Abstract
Juvenile recidivism rates may be defined as the number of young people who commit crimes, receive sentences, serve their time, and get convicted again for repeated offenses. The expediency of this research is determined by the fact that this highly disturbing issue cannot be properly addressed. In the United States, every state is allowed to choose its approach to how it tracks juvenile recidivism, and some states do not track its rates at all. This leads to a considerable gap in information that makes any responsive measures ineffective. In addition, the inefficiency of common approaches is justified by the presence of multiple factors that may influence re-offending. However, on the basis of multiple studies, the major reasons for recidivism among juvenile offenders include individual characteristics, social environment, an offender’s age, criminal history, substance abuse, poor academic performance, and the type of incarceration.
The method used for this study is a literature review – relevant sources were chosen for their subsequent analysis and the summary of information related to the issue of juvenile recidivism rates. According to the results, regardless of the fact that juvenile recidivism rates are not thoroughly tracked, the development and promotion of preventative and responsive strategies are essential.
While various factors that may influence recidivism rates to exist, they should be addressed by governmental systems to prevent re-offending and improve offenders’ lives instead of their incarceration. This study may be used as a basis for further research dedicated to juvenile and adult delinquency and recidivism.
Introduction
Juvenile recidivism rates may be defined as the number of young people who commit crimes, receive sentences, serve their time, and get convicted again for repeated offense. In general, for the criminal justice system, juvenile recidivism prevention is a vital issue that attract particular attention. It focuses on the major causes of criminal activity among youths for the development of appropriate strategies for its minimization. In general, juvenile recidivism rates indicate a system’s success or failure as it aims to deter offenders to commit crimes again. However, according to recent research, long and severe prison sentences cannot be regarded as the most efficient method of public safety improvement. In turn, it is associated with high costs and leads to prisons’ overpopulation. Moreover, sentences inevitably affect people’s lives in the future, especially juvenile arrests that negatively impact young citizens’ educational and social outcomes. In addition, in recent years, a particular practice of putting adolescents in adult prisons has raised major concerns (Raphel, 2014). At the same time, the most appropriate strategies of juvenile recidivism prevention remain unclear while young people tend to re-commit crimes more frequently in comparison with adults.
It goes without saying that efficient responsive measures require the examination of factors that contribute to the issue’s occurrence. In general, there are multiple factors that lead to juvenile recidivism, including individual characteristics, mental health disorders, social environment, family, the type of confinement, and criminal history. Addressing them implies the collaboration of almost all governmental systems for crime and recidivism prevention, efficient approaches and programs, and the support of juvenile offenders’ aftercare. In general, different states have developed and incorporates various programs, however regardless of the variety in approaches, all of them focus on the improvement of offenders’ lives instead of incarcerating them. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the issue of juvenile recidivism is research and summarize available knowledge.
Literature Review
As a matter of fact, there is a considerable number of studies dedicated to juvenile delinquency. At the same time, numerous experts emphasize the absence of information concerning exact juvenile recidivism rates across the country. The issue of data insufficiency is mentioned by Doyle (2019) – unlike adult recidivism, juvenile recidivism rates are not examined on the national level. However, according to general recidivism-related collected data, juveniles tend to commit another crime in the future more often than adult offenders. In many states across the country, approximately 80% of juveniles who were incarcerated are arrested again within three years after release (Salomon, n.d.). Thus, the study conducted by Doyle (2019) that used the data of 30,000 juvenile offenders from Illinois showed that 40% of youths who had already committed crimes received sentence in adult prison for re-offending by the age of 25. In addition, this research demonstrated that juvenile detention had a substantial impact on young people’s education. Basically, almost no juvenile offenders return to and graduate high school after the arrest.
Disturbing recidivism rates lead to the necessity of the investigation of their causes for appropriate responsive strategies. For the development of these strategies, additional researches were organized in order to understand what factors contribute to recidivism. Thus, Raphel (2014) addresses the study that aimed to evaluate how secure confinement is connected with crime prevention. For this, the rates of recidivism were compared among youths sentenced to a probation camp, group-home placement at a community-based facility, and in-home probation (Raphel, 2014). In order to ensure the credibility of results, young people with the same characteristics, including gender, race, age, welfare status, and previous charges, were addressed to exclude other factors that may influence criminal activities. The study’s key findings were the following:
- The type of youths’ punishment significantly affects re-offending rates – the likelihood of committing another crime for youths assigned to probation camps and groups homes was 2.12 and 1.28 times respectively grater in comparison with in-home probation (Raphel, 2014).
