¶ … Role of Family in Juvenile Offenders Sociology 398: Methods of Social Research

Barrett, D., Ju, S., Katsiyannis, A., Zhang, D. (2015). Females in the juvenile justice system: influences on delinquency and recidivism. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24: 427-433.

"Our study addressed two major research questions. First, among delinquent females, what are the personal and family background variables which are useful in predicting female recidivism? Second, to what extent can we predict membership in the delinquent group versus the non-delinquent control group on the basis of females' emotional/behavioral problems and early adverse family experiences?" (2015: 428).

"Using information from a state department of juvenile justice, we examined the role of selected family and demographic variables in predicting female recidivism"

a. Variables included drug use, family delinquency, severity of the offense, and age. The control consisted of non-delinquent females.

-"multivariate logistic regression (Hosmer and Lemeshow 2000) was chosen to examine the variables that predicted whether a female would be in the delinquent or the non-delinquent sample" (2015: 430).

-- The study used linear regression model of analysis as well.

3.) "The sample for this analysis included 34,614 female juveniles whose age at first referral ranged from 5 to 19" (2015: 428) and "data from the DJJ were merged with data from the SC State Budget and Control Board's Office of Research and Statistics (ORS)" (2015: 429). "Finally, a comparison, non-delinquent sample was randomly selected from a previously created control sample of 99,602 youth using data made available from SCDE; the non-delinquent sample was constructed to have the same proportions of birth years, gender, and ethnicities as the DJJ cohort" (2015: 429).

4.) Data was analyzed using "Chi square and phi coefficient analyses," linear regression and multivariate regression models.

5.) The expected results were similar to the actual results: the delinquent females showed that the greatest predictor was mental health disorder related to impulse control. Other contributors to delinquency were dysfunctional family home life or broken home systems and drug use.

Farrell, A., Mays, S., Henry, D., Schoeny, M. (2011). Parents as moderators of the impact of school norms and peer influences on aggression in middle school students. Child Development,...

The hypothesis was that risk factors could be identified by assessing grade level and school norms that supported delinquency.
a. The variables measured included class norms supporting aggression, delinquent peer associations, parental support for fighting and for nonviolence, and parental involvement.

-- The level of measurement for each of the variables was ordinal.

3.) The study uses a random sample of 5,581 students from 37 different schools. The children were in the 6th grade between the years 2001 and 2002. "Participants were recruited from a random sample of approximately 80 students per cohort from rosters of each of the larger middle schools, and from all eligible students at the smaller Chicago schools" (2011: 149). Data was collected via electronic survey (computer-based). Also, student behavior ratings were collected from teachers, who were paid $10 for their rating of every student.

4.) Alpha coefficients were used to analyze the data, and mixed-effects models via SAS PROC MIXED were utilized to assess the growth matrices of the variables and their impact on the students.

5.) Positive correlation between the variables and the changes in aggression in the middle school students were identified. Protective factors offered by parental intervention were also identified using parameters that were unique to this model of correlation. The findings were consistent with the hypothesis set out in the introduction of the study.

Pryor-Kowalski, M. (2013). Learning disabilities, juvenile delinquency and the family:

the role of 'intensive parenting'. Michigan Family Review, 17(1): 21-41.

1. The research question used in this study was what are the ways that parents can manage children with learning disabilities and/or delinquency issues.

2. The hypothesis of the study is that stress, whether in school or at home, is a factor in delinquency and learning disability, and that empathetic parenting can be…