Juvenile Delinquency in the Context of Organized Crime in Mexico: A Systematic Review

In 2007, Mexico implemented a strategy to combat drug trafficking through military intervention, after which a significant increase in homicides, mainly among young men, was observed and linked to structural problems as well as organized crime, especially the recruitment of youth, with adolescents being particularly vulnerable. Through a systematic review of the literature from 2013 to 2022, we have compiled the reported factors influencing the recruitment of adolescents by organized crime in Mexico and conducted a metasynthesis of the data according to the multiple levels that affect adolescents: individual, family, community, cultural, and social. This research has shown that many of the factors reported are interrelated and need to be studied holistically. In addition, many of the factors are common to other forms of juvenile delinquency, but the main difference is the presence of organized crime itself in the community and culture.

Treating Delinquent and Feebleminded Juveniles at the Beloit Industrial School for Girls in Early Twentieth-Century Kansas

This study explores the troubling and unintended consequences of public health efforts to address the problem of juvenile delinquency and feeblemindedness. Health care professionals, superintendents, and other authority figures equated undesirable juvenile behaviors such as keeping "bad company" or "falling in with the wrong crowd," truancy, and petty theft with poor breeding, low intelligence, and inheritable criminal tendencies. This article interrogates historical documentation culled from the Kansas State Historical Society (KSHS) and focuses on a few specific cases to reveal the ways a patriarchal political and medical state system both protected and alienated young woman accused of a myriad of behavior issues including delinquency, incorrigibility, and feeblemindedness. I highlight the lives of juvenile women sentenced to the Beloit Industrial School for Girls not simply to better understand an isolated period in United States history but also reproduction. The broader implications of the narratives of girls housed at the Beloit Industrial School for Girls throughout the first half of the twentieth century in Kansas reveal troubling and unintended consequences of public health efforts to fix the problems of delinquency, contagion, and the generational inheritance of undesirable characteristics.

Self-esteem among heinous and non-heinous male delinquent adolescents- A descriptive comparative study from East India

Background

Adolescence is the most complex stage of development that causes the greatest difficulties in their life because of frequent physical and emotional issues including deviated character and behavioral disorders.

Aim

This descriptive comparative study was intended to compare self-esteem between heinous and non-heinous male delinquent adolescents residing in observation homes.

Materials and Methods

A quantitative research approach with a non-experimental descriptive comparative design was adopted. One hundred and seventy-nine male delinquent adolescents (Heinous = 74, Non-Heinous = 105) residing in two observation homes were selected by convenience sampling technique based on the type of crime committed. The standardized Rosenberg's self-esteem scale was used to collect the data.

Results

We analyzed the data with Chi-square for homogeneity of sample characteristics, an independent t test for comparison of self-esteem between groups, an independent t test, one-way ANOVA for the association, and stepwise regression for predictors. There was a statistically significant difference in self-esteem between groups, a significant association of self-esteem with age and duration of stay in the heinous group and with the father's education in the non-heinous group, and the father's education, mother's occupation, substance use, and order of birth had predicted the self-esteem in non-heinous group.

Conclusion

The study concluded that self-esteem significantly varied between heinous and non-heinous group delinquents. This study is the first of its kind and provided initial evidence by filling the gap in the literature to understand the difference in the level of self-esteem among delinquent adolescents according to the type of crime committed.

Juvenile Competency Complications: Protocol, Unmet Needs, Developmental Immaturity, FASD, and Comorbidity

This Article focuses on unifying the protocol for state competency evaluations, but with special concerns about undiagnosed FASD and developmental immaturity in adolescents. States do not mandate any process whereby psychometric tests are first performed prior to psychiatric mental status evaluations, often causing disparities in evaluations which might easily be avoided in court proceedings. Adding to the complications in current competency evaluations are recent studies from Canada and Australia identifying exceptionally high rates of FASD in incarcerated adolescents following multi-disciplinary teams' studies directed at identifying FASD. If these studies' rates of FASD turn out to be similar for children in the U.S. juvenile justice system, then systemic reform is called for as we are failing to identify this congenital condition when adolescents enter the system and then continue on into the adult criminal system without recognition of their prenatal exposure to alcohol.

Formation mechanism and prediction model of juvenile delinquency

Exploring the formation mechanism of juvenile delinquency is of great significance to prevent juvenile delinquency. The present study examined relations and interactions among juvenile delinquents' self-consciousness, family factors, social relationships, belief in a just world, and legal consciousness, and then developed a predictive model to distinguish between juvenile delinquents and non-delinquents. The results showed that family factors have a significant influence on the formation of juvenile delinquents' self-consciousness and there are notable differences in family environment and self-consciousness between delinquent and non-delinquent adolescents. Due to the complex interactions among juvenile delinquency's self-consciousness, family factors, social relationships, belief in a just world and legal consciousness, adolescents' self- consciousness and social relationships can be utilized to predict and classify the groups of delinquent and non-delinquent adolescents effectively. Therefore, the key to preventing juvenile delinquency is to improve their self-consciousness and develop their prosocial relationships.

Offence type and neurodiversity: A comparison of 12-17-year-old boys charged with a criminal offence by diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or both

BACKGROUND

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been evidenced as common among adolescents with delinquent behaviour. Less is known, however, about the relationship between these disorders and type of alleged offence, when the adolescent is involved with the criminal justice system.

AIM

Our aim was to investigate whether the type of alleged index offences among 12-17-year-olds differ between those diagnosed with ASD, ADHD or ASD + ADHD.

METHOD

The sample was selected for ASD and/or ADHD diagnoses from a database of all pre-trial forensic psychiatric and psychological assessments of male adolescents of 12-17 years old in the Netherlands for the years 2013 and 2014. For each record, independent researchers scored a 76-item checklist encompassing health and offending characteristics. Sixty-nine of the 1799 pre-trial assessments of these male adolescents had a diagnosis of ASD, 90 of ADHD and 29 had been diagnosed with both; these 188 cases formed our sample.

RESULTS

The rate of sex offences was significantly higher among those with ASD (N = 20, 29%) than those with ADHD (N = 10, 11%) or both (N = 4, 14%; Fisher's exact test = 8.54; p = 0.014). By contrast, the rate of property offences without violence was significantly higher among those with ADHD (N = 22, 24%) than those with ASD (N = 4, 6%) or both (N = 5, 17%; Fisher's exact test = 10.50, p = 0.004), whereas violent offending rates did not differ between the three groups.

CONCLUSION

Specific offence types were not equally distributed among male adolescents with different psychiatric diagnoses. In our sample of male adolescents suspected of an offence nearly one-third of those diagnosed with ASD were convicted of a sex offence, suggesting highly specialised needs for further assessment and intervention. Among those diagnosed with ADHD, significantly more adolescents were charged with non-violent property offences. Such unequal distribution of alleged offence types among adolescents with different psychiatric diagnoses justifies tailor-made attention for offending adolescents with different psychiatric diagnoses.

