendency towards tougher penalties, as was put forward by the media, actually exists at present time in the criminal system in Japan. We found 24 cases, out of which 20 involved only one offender and 4 involved two offenders. These 28 offenders comprised nine biological fathers, 11 biological mothers, and eight other male relatives of the child victims. We found that the sentences handed down by the court clearly tended to be more lenient for female offenders. A new system of criminal jurisprudence, the so-called saiban-in system wherein citizens serve as "lay judges" in criminal trials involving serious crimes, was implemented in Japan at the start of 2009. Each, district court has gradually adopted this new system after a preparation period of approximately five years starting in 2004. Many figures in the Japanese media predicted that the gap between social expectations and court sentences for sanction against domestic homicide cases would be filled with the present transitional period of the Japanese criminal system. However, the present study found no significant difference in the laws regarding sentencing in fatal child abuse cases before and after the preparation period of the saiban-in system.

  15. [The new law on strengthening the rights of victims of sexual abuse and its implications for the forensic-psychiatric assessment of sexual offenders].

    PubMed

    Bumb, Jan Malte; Foerster, Klaus; Dressing, Harald

    2014-07-01

    Highlighting practical implications and research aspects of forensic-psychiatric assessments in the context of the new law on strengthening the rights of victims of sexual abuse. Based on a clinical case we report implications for the forensic-psychiatric assessment. The new law now requires an expert to evaluate the necessity and the subject's motivation to receive a given treatment. Up to now, the majority of sexual offenders were assumed to be responsible for their actions and in most cases a forensic-psychiatric assessment was not required. For this reason, guidelines for forensic-psychiatric assessments are urgently needed. The number of forensic-psychiatric assessments is likely to increase substantially and a relevant-case law is still lacking. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  16. The Marginally Employed Offender: A Unique Phenomenon among Released Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nally, John; Lockwood, Susan; Knutson, Katie; Ho, Taiping

    2013-01-01

    The primary focus of this study was to explore the characteristics of marginally employed (earnings less than $5,000 per year) ex-offenders. Findings from this study include the following: (1) The number of employed offenders varied from 47.7 percent of recently released offenders in 2006 to 49.8 percent of recently released offenders in 2009; (2)…

  17. Drug Testing Guidelines and Practices for Juvenile Probation and Parole Agencies.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    American Probation and Parole Association, Lexington, KY.

    This document, intended as a resource manual, provides guidelines on drug testing. These topics are covered: (1) National Institute on Drug Abuse guidelines applicability; (2) introduction to legal issues, drug testing in juvenile probation and parole, and juvenile law; (3) mission of a juvenile parole agency; (4) purpose of testing; (5) drug…

  18. Alcohol use, alcohol-related aggression and intimate partner abuse: A cross-sectional survey of convicted versus general population men in Scotland.

    PubMed

    Gilchrist, Elizabeth Allison; Ireland, Lana; Forsyth, Alasdair; Godwin, Jon; Laxton, Tim

    2017-01-01

    Scotland has a particular problem with alcohol, and the links between intimate partner abuse (IPA) and alcohol appear stronger here than elsewhere across Europe. This study explored differences in alcohol use, related aggression and relationship conflict across a number of groups: men convicted for intimate partner abuse, men convicted of general offences and men recruited from community sports teams. Participants (n = 64) completed three questionnaires exploring their experiences of alcohol use (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, AUDIT); alcohol and aggression (Alcohol Related Aggression Questionnaire, ARAQ-28), and relationship conflict (Revised Conflict Tactics Scale, CTS-2). There were significant differences across the groups in terms of AUDIT and ARAQ-28 scores, IPA and general offenders scored higher than the community sample. CTS-2 scores showed significant differences: both offender groups reported more use of negotiation and psychological abuse, than the community men, and IPA offenders reported causing more physical harm than either general offenders or the community sample. ARAQ-28 scores correlated with psychological abuse for general offenders. Alcohol use was very high across all groups, but the community group did not endorse an aggression-precipitating view of alcohol and did not report high IPA. Discussed is the need for cross-cultural research to explore putative mediators and moderators in the relationship between alcohol, aggressiveness and IPA. [Gilchrist EA, Ireland L, Forsyth A, Godwin J, Laxton T. Alcohol use, alcohol-related aggression and intimate partner abuse: A cross-sectional survey of convicted versus general population men in Scotland. Drug Alcohol Rev 2017;36:20-23]. © 2017 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

  19. Who Benefits from Gender Responsive Treatment? Accounting for Abuse History on Longitudinal Outcomes for Women in Prison.

    PubMed

    Saxena, Preeta; Messina, Nena; Grella, Christine E

    2014-04-01

    This study explores outcome variation among women offenders who participated in gender-responsive substance abuse treatment (GRT). In order to identify subgroups of participants that may differentially benefit from this treatment, secondary analyses examined the interaction between randomization into GRT and a history of abuse (physical/sexual) on depression and number of substances used post- treatment. The sample consisted of 115 incarcerated women assessed at baseline and 6- and 12-months post parole. Longitudinal regression showed that women reporting abuse randomized into GRT had significantly reduced odds of depression ( OR = .29, p < .05, 95% CI = .10 - .86) and lowered rates of number of substances used ( IRR = .52, p < .05, 95% CI = 0.28-0.98), in comparison to those who reported abuse and were randomized to the non-GRT group. GRT for women offenders who have experienced prior abuse would maximize the benefits of the trauma-informed, gender-sensitive intervention.

  20. Distinguishing among weapons offenders, drug offenders, and weapons and drug offenders based on childhood predictors and adolescent correlates.

    PubMed

    Stephens, Skye; Day, David M

    2013-07-01

    Weapons and drug offences incur a large cost to society and tend to be strongly associated. Improved understanding of their antecedents could inform targeted early intervention and prevention programmes. This study aimed to examine differences in criminal careers, childhood predictors and adolescent correlates among weapons-only offenders, drugs-only offenders and a versatile group of weapons + drugs offenders. We conducted a longitudinal records study of 455 young Canadians charged with drug and/or weapons offences who started their offending in late childhood/early adolescence. Consistent with expectation, differences emerged in their criminal careers as the versatile group had a longer criminal career and desisted from offending at a later age than weapons-only offenders. Against prediction, weapons-only offenders experienced the greatest number of childhood predictors and adolescent correlates. The three offending groups could be differentiated on offending trajectories and developmental factors.In making links between past events and later behaviour, life-course criminology may inform development of effective early intervention and prevention strategies.As weapons-only offenders experience the greatest level of adversity in childhood and adolescence, they may benefit most (of these three groups) from early intervention and prevention programmes.A reduction in weapon carrying and use might be achieved by early identification of children risk factors (e.g. family adversity) and appropriate intervention. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.