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Studies addressing risk factors among justice-involved girls in rural areas remain a neglected area of research. Following an intersectional framework, the current study examines the patterning of ...

Satisfied employees are essential to an organization, as they are often the primary means for meeting organizational needs. Job satisfaction is particularly important among criminal justice agencies, specifically probation agencies that largely rely on personnel for the supervision and rehabilitation of individuals. Yet, the correlates of job satisfaction among juvenile probation staff are largely unknown. Following organizational climate theory, the current study utilizes baseline data from the Juvenile Justice–Translational Research on Adolescents in the Legal System (JJ-TRIALS) initiative, a project conducted in seven states with 36 participating juvenile probation agencies. Factor analysis and structural equation modeling were utilized to examine the latent structure of organizational characteristics and potential mediating effects. Regression analyses were utilized to examine the direct relationship between job satisfaction and personal and organizational factors. Results highlight the importance of workplace factors and suggest efforts toward improving job satisfaction should focus on the improvement of organizational characteristics.

Stress-related theories suggest exposures to stressful situations affect mental health, substance use, and other behaviors. Youth involved in the juvenile justice system demonstrate greater risk of...

Focused deterrence programs, which concentrate community and police resources on small groups of high-risk offenders, have been identified in a number of cities as an effective method to reduce vio...

This study draws upon the labeling perspective to examine whether there are patterns of continuity and/or change in the severity of juvenile court dispositions, and if these patterns vary by race/e...

Research indicates juvenile justice-involved youth experience increased risk of exposure to childhood trauma and health risks. Little is known about the heterogeneity in trauma and health risk experiences among delinquent youth, especially across gender. The current study uses latent class analysis to examine typologies of self-reported exposure to trauma and health risks among a sample of 435 female and 1,198 male juvenile offenders. The study objectives were to identify any subgroups of justice-involved youths with varying patterns of trauma and health risk behaviors across gender, examine the size of these trauma-health risk subgroups, and examine socio-demographic differences in the trauma-health risk latent classes. Findings suggest the presence of three groups of trauma and health risk behaviors within the gender groups. For females, the three subgroups demonstrated linear trends in increasing prevalence of trauma and health risks. For males, the three subgroups reflected a generally low-risk group, a group with high rates of marijuana use and risky sexual behaviors, and a group with high rates of depression, family problems, sexual assault victimization, and bullying. The analyses for the covariates revealed racial differences in trauma and health risks. The findings suggest gendered intervention strategies should be considered for justice-involved youth.

Youth involved in the juvenile justice system demonstrate greater risk of exposure to negative life experiences. The present study explores the prevalence of three stress-related experiences (sexual assault victimization, bullying/victimization, and minority sexual orientation) among newly arrested adolescents. Gender (biological sex) differences were examined as well as associations with sociodemographic characteristics, depressive symptoms, substance use, and sexually transmitted infection (STI). Factor analyses found a single factor of stress for both genders. Prevalence rates for bullying/victimization, sexual assault victimization, and sexual minority status were higher for girls than boys. Girls were also more likely than boys to test positive for STIs and experience depressive symptoms, while boys were more likely than girls to test positive for marijuana use. Depression and drug-related problems were associated with the stress construct for girls only. Bivariate comparisons with the three stress measures and sociodemographic characteristics indicated age and race effects. Implications are discussed.

Focused on deterrence popular model to address community-level violence, however little research has examined the individual-level effect of deterrent messaging on subsequent offending. To answer this question, we utilize data on 254 gang- and group-involved probationers and parolees who attended offender “call-in” meetings as part of the Detroit Ceasefire. We employ inverse-probability weighting to construct a counterfactual comparison group from a sample of gang-involved young adults who were not subject to the Ceasefire call-in. We then use a Cox regression to estimate time to re-arrest. We find that individuals who were delivered a deterrent message at a call-in meeting had a longer time to re-arrest compared to a weighted comparison group for up to 3 years following the meeting.

