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  • v.47(4); Oct-Dec 2022

Juvenile’s Delinquent Behavior, Risk Factors, and Quantitative Assessment Approach: A Systematic Review

Madhu kumari gupta.

Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

Subrajeet Mohapatra

Prakash kumar mahanta.

1 Department of Clinical Psychology, Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Allied Science, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

Background:

Not only in India but also worldwide, criminal activity has dramatically increasing day by day among youth, and it must be addressed properly to maintain a healthy society. This review is focused on risk factors and quantitative approach to determine delinquent behaviors of juveniles.

Materials and Methods:

A total of 15 research articles were identified through Google search as per inclusion and exclusion criteria, which were based on machine learning (ML) and statistical models to assess the delinquent behavior and risk factors of juveniles.

The result found ML is a new route for detecting delinquent behavioral patterns. However, statistical methods have used commonly as the quantitative approach for assessing delinquent behaviors and risk factors among juveniles.

Conclusions:

In the current scenario, ML is a new approach of computer-assisted techniques have potentiality to predict values of behavioral, psychological/mental, and associated risk factors for early diagnosis in teenagers in short of times, to prevent unwanted, maladaptive behaviors, and to provide appropriate intervention and build a safe peaceful society.

I NTRODUCTION

Juvenile delinquency is a habit of committing criminal offenses by an adolescent or young person who has not attained 18 years of age and can be held liable for his/her criminal acts. Clinically, it is described as persistent manners of antisocial behavior or conduct by a child/adolescent repeatedly denies following social rules and commits violent aggressive acts against the law and socially unacceptable. The word delinquency is derived from the Latin word “delinquere” which described as “de” means “away” and “linquere” as “to leaveor to abandon.” Minors who are involved in any kind of offense such as violence, gambling, sexual offenses, rape, bullying, stealing, burglary, murder, and other kinds of anti-social behaviors are known as juvenile delinquents. Santrock (2002) defined “an adolescent who breaks the law or engages in any criminal behavior which is considered as illegal is called juvenile delinquent.”[ 1 ] In India, Juvenile Justice (J. J.-Care and protection of Children) Act of 2000 stated that “an individual whether a boy/girl, who is under 18 years of age and has committed an offense, referred or convicted by the juvenile court have considered a juvenile delinquent.”

P REVALENCE R ATE : J UVENILE D ELINQUENCY IN I NDIA

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (India, 2019), statistical data of crimes in India show that overall, 38,685 juveniles were placed under arrest in 32,235 cases, among 35,214 juveniles were taken into custody under cases of IPC and 3471 juveniles were arrested under cases of special and local laws (SLL) during 2019. About 75.2% of the total convicted juveniles (29,084 out of 38,685) were apprehended under both IPC and SLL belonging to the age group 16–18 years. In 2019, 32,235 juvenile cases involving and recorded, indicating a slight increment of 2.0% over 2018 (31,591 cases). The rate of crime also indicates a slight increase from 7.1 (2018) to 7.2 (2019).[ 2 ] The total registered cases against juvenile delinquents are calculated as crime incidence rate per one Lakh population as shown in Figure 1 .

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is IJCM-47-483-g001.jpg

The graphical view of registered cases against Juveniles in conflict with law under Indian penal code and special and local laws crimes during 2014–2019 of all the State (s) and union territories of India Sources: Crime in India National (2014-2019), National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, 2019

R ISK -F ACTORS A FFECTING D ELINQUENT B EHAVIOR

Studies identify that multiple risk factors are responsible for delinquent behavior categorized as individual, parental, family, community, society, schools/educational, financial, mental as well as psychological factors of the individual and the family shown in Table 1 . Adolescents involve themselves in various anti-social activities to fulfill their basic needs. Basically, “delinquency” is just a recreational activity for earning money. These risk factors differ from person to person during the early childhood period and very crucial because children, who are involved in any kind of deviant activity at an early stage, have a higher chance to adopt delinquent tendencies chronically.[ 33 ]

Developmental phases, risk-factors and developing delinquent behaviours of the child

