The purpose of the study is
to examine the impact of childhood maltreatment on youth offender recidivism in
Singapore. The study used case file coding on a sample of 3,744 youth
offenders, among whom about 6% had a childhood maltreatment history. The results
showed that the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory 2.0 (YLS/CMI
2.0) ratings significantly predicted recidivism for nonmaltreated youth
offenders, but not for maltreated youth offenders. Using propensity score
matching, the result from a Cox regression analysis showed that maltreated
youth offenders were 1.38 times as likely as their nonmaltreated counterparts
to reoffend with a follow-up period of up to 7.4 years. The results implied
that the YLS/CMI 2.0 measures were insufficient for assessing the risk for
recidivism for the maltreated youth offenders, and that other information is
needed to help assessors use the professional override when making the overall
risk ratings.
...Specifically, the present study showed that the recidivism
rate for maltreated offenders was higher at 57% as compared with 38% for
nonmaltreated offenders. This pattern of higher recidivism rate among
maltreated offenders was similar to previous studies. For example, the
recidivism rate was 56% versus 41% among U.S. youth who were involved in both
child protection and juvenile probation services as compared with those
delinquency cases only (Huang et al., 2012). These results suggest
that youth offenders with a childhood maltreatment history are at higher risk
of reoffending than those without.
The current study also showed that the maltreated
youth offenders had different profiles. For example, the maltreated offenders
were arrested for the first time about half a year younger on average than the
nonmaltreated offenders. This is consistent with previous research in that
childhood maltreatment may “speed up the age” when an individual becomes
involved in criminal activities (Widom, 1989).
In addition, previous studies have found that earlier engagement in criminal
activities is one of the strongest predictors of recidivism (Barrett, Katsiyannis, & Zhang, 2010; Benda, Corwyn, & Toombs, 2001; Cottle et al., 2001; K. C. Thompson & Morris, 2013). Prevention
programs can thus focus on dealing with the youth’s early entry into the
juvenile justice system, especially for the maltreated children, by promoting
effective parenting skills and increasing family supervision (Borum, 2003). It is also important that
existing policies relating to youth services ensure that these maltreated youth
are promptly provided with the relevant treatment services to address
trauma-related problems.
On top of the differences pertaining to personal
traits, the current research showed that more maltreated youth offenders were
from a background with household and parental problems. These findings suggest
that children from certain families are more likely to be maltreated and such
differences in their background may confound the true relationship between
childhood maltreatment and recidivism. Unlike most of the previous studies that
gauge childhood maltreatment effect without a proper control group, the present
study used nonmaltreated youth offenders with similar backgrounds as control.
Controlling for other variables and differences in the follow-up period, the
maltreated youth offenders were 1.38 times as likely to reoffend as the
nonmaltreated offenders. In other words, childhood maltreatment was a unique
contributor of youth offender recidivism even after controlling for their YLS/CMI
2.0 Overall Risk Ratings, as well as another 15 risk factors relating to their
personal characteristics, household environment, and parental background.
There is a possibility that maltreated youth
offenders might have developed distinct characteristics that made them more
prone to future criminal behavior. Specifically, maltreated youth offenders had
significantly higher levels of criminogenic needs in terms of antisocial
personality. This suggests that the link between childhood maltreatment and
delinquency may be mediated by personality traits...
Below: Survival curve for maltreated and nonmaltreated youth offenders with different risk levels of recidivism in the full sample
Full article at: http://goo.gl/HekxwQ
Joseph Teck Ling Goh, Ministry of Social and Family Development;
Dongdong Li, Centre for Research on Rehabilitation and
Protection, Ministry of Social and Family Development, 512 Thomson Road, #12-00
MSF Building, Singapore 298136, Singapore; e-mail: gs.vog.fsm@gnodgnod_il.
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv insight
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