The role of individual protective factors in predicting youth recidivism
Loading...
Files
Date
2018
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of New Brunswick
Abstract
Youth criminal behaviour has significant implications for both public safety and youth functioning; thus, effective methods to manage youth risk and promote rehabilitation are
imperative. Risk assessment aims to assess the factors underlying a youth’s criminal
behaviour in order to make informed decisions about risk management and intervention.
However, risk assessment has been criticized for not considering protective factors (i.e.,
characteristics of the youth or his/her environment that reduce the likelihood of
offending). There is limited research on individual characteristics of youth that act as
protective factors for recidivism and results of available research are inconsistent, both
of which limit the assessment of individual protective factors and their integration into
risk assessment. The current dissertation focused on the role of individual protective
factor domains in youth risk assessment. Research objectives included examining
whether individual protective factors across personal, social, emotional, and cognitive
domains predicted recidivism and whether these protective factor domains moderated
the relationship between risk factors and multiple markers of recidivism. Participants
included 173 youth (aged 12 to 18 years) who received a court-ordered risk assessment
through the IWK Youth Forensic Services. Recidivism in the form of new charges was
assessed over an average follow-up period of approximately seven years. A significant
proportion of youth committed general (87%) and violent (65%) recidivism. Although
gender and youth risk level were both significant predictors of general recidivism,
higher cognitive ability was the only protective factor that emerged as a significant
individual predictor of general recidivism. No support for a moderating effect of the
protective factor domains was found. This study contributes to our understanding of the relationship between individual protective factors and youth recidivism. Specifically,
better cognitive ability is a promising protective factor for general recidivism. However,
resiliency domains, at least as conceptualized and measured in the current study, were
more consistent with specific responsivity factors than protective factors. These results
have important implications for risk assessment and rehabilitative practices for justice involved
youth, including suggestions for how practitioners can best utilize protective
factors as part of risk assessment and rehabilitative interventions.