Delinquent Population Research Articles

Preliminary Development of Trauma-Focused Treatment Groups for Incarcerated Juvenile Offenders

Summary Most male juvenile offenders have been exposed to trauma. Many juvenile offenders have experienced both acute and chronic trauma. Trauma exposure among offenders is closely linked to their criminal behavior, yet few protocols have been developed to treat posttraumatic sequelae in a delinquent population. This article describes initial efforts to develop group therapy services for incarcerated male juvenile offenders who have histories of significant trauma exposure and current symptoms of PTSD. Four separate pilot groups were conducted in two Massachusetts Department of Youth Service secure residential facilities. The treatment included trauma psychoeducation (including the relationship between trauma and offending), therapeutic trauma exposure through discussion and expressive arts, and coping skill development. The treatment development and initial implementation as well as directions for future research are discussed.

Social support and problem-solving as moderators of the relationship between childhood abuse and suicidality: applications to a delinquent population.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between childhood abuse, social support, and problem-solving appraisal within a juvenile delinquent sample. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to assess whether childhood abuse, social support, and problem-solving appraisal were independently predictive of suicidality, and further, whetherproblem-solving appraisal and social support moderated the childhood abuse-suicidality relationship. Childhood sexual abuse was found to be an independent predictor of suicidal ideation and behavior. In addition, both problem-solving confidence and social support moderated the relationship between childhood abuse and suicidal ideation. The results of this study underscore the importance of both problem-solving appraisal and social support to suicidality in adolescents with a history of abuse.

Specificity of Depressive Symptoms and Suicidality in a Juvenile Delinquent Population

Research which has related scores on the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) to suicidality have generally neglected to examine the possibility that specific depressive factors within the CDI may be more predictive of suicidality than the full scale score. Knowledge of such factors would help to explain the relationship between depression and suicidality and improve the prediction of suicidal behavior. The current study examined the relationship of depressive factors to suicidality in a sample of 200 incarcerated juvenile delinquents. The published factor structure for the CDI and one derived from the delinquent population were compared. Results revealed two factors from the derived solution, hopelessness and low self-esteem, to be more powerful predictors of suicidal ideation than the full-scale CDI score. These results suggest that symptoms such as low self-esteem and hopelessness may be responsible for the well-documented relationship between depression and suicidality. Furthermore, it appears that the prediction of suicidality may be improved by examining specific depressive factors in suicide research as opposed to full-scale scores from depression inventories such as the CDI.

Prevention of Juvenile Violence

The theme of this paper is the prevention of juvenile violence through pro-active responses based on modern biological and neurological knowledge, rather than after-the-fact legal responses based on a doctrine of free will, moral responsibility, and revenge and punishment. Prevention programs are of two types: interdisciplinary and social-developmental. Interdisciplinary approaches are based on biology, psychology, sociology, law, and urban planning and focus on the 5-7% of the delinquent cohort population who go on to serious violent careers and the 3-5% of the urban areas with high crime rates. Individual differences are as crucial as environmental differences, since the emerging model is one of individuals interacting with the environment. Hence, urban planning and the new ecology are to be utilized in crime prevention. The social-developmental model is based on the manipulation of such social variables as family, school, neighborhood, and peer groups. However, the research indicates that such interventions are effective for no more than 2-3 years and that the 5% headed for serious offenses are not identified by concentrating solely on environmental variables. Finally, the judicial-legal approach to violence is discussed, with a focus on Supreme Court decisions in which, because of a 5-4 split, one justice determines major policy issues. On the basis of very conservative appointments, the Supreme Court has supported the death penalty.

Evaluating practice: Does it improve treatment outcome?

The hypothesis of this study was that the single-subject design evaluation methodology improves social work treatment outcome. This hypothesis was only partially validated among a study population of juvenile delinquents who were treated by probation officers with a social work degree. Specifically, during the period between the preintervention and the follow-up assessments, the experimental group participants—those whose treatment was evaluated by single-case design—significantly reduced the frequency of their arrests by police, whereas their control group counterparts' rate increased. Being in the experimental or the control group, however, had no significant effect on an array of dependent variables, including self-esteem, ability to control anger, relationships with mother and father, and relationships with peers. Possible explanations for these results are provided using the specific characteristics of single-case methodology.

The Coincidence of Depression and High Ability in Delinquent Youth

We describe the incidence and coincidence of depression and high ability in a sample of Virginia's incarcerated delinquent youth population. Specifically, 207 incarcerated juveniles were assessed with the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). The data indicated there were as many high ability juveniles in detention settings as would be expected in a regular population. Results from the CDI identified 37% as at risk for clinical depression. Cross-tabulation of the data indicated a significant relationship between high ability and depression in the delinquent population. In addition, the findings indicated that the presence of depression is related to the ability level of the juvenile. That high ability delinquents may be more vulnerable to depression argues that the coincidence of these conditions requires consideration. Based upon these findings, and given the high correlation suicide has with depression, we suggest that screening for depression should be mandatory for incarcerated delinquents.