Quantitative Head Dynamics Associated with Interpersonal (Grandiose-Manipulative) Psychopathic Traits in Incarcerated Youth

Clinicians have long noted that individuals with elevated psychopathic traits can be characterized by unique interpersonal styles, including prolonged eye contact, invasion of interpersonal space, and frequent use of hand gestures. Such forms of nonverbal communication can be measured via hand, body, and head position and dynamics. Previous studies have developed an automated algorithm designed to capture head position and dynamics from digital recordings of clinical interviews in a sample of incarcerated adult men. We observed that higher psychopathy scores were associated with stationary head dwell time. Here, we applied a similar automated algorithm to assess head position and dynamics on videotaped clinical interviews assessing psychopathic traits from n = 242 youth housed at a maximum-security juvenile correctional facility. We observed that higher psychopathy scores (assessed via the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version [PCL:YV]) were associated with unique patterns of head dynamics. Specifically, PCL:YV Total, Factor 1 (measuring grandiose-manipulative and callous-unemotional traits), and Facet 1 (measuring grandiose-manipulative traits) scores were associated with a higher proportion of time spent in a head dynamics pattern consisting of moderate movement away from the average head position. This study lays the groundwork for future investigations to apply quantitative methods to better understand patterns of nonverbal communication styles in clinical populations characterized by severe antisocial behavior.

The Role of Negative Parental Influences and Criminal Thinking in Juvenile Offending Behaviors

Previous research has established that juveniles who experience negative parental influence are more likely to engage in problem and offending behavior. Less attention has been given to the possibility that criminal thinking styles might partially explain this relationship. This study examined the negative parental influences and criminal thinking styles of 1,354 juvenile offenders to establish that both negative parental influences and criminal thinking are significantly associated with juvenile problem and offending behavior. Further, the analysis showed that juvenile criminal thinking (proactive, reactive, and general) might mediate the relationship between negative parental influences and problem behavior. Implications for such findings are discussed.

Creating profiles of juvenile offenders using functions of aggression and callous-unemotional traits: relations to crime type

A rich line of criminological theories and research has suggested that individual characteristics may be important to predicting criminal activity. However, there is limited research examining how individual characteristics may be related to the type of crime committed (e.g. violent, sex, drug). To provide guidance to these questions, the current set of two studies used latent profile analysis to identify groups of offenders based on individual factors (i.e. proactive and reactive aggression, and callous-unemotional traits), chosen for their interrelatedness and their established associations with crime, and examined whether these groups relate to type, severity or the number of crimes committed across two studies. In both studies, four groups of offenders were identified, but these groups were not associated with offending behaviors or patterns. Findings and implications are discussed.

Triarchic psychopathic traits versus self-control: Comparing associations with youth antisocial outcomes

BACKGROUND

Psychopathy and low self-control are useful constructs for understanding antisociality/criminality. The triarchic model of psychopathy in particular is a recent and promising conceptualisation, composed of boldness, disinhibition, and meanness - three personality traits that have never been studied in tandem with low self-control.

AIMS

To test relationships between the triarchic personality traits of boldness, disinhibition and meanness and low self-control with delinquent or antisocial acts.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional, self-report study a schools' cohort of 14- to 18-year-olds (Mean 15.91 years, SD = 0.99 years) was recruited from regions in South Portugal and Lisbon, representative of the general population of this age in sex distribution and education. After parental consent, teenage volunteers in small groups completed psychopathy and self-control self-rating scales and then a questionnaire about their criminal or delinquent activities, all on one single occasion and in confidence from school staff or parents. Path analysis was used to test relationships.

RESULTS

567 young people, 256 (45%) of them girls, completed all ratings, 89% of those invited to do so. Low self-control had the strongest relationship with antisocial/criminal acts, followed by the disinhibition or meanness traits of the triarchic psychopathy construct. The boldness trait of the triarchic psychopathy construct had the weakest relationship.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that the most effective targets for intervention to prevent or limit antisocial behaviours by young people are likely to be self-control and disinhibition. Behavioural interventions that improve social skills and verbal problem-solving that encourage listening and waiting in response to environmental stimuli are likely to effect reduction of impulsive and aggressive reactions to others and so reduce conduct problems. Since disinhibition and self-control are such overlapping constructs, improvements in one area will generally facilitate improvements in the other area.

Toward children's cognitive development from the perspective of neurolaw: implications of Roper v Simmons

After reaching the age of criminal responsibility, children are deemed capable of having committed criminal offenses. In this regard, the level of criminal responsibility depends on cognitive development and the type of offense committed. Cognitive development is a process of the growth of perception, thinking and reasoning in children. This concept is frequently referred to in cognitive neuroscience literature. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Roper v Simmons has substantially changed attitudes toward juvenile delinquency, considering the fact that cognitive development continues until early adulthood. The present study attempts to scrutinize this case and explain cognitive development by its factors from an interdisciplinary perspective, combining methods and theories from neuroscience and criminal law.

Examining the Factor Structure of a Risk Assessment Inventory in Young Offenders: FER-R, Risk and Resource Assessment Form

The FER-R, Risk and Resource Assessment Form, is a multidimensional inventory of structured professional judgment that assesses criminogenic risks and resources for the design and management of individualized intervention plans with criminally sanctioned adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the FER-R, reviewing its factorial structure to contribute evidence of convergent and discriminant construct validity in a sample of adolescents sentenced for crimes in Chile. For each domain (risks and resources) with its respective facets, a unidimensional bifactor structure (CFA-BF) was obtained, with adequate indices of fit that confirmed its construct validity, while the convergent validity was demonstrated with the YLS/CMI and the divergent validity with two MACI scales. The FER-R adds factorial validity to the evidence of the previously reported predictive validity, making it a robust inventory for the evaluation of young offenders, and a relevant tool to manage differentiated interventions in Chile, with a high potential for use in Latin America. The importance of finding a suitable balance in assessing risks and protective factors is discussed, in order to manage interventions adjusted to the needs of the adolescents to promote their criminal desistance.

Bold, mean and disinhibited: getting specific about the mediating role of self-control and antisocial outcomes in youth

Self-control and psychopathy are correlated with antisocial behaviors among diverse samples, and a spate of recent studies examined their direct associations with criminal outcomes. However, research has largely overlooked mediation effects between psychopathy, self-control and deviant outcomes. The current study examined self-control mediation effects related to the triarchic psychopathy construct and juvenile delinquency, crime seriousness, conduct disorder (CD), and aggression outcomes. The sample consisted of N = 567 (M = 15.91 years, SD = 0.99, range = 14-18 years) southern-European youth from Portugal. Study design was cross-sectional, quantitative and non-experimental. Mediation analysis using path analysis procedures indicated that low self-control mediates the relation between the Boldness, Disinhibition and Meanness factors of the triarchic psychopathy construct and the delinquency, crime seriousness, CD and aggression outcomes. Findings suggest that self-control is a mediator of triarchic psychopathic features and diverse externalizing behavior outcomes, which adds specificity to their interrelationship as general predictors of antisocial behavior.

