NCJ Number
174367
Journal
Reaching Today's Youth Volume: 2 Issue: 4 Dated: Summer 1998 Pages: 4-8
Date Published
1998
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Interviews with four delinquent youths in the process of real-life transitions show that predicting resilience or recidivism is not always as simple as quantifying research- identified "risk" or "protective" factors.
Abstract
The lead author engaged in 2 years of tracking 100 juveniles who had violated the law frequently or seriously enough to be incarcerated in facilities operated by the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections. Demographic information was collected on their home lives, ethnicity, educational status, drug use, gang activity, and crime data. In the study, youths who were successful in their transitions into the community were often not perceptibly different from those who returned to the juvenile corrections system due to new offenses or parole violations. Youths from both groups -- the resilient and the recidivist -- came from similar backgrounds, family situations, and cultures, and they had been equally involved in gangs, drugs, and criminal activity. This article presents excerpts from conversations with four of the juveniles, two of whom eventually recidivated, and two who did not. The author could not identify any distinguishing characteristics or experiences that clearly would have predicted the outcomes. All four had similar strengths and risks. The author suggests that degrees and quality of supportive influences as well as continuity and variations in environmental influences over time can impact youth as they interact with intangible factors of personality and temperament.