Developmental phaseRisk-factorsDelinquent behavior
During pregnancy to infancy period (initial phase)The childComplications during pregnancy and delivery of the child; exposure to neurotoxins or any early childhood serious diseases after birth; difficult temperament; impulsivity/hyperactivity; poor attention/concentration; below intellectual ability; male gender
FamilyAlcohol/any substance/drug/smoking by mother during pregnancy; teenage mother; parents poor education; maternal clinical depression; parent’s involvement in drugs/substance abuse and antisocial/criminal activities; poor parent-child communication; poor socioeconomical conditions; serious marital conflicts; large family size
Toddler phaseChildAggressive/impulsive/disruptive behavior; persistent lying; attention seeking/risk-taking behavior; lack of guilt/empathy
FamilyHarsh/abusive/erratic discipline in the family or member’s behaviors; lack of supervision/neglect/maltreatment; parental separation with child
CommunityViolence television shows; violent/abusive neighbors
Middle childhood periodChildDisruptive behaviors; involving in criminal activities like stealing, pocketing, etc.,; early-onset of substance abusing and or sexual activities or as victims of early sexual and physical abuses; mood swings as high or low (manic/depressive); withdrawal behavior; positive attitude towards disruptive behaviors; exposure and victimization to any violence or abusive acts; hyperactivity, poor attention and concentration, restlessness, and/or risk-taking behaviors; violent behavior; involvement of antisocial activities; favorable beliefs and attitude of the individual to deviant/antisocial behavior
FamilyLack of parental supervision; parental conflict; deprivation of basic need in the family
SchoolPoor academic performance; negative attitude towards schools; lack of supervision by teachers and school staffs; truancy; poor organizational and management functioning of the school
Peer groupsRejection by peers; association with gang members or deviant peers and siblings; sibling’s involvement in criminal activities; Peer’s involvement in criminal activities; beliefs and attitude of peers to deviant/antisocial behavior
CommunityResidence in a disorganized/disadvantaged neighborhood; availability of arms/weapons; availability of drugs/substances; poverty/poor neighborhood; neighbor’s involvements in criminal acts
Adolescent periodAdolescentsPsychological conditions - emotional, cognitive and intellectual ability, personality; physical disabilities; involvement in any drug or substance dealing activities; carrying arms or weapons; belief and attitude of the individual to deviant/antisocial behavior
FamilyPoor family management; low levels of parental supervision; family conflict or poor bonding of family members; parental involvement in any antisocial or criminal activities; child misbehave or maltreatment; parental separation with a child; socioeconomical condition of family and members
SchoolSchool dropout; frequent school transitions; low attachment with teachers, school staffs, and mates
Peer groupsInvolving in a gang; peer groups engaged in criminal acts; peer’s beliefs and attitude to antisocial behavior
CommunityCommunity and neighborhood disorganization; poverty; drugs, alcohol, etc., substances availability; neighborhood involvement in criminal acts; exposure to racial and violent prejudice and stigmas

Juvenile delinquency is caused by a wide range of factors, such as conflicts in the family, lack of proper family control, residential environmental effects, and movie influence, along with other factors are responsible for delinquent behavior.[ 3 ] Family and environmental factors, namely restrictive behaviors, improper supervision, negligence, criminal activities of parents, improper motivation by peers, fear of peer rejection, poverty, illiteracy, poor educational performance at school, lack of moral education may turn the individual personality into delinquents. Moreover, in the environment, deteriorated neighborhood, direct exposure to violence/fighting (or exposure to violence through media), violence-based movies are considered major risk factors.[ 4 ] In India, a higher level of permissive parenting in low-income families had so many family members and due to economic conditions, the adolescents had pressure to search various income sources to sustain the family, and it has affected parental behavior toward adolescents.[ 5 ] The children who belong to the lower middle-socio-economical class and are rejected by society showed more aggressive behavior.[ 6 ]

Juvenile gang members exhibit significantly higher rates of mental health issues such as conduct disorders, attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorders, antisocial personality disorder, posttraumatic-stress-disorders, and anxiety disorders.[ 7 ] As well as the intellectual level of young offenders is significantly different from nonoffenders. Emotional problems on adolescents are related to delinquent behavior and impulsivity directly associated with antisocial behavior among adolescents.[ 8 ] Poor self-control of adolescents involved them in substance use, affected harmfully, and increased involvements in anti-social activities.[ 9 ] Nonviolent people, who not involved in any gang, are less likely to utilize mental-health services, having lower levels of psychiatric morbidity, namely antisocial personality disorders, psychosis, and anxiety disorders, when compared with the group of violent offenders.[ 10 ]