Misunderstanding and Sensemaking Among Juvenile Probation Officers Working with Evidence-Based Practices

Evidence-based practices and programs (EBPs) have been adopted in juvenile probation agencies nationwide to maximize the number of successful probation cases. However, various pragmatic studies have found that JPOs are not yielding the expected benefits when compared to efficacy studies (Lipsey et al., 2010; Taxman & Belenko, 2011). Using focus group and survey data, the current study sought to increase our understanding of the gap between pragmatic and efficacy studies in juvenile probation settings by examining JPOs' perceptions and utilization of EBPs. The findings suggest that JPOs are misunderstanding how to use EBPs in daily practice, leaving them with negative perceptions of EBPs. Implications for improving JPO understanding and use of EBPs are discussed.

Criminal Behavior and Psychosocial Risk Factors in Brazilian Adolescent Offenders: An Exploratory Latent Class Analysis

Considering that adolescent offenders are quite a heterogeneous group in terms of behavioral and psychosocial variables, it is considered that a typological approach can assist in the systematization of these differences, aiming at a better understanding of the phenomenon and at clearer guidance in terms of interventions. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the behavioral and psychosocial profiles of male adolescent offenders, based on empirical data collected in a Brazilian sociocultural context. The profiles were made with a sample of 400 adolescent offenders to perform an exploratory latent classes analysis. The instruments used in data collection were the Youth Behavior Questionnaire (Questionário de Comportamentos Juvenis, QCJ) and the Brazilian Jesness Inventory—Revised (Inventário Jesness-Revisado-Brasileiro, IJ-R-Br). The most appropriate model was that of four classes, with the profiles found indicating differences between the adolescent offenders both in relation to psychological functioning and criminal pattern, as well as the psychosocial risk/protective factors associated with each of the profiles. These findings, in addition to contributing to understanding the phenomenon, may help to reflect on the assessments required to assist in judicial decision-making processes and the customized proposal of psychosocial interventions.

Lifting the Bar: A Relationship-Orienting Intervention Reduces Recidivism Among Children Reentering School From Juvenile Detention

When children return to school from juvenile detention, they face a severe stigma. We developed a procedure to orient educators and students toward each other as positive relationship partners during this period. In Study 1, through a structured exercise, students reentering school powerfully articulated to an educator of their choosing their prosocial hopes for school as well as challenges they faced. In a preliminary field trial (N = 47), presenting this self-introduction to this educator in a one-page letter via a third-party requesting the educator's help reduced recidivism to juvenile detention through the next semester from 69% to 29%. In Study 2 (preregistered), the letter led experienced teachers (N = 349) to express greater commitment to, anticipate more success for, and feel more love and respect for a student beginning their reentry into school, potentially initiating a better trajectory. The results suggest how relationship-orienting procedures may sideline bias and make school more supportive for students facing stigma.

A Technology-Based Training Tool for a Health Promotion and Sex Education Program for Justice-Involved Youth: Development and Usability Study

Background

Justice-involved youth are especially vulnerable to mental health distress, substance misuse, and risky sexual activity, amplifying the need for evidence-based programs (EBPs). Yet, uptake of EBPs in the justice system is challenging because staff training is costly in time and effort. Hence, justice-involved youth experience increasing health disparities despite the availability of EBPs.

Objective

To counter these challenges, this study develops and pilot-tests a prototype of a technology-based training tool that teaches juvenile justice staff to deliver a uniquely tailored EBP for justice-involved youth—PHAT (Preventing HIV/AIDS Among Teens) Life. PHAT Life is a comprehensive sex education, mental health, and substance use EBP collaboratively designed and tested with guidance from key stakeholders and community members. The training tool addresses implementation barriers that impede uptake and sustainment of EBPs, including staff training and support and implementation costs.

Methods

Staff (n=11) from two juvenile justice settings pilot-tested the technology-based training tool, which included five modules. Participants completed measures of HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) knowledge, sex education confidence, and implementation outcomes such as training satisfaction, adoption, implementation, acceptability, appropriateness, and sustainability. PHAT Life trainers assessed fidelity through two activity role plays participants submitted upon completing the training modules.

Results

Participants demonstrated increases in HIV and STI knowledge (t₁₀=3.07; P=.01), and were very satisfied (mean 4.42, SD 0.36) with the training tool and the PHAT Life curriculum. They believed that the training tool and curriculum could be adopted, implemented, and sustained within their settings as an appropriate and acceptable intervention and training.

Conclusions

Overall, the results from this pilot test demonstrate feasibility and support continuing efforts toward completing the training tool and evaluating it within a fully powered randomized controlled trial. Ultimately, this study will provide a scalable option for disseminating an EBP and offers a more cost-effective and sustainable way to train staff in an EBP.

The Effects of School Police Officers on Victimization, Delinquency, and Fear of Crime: Focusing on Korean Youth

As a response to rising concerns about school violence, the Korean National Police Agency began recruiting specialized police officers, called Korean School Police Officers (KSPOs), in hopes that they would reduce in school behavioral and delinquency problems. The current study provides insight into the effects of crime prevention activities in Korean schools, using the 2014 Korean Youth Victimization Survey to advance the knowledge about the role of the KSPOs and their potential impact on delinquency reduction. Results indicate that the presence of KSPOs did not have any significant association with criminal victimization or fear of victimization. In some cases, the presence of KSPOs is associated with higher property crime by students. Implications of these findings for understanding KSPOs and their roles in preventing school crime and improving school environments are discussed. In addition, we discuss how lessons learned from the U.S. may influence future advancements in KSPO approaches and vice versa.

Providing a safer passage: Perceptions about a neighborhood intervention program for disadvantaged youth

"Safe Passage" is an after-school intervention program for disadvantaged youth in a medium-sized city in southern California. Led by local law enforcement, as well as the city's recreation and park department, the program's goal is to combine community policing with after-school care and tutoring to support children living in a large apartment complex with the highest rates of gang membership and crime in the city. This is an exploratory study that examines the perspectives of various stakeholders in the intervention program, including the community members, the local police, and Safe Passage staff members. Survey data from the community residents, program staff and law enforcement were collected. Findings indicate that there was some consensus across the various subpopulations on the challenges that have had the largest negative influence on youth in the community. The local police and the community members surveyed were also in agreement that police/community relations were largely positive. All stakeholders surveyed felt generally positive about the intervention program, but the community members were more skeptical of the program's ability to deter their children from trouble. Implications of our findings for the program and for future studies are discussed.

