Identifying Risk and Protective Factors in Recidivist Juvenile Offenders: A Decision Tree Approach

Predicting the Risk of Re-Offending in Child-to-Parent Violence Using the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth

Child-to-parent violence occurs when children engage in violent behaviour towards family members; the principal victim is often the mother. The risk assessment instruments used to identify the risk and protective factors in youth offenders who perpetrate child-to-parent violence are not specific to this type of offense. This study aims to describe the child-to-parent violence group in relation to the risk and protective factors they present in comparison with the group of young people who committed an assault offence. The sample for this study consists of two groups of youth offenders. The first group committed child-to-parent violence, and the second group has committed a violent crime against individuals to whom they are not related. Young people who commit child-to-parent violence have higher scores on the SAVRY risk factors and lower scores on the SAVRY protective factor than young people who have committed an assault offence. The results reveal the importance of identifying the risk and protective factors presented by youth offenders who commit child-to-parent violence in order to create specific intervention programs for the needs and strengths presented by this group of young people.

Exploring the Decisional Drivers of Deviance: A Qualitative Study of Institutionalized Adolescents in Malaysia

Adolescents who break the law or deviate from social norms are often criminalized as their behavior is perceived as resulting from conscious choices. However, it is likely that such choices result from their circumstances, namely the failure of their proximal environment to safeguard their wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the background variables and choices that led these institutionalized adolescents down the road of deviance. We conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured in-depth interviews, conducted between March and May 2018, with 18 participants aged between 15 to 19 years. Participants were purposefully sampled from various welfare institutions in the states of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia. Audio recordings of interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically. We found three core themes, (i) Sources of Distress, (ii) Drivers of Deviance, and (iii) Adjustment Strategies for Coping with Distress, which appeared to have influenced participants’ life trajectories and eventual institutionalization. The findings showed that participants were disadvantaged by backgrounds of risk and vulnerability, characterized by a lack of social support and opportunities for personal development, negative schooling experiences, and negative peer interactions. Substance abuse, which provided a coping strategy for the participants, may have further contributed to their delinquency. Drawing upon the socio ecological model (SEM), we systematically identify interventional opportunities at the individual, community, and policy levels to safeguard the wellbeing of at-risk adolescents. We make recommendations aimed at improving the family dynamics, promoting a healthy schooling experience, and transforming neighborhoods into a safe and nurturing environment.

Criminological profile of minors who have committed child-to-parent violence

The rise of CPV cases in the last decade has become a matter of concern among researchers, who have investigated prevalence rates and factors related to this type of behavior. This study aims to analyze the criminological profile of the minors who have committed CPV compared to minors who have committed other type of crimes. The participants were 341 juveniles with a disciplinary record in the Juvenile Court of a Spanish province, whose ages ranged from 14 to 17 years old (M = 15.86, SD = 1.02). The results showed that the CPV group represented a moderate level of recidivism and the comparison group had a low risk of recidivism. The CPV group had mostly committed CPV, while the comparison group had tended to commit property crimes. The CPV group had generally served probation or confinement sentences, while the comparison group had mostly been acquitted or served probation.

A model for predicting court decisions on child custody

Awarding joint or sole custody is of crucial importance for the lives of both the child and the parents. This paper first models the factors explaining a court's decision to grant child custody and later tests the predictive capacity of the proposed model. We conducted an empirical study using data from 1,884 court rulings, identifying and labeling factual elements, legal principles, and other relevant information. We developed a neural network model that includes eight factual findings, such as the relationship between the parents and their economic resources, the child's opinion, and the psychological report on the type of custody. We performed a temporal validation using cases later in time than those in the training sample for prediction. Our system predicted the court's decisions with an accuracy exceeding 85%. We obtained easy-to-apply decision rules with the decision tree technique. The paper contributes by identifying the factors that best predict joint custody, which is useful for parents, lawyers, and prosecutors. Parents would do well to know these findings before venturing into a courtroom.