M ACHINE L EARNING : A N EW Q UANTITATIVE E VALUATION A PPROACH

Machine learning (ML) is belonging to the multidisciplinary field that includes programming, math, and statistics, and as a new and dynamic field that necessitates more study. It is a branch of computer science that emerged through pattern recognition and computational learning theory of artificial intelligence. ML is exploring researches and development of algorithms that can learn and genera tea prediction besides a given set of data through the computer. It is a scope for the study that gives computers the capability to learn without being principally programmed.[ 11 ] Tom M. Mitchell explained ML as “a computer-based program to learn from action of “E” concerning any task of ‘T’s, and some performance evaluates “P,” if its performance on “T,” as assessed by “P,” improves with action of E.”[ 12 ] The goal of ML is to mimic human learning in computers.[ 13 ] Humans learn from their experiences and ML methods learn from data. The user provides a portion of a dataset designated to train by the algorithm. The algorithm creates a model based on the relationships among variables in the dataset, and the remaining dataset is used to validate the ML model. In simple words, ML approach is for risk indicator is meant to magnify the potential of current knowledge.[ 15 ] ML sits at the common frontier of many academic fields, including statistics, mathematics, computer science, and engineering.[ 14 , 17 ] ML models principally categorized into three categories, namely supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement based on their task which they are attempting to accomplish. Supervised learning is relying on a training set where some characteristics of data are known, typically labels or classes, and target to find out the universal rule that maps inputs to outputs. Unsupervised learning has no design to give to the learning algorithm, balance itself to find out the patterns through inputs. In reinforcement, interaction with a dynamic environment happens during which a particular target such as driving a vehicle is performed without a driver principally involved in any activities, namely comparison. In numerous studies, pattern classification approaches based on ML algorithms are used to forecast human beings into various categories by maximizing the distance among data groups. ML generally refers to all actions that train a computer algorithm to determine a complicated pattern of data that is conceivable used for forecast category of membership into a new theme (e.g., individual vs. controls).[ 32 ]

R ATIONAL OF THE S TUDY

In the last decade, various researchers have been attracted to the use of quantitative computer-based techniques for analyzing various psychological and clinical aspects, which have greatly contributed to the area of modern psychology. In this analysis, most of the works are devoted to the use of various quantitative analysis techniques, namely ML and statistical methods which has utilized by the researchers for evaluating various risk and protective factors of juveniles. Henceforth, studies on the application of the ML model for risk-assessment of delinquent behavior on juveniles are limited as compared to other techniques, namely logistic regression. Hence, this review paper may explore the utilization of ML to get an easy and quick assessment on juveniles and helpful for future studies. It may help to determine the most significant risk factors and establishment of a successful treatment program that prevents juveniles from delinquent activities and stops them from recidivism.

In this review, all these studies carried out which has used various quantitative techniques to detected juvenile delinquency with specially emphasis on ML and statistical approaches. The review is organized into four sections follows as: Section-I gives an overview of juvenile delinquency, prevalence rates in India, and various behavioral risk factors during the developmental period. It also provides general information about ML as a new approach and their application. Section-II included information about the methodology of the present review. Section-III explores the results and discusses which explore the ML and statistical methods for detecting juvenile behaviors and Section-IV concludes the extant research of the present review and the implications for future work.

M ETHODOLOGY

This review paper aim is to find the various quantitative techniques (computer-assisted techniques) ML and statistical approaches which have been used for assessing/predicting delinquent behaviors, traits, and risk factors among juveniles.

Sources of information

For this review article, a total of 15 research articles were identified and selected through Google-scholar, Web of Science, Academia, PubMed, and Research-Gate, using the keywords, namely juvenile-delinquency, ML, Risk-factors, and delinquent-behavior. All relevant studies were selected for review of the quantitative approaches for identifying delinquent behavior and risk factors of adolescents and the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram for articles search process as shown in Figure 2 .[ 34 ]

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is IJCM-47-483-g002.jpg

Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses flow diagram for search outcomes of quantitative assessment of juvenile delinquent behaviors

Inclusion criteria

Research studies published since 2011–2019, case studies, empirical, quantitative, qualitative, and cross-sectional studies published in English were included, which used ML and statistical models to analyze behaviors, risk and associated factors among juveniles.