Certain establishments (e.g., alcohol outlets or pawnshops) attract or generate crime because they operate with little oversight and are often located in poor or disordered neighborhoods. Single room occupancy (SRO) facilities share some of these characteristics. SROs tend to be rundown motels or apartment buildings that offer affordable housing for low-income clientele. It is likely that SROs also generate and attract criminal activity that affects the neighborhood. Using police incident report data for St. Petersburg, FL, this study examines the impact of SROs on violent, property, and nuisance crimes at the neighborhood level. Negative binomial regression models suggest that the presence of an SRO in the focal or nearby neighborhood increases local crime, with the impact varying by crime type.

Most studies of bullying rely on school-based samples of youth; however, a few studies of justice-involved populations suggest delinquent youth experience higher rates of bullying than youth in the...

The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) is a widely used screening tool for depression among adults and children. However, the validity of the CES-D has yet to be establishe...

Youth involved in the juvenile justice system experience a disproportionate prevalence of serious mental health issues, substance abuse, and are at an increased risk of engaging in risky sexual practices. Gender differences exist, with girls at a markedly greater risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease.The present study seeks to determine if there are subgroups of male and female youth who differ in their health risk behavior. If so, do any male or female subgroups at different levels of health risk differ in regard to their sociodemographic and psychological factors, and finally, what are intervention/service delivery implications of these differences.Youth were participants in an innovative health service at a centralized intake facility located in a large southeastern U.S. city. Latent class analysis and multinomial logistic regression is utilized to examine the heterogeneity of health risk behaviors across gender groups in a sample of 777 newly arrested youth.Results indicate a three class solution provided the optimal fit with the data for each gender group: a Lower Health Risk group, a Higher Health Risk group, and a Highest Health Risk group. Multinomial logistic regression analysis identified significant sociodemographic and depression effects among both male and female youth. Conclusions/Importance: Youth characterized by risky sexually behavior, elevated depression, and drug involvement should be the focus of integrated intervention services. This study documents the critical need for front end, juvenile justice intake facilities to provide behavioral and public health screening, with treatment follow-up, on newly arrested youth.

Justice-involved youth display higher prevalence rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), in comparison with youth in the general population, highlighting a critical public health concern. Individual factors are important predictors of STDs, but only provide a partial understanding of this public health issue. Communities experiencing higher levels of disorder and lower levels of cohesion tend to have fewer institutional resources available, which may impact sexual risk behavior and STDs. However, few studies have examined the association between community characteristics and STD prevalence among adolescents. The current study examined community-level (n = 106) characteristics and individual-level attributes in explaining STDs among justice-involved youth (n = 1233: n = 515 female; n = 718 male). At the individual level, results showed older males and those with more drug-related problems were more likely to be STD positive, while females with more sexual partners and those with less drug-related problems were more likely to be STD positive. At the community level, females residing in areas with fewer educated residents were more likely to be STD positive. These gender differences were significant, suggesting a gendered perspective is important for understanding STD infection. The justice system represents a critical opportunity in the treatment and prevention of STDs for youth.

Truant youths are likely to engage in a number of problem behaviors, including sexual risky behaviors. Previous research involving non-truant youths has found sexual risk behaviors to be related to marijuana use and depression, with differential effects for male and female youths. Using data collected in a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded, prospective intervention project, results are reported of a male-female, multi-group, longitudinal analysis of the relationships among truant youth baseline sexual risk behavior, marijuana use, and depression, and their sexual risk behavior over four follow-up time points. Results indicated support for the longitudinal model, with female truants having higher depression scores, and showing stronger relationships between baseline depression and future engagement in sexual risk behavior, than male truants. Findings suggest that incorporating strategies to reduce depression and marijuana use may decrease youth sexual risk behavior.

Little is known of sexual risk behaviors among truant youths across gender. This study utilized latent class analysis to examined heterogeneity of sexual risk behaviors across gender among a sample of 300 truant adolescents. Results revealed two latent subgroups within gender: low vs. high sexual risk behaviors. There were gender differences in baseline covariates of sexual risk behaviors, with male truants in higher risk group experiencing ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) problems, and female truants in higher risk group experienced marijuana use and depression symptoms. African-American race was a significant covariate for high sexual risk behaviors for both genders. Service and practice implications of sexual risk issues of truant youth are discussed.