Risk and resilience of vulnerable families in Hong Kong under the impact of COVID-19: an ecological resilience perspective

PURPOSE

Hong Kong has experienced four waves of COVID-19 since the first case was confirmed in January 2020. Several studies have highlighted the psychological impacts of the outbreak in Hong Kong but have largely ignored the protective factors that contribute to resilience among vulnerable families. This study adopted an ecological resilience framework to explore the impact of this epidemic on members of families with youth with a delinquent tendency/mental health concerns and the ecological protective factors for these vulnerable families.

METHODS

Random sampling based on a sampling frame provided by one of the largest local social service organizations in Hong Kong led to the recruitment of 407 respondents who were interviewed using a battery of standardized questionnaires.

RESULTS

The results showed that 30.6% and 11.5% of respondents reported a moderate and a severe level of psychological distress, respectively, almost double the percentages reported in a previous study conducted in Hong Kong before the COVID-19 outbreak. Around 36.6% of respondents indicated they had encountered financial problems and almost 40% indicated aggravated financial circumstances since the outbreak. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that financial stress was the strongest predictor of psychological distress. Structural equation modeling indicated that family support, indoor leisure activities and community resources significantly mediated the negative influence of COVID-19-related stressors on psychological distress of family members.

CONCLUSION

Family leisure activities, family support, community spirit and mutual help within the context of social-distancing restrictions may need to be promoted to benefit vulnerable families in Hong Kong under the COVID-19 epidemic.

Assessing the Interactions between Strengths and Risk Factors of Recidivism through the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY)

Instruments that assess recidivism risk in young people are used widely in the sphere of juvenile justice worldwide. Traditionally, research has focused on the study of risk factors presented by young offenders, and how these relate to criminal recidivism. In present-day research, protective factors have also come into their own, having proven to encourage non-recidivism in young offenders. This paper presents a study carried out with 594 young offenders. The instrument used for assessing risk of recidivism in young offenders was the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY). In the results found here, one can observe how the young offenders who did not reoffend presented a greater level of protective factors than the repeating offenders. The youths with a prior arrest record scored higher in the risk domains than the reoffenders without a prior arrest record. The case of young repeat offenders who already had an arrest record represents a high-risk profile, or a profile of a criminal career. Crimes committed by young people can be isolated incidents in their life. In most youths, criminal behavior does not persist beyond legal age. Protective factors prove to be important in juvenile justice when planning an individualized intervention for the young offender.

Adolescents' Perceptions of a Gardening Activity at a Juvenile Justice Center

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to elicit participants' ( N = 16) perceptions of a gardening activity at a juvenile justice center and to determine whether past exposure to gardening and farmers markets was associated with their perceptions of the gardening experience.

DESIGN

This cross-sectional, exploratory program evaluation was conducted in partnership with the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice. Adolescents completing the Cadet Leadership and Education Program participated in gardening in order to provide produce to a local farmers' market.

METHOD

After the growing season, participants were asked to complete a nine-item questionnaire about the gardening activity during one of their usual classes at the facility. The questionnaire assessed perception of the experience and past exposure to gardening and farmers' markets.

FINDINGS

Participants reported favorably about their participation in the activity, knowledge gained from the activity, and their intent to garden in the future. Those who had previously gardened had more favorable perception of gardening than those who had never gardened. Gardening is an inexpensive means of teaching teamwork and delayed gratification and providing a sense of empowerment and may benefit at-risk adolescents during incarceration.

The Predictive Validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth for Young Spanish Offenders

The present study examined the predictive validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) in a group of young Spanish offenders. The sample is made up of 594 minors from the Juvenile Court, between the ages of 14 and 18 at the time they committed the delinquent act. The SAVRY was able to differentiate between low and high-risk younger offenders. Mean scores on risk factor are greater in the group of recidivist offenders, the group of non-recidivist shows higher mean scores in Protective domain. The accuracy of the instrument is high (AUC_{RiskTotalScore} = 0.737 and AUC_{SummaryRiskRating} = 0.748). An approximation of the predictive validity study of the SAVRY in Spanish younger offenders is presented. The results obtained support the SAVRY good functioning with not English samples.