Objectives: This study evaluates the malleability of judgments of procedural justice. Drawing upon various literatures, five factors are hypothesized to be related to changes in procedural justice: (1) prior judgments of procedural justice, (2) direct experiences of arrest, (3) vicarious experiences of arrest, (4) individual arrest history, and (5) age. Methods: Using 11 waves of data from the Pathways to Desistance Study (N = 1,354), multilevel models relate within-person covariates including individual, family, and peer arrests, and age to changes in procedural justice, controlling for stable, individual characteristics. Results: Judgments of procedural justice are anchored in prior perceptions. They are also a function of direct and vicarious experiences of arrests with the effect of individual arrests varying across individual arrest history. Evidence also suggests a developmental component. Age has a direct effect on judgments of procedural justice and conditions the effect of individual arrests on changes in procedural justice. Conclusions: Judgments of procedural justice are not static. Given these results, future research should continue to investigate the varying effects of other interactions with legal authorities on changes in judgments of procedural justice in order to form stronger policies aimed at increasing citizen cooperation.

No abstract

We investigate adolescent risk factors, measured at both early and late adolescence, for involvement in child maltreatment during adulthood. Comprehensive assessments of risk factors for maltreatment that use representative samples with longitudinal data are scarce and can inform multilevel prevention. We use data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study begun in 1988 with a sample of 1,000 seventh and eighth graders. Participants have been interviewed 14 times and, at the last assessment (age 31), 80% were retained. Risk factors represent 10 developmental domains: area characteristics, family background/structure, parent stressors, exposure to family violence, parent-child relationships, education, peer relationships, adolescent stressors, antisocial behaviors, and precocious transitions to adulthood. Maltreatment is measured by substantiated reports from Child Protective Services records. Many individual risk factors (20 at early adolescence and 14 at later adolescence) are significantly, albeit moderately, predictive of maltreatment. Several developmental domains stand out, including family background/structure, education, antisocial behaviors, and precocious transitions. In addition, there is a pronounced impact of cumulative risk on the likelihood of maltreatment. For example, only 3% of the youth with no risk domains in their background at early adolescence were involved in later maltreatment, but for those with risk in 9 developmental domains the rate was 45%. Prevention programs targeting youth at high risk for engaging in maltreatment should begin during early adolescence when risk factors are already at play. These programs need to be comprehensive, capable of addressing the multiple and interwoven nature of risk that is associated with maltreatment.

Purpose Children's early onset of cannabis use was examined as a function of their parent's early onset of cannabis and subsequent incidence of a lifetime cannabis abuse or dependence disorder. Methods Prospective, longitudinal data from the Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS) and the Rochester Intergenerational Study (RIGS) for 442 parent-child dyads (274 father-child, 168 mother-child) were utilized. The children were evenly split by sex. Logistic regression models and a path analysis were estimated to assess the effect of parent's cannabis use on child's onset of cannabis by age 15. Results Fathers who began using cannabis by age 15 were more likely to meet the criteria for a lifetime cannabis disorder (O.R. = 5.66, 95% CI = 1.89, 16.90). The offspring of fathers who met the criteria for a disorder had higher odds of early initiation of cannabis use (O.R. = 9.70, 95% CI = 3.00, 31.34). Early onset cannabis use by father was indirectly associated with their child's onset of cannabis use via father's lifetime cannabis disorder. No significant effects for mothers were observed, although analyseswere limited due to the low rate of mothers who met the criteria for a lifetime cannabis disorder. Conclusions This study provides evidence of intergenerational continuity in cannabis use among fathers and their children and confirms the need to consider timing of use and intervening mechanisms in the study of continuity in cannabis use across generations.

Process-based approaches to compliance argue that normative considerations, such as procedural justice and legitimacy, have the potential to reduce offending. This perspective was formalized with Tyler's (1990, 2003) Model of Procedural Justice and subsequently was evaluated among adult and adolescent offenders alike. However, extant evaluations do not consider whether and how individual offending histories affect the relevance of the concepts of procedural justice and legitimacy on offending behavior. This void is problematic given the growing concern that judgments of procedural justice and perceived legitimacy may not always be relevant with respect to compliance (Tyler & Jackson, 2013). This research integrates a developmental perspective with the procedural justice model to evaluate the effects of procedural justice and legitimacy on offending among early-onset and adolescent-onset offenders. Using a sample of convicted adolescent offenders, evidence suggests that the relevance of the procedural justice model varies across age of onset. The normative considerations of procedural justice and legitimacy are unrelated to recidivism among early-onset offenders, yet they affect subsequent offending among adolescent-onset offenders, although not always in the direction specified by theory.