Although the well-documented association between parental divorce and adolescent delinquency is generally assumed to be environmental (i.e., causal) in origin, genetic mediation is also possible. Namely, the behavior problems often found in children of divorce could derive from similar pathology in the parents, pathology that is both heritable and increases the risk that the parent will experience divorce. To test these alternative hypotheses, we made use of a novel design that incorporated timing of divorce in a sample of 610 adoptive and biological families. We reasoned that if genes common to parent and child mediate this association, non-adopted youth should manifest increased delinquency in the presence of parental divorce even if the divorce preceded their birth (i.e., was from a prior parental relationship). However, should the association be environmental in origin, adolescents should manifest increased delinquency only in response to divorce exposure, and this association should not vary by adoption status. Results firmly supported the latter, suggesting that it is the experience of parental divorce, and not common genes, that drives the association between divorce and adolescent delinquency.
Research Summary
In this study, we examine the interaction between race, gender, and risk assessment score on risk for recidivism. We used the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) to measure criminogenic risk among a sample of delinquent youth. The results of multivariate Cox regression revealed a significant interaction between race, gender, and risk score when predicting recidivism. The findings indicated that the slope of the relationship between risk score and recidivism differed significantly for Black youth as compared with White youth and that this interaction was even more pronounced for the subsample of males. These findings suggest that there may be social or other policy/enforcement‐related factors that increase risk for recidivism for Black youth.
Policy Implications
We found that although there were no differences in overall risk score across White and Black youth, Black males were at increased risk for future recidivism. These findings should inform practice and policies in four primary ways. First, court practitioners, like juvenile court officers and judges, should pay special attention to responsivity factors that may minimize barriers to treatment and success. Second, court officers and service providers should implement policies that require tracking how risk assessment information is used in the decision‐making process. Third, the use of reassessments to monitor changes in dynamic criminogenic risk is necessary. Finally, future research should be aimed at investigating the extent to which policies, practices, and enforcement moderate the validity of risk assessment tools across race and gender.
Although structured assessments have helped standardize juvenile court processes by systematically measuring risk for recidivism, it has been argued that some assessments lack the ability to perform as a brief screener. This study explored the potential for the original 42-item Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) risk assessment to perform as a brief screener for a sample of first-time juvenile offenders in a mid-western, industrialized county. Results indicated that the original and shortened version of the YLS/CMI significantly predicted two-year recidivism for male and female offenders. Implications for situationally targeted forms of risk assessment are discussed.
The assessment of criminogenic risk is critical in the prediction of future delinquency and the ability to provide appropriate services and interventions for youth offenders. The goal of this study was to determine whether using latent profile analysis (LPA) produced better risk classification profiles than traditional linear methods. Archival data were used to examine 1,263 male and female youth probationers. Criminogenic profiles were developed using the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory, a widely used juvenile risk assessment. LPA determined that there were three distinct profiles: Minimal Intervention Needs, Social Behavior and Social Bonding Needs, and Maximum Intervention Needs. The profiles that youth fit into differed across demographic variables such as gender, age, recidivism, and history of child maltreatment, but not minority status and offense type. This research may aid in addressing specific intervention needs of offenders.
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