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The primary purpose of this research was to identify the most robust set of factors contributing to the recidivism of juvenile detainees; including demographic, court history, mental health, substance abuse, and maltreatment variables. Recidivism in this paper is defined as having received more than one status offense or non-status offense. Status offenses are incurred because of the prohibition of various acts due to the offender's status as a juvenile (e.g., alcohol consumption, violation of curfew, or truancy). Non-status offenses (i.e., delinquency) are incurred because of violation of the law and commitment of a crime. The study population included 761 juvenile offenders in the Northwest. Juveniles who had a history of childhood maltreatment, above average use of alcohol/drugs, and experienced traumatic experiences were four times (4.22 odds ratio) more likely to have repeated juvenile status offenses. Further, sex and suicide ideation increased the likelihood of committed repeated non-status offenses by 6.5 times. Findings, limitations, and implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary purposes of this study were to: 1) Confirm sex differences in the mental health symptoms of girls and boys in a northwest juvenile court using the MAYSI-2; 2) examine sex differences in the frequency and nature (status and non-status offenses) of juvenile court contacts; and 3) determine whether sex-related differences in mental health symptoms predict juvenile court contacts controlling for maltreatment, age of first referral, and ethnicity. Status offenses are incurred because of the prohibition of various acts due to the offender's status as a juvenile (e.g., alcohol consumption, violation of curfew, or truancy). Non-status offenses (i.e., delinquency) are incurred because of violation of the law and commitment of a crime. Results indicated that girls were less likely than boys to have high numbers of status and non-status offenses; whereas girls with a prior history of childhood maltreatment were more likely to have high numbers status and non-status offenses than non-maltreated girls. Further, sex was a statistically significant covariate of status offenses and delinquency on mental health profiles. Consistent with extant research, girls also scored reliably higher than boys on the MAYSI-2 Angry/Irritable, Depressed-Anxious, Suicide Ideation, and the Traumatic Experiences scales. Findings, limitations, and implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the representativeness of office discipline referrals for disruptive classroom behaviors within a positive behavior support implementation over 17 weeks. In-class reporting and office discipline referrals were gathered across three schools. Twelve teachers took in-class data on 20 students receiving secondary- or tertiary-level interventions in School 1. Ten teachers took in-class data on 14 students receiving secondary- or tertiary-level interventions in School 2. Eight teachers took in-class data on 11 students receiving secondary- or tertiary-level interventions in School 3. Results of this study indicated that office discipline referrals were not representative of teacher recordings of classroom behavior. Implications and areas of future research will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]