Juvenile offenders: an intervention analysis

¶ … Originality, Applicability, and Relevance; Interdisciplinarity; Literature Review;)

It is the typically the norm for many offender programs follow the long-standing conventions that have been developed in the last few generations. However, the traditional route does not seem to consider fully the psychosocial factors that influence individual engagement in intervention settings. While factors related to offending behavior are known throughout the research community, their influence on what causes the behavior or motivational engagement still remains unclear. Brooks & Khan (2015) provided an effort to pursue these gaps in knowledge by creating a study that attempted to examine the precursors to behavior and engagement by interviewing and monitoring 109 juvenile offenders. The sample existed within a non-custodial community intervention and the researchers explored the antisocial behavior, influence of aggression, and disruptive and problematic behavior during school hours. They also monitored and explored self-esteem and parental bonding as possible moderators and reported on the motivation to engage in such situations.

Their results also revealed relationships among these variables that there were four subtypes of motivation. These subtypes can be categorized as motivation, identified regulation, extrinsic, and intrinsic motivation. The results compiled indicated that determinants of self-esteem that appear in the data was decidedly mixed and did not reveal any new information. The results also suggest the nature of motivation is complex and for intervention strategies to work, they must provide the person with a sense of competence and self-autonomy. "The findings highlight the multidimensional and complex nature of motivation, and support the need to internalize extrinsic motivations through the promotion of self-autonomy and competence within intervention programs in order to maximize engagement" (Brooks & Khan, 2015, p. 351).

These results were supported by another study that highlighted the need for intervention strategies to take into consideration what will motivate adolescents to engage in positive behaviors which could ultimately prevent further conflicts with the justice system. What was found in this study, was that juveniles tend to find intervention methods that encourage participation and self-autonomy more interesting and influential than those that merely addressed the "base needs" of an adolescent (Cooper, 2015, p. 285). For example, if a rehabilitation program sought to enable positive coping mechanisms for juvenile offenders, by engaging in thoughtful discussion with them concerning their lives and how they wish to see themselves in the future, then this may be more helpful than treating these juvenile offenders equally within a standardized routine. They need some level of attention and individualization in order to feel motivated enough to follow through the protocol of the program and face their unique challenges.

For example, feelings and motivation, are closely associated and if someone does not have a positive outlook towards a program or intervention strategy, then they will most not be effective. DeLisi & Vaughn (2014) have argued that the association between temperament and behavior has been known for hundreds of years. However, it has not been clearly discussed and used within a crime theory, and this perspective represents a relatively new application of these theories. Their study was a meta-analysis that incorporated research and theory from over three hundred studies in various fields of interest such as genetics, psychiatry, neuroscience, and criminology and introduced a criminal justice system model that implicated the temperament-based theory of antisocial behavior. This line of reasoning also helped to discover temperamental constructs that could be applied to identify previously unrecognized connections between the relevant factors.

The researchers also discovered that negative emotionality and effortful control are two temperamental constructs that are major indicators for behavioral problems and self-regulation deficits, in infancy, all the way to adolescence, as well as across adulthood. "Two temperamental constructs -- effortful control and negative emotionality -- are significantly predictive of self-regulation deficits and behavioral problems in infancy, in toddlerhood, in childhood, in adolescence, and across adulthood" (DeLisi & Vaughn, 2014, p. 10). If these constructs are identified in prevention programs and help to make up assessments of juveniles and juvenile offenders, then this may contribute to the design of a more effective intervention strategy.

Another theory that has the potential to contribute significantly to identifying motivations behind criminal behavior, especially for adolescents, is Farrington's Integrated Cognitive Antisocial Potential Theory. Farrington's antisocial potential (AP), unlike antisocial propensity, suggests antisocial potential has less to do with biological factors and more to do with the environment and nurturing. Also, there is long-term AP and short-term AP components to antisocial potential; meaning, the two components are influenced by different things. For example, long-term AP from Farrington's perspective is influenced by individual characteristics and childhood socialization. Short-term AP, by contrast, is influenced by short-term energizers like being intoxicated or angry (Farrington, 2014, p. 2560).