Exclusion criteria

Protocol, dissertations, prototype studies, and studies which published in other languages were excluded.

Studies on machine learning and statistical methods among juvenile delinquency

In this review, we performed a rigorous search of the literature to provide a narrative description of the various quantitative computer-based approaches which are applicable to assess and identify the delinquent behaviors and risk factors on juveniles. Initially, the search identified 150 articles through various databases, search outcomes show in the PRISMA flow diagram [ Figure 2 ]. One hundred and thirty-five articles were removed by screening through the title, text, removal of duplicate articles and based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, we identified 15 research articles in full text and these selected articles comprising through expert opinions. The findings of these articles tabulated the diverse approaches on the current state of knowledge about assessment of early diagnosis of delinquent behaviors and risk factors and tried to provide a summary which based on computer-based quantitative analysis [ Table 2 ].

Summary table of relevant studies which used quantitative approach to detect delinquent behaviors and risk factors among juvenile behaviors

Author’s name and yearSamples and sourcesAims/objectivesModel/methods for analyzing resultFindings of the study
Castro and Hernandez, 2019[ ]City Social Welfare Development Office, Butuan, Philippines, A total sample 360 children (177 chidren at risk, or have experience maltreatment and 183 children in conflict with law)To develop a predictive model to analyze the children in conflict with law, and at-risk as well as compel the preventive optionsDecision tree, Naive Bayes model, GLMs and logistic regressionLarge numbers of children from 12–17 years are victims of maltreatment, and adolescents from 15–17 years are committed to severe criminal activities
Kim . (2019)[ ]Across various jurisdictions from Florida, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. A total of 8000 sexually offending juveniles, from 2009 to 2013The study examined the present practice and policy for the assessment, treatment, and intervention of sexually offender delinquentsTraditional regression and ML algorithmsCriminal history, sexual offending experiences, delinquent peers are the most important risk factors. Some influential factors viz., school performance, peer connection; regretful feelings, impulsiveness, mental health, and substance abuse are theimportant predictive factors of sexual offenders for recidivism
Sumalatha and Santhi, 2018[ ]Juvenile delinquentsTo establish a model for enhancing the efficiency of the Bayes algorithm classification for detecting juvenile affliction depends on paternity behavior and usage of digital gadgets. A model consisting of three phases’ viz., ranking prototype, PEH model, and CAPMNaive Bayes probabilistic modelJuvenile affliction is highly dependent upon parental behavior and influence by digital gadgets
Rokven . 2018[ ]12–17 years, Dutch juvenilesFor comparison among four groups - Online delinquents, offline delinquents, nondelinquents, and both online and offline delinquentsMultinominal logistic regressionJuveniles who had a history of offline and online offenses belong to the high-risk profiles
Meldrum . 2015[ ]Multi-city cohort research study among adolescents, from birth to 15 years of age. A total number of 825 adolescents; 50% females; 82% white non-Hispanic, 59% two-parent or nuclear familyTo measure the connection between sleep and delinquencyRegression modelDelinquency is indirectly related to sleep loss where poor self-control plays the role of catalyst
Castellana . 2014[ ]39 young offenders who did not have any previous mental problems, and 32 nonoffenders’ young people with similar SESTo assess differences in psychopathic behavior between youths of offending and nonoffending people with the same SESANCOVAThe requirement of a wide variety of interventions including SES factors to control juvenile delinquency
DeLisi . 2013[ ]227 Juvenile delinquents (male and female), from nonprofitable juvenile residential facilities, western PennsylvaniaTo find the correlation between violent video games and violence among youthNegative binominal regressionViolent video games directly associated with anti-sociality, and multiple correlates viz., psychopathology
Fernández-Suárez . 2016[ ]A total of 218 juvenile male offenders and 46 females who arrested under a judicial penal code in Asturias (Spain) in the year 2012Find the connection between school dropout with multiple causes’ viz., individual and family factorsMultivariate logistic regressionSchool dropout has higher irresponsibility, illegal alcohol, and drugabuse, inadequate parental supervision, as compared to nondropout individuals
Margari . 2015[ ]135 juvenile offenders (male-female both), age range 14–18 years, adjudicated by the juvenile court of PugliaTo find out the impact of multiple predictor variables as academic performance and peer factors on conduct problemMultiple regressionEducational achievements problems in 52% juvenile; 34% had a history of psychiatric problems in the family. 60% of juvenile delinquents involved in property-related crime, 54% were involved in drug and substance abuse-related activities; these factors affecting severely students academic achievements
Wu, 2015[ ]A total of 2690 secondary school studentsTo find out the school life based on academic performance, delinquency,Multidimensional Scaling modelDynamic cognitive mechanisms were utilized in which individual’s measure and weigh their self as
social, and financial factors to assess the behavioral similarity among adolescentswell as other person’s position
Brunelle . 2014[ ]726 youth, enrolled in the addiction service left atQuebec City, from March 1999 to 2003.To examine the time of youth’s request for addiction services in the addiction rehabilitation centerMANCOVAHistory of sexual abuse is one of the strongest factors connected with psychotropic substance-using severity
Gordon . 2014[ ]600 gang and nongang members, Pittsburgh Youth Study dataInvolvement in serious delinquent behavior viz., drug business, serious violent and burglary acts, around 1990Multiple logit modelGang members having a high level of delinquent behavior were mainly involved in the drug business, serious theft, and violence as compared to nongang-members
Parks, 2013[ ] =4389, data used from the national longitudinal study of adolescent healthTo find out the variations among adolescent delinquency between cohabitating family, other family types, and the effect of parental social control on the variation of delinquency in different family compositionsBinary logistic regression along with multivariate modelsNo major differences in violent behaviors in both groups (cohabitating families and other family types). However, adolescents of cohabitating families have a higher risk of involving in a nonviolent form of delinquency compare with natural-parental families with marginal significance
Low . 2012[ ]244 families (122 younger brothers and 122 younger sisters)To assess the economic strain of delinquency among adolescentsSEMSibling aggression has a very strong and harmful effect on adolescents who belongs to economically strained families. Economic conditions of the family are highly associated with the effect of parents, siblings, and peer as risk and juvenile delinquency
Gold . 2011[ ]112 adolescents (22 females and 90 males) from the age range of 12–19 years, staying in a Juvenile detention facility pending criminal chargesAssess the relationship between abusive and nonabusive parenting, adolescent shame (expressed and converted), and violent delinquencyHierarchical regression model, ANOVAAbusive parenting is connected to violent delinquency directly as well as indirectly through converted shame. Conversion of shame is the major cause of more violent delinquency when compared to expressed shame

