Abstract: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Its Impact on Boys' Recidivism (Society for Social Work and Research 21st Annual Conference - Ensure Healthy Development for all Youth)

Schedule:

Friday, January 13, 2017: 4:00 PM

La Galeries 5 (New Orleans Marriott)

* noted as presenting author

Camille R. Quinn, PhD, Assistant Professor, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Kelly Whitaker, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Jamie Yoder, PhD, Assistant Professor, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Background/Purpose: There are 1.2 million cases of juvenile delinquency nationwide. In 2000, 62% of boys were adjudicated to probation across all categories of offenses. In 2009, over 600K cases of juvenile delinquency resulted in probation as a result of case disposition. Substantial research has been conducted on detained and incarcerated youth while much less is known about youth on probation and the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on their delinquent behavior. This study examines differences by race and ACEs according to their responses on the Youth Assessment Screening Instrument (YASI) and the association with their recidivism. The YASI assesses a youth’s responses to determine appropriate case planning for court-involved youth.

Methods: YASI and recidivism administrative data was collected from all youth on probation and their parents/caregivers about in a Midwestern county between January 2009 and August 2013. These deidentified records were merged to create a unique dataset and the sample (N=5,178) comprised boys on probation; African American (AA) = 3946 (76.2%) and Non AA = 1232 (23.8%). Variables included risk factors (ACEs), protective factors and race. (Non AA included White, Hispanic, Mixed & Other). Chi-square and logistic regression analyses were conducted using SPSS 21. Logistic regression was conducted to test the effect of the predictors on youth recidivism.

Results: Risk factors predicting recidivism were not significant for boys though protective factors in the family and peer domains were significant. Logistic regression predicted the probability that boys would recidivate, N=5178. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test was not significant, indicative of good fit. The predictor variables were age, race, child maltreatment, family dysfunction, appropriate parental discipline, and being close to prosocial peers. The full model was significant, 2(7, N=5178) = 28.67, p<.01. Boys reporting that their parents used appropriate discipline (OR=-.463), and were close to prosocial peers (-.273) were less likely to recidivate. The odds ratio for race indicates that White males were -.169 less likely to recidivate than members of minority groups.

Conclusion and Implications: Overall, boys on probation experience ACEs (risk factors) though only race and protective factors predicted recidivism in this sample. Therefore, community services that enhance parenting skills and foster relationships with prosocial peers are needed. The lack of significant findings for girls notes the need to further explore risk and protection and recidivism in a national sample. The high percentage of females that indicated high levels of risk factors and males that indicated protective factors is rarely noted in the literature, but it is important and should be considered in the determination of service provision in the community.