By examining long-term AP characteristics that are not influenced by outside events like unemployment and loss, Farrington came to the conclusion that long-term AP was not much of an indicator or delinquency versus short-term AP which is affected by social interaction and the environment. By mixing innate characteristics with interaction and environment, Farrington developed a theory that could explain some of the reasons why some youths were more prone to juvenile delinquency than others. He also argued that long-term AP with short-term AP (high short-term AP suggests higher incidence of delinquency) by stating long-term AP could contribute to the pervasiveness of short-term energizing factors like ongoing anger issues and repeated drinking, which could then lead offenders to seek out the kinds of social settings where chances for crime and delinquent behaviors are far more common (Junger-Tas & Decker, 2008, p. 305).

For example, black male youths are more likely to get arrested than other demographic groups. He argues that this has nothing to do with race, but merely location and environment and availability of potentially harmful influences. By engaging in street or gang-related activities and following a youth culture that promotes drug use and violence, these at-risk youths could be more likely to engage in criminal activities than those who do not seek such settings (Haegerich, Salerno & Bottoms, 2013, p. 86). "Research shows that the most disadvantaged members of society have the highest risk of spending time in prison. One in nine African-American men are imprisoned, and over a third of young, Black, male high-school dropouts are in prison or jail on any given day" (Sykes, Gioviano & Piquero, 2015, p. 123). While characteristics related to oppression and inequality may be seen since the development of these communities, it is actually the avenues of expression that perpetuate potential criminal offenses.

In a 2014 qualitative study collect frontline viewpoints which were explored in order to address the challenge of meeting the criminogenic needs of youths in an RNR or risk-need-responsivity-based case management framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducting in a controlled setting and examined twenty-nine probation officers in Toronto, Canada. Some emergent themes found during the study included the significance of targeting, which can be categorized as "high impact" relative to criminogenic needs, the lack of evidence-based programming, the salience of particular responsivity factors within case management, and respondents' doubt in regards to their role in meeting the youths' criminogenic needs. Results demonstrate the need for research probing the connection between explicit responsivity factors, criminogenic needs, and educational effects of youth on probation. "Findings also support recent initiatives that provide concrete training to probation officers around the implementation of the need and responsivity principles in effective case management of justice-involved youth" (Haqanee, Peterson-Badali & Skilling, 2014, p. 37).

This study also helped reveal several things that were indicative of opportunities to explore other avenues of research in regards to juvenile offenders. A 2006 study explored targeting the self-esteem of youth offenders in order to effectively treat them (Hubbard, 2006, p. 40). This kind of approach was also adopted by a 2011 study that sought to understand youth offender's expectations for success in rehabilitation type programs/interventions (Iselin, Mulvey, Loughran, Chung & Schubert, 2011, p. 239). While neither studies were able to come up with definitive results, they did bring to the forefront the need to address the expectations for success by youth offenders that could be expected kinds of interventions and any changes in their self-esteem as a result of participation in such efforts. By addressing the real psychological concerns and needs of juvenile offenders during intervention phases, it may help in alleviating some of the risk related to different predispositions that can lead juvenile offenders to re-offend at some point in the future.

While examining some of the psychological needs common in youth offenders, which can help understand how to cultivate successful intervention strategies, it is also important to assess the overall success of these kinds of programs. A 2013 study noted that correctional boot camps often do not have a high success rate and do not lessen the re-offense rates that was observed by those who participate in these boot camps. However, the study suggests boot camps that include major rehabilitative components like HIT or High-Intensity Training may prove beneficial. "High-Intensity Training (HIT) for offenders aged 18-21 at Thorn Cross Young Offender Institution in England was followed by a significant reduction in the number of reconvictions in a 2-year follow-up" (Jolliffe, Farrington & Howard, 2013, p. 515). While benefits were seen two years after the initial study, researchers did a ten-year follow-up and saw even after a decade, offenders who received HIT has significantly lower frequency and prevalence of reconvictions, although with some lessening of superiority after roughly a four-year period.