Exploring the Impact of Child Maltreatment and Interparental Violence on Violent Delinquency in an International Sample

Young people are exposed to violence regularly in their homes, schools, and communities. Such exposure can cause them significant physical, mental, and emotional harm, with long-term effects lasting well into adulthood. Of particular concern is violence within the family, where children are victimized by their parents. Research shows that direct and indirect childhood exposure to violence and maltreatment within the family increases the risk of subsequent violent delinquent behavior. Social learning theory and attachment theory place parenting at the center of the "cycle of violence," and "intergenerational transmission of violence" claims that experiencing violence in childhood will lead to the perpetration of violence in adolescence. Although much research has been done, these assertions have never been tested on a large international sample of young people. The current article fills this void by analyzing surveys completed by 57,892 students who were 12 to 16 years old from 25 countries as part of the International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD3). Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test the direct and indirect effects of child maltreatment and interparental violence on self-reported violent delinquency. Mediating effects are proposed for attachment to parents, parental social control (measured by parental knowledge, parental monitoring, and child disclosure), and parental moral authority. Analysis suggests direct effects of child maltreatment and interparental violence, as well as mediating effects of parental monitoring, parental knowledge, and parental moral authority. Child disclosure and attachment to parents do not affect violent juvenile offending. Being a victim of both child maltreatment and interparental violence is found to exacerbate the effect on violent offending. The results support the cross-national generalizability of the "cycle of violence" argument that children tend to reproduce the behavior of their parents.

The emotional and psychiatric problems of adolescents on parole whose parents are substance users: A Brazilian cross-sectional study

The aim of this study is to evaluate the associations between having parents with substance use problems, and having suffered neglect within the family, and behavioral problems (psychological and drug use) among adolescents. All the participants were enrolled on the socio-educational parole scheme, 'Assisted Freedom'. In this cross-sectional study, 150 adolescents were interviewed using the Drug Abuse Screening Test, Teen Addiction Severity Index, and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Ninety-five percent of the participants were male (n = 143), aged 13-17. Thirty percent of adolescents had a parent who used substances and had experienced neglect from their families. Those adolescents who were living with both parents (odds ratio adjusted (ORA) = 2.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.13-6.37), from a low-income family (ORA = 6.7, 95% CI = 1.85-24.22), experienced hallucinations (ORA = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.25-6.14), had problems controlling violent behavior (ORA = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.12-5.87), and were physically neglected (ORA = 3.0, 95% CI = 1.24-7.49) were more likely to have parents who used substances and to have experienced parental neglect. This article concludes that adolescents, who are on parole, come from families with high level of psychosocial vulnerabilities, including substance use, experience neglect by their families leading to adverse emotional and psychological states.

Child Maltreatment, School Bonds, and Adult Violence: A Serial Mediation Model

Physically abused youth are vulnerable to experiencing difficulties across multiple domains of school functioning. Most of the literature examining the relationship between child physical abuse (CPA) and adult violence has focused narrowly on academic outcomes rather than taking a broader view that explores the processes undergirding school engagement and connections. The present study adopted Connell's model of school engagement, connectedness and outcomes within a social bond framework to examine (a) the link between CPA and school social bonds, (b) the link between CPA and adult violence persistence, and (c) the mediational (parallel, serial) effects of school bonds (engagement, connection, and achievement) on violence perpetration in adulthood. Consistent with previous research, results indicated that children who experience physical abuse have poorer academic performance, which, in turn, is related to future violent trajectories. We further found that the relationship between CPA and violence persistence is mediated by a process of bonding to school that begins with being actively engaged in school activities and ends with higher levels of academic achievement. In particular, some of the "school achievement" effect found in previous research operates through behavioral and emotional manifestations and may be partly explained through physically abused children's lessened ability to be engaged with and connected to school activities. We conclude with a discussion of the policy implications stemming from our findings.

Chaos in Schools and Its Relationship to Adolescent Risk Behaviors

OBJECTIVE

Chaos in the home is associated with worse childhood behaviors. We hypothesize chaos in the school environment might also be associated with teen risk behaviors.

METHODS

We analyzed data from the Reducing Inequities through Social and Educational change Follow-Up study, a natural experiment designed to examine the impact of high-performing schools on adolescent outcomes. Students reported the amount of noise, order, and control in their school environment and whether they engaged in substance use, fighting, school absenteeism, and delinquent behaviors. We conducted cross-lagged panel structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between school chaos at 10th grade with risk behaviors at 11th grade while simultaneously examining the relationship between behaviors at 10th grade with chaos at 11th grade.

RESULTS

Among a sample of 1114 teens, 90% were Latinx and 40% were native English speakers. Students reporting more school chaos in 10th grade were more likely in 11th grade to report recent alcohol and cannabis use, physical fighting, school absenteeism, and delinquent behaviors in the last year. Cross-lagged structural equation model analyses indicate school chaos at 10th grade is linked to alcohol use and absenteeism at 11th grade, while fighting, absenteeism, and any delinquent behaviors at 10th grade are associated with more chaos at 11th grade. School engagement was not a mediating factor.

CONCLUSIONS

Although causal relationships cannot be assumed, school chaos may be an important predictor of adolescent risk behaviors. Future studies should examine whether reducing school chaos leads to lower rates of adolescent risk behaviors.

Substance use and help-seeking among justice-involved young people in Queensland and Western Australia: A cross-sectional survey of 14-17-year-olds

INTRODUCTION

This study investigated substance use and help-seeking among justice-involved young people to inform and improve service provision during and after contact with the justice system.

METHODS

Young people (14-17 years) in the community with current or prior contact with the justice system were recruited in Queensland and Western Australia, Australia using purposive sampling between 2016 and 2018. A cross-sectional survey was delivered by computer-assisted telephone interview. Information was collected on sociodemographic and health factors; lifetime and frequency of use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs; and use of health services related to substance use and mental health.

RESULTS

Of the 465 justice-involved young people surveyed, most had used alcohol (89%), tobacco (86%) or other drugs (81%). Of the latter, cannabis use was most prevalent (79%), followed by ecstasy (26%) and amphetamine (22%). Young people engaging in higher risk drug use (daily use, injecting use) were more likely to also have an alcohol use disorder, be disengaged from education, unemployed, have attempted suicide and experienced incarceration. Of the cohort, 24% had received treatment at an alcohol and drug service in the past year and 30% had seen a health professional about emotional/behavioural problems. Males and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people were less likely to have sought professional help.

CONCLUSION

The high levels of substance use and disproportionate levels of help-seeking observed in this study illustrate the importance of delivering tailored, comprehensive and coordinated trauma-informed and culturally safe alcohol and drug services to justice-involved young people.

Corrigendum: Music Therapy for Delinquency Involved Juveniles Through Tripartite Collaboration: A Mixed Method Study

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.589431.].

