Social Risk Factors of Institutionalized Juvenile Offenders: A Systematic Review

Abstract

While researchers have investigated the various characteristics of juvenile offenders and the influence of risk factors for delinquency, to date, no such comprehensive review exists to present social risk factors for institutionalized juvenile offenders within and across the social domains of school and community, family, and peers. A systematic research review from 1979 through 2018 yielded 51 studies concerning institutionalized juvenile offenders’ social risk factors that relate to school policies and community disadvantage, parenting and family involvement, and peer influences and group membership. Twelve studies included two social risk factor domains and no studies included all three domains. With the likelihood of juvenile offending and subsequent institutionalization increasing as the number of risk factors and risk factor domains increase, future research should examine the independent effects of a multifaceted intervention aimed to mitigate multidomain risk associated with juvenile offending. As effective interventions for juvenile offenders should target multiple social domains, guidance for interventions that reflect the interrelatedness of risk factors to most efficiently and effectively serve youth in the various environments in which youth engage in and the people with whom youth regularly interact are discussed.