- 13% of in-home probation youths, 17% of group-home youths, and 26% of probation camp young people experience a subsequent arrest within the first year of sentence (Raphel, 2014). Within the period of five years, these rates increase up to 39%, 47%, and 65%, respectively (Raphel, 2014).
- At the same time, race and gender impact re-offending rates as well. Thus, male African American youths are more vulnerable to recidivism in comparison with female, white, and Hispanic youths.
- However, young people face disparities in relation to the security of their confinement – Hispanic and African American youths more frequently receive placement in group homes and probation camps for a similar misconduct comparing with their white peers.
- Finally, in dysfunctional families with open child welfare cases, juvenile recidivism risks were substantially greater.
Mallett et al. (2012) focus on multiple risk factors that may lead to juvenile delinquency and recidivism as well. Addressing the involvement of young people in the juvenile justice system, the authors divide related risks into the individual, family, school, and neighborhood ones (Mallett et al., 2012). The individual causes of juvenile delinquency include mental health problems, early aggression, and substance abuse. Factors connected with family and school are trauma due to inconsistent parenting, special education disabilities, educational deficits, and academic problems (Mallett et al., 2012). Neighborhood risks refer to family disruptions, residential instability, and general unemployment. Moreover, youth demographic factors, such as gender, age, race, and socioeconomic status should be considered as well.
At the same time, in their study, Mallet et al. (2012) distinguish between juvenile recidivism as a re-adjudication and recidivism as detention placement. The authors believe that measuring recidivism that presupposes incarceration is more informative for the development of preventative approaches. According to the study’s results the major predictors of recidivism include age, self-reported previous suicide attempts, a previous diagnosis of conduct disorder, and the number of court offenses (Mallett et al., 2012). At the same time, race, a misdemeanor conviction, and a previous diagnosis of ADHD have an insignificant impact on juvenile recidivism. In general, this study may be regarded as highly significant as it provides an insight into the right ways of recidivism prevention. According to it, a community-based screening of mental health issues and suicide predisposition may substantially minimize juvenile recidivism rates.
The existence of these factors and their impact on juvenile recidivism rates is supported by the study of Pataki et al. (n.d.). After the examination of re-offending among almost 3,000 juveniles, they found out that more than 95% “had problems in four or more of the following areas: mental health, substance abuse, behavior at school, academic performance, handicapping conditions, household characteristics, criminal or abusive family environment, or personal relationships with other family members” (Pataki et al., n.d., p. 1). In addition, gender, geographic region, adjudication, and recidivism type are associated with the risk of juvenile recidivism as well. Thus, three major factors that were distinguished by the authors on the basis of data collected are community characteristics, age at discharge, and criminal history.
Preventive strategies dedicated to the minimization of juvenile recidivism rates are reviewed by experts as well. MST Services (2018) address the experience of Washington state that passed the Community Juvenile Accountability Act in 1997. This legislation implemented particular programs that aimed to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. In 2004, the efficiency of this law was evaluated and according to the results, the focus on programs, including aggression replacement training and family therapy, contributed to the decrease of juvenile recidivism rate by 24% within the period of eighteen months after release (MST Services, 2018). Another strategy that may be regarded as the most successful one was implemented in the state of Missouri that opened small and treatment-oriented facilities in 1980s (MST Services, 2018). This approach helped lower juvenile recidivism rates in the state and regarded as a successful example for other parts of the country.
Methods/Analysis
The majority of studies dedicated to the examination of juvenile recidivism, its factors, and potential solutions, use the qualitative method of research. In other words, the authors collect data from official court records, code it, and analyze on the basis of prepared or appeared categories. As previously mentioned, for his study, Doyle (2019) collected data of 30,000 juvenile offenders from Illinois to evaluate the rates of recidivism and its impact on education. Mallett et al. (2012) applied the analysis of records collected from county’s juvenile courts. School records, juvenile court histories, mental health assessments, and probation supervision case files were provided for subsequent coding and placement into a statistical software package (Mallett et al., 2012). Pataki et al. (n.d.) addressed juvenile offenders, juvenile delinquents, and persons who needed supervision. Later, the initial full cohort that included 9477 individuals was limited to 2763 juvenile offenders on the basis of data availability (Pataki et al., n.d.). In addition, the study contained the literature review and interviews with the Division for Youth staff to provide more valid results.
For the current research, the method of literature review was chosen to distinguish common approaches to recidivism factors and preventative strategies. On the basis of search that included “juvenile recidivism,” “factors of juvenile recidivism,” and “prevention of juvenile recidivism,” available peer-reviewed articles and credible Internet resources were identified for their subsequent analysis and the summary of information related to the issue of juvenile recidivism rates.