Teaching self-care to delinquent adolescents

Adolescent delinquency is an ever-increasing societal concern. Certain health problems are concentrated in the delinquent population. Families of delinquent youths often fail to reinforce selfcare. Therefore health care providers need to focus on ways to teach delinquent adolescents to care for themselves. This article reviews delinquency and characteristics of juvenile delinquents and their families. A model is presented to guide health care providers to assess delinquent adolescents' abilities to care for themselves and to teach them strategies for self-care.

Societal Bonding and Delinquency

Abstract Travis Hirschi's (1969) theory of control has amassed considerable empirical support since its development and has become one of the dominant explanations of delinquent behavior. Control theory's basic premise is that people with strong bonds to society are less likely to deviate from conventional behavior than those with weak bonds. In this article bonding theory is applied to a severely delinquent population of 168 youth detained at a juvenile detention center similar in population to those in most urban areas. Bonding is measured in the three areas of attachment to parents, peer relationship and school bonding. A composite of measures consisting of Hudson's Indexes of Family and Peer Relations and Hare's School Self-Esteem Scale were utilized. Findings indicate that bonding with peers correlates with attachment to family. Further, surprisingly, as youths commit more crimes, attachment to parents increases. This may partially be explained by a major finding in this study indicating that over 70...

A Meta-Analytic Assessment of Delinquency-Related Outcomes of Alternative Education Programs

Although the alternative education movement continues to grow, uncertainty is present across the literature regarding the effectiveness of these programs. Prior reviews have found that alternative schools improve school performance, attitudes toward school, school attendance, and self-esteem, while decreasing delinquency. However, these reviews have been unable to determine the magnitude of these effects or examine potential correlates of success. The present study used meta-analysis to quantitatively summarize prior empirical research on alternative schools. The meta-analysis findings show that alternative education programs have a small overall effect on school performance, attitudes toward school, and self-esteem but no effect on delinquency. Furthermore, alternative education programs that target a specific population of at-risk delinquents or low school achievers produce larger effects than programs with open admissions.

Characterising the goals of juvenile delinquents: Nature, content and purpose

Abstract Although findings from previous research indicate that juvenile delinquents have goals, the application of goal-directed behaviour to juvenile delinquency has not been studied. This paper has two purposes. First, it examines whether juvenile delinquents set specific and challenging goals, the degrees of commitment to their goals, and the acceptance of future challenges as a consequence of their goal setting. Second, it investigates whether a hierarchical structure exists within the juvenile delinquent population, and how goal setting is important to this structure. Five incarcerated male youths from one of the Perth detention centres were purposefully selected to represent different ages and cultural backgrounds within the incarcerated population. An interview schedule, incorporating one vignette, was used to direct discussion concerning juveniles' goals, plans, peers, gangs and leadership roles. The overall findings of the study suggest that juvenile delinquents set specific and challenging goal...

Juvenile delinquents' perceptions of childhood parental rearing patterns

This study compared individuals who have been identified as engaging in delinquent behavior, but who perceive their childhood differently. It examined the differentiating family and social characteristics between delinquents who were maltreated in childhood (based on self-report data) and delinquents who were not maltreated. The sample consisted of the entire population of juvenile delinquents ( N = 287) in all institutions and prisons in Greece. Childhood abuse and neglect were defined on the basis of perceived parental rearing patterns as assessed by the EMBU questionnaire, and groups of abused/nonabused and neglected/non-neglected delinquents were formed. Perceived parental abuse and/or psychological neglect (paternal and/or maternal) were found to be associated with various family and social characteristics. Specific parameters connected to the Greek societal and cultural context have also been identified.

The impact of an intensive multisensory reading program on a population of learning-disabled delinquents

The high prevalence of learning disabilities in the juvenile delinquent population has been well documented, but attempts to remediate and have an impact on recidivism of this population of delinquents has produced limited results. The present study is a replication of the remediation phase of the 1976 LD/JD Project with methodological refinements to control for treatment integrity and strength of treatment. Delinquents in two detention facilities were screened for a developmental reading disorder. Subjects were selected for the study based on normal intelligence, full English proficiency, and a discrepancy of 15 points between reading achievement and IQ. Subjects in the treatment group received 90 minutes of remedial reading instruction per day using a multisensory (Orton/Gillingham) approach. A comparison group received 45 minutes of daily reading instruction in the regular classroom. There was no significant difference between the two groups in mean age of first arrest, mean age, and mean hours of reading instruction. Based on pre- and posttesting in reading and arrest records one year following release, the treatment group made significantly greater growth in reading (.33 year growth vs -.05 year growth per 10 hours of instruction) and had a significantly lower rate of recidivism (41 percent vs 63 percent) than the comparison group. Results were discussed in terms of hours of instruction necessary to improve reading, intervening treatment variables, and cost effectiveness of remedial program.