GLM: Generalized linear model, ML: Machine learning, PEH: Probabilistic estimation hypothesis, CAPM: Categorization of anxiety predictor model, SES: Socioeconomic status, SEM: Structural equation model

D ISCUSSION

In this systematic review, we performed a rigorous search of the literature to provide a narrative picture of various methods used to identify juveniles’ behaviors. We identified 15 articles, with the objective to analyze the application of ML and other quantitative approaches to assess various delinquent behaviors and risk factors of juveniles. The studies revealed ML is a new quantitative method to identify the risk factors and delinquent behavior henceforth; there very few studies are conducted. In this study, we tried to provide a summary of selected articles on the current state of knowledge about quantitative analysis for assessment of delinquent behaviors of juveniles and there only few articles have used ML as quantitative analysis. The City Social Welfare Development Office of Butuan, Philippines, used a dataset to create predictive models for analyzing the minors at risk and children in conflict with poor financial status. And found children with age range 12–17 years are victims of maltreatment, and adolescents between the ages of 15–17 years commit severe crimes.[ 16 ] Kim et al .[ 18 ] used traditional regression, ML method and certified the predictive validity of the models in numerous ways, along with traditional hold-out validation k-fold cross-validation, and bootstrapping to examine the present practice and policy for assessment, treatment, and management of delinquents who have a history of sexual conviction in multiple jurisdictions from New York, Florida, Oregon, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Results revealed that important risk factors among juveniles had some criminal history, sexual offending experiences, and delinquent peers. Some dynamic factors viz. performance in school, peer connection, sorrowful feelings, impulsiveness, mental health, and substance abuse are important anticipating factors among sexual offenders for recidivism.