The Role of Low Self-Control as a Mediator between Trauma and Antisociality/Criminality in Youth

Trauma exposure and low self-control are robustly associated with youth antisocial/criminal problems, but the interrelation of these constructs is unclear when taking into account both traumatic events and reactions. The objective of the present study is to examine self-control mediation effects related to trauma and juvenile delinquency, conduct disorder, crime seriousness, and aggression outcomes. The sample consisted of N = 388 male youth from Portugal (age, M = 16.01 years, SD = 1.03, age range = 13–18 years). Path analysis procedures revealed that self-control partially mediates the relation between trauma events and the examined outcomes and fully mediates the relation between trauma reactions and the examined outcomes. Research on youth trauma should examine both trauma events and trauma reactions because they have differential effects on low self-control and antisocial/criminal outcomes.

Self-Control, External Environment, and Delinquency: A Test of Self-Control Theory in Rural China

Although self-control consistently emerges as one of the most robust correlates of delinquent behavior, limited empirical attempts have been made to explore the contextual variability of the relationship between self-control and delinquency outside of Western societies. Using data collected from 587 seventh- to ninth-grade students across 10 middle schools in a rural county of Southeast China, we examine self-control's efficacy in explaining juvenile delinquency in the presence of external environmental factors, and investigate relative strength of self-control and contextual factors in predicting delinquent behaviors. Our results confirm that self-control is an important predictor of delinquent behavior in a non-Western cultural context. However, certain environmental factors rooted in family, school, and peer groups are also shown to be the predictors of delinquent behavior where strength seems to exceed that of self-control. These findings shed more nuanced insights on the nexus between self-control, external situations, and delinquency, and in a broader sense, contribute to the elaboration of a more comprehensive understanding of self-control theory.

Music Therapy for Delinquency Involved Juveniles Through Tripartite Collaboration: A Mixed Method Study

This study introduces a music therapy project for young offenders through community collaboration and its efficacy through a mixed method. The project called Young & Great Music is carried out via collaboration among three parties, which are the educational institution, the district prosecutor's office, and corporate sponsor, forming a tripartite networking system. In this paper, we present an efficacy evaluation of the project's implementation with 178 adolescents involved with the juvenile justice system: 115 youth was on suspension of indictment and 63 youth was under supervised probation. Quantitative and qualitative measures were collected and analyzed to examine the efficacy of the project. The music therapy program was developed for 15 sessions based on the use of music to prompt positive resources through music making and song writing. The efficacy was examined using three scales; self-concept, resilience, and stress coping skills. The paired t-test showed that there were significant improvement in all three scales respectively (p < 0.000). In order to examine the group difference between suspended indictment and supervised probation groups, Welch-Aspin t-test was conducted due to unequal variance of the group. Results showed there was a significant group difference in self-concept (p = 0.006) and resilience (p = 0.022). The study further examined participant's experience of music and perceived benefits. Twenty participants had in-depth interviews about their music therapy experience which were recorded, transcribed and analyzed. Of the 109 statements derived from a qualitative content analysis of the interview transcripts, music making and song writing was repeatedly reported as helpful in gaining "new perspectives," "courage to challenge and pursuit," "perseverance," and "self-acknowledgment." The positive result of the study showed that the collaborative networking of regional and social resource to support for adolescents at-risk was successful. The results of this project are promising and suggest that other arts-based rehabilitation services and programs should be developed and implemented in juvenile justice system. For this, strategies for program sustainability for long-term facilitation are needed.

A Comparison of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI)-Triarchic Scales and the YPI in a Sample of Justice-Involved Youth

The Triarchic model (Patrick, Fowles, & Krueger, 2009) posits that psychopathy consists of three elements: Boldness, Meanness, and Disinhibition. Drislane et al. (2015) recently derived scales from the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI; Andershed, Kerr, Stattin, & Levander, 2002) to assess these traits. The initial validation efforts appeared promising, but researchers have yet to evaluate these scales among justice-involved youth. The current study examines the validity of the YPI-Triarchic scales in an archival sample of 928 male adolescent offenders and tests whether the new scales provide information incremental to the original YPI. The YPI-Triarchic scales were strongly correlated with original YPI scales (rs = .56-.96), and some associations were contrary to predictions and previous findings about the Triarchic model (e.g., YPI-Boldness was not inversely related to symptomatology). Thus, caution is warranted when attempting to study the Triarchic model with the YPI-Triarchic scales.

Assessing the Factors Associated With the Detection of Juvenile Hacking Behaviors

Research on delinquency reduction often highlights the importance of identifying and sanctioning antisocial and illegal activities so as to reduce the likelihood of future offending. The rise of digital technology complicates the process of detecting cybercrimes and technology enabled offenses, as individuals can use devices from anywhere to engage in various harmful activities that may appear benign to an observer. Despite the growth of cybercrime research, limited studies have examined the extent to which technology enabled offenses are detected, or the behavioral and attitudinal factors associated with being unobserved or caught for one’s actions. The current study addresses this gap in the literature by estimating a multinomial regression model for self-reported computer hacking behavior and the likelihood of those actions being detected in a large international sample of juveniles (N = 51,059). The findings demonstrate significant differences between youth who hack without detection compared to those who are caught. The implications of this analysis for our understanding of cybercrime and its relationship to traditional delinquency are explored in depth.

Feasibility of Social Media-Based Recruitment and Perceived Acceptability of Digital Health Interventions for Caregivers of Justice-Involved Youth: Mixed Methods Study

BACKGROUND

Caregiver involvement is critical for supporting positive behavioral health and legal outcomes for justice-involved youth; however, recruiting this population into clinical research studies and engaging them in treatment remain challenging. Technology-based approaches are a promising, yet understudied avenue for recruiting and intervening with caregivers of justice-involved youth.

OBJECTIVE

This mixed methods study aimed to assess the feasibility of recruiting caregivers of justice-involved youth using social media into clinical research and to understand caregivers' perceptions of the acceptability of digital health interventions.

METHODS

Caregivers of justice-involved youth were recruited through paid Facebook advertisements to participate in a Web-based survey. Advertisement design was determined using Facebook A/B split testing, and the advertisement with the lowest cost per link click was used for the primary advertisement campaign. Survey participants were offered the option to participate in a follow-up qualitative phone interview focused on the perceived feasibility and acceptability of digital health interventions.

RESULTS

Facebook advertisements were successful in quickly recruiting a diverse set of caregivers (80/153, 52.3% female; mean age 43 years, SD 7; 76/168, 45.2% black, 34/168, 20.2% white, and 28/168, 16.7% Latinx; and 97/156, 62.2% biological parents); cost per click was US $0.53, and conversion rate was 11.5%. Survey participants used multiple social media platforms; 60.1% (101/168) of the participants indicated they would participate in a digital health intervention for caregivers of justice-involved youth. Survey respondents' most preferred intervention was supportive and motivational parenting messages via SMS text message. Of the survey respondents, 18 completed a phone interview (12/18, 67% female; mean age 45 years, SD 10; 10/18, 56% black, 7/18, 39% white, and 1/18, 6% Latinx; and 16/18, 89% biological parents). Interview participant responses suggested digital health interventions are acceptable, but they expressed both likes (eg, alleviates barriers to treatment access) and concerns (eg, privacy); their most preferred intervention was video-based family therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Recruiting and intervening with caregivers of justice-involved youth through social media and other digital health approaches may be a feasible and acceptable approach to overcoming barriers to accessing traditional in-person behavioral health care.

