Chronic Juvenile Offenders: Exploring Risk Factor Models of Recidivism

Author(s)

Tom D. Kennedy, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
W. Alex Edmonds, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Danielle H. Millen, Nova Southeastern University
David B. Detullio, Nova Southeastern University

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice

ISSN

1556-9330

Publication Date

5-1-2018

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between known risk factors for youthful offenders and rates of recidivism using Poisson regression models. The sample consisted of 564 male and female juvenile offenders referred to the Juvenile Court Assessment Center (JCAC) by the Juvenile Justice Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Miami-Dade County. First, data from a clinical interview and the administration of the Wide Range Achievement Test were factor analyzed. Six factors were found to be statistically significant based on a parallel analyses. Neighborhood factors explained the largest amount of variance followed by peer influence, family functioning, gang involvement, substance use, and academic achievement. These six domains were analyzed in separate Poisson regression models. Family-wise error rate was controlled with Bonferroni adjustments. Each model predicting number of arrests from academic performance, substance use, peer influence, gang involvement, and neighborhood factors were statistically significant. The final model including all variables across the six domains indicated good fit, χ²(14) = 201.260, p < .001. Implications stemming from these findings are discussed.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1541204018770517

Volume

17

Issue

2

First Page

174

Last Page

193

NSUWorks Citation

Kennedy, T. D., Edmonds, W. A., Millen, D. H., Detullio, D. B. (2018). Chronic Juvenile Offenders: Exploring Risk Factor Models of Recidivism. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 17(2), 174-193.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/1619