Rokven et al .[ 19 ] used multinomial logistic regression technique to compare four types of delinquent groups: online delinquents, offline delinquents, nondelinquents, and delinquents who belong to both online and offline categories and found juveniles who having both online and offline criminal records are more likely to commit crimes. Delinquency is indirectly linked with sleep deprivation, with poor self-control acting as a catalyst proved by regression models with latent factors.[ 20 ] Violent video games directly associated with anti-social behavior, even though several correlates, such as psychopathologies has present in youth analyzed by negative binomial regression (extended version of Poisson regression).[ 22 ]

Fernández et al . analyzed through multivariate logistic regression and found, school dropouts’ teenagers had a higher level of irresponsibility, substance, and illicit drug abuse compare then nondropouts.[ 23 ] In addition, lack of parental supervision plays a significant role in the prediction of deviant behaviors on school dropouts. School dropout teenagers have multi-dimensional problem that requires proper parental supervision and proactive school policies to reducing drug and alcohol abuse.[ 23 ] Fifty-two percent of juvenile offenders had issues with academic performance, 34% had family history of psychiatric disorders, 60% of juveniles involved in property crime and 54% of offenders involved in drugs and alcohol use-related offenses had some deficiency in academic achievement evaluated by multiple regression techniques.[ 24 ] Wu (2015) created a multidimensional scaling model and found students used a complex cognitive-mechanism measured and compared their position to friends and others.[ 25 ]

Sexually assaulted history has strongly associated and one of the most powerful variables associated with the intensity of psychoactive substances using by juveniles.[ 26 ] Parks[ 28 ] has used binary logistic regression and multivariate models revealed that no major variations in violent juveniles belong to cohabiting families and other families. However, teenagers of cohabiting families have marginally higher risk to involving in nonviolent forms of crime.[ 28 ] Economic conditions of the family has strongly linked to the influences of parents, siblings, and peers at risk and delinquency. Economic stress, having an active sibling aggression, harmful, and more destructive events affected seriously on adolescent delinquent behaviors who belongs to economically poor families.[ 29 ] Coercive parents are directly associated with violent delinquency of adolescents on both ways as explicitly and indirectly and transformed shame on adolescents. As opposed to articulated guilt, shame conversion is the major cause for more violence.[ 30 ]

It is very difficult to evaluate all possible outcomes and explain a single quantitative approach as ML to early identification of delinquent behaviors and risk-factors of juveniles for intervene in the affected factors. Our study has several limitations. First, other studies rather than the English language were we not included in the study. Second, counties like India have very less evidence-based studies in the field of early detection of juveniles and computer-based assessment approaches as ML for quantitative analysis. Third, only 15 articles were considered which fulfilled the inclusion criteria.

I MPLICATION

The modern world is fully based on computers and technology for making works easy and faster. ML model is an emerging future technology in the field of health and mental health. It has the potential to predictive ability to detect health/mental health-related problems as well as for early diagnosis of problems behaviors. This review is acknowledging the use of quantitative analysis focused on ML algorithm as a new research area for early identification of delinquent behaviors of children, to prevent the deviant behaviors and related risk-factors and may be beneficial for future studies and contribute to make a peaceful society and worthful young generation for the nation.

C ONCLUSION

This review showed that available literature based on ML and other quantitative methods to identify the risk factors and delinquent behaviors of juveniles. Young peoples are at a higher risk to learn maladaptive/deviant behaviors as violent, aggressive, hyperactive, and easily involved in criminal activities. According to studies, individual factors, family environment, family structure, size/type of the family, parental status (single/separate/divorces) are highly affected adolescent’s behaviors. In addition, social, environmental, and economic conditions are lead to adapt conductive and delinquent behaviors. There highly need to identify delinquent behaviors in the initial stage to prevent with affected risk factors. It is very crucial for early screening and intervention.

Financial support and sponsorship

Conflicts of interest.

There are no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgment

Authors acknowledge to Department of Science and Technology- Cognitive Science Research Initiative (DST-CSRI) for sponsored the project in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, India, which explores the technology-based approach in multidisciplinary works. The authors also would like to thank Mr. Abhinash Jenasamanta and Mr. Devesh Upadhyay, Research Scholars, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, BIT, Mesra, Ranchi, for technical and motivational support.