Epidemiology and treatment of mental health problems in juvenile delinquents

In an effort to establish the comorbidity rates of various mental health problems and juvenile delinquency and to determine the most efficacious treatments for such dually diagnosed youths, over 75 publications were reviewed. Despite a dearth of methodologically sound findings, some tentative conclusions were possible. First, in addition to conduct disorder, several other diagnosable mental disorders appear to occur frequently in the population of juvenile delinquents. These problems include personality, affective, attention deficit hyperactivity, and substance abuse disorders, and mental retardation. Most reported treatment studies were for conduct problems, although there were a few reports of interventions for sexual disorders, substance abuse prevention, and mental retardation, most of which were somewhat successful on a short-term basis. Reasons for the lack of high quality empirical studies of the mental health problems of juvenile delinquents were proposed, and the importance of increasing our knowledge base and improving service delivery for such comorbid disorders was stressed.

Predicting With the MMPI the Adjustment of Juvenile Delinquents to Institutionalization: Does Gender Make a Difference?

Relationships between Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) scales and criteria were evaluated to determine if the MMPI is gender biased when considering a juvenile delinquent population. The MMPI was administered to 549 juvenile delinquents: 105 Black men, 37 Black women, 331 White men, and 76 White women. In addition, behavioral and rating measures were collected; they served as adjustment criteria. Except for the criterion assessing neurotic symptomatology, equations that regressed criteria on MMPI scales neither underpredicted nor overpredicted for a gender. The MMPI tended to underpredict ratings of neurotic symptomatology for women. Significant differences in correlation coefficients for Black men and women occurred for the behavioral, nonrating criteria. Scale 4 was the best predictor for Black men, whereas Scales, 8, F, 1, and 2 tended to be the best predictors for Black women. Some possible explanations for these results are offered.

History Overtakes the Juvenile Justice System

Many of juvenile justice's problems can be traced to the 19th century when parens patriae programs and facilities were established with little attention to their influence upon one another. As newer programs for status offenders were begun, older centers received mainly hardened delinquents, and their policies became more punitive. Without guidance or understanding whole systems grew punitive. A solution to this criminalizing of juvenile justice might entail a state-level department devoted to the treatment of delinquents in the community or in custodial facilities, and small facilities limited to 15-20 beds each, focusing on narrow segments of the delinquent population.

Stability of the Million Adolescent Personality Inventory in an Incarcerated Delinquent Population

Clinical use of the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI) depends on computerized interpretation of the pattern of scale score elevations in the profile beyond certain cutoff scores rather than the elevations of single scales. There has been no reported work on the stability of the scale scores or the stability of the 2-point codes in a delinquent population. The MAPI was administered to 46 incarcerated male juvenile delinquents and was readministered after a period of 2 to 4 weeks. The test-retest correlations of the base-rate scale scores ranged from .33 to .89 with a mean of .74, which compare favorably to Millon's (1982) standardization sample. However, only 41% of the 2-point codes were judged to be congruent between administrations. The poor congruence of the 2-point codes across administrations raises doubts about interpretive statements based on these codes.

Stability of the Million Adolescent Personality Inventory in an Incarcerated Delinquent Population

Stability of the Million Adolescent Personality Inventory in an Incarcerated Delinquent Population

A Study of the Sex Role Attitudes of Incarcerated Juvenile Delinquents Toward Women

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the sex-role attitudes toward women of male juvenile delinquents who were incarcerated. Sixty (60) juveniles, thirty blacks and thirty whites, were chosen by random sample from an incarcerated juvenile delinquent population in a southern metropolitan area. Findings from the study included the following: (1) There was a significant difference in sex role attitudes toward women between juvenile delinquents who were first-born and juvenile delinquents who were later-born; (2) Significant differences were found in the sex role attitudes toward women relative to available norms. The findings from this study were inconsistent with the research in the literature.

The Influence of “Changing Directions” on the Self‐Esteem of a Delinquent Population in a Correctional Setting

AbstractThere is increasing evidence that low self‐esteem is a possible basis for risk‐taking behaviors such as substance abuse, sexual promiscuity, and juvenile delinquency. Thus, it has been hypothesized that by enhancing an adolescent̂s self‐image, a decrease in the incidence of such behaviors can be realized. The present study examines the effect of one secure juvenile facility's treatment program on adolescent self‐esteem. The findings reflect the program's effectiveness with regard to self‐esteem elevation. A follow‐up study, to determine whether this heightened self‐esteem is maintained and/or results in decreased delinquency is forthcoming.

The personal experience inventory: An assessment of the instrument's validity among a delinquent population in Washington state

Abstract The Personal Experience Inventory (PEI) is one of a small number of validated instruments for assessing the level and nature of substance abuse in adolescents. A challenge to substance abuse treatment is the complex problem of working with juvenile offenders. A preliminary question remains before case planning can be performed on this population: are assessment instruments, validated with a clinical treatment population, also valid with a chronic delinquent population? This paper describes the results of a study to validate the PEI with a study population of chronic delinquent adolescents institutionalized in the state of Washington. The results of this study suggest that the Personal Experience Inventory (PEI) can be a useful tool for the assessment of substance abuse among an offender population.