Antisocial Disorders in Adolescence and Youth, According to Structural, Emotional, and Cognitive Transdiagnostic Variables: A Systematic Review

Transdiagnostic causal variables have been identified that have allowed understanding the origin and maintenance of psychopathologies in parsimonious explanatory models of antisocial disorders. However, it is necessary to systematize the information published in the last decade. The aim of the study was to identify through a systematic review, the structural, emotional and cognitive transdiagnostic variables in antisocial disorders of adolescence and youth. Recommendations for systematic reviews and meta-extraction and analysis of information according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), the Cochrane Collaboration and Campbell were followed. We found 19 articles from 110 reviewed documents. The results indicated that at a structural level there is a general psychopathological factor (psychopathy or externalizing), non-emotional callousness and impulsivity from behavioral inhibition and activation systems, and negative affect traits as base structures. In the emotional level, the study found a risk component from emotional dysregulation and experiential avoidance. In the cognitive level, a key role of anger-rumination and violent ideation as explanatory variables of antisocial disorders. We concluded that the interaction of these identified variables makes it possible to generate an evidence-based transdiagnostic model.

Influence of maltreatment, bullying, and neurocognitive impairment on recidivism in adolescents with conduct disorder: A 3-Year prospective study

We sought to clarify the influence of family developmental conditions (e.g., adverse childhood experiences: ACEs), peer relationships (e.g., bullying), and neurocognitive impairment on recidivism in adolescents with conduct disorder (CD). We interviewed 290 adolescents with CD (265 males, 25 females) who had been admitted to a juvenile justice assessment center for the first time about their offense(s), onset of delinquency, ACEs, and peer relationships. The participants also completed tests of neurocognitive activities and self-report symptom measures: the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), the Memory Updating test for the assessment of attention, the Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale (A-DES) for the assessment of dissociation, and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11th version (BIS-11) for the assessment of impulsivity. After the family court judgement and discharge, the participants were followed for 3 years. Readmissions to the center during the follow-up period were considered cases of "recidivism." During the follow-up, 102 (35.2%) participants were readmitted to the center. A survival analysis (Cox proportional hazard model) showed that lower age, bullying (as the perpetrator), and impaired cognitive function (e.g., a lower SDMT score) significantly increased recidivism, whereas bullying (as both victim and perpetrator) decreased recidivism. ACEs showed no clear effect on recidivism. Lower age and impaired cognitive function appear to predispose adolescent first-time offenders with CD to recidivism. However, the peer bullying analysis showed that being a perpetrator positively influenced recidivism, whereas being both a victim and a perpetrator negatively influenced recidivism. Further research considering the heterogeneity and comorbidity of CD could clarify bullying's influence on recidivism.

The Spillover Mechanisms Linking Family Conflicts and Juvenile Delinquency Among Chinese Adolescents

The mechanisms through which conflicting parental relationship and parenting practices influence adolescent antisocial behavior have not been adequately understood. To bring more understanding to the mechanisms, this study investigates how marital discord interrelates with interparental inconsistency in parenting practices, and how these family conditions influence juvenile delinquency through their spillover effects on mental health problems, parental attachment and delinquent peer association among Chinese adolescents. Findings obtained from a structural equation modeling analysis of survey data collected from a probability sample of 2,496 adolescents (mean age = 15.16 years) are generally consistent with the spillover effect hypothesis. The results demonstrate that mental health problems, parental attachment, and delinquent peer association operate as critical mediators linking marital discord and interparental inconsistency to juvenile delinquency.

The Impact of Hearing Impairment on the Life Trajectories of Aboriginal Children in Remote Australia: Protocol for the Hearing Loss in Kids Project

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have reported a high prevalence of chronic otitis media (OM) and hearing impairment (HI) in Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia. Children affected by these disorders are believed to be at increased risk for adverse outcomes in early childhood development, school attendance, academic performance, and child maltreatment and youth offending. However, to date, there have been no studies quantifying the association between HI and these outcomes in this population.

OBJECTIVE

This study will investigate the association between HI and the 5 outcomes in Aboriginal children living in remote NT communities.

METHODS

Individual-level information linked across multiple administrative datasets will be used to conduct a series of retrospective observational studies on selected developmental and school outcomes. The predictor variables for all studies are the results from audiometric hearing assessments. The outcome measures are as follows: Australian Early Development Census results, representing developmental readiness for school, assessed around 5 years of age; Year 1 school attendance rates; Year 3 school-based academic performance, assessed in the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy; incidence of child maltreatment events (including both notifications and substantiated cases); and incidence of a first guilty verdict for youth offenders. Confounding and moderating factors available for the analysis include both community-level factors (including school fixed effects, socioeconomic status, level of remoteness, and housing crowdedness) and individual-level factors (including maternal and perinatal health and hospital admissions in early childhood).

RESULTS

The study commenced in 2018, with ethics and data custodian approvals for data access and linkage. This has enabled the completion of data linkage and the commencement of data analysis for individual component studies, with findings expected to be published in 2019 and 2020.

CONCLUSIONS

This study will provide first evidence of the impact of OM-related HI on the developmental, educational, and social outcomes of Australian Aboriginal children. The findings are expected to have significant implications for policy development, service design, and resource allocation.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

RR1-10.2196/15464.

Adolescent boys' physical fighting and adult life outcomes: Examining the interplay with intelligence

Although it is well known that adolescent delinquent behavior is related to poor outcomes in adulthood, longitudinal research on specific acts of delinquency and their interplay with important individual characteristics in predicting future outcomes is scarce. We aimed to examine how physical fighting-one of the most common acts of violent delinquency among adolescent boys-is related to adult life success in several domains, and how intelligence influences these associations. The study used data from 1,083 boys that participated in the population-based longitudinal Young in Norway Study, following adolescents from 1992 to 2015, by combining self-reports at four time points with comprehensive information from registers. Results showed that adolescent boys' physical fighting was associated with poor adult outcomes in the domains of employment, education, and criminal behavior. Associations remained significant even after controlling for conduct problems in general-which isolated the effects of fighting from other delinquent acts-as well as from a variety of other potential confounders. Detailed analyses on the interplay of physical fighting and intelligence showed that some parts of the associations between adolescent boys' fighting and several adverse adult outcomes could be ascribed to lower intelligence among the fighters. Moreover, intelligence moderated the relationship between physical fighting and adult education. Adolescent fighting was not related to educational attainment among boys with high intelligence, whereas boys with lower intelligence experienced detrimental effects of adolescent fighting. The analyses show the importance of considering adolescent boys' physical fighting as a potential risk factor for future social marginalization.