Not only did the cumulative number of convictions that were predicted to have been prevented steadily climbed over time, but also the cumulative cost saved savings that could be associated with this trend. Such results indicate that HIT may be a worthwhile addition to any type of rehabilitative program for juvenile offenders. A 2012 review also highlighted the benefits of HIT among other successful intervention strategies (Koehler, Losel, Akoensi & Humphreys, 2012, p. 30). By highlighting evidence-based practices that have been proven successful and adapting these practices to rehabilitation and prevention programs, the numbers of juvenile offenders and re-offenders in general may decrease, which would equate to saving time and money for the government, taxpayers, and helping offenders lead productive and crime-free lives.

Rehabilitative programs are much more useful and lead to more positive outcomes than the other alternative, incarceration, especially in adult facilities. Some research " ... suggests that incarceration fails to meet the developmental and criminogenic needs of youth offenders and is limited in its ability to provide appropriate rehabilitation. Incarceration often results in negative behavioral and mental health consequences, including ongoing engagement in offending behaviors" (Lambie & Randell, 2013, p. 448). When youths face incarceration, they face immersion in a prison culture that may exacerbate their already unstable perspective of the world and their inability to cope with stressors could be reinforced with the negative behaviors witnessed while incarcerated. Many youth offenders have severe behavioral problems, which are a consequence of the interactions and complex individual dynamics, as well as the environmental factors that maintain and elicit offending behavior.

Another aspect of incarceration that may also play a role in increasing the potential for re-offense among juvenile offender populations is improper maturation (Leverso, Bielby & Hoelter, 2015, p. 70). When youth develop their identities and interests while incarcerated and are then released, they will seek acceptance and community with people they identify with, which ultimately may lead to situations with a higher chance of re-offense. Furthermore, this leads them to policies affecting re-offenders and the types of interventions that are proposed to handle the re-offense.

The study of serious offending involves examination of many different policies, and whether such policies offer the inclusion of protective environments to help balance effects of risk factors (Loeber & Ahonen, 2014, p. 117). Several research articles suggest serious offending must be quelled in order to minimize the financial burden such activity places on society, especially at the juvenile level (Maschi, Schwalbe & Ristow, 2013). When looking at community programs that attempt to ease the burden offenders by providing them the opportunity to be outside of the structured life of prison and other criminal facilities, some evidence suggests these kinds of intervention may also not be as effective as previously thought, due mainly to lack of existing evidence on proven, effective ways of treatment in these populations (Lupton & Kintrea, 2011, p. 325).

One such example of treatments that lack any evidence for support is related to building victim empathy from sexual offenders. While such programs seek to increase victim empathy among sexual offenders to help avoid re-offense, evidence suggests such approaches do little to stop such individuals from re-offending. "The authors conclude that the enthusiasm for victim empathy work as a rehabilitative endeavor is disproportionate given the weak evidence base and the lack of a coherent theoretical model of change" (Mann & Barnett, 2012, p. 282). Evidence-based practice should take precedence over traditional models of intervention (MEARS et al., 2014) (Mears, Pickett & Mancini, 2014).

Psychological evaluations may prove useful, much like other assessments, in helping to identify the needs and intervention strategies for offenders much earlier in the process (Morin, Cruise, Hinz, Holloway & Chapman, 2015, p. 895). Behaviors such as impulsive sensation seeking should be included in a psychological assessment as a risk factor, since impulsive sensation seeking contributes to criminal behavior, especially sexual crimes (PORTNOY et al., 2014). It follows that if juvenile reform does not take into consideration the psychosocial aspect of criminal behavior and integrate these evidence-based findings in an intervention, then the intervention strategies will simply not work (Rajah, Kramer & Sung, 2014). Instead such efforts are typically just a waste tax payer money and lead to burnout among people who work within the criminal justice system, like probation officers (Salyers, Hood, Schwartz, Alexander & Aalsma, 2015, p. 175).