Transcript Pathways to Desistance

The Pathways Girls
Pathways to Desistance
Supported by
 Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention
 National Institute of Justice
 National Institute on Drug Abuse
 John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
 William Penn Foundation
 William T. Grant Foundation
 Pennsylvania Commission on Crime & Delinquency
 Arizona Governor’s Justice Commission
Study Goals


Richer information about serious adolescent offenders
Understand the desistance process
 Individual maturation
 Life changes
 Systems involvement

Improved practice and policy in juvenile justice
 Risk assessment
 Targeted interventions and sanctions
Study Design

Two sites
 Philadelphia and Phoenix

Enroll serious adolescent offenders
 1,355 felony offenders, aged 14 -18
 Females and adult transfer cases
 Regular interviews over eight years
 Initial interviews
 Time point interviews
 Release interviews
 Other sources of information
 Collateral interviews
 Official records
Who are these girls?
FEMALE
MALE
Age of first self-reported
delinquency
10.4 years
9.2 years
Age at first petition
to court
14.9 years
14.3 years
Number of prior petitions
to court
1.3
2.3
Proportion of time spent
“locked up” over 3 years
11%
37%
Sentenced as adults
7%
16%
Prevalence of Placements Over 3 Years
60
Male
Female
Percent
50
40
30
20
10
0
Contracted
Res
Contracted
Res MH
YDC/AYDC
Detention
Jail/Prison
Youths may have experienced multiple placements over the 3 year follow-up
Other
Gender Differences in
History of Victimization
Percent at Baseline
70
60
50
Male
Female
Shot at
Raped
40
30
20
10
0
Victim of Beaten Up
Violence
Attacked
with
Weapon
Percent Diagnosis in Past Year
Gender Differences in
Mental Health and Substance Abuse
35
Male
Female
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Affective
Disorder
PTSD
Alcohol Abuse Drug Abuse
/Dependence /Dependence
Mean Number of Offenses
Gender Differences in
Self-Reported Offending
2.5
Male
Female
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
6
12
18
24
30
Months Since Baseline Interview
36
Are there chronic female offenders?
Percent
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
1~2
3~4
Number of Time Points Re-Offended
5~6
Are Chronic Female Offenders Different From
Girls Who Do Not Offend Chronically?

There is heterogeneity among these girls…..
 Chronic Female Offenders are more likely to be….
 Less psychosocially immature
 Less future oriented
 Less responsible
 Less able to consider others
 More impulsive
 More likely to be a victim of violence
 More likely to have anxiety and a diagnosis of PTSD
 More likely to have a drug dependence disorder