A Load off Whose Heart? Psychiatry and the Politics of Respectability and Race Representation in Harlem, 1943-45

In wartime Harlem, liberal mental health professionals, eager to serve the black freedom struggle, sought to depict the minds of troubled black children as human without reinforcing pernicious racial stereotypes. This paper examines how psychiatrist Viola W. Bernard and the Community Service Society struggled to portray the black community as both psychologically damaged and morally beyond reproach when publicly presenting the cases of her male and female clients. As a consequence, liberals helped champion the mental health needs of delinquent black males as a matter of racial justice while rendering young unmarried mothers effectively invisible.

Intervening Paths From Strain to Delinquency Among High School and Vocational School Students in China

Chinese education system comprises high schools and vocational school, and their differences on delinquency have seldom been investigated. From the perspective of general strain theory, the present study examined the differences among high school and vocational school students for delinquency, strain, and other explanatory variables. General strain theory delineates the effect of strain on delinquency or deviance and presents the paths from strain to delinquency or deviance through social control and social learning variables. Using a sample of 1,852 tenth-grade students in Guangzhou City, the present study tests the intervening paths from strains to deviance among high school and vocational school students. Results indicated that vocational school students have higher likelihood to be strained and delinquent, and have lower social control and higher interactions with delinquent peers. School type is a significant predictor for strain, as well as social control and delinquent peers.

Substance abuse in adolescents before admission to Peruvian juvenile detention centers: results from a national census in Peru, 2016

Objectives To estimate the prevalence of drug use before admission to juvenile detention centers (JDC) in Peru and determine individual, family and social influences on behavior. Methods A cross-sectional analysis was performed using data from the 2016 National Population Census in Juvenile Detention Centers (NPCJDC). A total of 1960 Peruvian adolescent offenders were included. Generalized linear models of the Poisson family with a log link function were used to determine if characteristics before admission to a JDC were associated with drug use. These characteristics included employment, depression, neighborhood gang activity, having friends with a criminal record, a history of multiple admissions to a JDC, a history of running away from home, physical abuse during childhood and family history of drug use and incarceration. Results More than half of young offenders reported using drugs before entering a JDC (59%) in Peru. The drug most frequently consumed was cannabis (86.6%), followed by cocaine and/or crack (11.6%), and inhalants and/or pills (1.8%). Smoking cigarettes [prevalence ratios (PR): 1.12, p = 0.003], using alcohol (PR: 1.22, p = 0.003), neighborhood gang activity (PR: 1.28, p < 0.001), having friends with a criminal record (PR: 1.62, p < 0.001), running away from home (PR: 1.20, p < 0.001) and a family history of incarceration (PR: 1.09, p = 0.010) were associated with drug use prior to admission to a JDC. Conclusion Drug use before admission to a JDC was high among young offenders in Peru, with marijuana being the drug most frequently used. Having friends with a criminal record and neighborhood gang activity had the greatest association with drug use in young offenders.

An Overlapping Systems Conceptual Framework to Evaluate Implementation of a Behavioral Health Intervention for Justice-Involved Youth

Background:

Nearly 65% of justice–involved youth have a substance use and/or mental health disorder. Although evidence–based practices have been established for adolescents with co–occurring mental health and substance use disorders, these practices are not widely used in juvenile justice agencies due to environmental and organizational complexities.

Methods:

Our study builds on Juvenile Justice—Translational Research on Interventions for Adolescents in the Legal System (JJ–TRIALS), a multi–site cooperative research initiative of juvenile justice and partnering behavioral health agencies. We also integrate state and county–level data to support broader assessment of key drivers of implementation success.

Results:

We present an economics/systems conceptual model describing how the environmental context, systems organization, and economic costs of implementation can affect implementation outcomes. Comparison of intervention condition (Core vs Enhanced) and pre–implementation costs (High vs Low) found differences in insurance reimbursements and types, as well as agency staffing characteristics.

Discussion:

Implementing new procedures or policies at a systems level must consider implementation outcomes in a broad context. Factors such as population demographics, primary care and behavioral health treatment capacity, unemployment rates, and public funding for treatment and other services are important in determining intervention success and sustainability.

Text Messaging to Enhance Behavioral Health Treatment Engagement Among Justice-Involved Youth: Qualitative and User Testing Study

BACKGROUND

Mental health and substance use disorders are highly prevalent in justice-involved youth, yet only 8% of court-involved, nonincarcerated (CINI) youth in need of treatment receive it. Dual diagnosis (co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders) in justice-involved youth is highly predictive of recidivism. Identifying novel approaches, such as the use of mobile health (mHealth) technologies, to close this gap between need and receipt of behavioral health treatment for the CINI population could potentially offset rates of reoffending into adulthood. Text-messaging (short message service, SMS) interventions have demonstrated efficacy in improving treatment adherence and other associated outcomes in other vulnerable youth populations, but development and testing of mHealth interventions to improve behavioral health treatment rates and outcomes for CINI youth are lacking.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to collect qualitative data from key stakeholders to inform the development of a theoretically grounded, family-based text-messaging (SMS) intervention targeting CINI youth's behavioral health treatment engagement; additionally, the aim was to conduct end-user testing over 6 months with CINI youth and caregivers to determine intervention feasibility and acceptability.

METHODS

CINI youth and caregivers were referred from a California-based Juvenile Probation Department and community-based provider organizations providing services for justice-involved youth. Eligibility criteria included the following: being a justice-involved youth or a caregiver of a justice-involved youth, English speaking, youth aged 13 to 17 years old and either referred to or currently attending mental health or substance use treatment, and youth and caregiver have access to a cell phone with text-messaging capability.

RESULTS

Overall, 28 individuals participated in focus groups and interviews-8 youth, 5 caregivers, and 15 juvenile justice (JJ) personnel. Three major themes emerged: (1) texting among JJ personnel and CINI youth and caregivers in their caseload is common but not systematic, (2) stigma and privacy are perceived as barriers to texting youth about behavioral health treatment appointments, and (3) messages should be short, simple, relatable, positive, and personalized. In total, 9 participants (7 youth and 2 caregivers) participated in end-user testing and rated the intervention as useful, helpful, and supportive.

CONCLUSIONS

Text messaging (SMS) is an acceptable and feasible means of reminding CINI youth to attend behavioral health treatment appointments. Future implementation challenges include making text messaging (SMS) personalized and tailored but not resource intensive (eg, requiring one-to-one, 24/7 human contact) and identifying which systems will deliver and sustain the intervention. Text messaging (SMS) among justice personnel, youth, and their caregivers is already widespread, but lack of clear guidelines about privacy, confidentiality, and information sharing poses ethical conundrums. Future hybrid-type research designs that explore the efficacy of the intervention while also studying ethical, system, and policy-level factors associated with using digital health interventions to improve CINI youth outcomes is a key next step.

