JuvenileOffenders

Chapter12

Outline

1.  History

2.  AssessmentofYoungOffenders

3.  TheoriesofAn@socialBehaviour

4.  RiskandProtec@veFactors

5.  Preven@onandTreatment

6.  Video

1.History

Year

Legal

Act

1908

Juvenile

Delinquents

Act

1984

Young

Offenders

Act

2003

Youth

Criminal

Jus@ceAct

1.JuvenileDelinquentsAct

•  Youthbetween7and16

•  Separatecourtsystem

•  Sentencingop@onsincreased

•  Parentsencouragedtopar@cipate

•  Problems?

1.YoungOffendersAct

•  Accountabilityforac@ons

•  Protec@onofthepublic

•  Legalrights

•  Minimumageforcriminaloffenceis12

•  Problems?

1.YouthCriminalJus@ceAct

•  Lessseriouscrimeoutofcourt

•  Extrajudicialmeasuresincrease

•  Preven@onandreintegra@on

•  Notransfers

•  Vic@mneedsrecognized

1.YouthCriminalJus@ceAct

Objec@ves

1.  Preven@on

2.  Encouragetakingresponsibilityforac@ons

3.  Improverehabilita@onandreintegra@on

1.Youthcrimerates

160000

165000

170000

175000

180000

2007 2008

AllCriminalCodeViola.ons

(excludingtraffic)

1.Youthcrimerates

47,000

48,000

49,000

50,000

51,000

52,000

2007 2008

Violent

110,000

115,000

120,000

125,000

130,000

2007 2008

Non‐violent

1.Youthcrimerates

400

420

440

460

480

2007 2008

TrafficViola.ons

26,400

26,700

27,000

27,300

27,600

27,900

2007 2008

FederalStatute

1.YouthcrimeratesandtheYCJA

HastheYCJAbeeneffec@ve?

2.AssessmentofYoungOffenders

•  Issueofconsent

•  Consent

•  Assent

2.BehaviouralProblems

•  TwoCategories…

Internalizing Externalizing

2.Internalizingproblems

•  Emo@onalproblem

•  E.g.,Anxiety,Depression,Obsessions

•  Easiertotreatthanexternalizingproblems

•  Moretypicallydisplayedbyfemales

2.Externalizingproblems

•  Behaviourproblem

•  E.g.,Figh@ng,Bullying,Lying

•  Moredifficulttotreatandpersistentthan

internalizing

•  Symptomspeakinteens

•  Morecommoninmales

•  Mul@pleinformants

2.CommonDiagnosesinYoung

Offenders

•  A`en@onDeficitHyperac@vityDisorder(ADHD)

•  Opposi@onalDefiantDisorder(ODD)

•  ConductDisorder(CD)

2.ADHD

•  Ina`en@onfeatures

•  Lackofa`en@ontodetail,failuretolisten,loses

items,forgedul…

•  Hyperac@vityfeatures

•  Fidgets,leavesseat,talksexcessively…

•  Impulsivityfeatures

•  Difficultywai@ng,interrupts,blurtsoutresponses

2.ODD

•  Losestemper

•  Argueswithadults

•  Deliberatelyannoysothers

•  Angryandresendul

•  Vindic@ve

2.RatesofBehaviourDisorders

5–15%have

severebehaviour

problems

2.RatesofBehaviourDisorders

5‐15%

20‐50%

ODD

or

CD

ADHD

2.RatesofBehaviourDisorders

5‐15%

Children

withODD

40%will

develop

CD

2.RatesofBehaviourDisorders

5‐15%

Children

withCD

50%

develop

APas

adults

2.TrajectoriesofYouthOffenders

•  Cri@calfactor=ageofonset

70%adolescent

onset

~25%

noonset

3‐5%

childhood

onset

2.Childonsettrajectory

•  Moreseriousandpersistent

•  Manyotherdifficul@es

•  ADHA,learningdisabili@es,academictrouble

•  Mostdonotbecomeoffenders

2.Adolescentonsettrajectory

•  Manycommitsocialtransgressions

•  Mostdesistcommijngan@socialactsin

adulthood

•  Moresothanthosewithchildhoodonset

2.Brame,Nagin&Tremblay(2001)

•  Followedboysfromkindergartentoage20

•  Measuredlevelsofaggression

•  Categorizedboysaslow,mediumandhighlevels

ofaggression(basedonini@almeasurement)

2.Brame,Nagin&Tremblay(2001)

0

5

10

15

20

25

4 8 12 16 20

Low

Medium

High

3.Biological–Neurological

•  Frontallobe

•  Keyroleinplanningandinhibi@ngbehaviour

•  Lowerac@va@oninfrontallobe

•  Increasedlikelihoodofan@socialacts

3.Biological‐Physiological

•  Lowerheartrate

3.Biological‐Gene@c

•  Paternalan@socialbehaviourrelatedto

offspringan@socialbehaviour

•  Twinstudies

3.Cogni@ve

•  A`en@oninsocialinterac@ons

1.  A`endingtosocialcues

2.  Usecues/thoughtsaboutcuestochoose

behaviour

– Processfewercues(environment)

– Misa`ributehos@leintent(thoughts)

– Producefewermoreaggressivesolu@ons

(thoughts/behaviourchoices)

– Cogni@vedeficits

3.Cogni@ve

•  Reac@veandProac@veaggression

•  Reac@ve:responsetoperceivedthreat

•  cogni@vedeficiencyinprocessing/a`endingtosocial

cues

•  Proac@ve:directedatachievingagoal

•  deficiencyingenera@ngalterna@vesolu@ons

•  Reac@vetendtohaveearlieronset

3.Social

•  SocialLearningTheory

•  Learnbehaviourfromothers

•  Imitate

•  An@socialchildrenhavean@socialexamples

4.IndividualRiskFactors

•  Individual

•  Gene@c/biological(e.g.,ADHD)

•  Uterineenvironment(e.g.,fetalalcoholsyndrome)

•  Temperament

4.FamilialRiskFactors

•  Familial

•  Neglect

•  Familyconflict

•  Paren@ngstyle

•  Childabuse

4.SchoolandSocialRiskFactors

•  SchoolandSocial

•  LowerIQ

•  Aggressiveplaywithpeers

•  Deviantpeers

4.Protec@veFactors

•  Similarchildrenhavedifferentoutcomes

•  Resilience

•  Protec@vefactors…

1.  Changethelevelofriskassociatedwitharisk

factor

2.  Changethenega@vechainreac@on

3.  Helpdevelopandmaintainself‐esteem

4.  Provideopportuni@es

4.IndividualProtec@veFactors

•  Individual

•  Resilienttemperament

4.FamilialProtec@veFactors

•  Familial

•  Posi@veandsuppor@veenvironment

•  Goodparent‐childrela@onship

4.SchoolandSocialProtec@veFactors

•  SchoolandSocial

•  Associa@ngwithprosocialchildren

Secondary

Primary

5.Preven@onandTreatment

• Priortoviolence

• Decreaselikelihoodoffutureviolence

• e.g.,family‐oriented,schooloriented,

communitywide

• Directedatyoungoffenders

• Reducefrequencyofviolence

• e.g.,diversionprograms

Ter@ary

• Foryouthwhohavegonethroughformal

courtproceedings

• Preventviolencefromreoccurring

• e.g.,in‐pa@enttreatment