Abstract
Evidence from several longitudinal studies has established the relevance of the approach of evolutionary criminology to understanding and intervening with adolescent criminal offenders, seeking to halt the criminal behavior before its potential consolidation in adulthood. The aim of this study is to present the psychometric properties of the Criminal Engagement Severity Scale (EGED) to discriminate between transitory and persistent delinquency in Chilean adolescents of both sexes. The characteristics of the sample are revealed through descriptive analyses, and evidence of validity and reliability is provided that show its discriminant capacity using ROC curves and odds ratios, measures of internal consistency (Cronbach’s α and McDonald’s Ω), intraclass correlation, and unidimensional statistics. The results indicate that the EGED adequately discriminates between transitory and persistent delinquency, so that its use in contexts of assessment and intervention with adolescent criminal offenders can be recommended, because it helps to determine the intensity of the intervention required.
Highlights
In recent decades, the assessment of criminogenic risks and needs has been an area of particular interest for professionals who intervene with offenders, making it an extended practice in prisons [1]
Evolutionary criminology integrates the evidence of longitudinal studies, generating theories to explain the criminal career and its traits, expressed in a large corpus of literature that addresses the biopsychosocial, criminogenic risks that lead to its persistence, as well as the factors that affects its desistance
To determine the critical items and their cut-off scores, the characteristics of the main predictors in the meta-analysis by Cottle et al [45] for criminal recidivism were reviewed, these being precocity, volume of crimes, and the presence of criminal record; the data were explored to determine the cut-off score and to look for other indicators that discriminate between transitory delinquency (TD) and persistent delinquency (PD)
Summary
The assessment of criminogenic risks and needs has been an area of particular interest for professionals who intervene with offenders, making it an extended practice in prisons [1]. Such assessments gain particular importance in the case of adolescent offenders, given the impact that interventions have in that stage of development [2,3,4]. There are great differences among youth offender systems around the world, the general purpose is to control juvenile delinquency by reducing the risk of recidivism in the offender population and preventing its onset where there is no contra-normative behavior, protecting, in most cases, the fulfillment of child and adolescent rights. DeLisi and Piquero [5] identify four complementary theories (self-control, psychopathy, evolutionary taxonomy, and biosocial criminology) to understand criminal behavior as a construct derived from genetic, psychological, and socio-etiological forces working in unison; the relevance is that the four theories adopt a life cycle perspective, studying the evolutionary development of criminal activity
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