The Influence of Sport Participation on African American Youth Binge Drinking

Background: The many negative consequences and high rates of use associated with youth binge drinking make further study into its causes and correlates vital. Sport participation is a relevant factor in predicting drinking behaviors among youth in need of further research. Objectives: The current study tests the influence of specific types of sport participation on the binge drinking behaviors of African American youth through binary logistic regression. Study of this particular sample is vital as race and sport participation have been shown to be critical variables associated with variations in drinking behaviors. Results: Results indicated that various types of sport participation were uniquely associated with drinking behaviors. Conclusion/Importance: Results are framed through social learning, social bond, and the power sport hypothesis in accordance with previous research.

Impact of the Family Environment on Juvenile Mental Health: eSports Online Game Addiction and Delinquency

Family types in Asian countries are rapidly changing as the society is changing. Thus, in this study, we analyzed and compared how the newly evolving family types (multicultural/dual-income) affect adolescents’ online game addiction, delinquency, and online gaming (eSports) participation motivation. Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the causal relationships between the variables, and multivariate analysis of variance and analysis of variance were performed for comparative analyses. The results indicate that adolescents from dual-income families scored significantly higher on all factors related to juvenile delinquency and addiction factors (“salience”, “tolerance” and “withdrawal”). Additionally, adolescents from multicultural families revealed significantly higher scores on an addiction factor, “mood modification”. Lastly, adolescents in dual-income families were motivated to play online games to pass the time, and adolescents in multicultural families play online games to engage in social interaction. Results of this study may provide the answers required to help address societal issues related to adolescents in a changing society.

Criminal Spin, Self-Control, and Desistance From Crime Among Juvenile Delinquents: Determinism Versus Free Will in a Qualitative Perspective

The current research is a qualitative examination of the relations between self-control and deterministic/non-deterministic perceptions of life events and the drifts into or desistance from a criminal spin among juvenile delinquents. Based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 21 adolescents (11 active delinquents and 10 desisters), we found that both the intensification of criminal behavior and the desistance from criminal activity are gradual and connected to the reduction or acquisition, respectively, of self-control and the offenders' belief in their self-control. Criminal behavior and self-control were found to be associated with deterministic or non-deterministic perceptions of life events: the former combined with low self-control are associated with a delinquent lifestyle; the latter combined with high self-control promote the likelihood that young offenders will modify their behavior and desist from criminal behavior. The study may provide better understanding of the role of the criminal spin in the engagement or desistance from criminal behavior.

Think, Ask, Act: The Intersectionality of Mental and Reproductive Health for Judicially Involved Girls

Danielle Smith, a 16-year-old African-American girl newly detained at juvenile hall, presents for psychiatric evaluation. She describes a history of sexual abuse by her foster father and 2 years of commercial sexual exploitation after running away at 14 years of age. Scarcely more than 100 pounds, she endorses drug use, primarily marijuana, and notes prior use of cocaine and methamphetamine, provided by her trafficker (described as her "boyfriend"). She has a timid smile and uses music and journaling as her refuge. Danielle is unclear about past psychiatric diagnoses but does recall receiving medication from a psychiatrist while in foster care and expresses interest in resuming treatment. Girls in the juvenile justice system are a vulnerable population with overlapping substance use, reproductive, and mental health care needs. The conceptual framework of "intersectionality" is useful to better understand the multiplicity of biopsychosocial needs of girls involved in the justice system. Intersectionality is defined as "a theoretical framework for understanding how multiple social identities (ie, race, gender, and sexual orientation) intersect at the micro level of individual experience to reflect systems of oppression (ie, racism, sexism, classism) at the macro level."¹ In this article, we propose the pragmatic application of the concept of intersectionality to better conceptualize the high unmet health needs of these youth. We conclude by providing recommendations for meeting their needs using the proposed "think, ask, act" approach.

Trauma, Race, and Risk for Violent Felony Arrests Among Florida Juvenile Offenders

This study tests the assumptions of the The Childhood Trauma Model, which proposes that marginalized populations are both more likely to have traumatic childhoods and more criminalized than those in the upper echelons of society. It hypothesizes that traumatic childhood experiences increase risk of being sanctioned for violent behavior, and risks are amplified for minority and disadvantaged groups. The study finds that experiencing three or more traumas had a 200% to 370% increased chance of being arrested for a violent felony as youth who experienced a single traumatic event, and Blacks had up to 300% increased risk than Whites with equal trauma scores.

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

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.

It is Written in Your Eyes: Hostile Attributions and Self-Directed Gaze Perception in Incarcerated Violent Adolescent Male Offenders

To date, we have frugal knowledge about the hostile attribution bias (HAB) and the biased gaze perception in violent adolescent offenders. This however is a major contributing factor in understanding delinquent behavior. Using a computer-based approach, presenting faces modulated in gaze direction (0°, 2°, 4°, 6°, 8°) and valence (angry, fearful, happy, neutral), the present study examined the impact of HAB of the feeling of being stared at in a sample of 27 adolescent offenders (aged 17-24 years). The study was conducted institution-intern in the Department for Social Therapy of a German correctional facility. Results showed that in comparison with faces with negative expressions, happy faces were more likely to be perceived as self-directed. Interestingly, emotion showed significant influence of the gaze perception in only two viewing angles (2° and 6°), revealing the role of the facial expression in highly ambiguous conditions. Furthermore, hostility did not modulate the relationship between the self-referential gaze perception and (negative) facial expression. Possible frameworks and limitations of the study are discussed.

The Long-Term Effects of the Youth Crime Prevention Program "New Perspectives" on Delinquency and Recidivism

New Perspectives (NP) aims to prevent persistent criminal behavior. We examined the long-term effectiveness of NP and whether the effects were moderated by demographic and delinquency factors. At-risk youth aged 12 to 19 years were randomly assigned to the intervention group (NP, n = 47) or care as usual (CAU, n = 54). Official and self-report data were collected to assess recidivism. NP was not more effective in reducing delinquency levels and recidivism than CAU. Also, no moderator effects were found. The overall null effects are discussed, including further research and policy implications.

Police Legitimacy and Compliance With the Law Among Chinese Youth

The process-based model of policing garnered considerable support in the discourse on police legitimacy. However, findings are largely based on Western contexts, and little attention has been paid to the model advanced by Tyler that police legitimacy helps promote compliance. Using a high school sample ( N = 711) from China, we follow Tankebe's operationalization and examine the role of legitimacy in youth support for the police and whether legitimacy helps predict compliance with the law. Findings indicate that procedural justice and shared values are strong predictors of youth support to the police, and this support positively predicts compliance with the law. Distributive fairness exerts an independent effect on compliance while having been questioned by the police is negatively related to compliance.