School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
J Youth Adolesc. 2013 Mar;42(3):454-65. doi: 10.1007/s10964-013-9906-8. Epub 2013 Jan 20.
Victims of child abuse and neglect are at an increased risk of involvement with the juvenile justice and adult correctional systems. Yet, little is known about the continuation and trajectories of offending beyond initial contact with law enforcement. Neglect likely plays a critical role in continued offending as parental monitoring, parental rejection and family relationships are instrumental in explaining juvenile conduct problems. This study sought to determine whether neglect is associated with recidivism for moderate and high risk juvenile offenders in Washington State. Statewide risk assessments and administrative records for child welfare, juvenile justice, and adult corrections were analyzed. The sample was diverse (24 % female, 13 % African American, 8 % Hispanic, 5 % Native American) and included all moderate and high risk juvenile offenders screened by juvenile probation between 2004 and 2007 (n = 19,833). Official records from child protection were used to identify juvenile offenders with a history of child neglect and to identify juvenile offenders with an ongoing case of neglect. Event history models were developed to estimate the risk of subsequent offending. Adolescents with an ongoing case neglect were significantly more likely to continue offending as compared with youth with no official history of neglect. These findings remain even after controlling for a wide range of family, peer, academic, mental health, and substance abuse covariates. Interrupting trajectories of offending is a primary focus of juvenile justice. The findings of the current study indicate that ongoing dependency issues play a critical role in explaining the outcomes achieved for adolescents in juvenile justice settings. The implications for improved collaboration between child welfare and juvenile justice are discussed.
虐待和忽视儿童的受害者更容易涉及青少年司法和成人矫正系统。然而，对于初次与执法部门接触后犯罪行为的持续和轨迹，人们知之甚少。忽视可能在持续犯罪中起着至关重要的作用，因为父母的监督、父母的拒绝以及家庭关系对解释青少年的行为问题起着重要作用。本研究旨在确定忽视是否与华盛顿州中度和高度风险青少年罪犯的累犯有关。分析了全州范围内的风险评估和儿童福利、青少年司法和成人矫正的行政记录。该样本具有多样性（24%为女性，13%为非裔美国人，8%为西班牙裔，5%为美国原住民），包括 2004 年至 2007 年期间由青少年缓刑机构筛选的所有中度和高度风险青少年罪犯（n=19,833）。从儿童保护机构获取的官方记录用于识别有儿童忽视史的青少年罪犯，并识别有持续忽视案件的青少年罪犯。事件历史模型用于估计随后犯罪的风险。与没有官方忽视史的青少年相比，有持续忽视案件的青少年继续犯罪的可能性明显更高。即使在控制了一系列家庭、同伴、学业、心理健康和药物滥用协变量后，这些发现仍然存在。中断犯罪轨迹是青少年司法的主要重点。当前研究的结果表明，持续存在的依赖问题在解释青少年在青少年司法环境中取得的结果方面起着关键作用。讨论了改善儿童福利和青少年司法之间合作的意义。