Discussion/Conclusion
In general, imprisonment aims to deter offenders from breaking the law in the future, however recidivism undercuts this purpose. The majority of materials that address juvenile recidivism underlines the absence of relevant data and the unavailability of exact rates in the United States. In turn, every state is allowed to choose its approach to how it tracks juvenile recidivism, and some states do not track its rates at all. This leads to a considerable gap in information that makes any responsive measures ineffective.
In addition, common practices of the prevention of juvenile delinquency and recidivism remain unclear as well due to the presence of multiple factors that may influence re-offending. However, disturbing recidivism rates lead to the necessity of the investigation of their causes for appropriate responsive strategies. On the basis of psychological expertise and multiple studies, the major reasons for recidivism among juvenile offenders include the following:
- Acquired aggressiveness. During their first imprisonment, incarcerated juveniles are frequently advised by other criminals to behave in an extremely aggressive manner in order to avoid assault.
- Inability to employ. The criminal record frequently impacts a former offender’s ability to get a good job in adulthood. In addition, time spent in prison limits an individual’s ability to receive knowledge and skills increasing the risk of re-offending.
- Dysfunctional families. Juveniles from families with open child welfare cases are highly vulnerable to committing crimes and recidivism. Young people from families involved in criminal activities or who were physically or sexually abused by parents or other relatives are particularly vulnerable to re-offending. Moreover, the relationships within families may affect juvenile recidivism rates as well.
- Substance abuse. Juveniles who re-commit crimes frequently suffer from alcohol, marijuana, and hard drug use.
- Problems at school and poor educational performance. For the majority of juvenile offenders, disruptive or violent behavior, motivational or emotional impediments, and low core in multiple subject, including core ones, are reported.
- Mental health disorders. In a substantial number of cases, incarceration leads to the development of multiple mental health issues that may cause repeated crimes.
- Inappropriate approach of the system. The criminal justice system may contribute to high juvenile recidivism rates by a poor and inconsistent program approach and lack of support at the stage of aftercare.
Other factors include the age of criminality onset, the severity of prior assaults, gender, personality, negative peer relations, and the type of incarceration. Multiple pieces of research demonstrate that youths assigned to probation camps and groups homes re-committed crimes more often in comparison with youths assigned to in-home probation.
Regardless of the fact that juvenile recidivism rates are not thoroughly tracked, the development and promotion of preventative and responsive strategies are essential. This necessity is determined by the fact that juveniles re-commit crimes more frequently comparing with adult offenders, and almost 80% of them commit another crime during the next several years after release. The reduction of juvenile recidivism and the improvement of youth outcomes are based on several core principles:
- Supervision and resource-allocation decisions according to the assessments of validated risks and requirements;
- The adoption and efficient implementation of programs and services and the use of available data for the evaluation of system performance and monitoring of system improvements;
- The implementation of a comprehensive and coordinated approach in order to address young people’s needs;
- The correction of system programs and policies to reflect adolescents’ developmental needs.
In general, different states have developed and incorporates various programs, however regardless of the variety in approaches, all of them focus on the improvement of offenders’ lives instead of incarcerating them. Several concepts are incorporated into juvenile recidivism prevention, including surveillance, deterrence, discipline, counseling, restorative programs, multiple coordinated services, and skill building programs. Thus, common approaches include aggression replacement training, family therapy, the provision of supportive role models, ad family support in removing and avoiding negative influences. In addition, structural racism should be eliminated in all spheres of life as well. According to studies, an offender’s race impacts his or her severity of punishment and the type of incarceration. Thus, young people face disparities in relation to the security of their confinement – Hispanic and African American youths more frequently receive placement in group homes and probation camps for a similar misconduct comparing with their white peers.
References
Doyle, J. (2019). Juvenile recidivism: A second chance. Point Park University Online. Web.
Mallett, C. A., Fukushima, M., Stoddard-Dare, P., & Quinn, L. (2012). Factors related to recidivism for youthful offenders. Criminal Justice Studies, 26(1), 84-98. Web.
MST Services. (2018). Do we know the full extent of juvenile recidivism?MST Services. Web.
Pataki, G. E., Lapp, K. N., & Frederick, B. (n.d.). Factors contributing to recidivism among youth placed with The New York State Division for youth. Office of Justice System Analysis. Web.
Raphel, A. (2014). First-time juvenile offenders, probation and recidivism: Evidence from Los Angeles. The Journalist’s Resource. Web.
Salomon, N. (n.d.). Reducing juvenile recidivism. CSG Justice Center. Web.