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Risk and protective factors and interventions for reducing juvenile delinquency: a systematic review.

juvenile delinquency statistics essay

1. Introduction

2. materials and methods, 2.1. inclusion criteria, 2.2. exclusion criteria, 2.3. data sources and search strategy, 2.4. risk of bias assessment, 4. discussion, 5. limitations, 6. conclusions, author contributions, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

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Click here to enlarge figure

CriteriaNotes
Inclusion criteria
Participants- Any studies that sampled families, parents, guardians, or siblings or examined factors at the household level (familial dynamics).
- Any studies that examined factors or attributes that reduce the risk of recidivism or delinquency or factors that could be targeted for interventions (mitigating factors).
- Any studies that examined household-level strategies, programs, or interventions aimed at preventing or reducing recidivism and delinquency, including those that extend into the broader community, and their impacts on juvenile delinquency and recidivism (family-based interventions).
InterventionThe focus of the study was family-based interventions.
- Any studies that examined household-level strategies, programs, or interventions aimed at preventing or reducing recidivism and delinquency
ComparatorsAny studies with any comparator included.
OutcomesWe included any studies of interventions meeting the above criteria to determine the proportion that reported engagement outcomes
Study designObservational, experimental, qualitative, and quantitative studies that met these criteria and did not meet any exclusion criteria were included in the review.
Exclusion criteria
Participants- Studies included conduct disorder, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and substance abuse.
- Studies that focused on the siblings or parents of juvenile offenders and on justice system, welfare system, or court policies—as opposed to the use of family interventions within these systems or risk and mitigating factors of individuals involved with these systems—were determined to be outside of the scope of this review.
InterventionInterventions with a primary focus other than family-based interventions.
Study designSystematic reviews, literature reviews, and meta-analyses
Electronic Database Search Strategy
Scopus (“juvenile delinquency” OR “juvenile crime”) AND ((“family intervention”)) AND (psychological) OR (mental AND health) OR (psychology) OR (police) AND (LIMIT-TO (LANGUAGE, “English”))
PubMed (((Juvenile delinquency) AND (family intervention OR family OR “family-based”)) AND (psychological OR mental OR psychology OR “mental health”)) AND (crime OR police)
StudyStudy PopulationOutcome(s) Measured Principal Findings
( )Middle and high school students in New Hampshire participating in the New Hampshire Youth Study from 2007–2009 (n = 596)Delinquency and parental legitimacyAuthoritative parenting is positively and authoritarian parenting is negatively associated with parental legitimacy. Parental legitimacy reduces the likelihood of future delinquency.
( )Low-income males living in an urban community followed from ages 18 months through adolescence (15–18 years)
(n = 310)
Juvenile petitions from juvenile court records Early-childhood individual and family factors (such as harsh parenting and poor emotional regulation) can discriminate between adolescent violent offenders and nonoffenders or nonviolent offenders.
( )Early adolescents in two-parent homes and their parents (n = 618) in Iowa and Pennsylvania.
PROSPER study
Youth substance use and delinquency in 9th gradeChanges in the parent–youth relationship, such as decreased parental warmth and increased hostility during adolescence, were associated with increased delinquency, especially for girls.
( )Male youth (under age 18) and “youthful offenders” (under age 25 and incarcerated under “Youthful Offender” laws) across Colorado, Florida, Kansas, and South Carolina (n = 337)
Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative youth sample collected 2005–2007
Crime and substance useFamily conflict is a major driver of recidivism through its direct impact on increasing crime and substance use and more reentry programs focused on reducing family conflict should be explored, such as multisystemic therapy.
( )Qualitative study; Juvenile court officers working with girls in the juvenile justice system (n = 24)Extent and type of trauma experienced by girls in the juvenile justice system In qualitative interviews, the officers discussed how exposure to trauma (violence at home, a dysfunctional home, etc.) influenced girls’ trajectory and contributed to many of their involvement with the juvenile justice system.
( )Adolescents attending public middle or high school in Maryland receiving services from Identity, Inc. (n = 555)Three deviant behaviors: stealing, fighting, and smoking marijuanaExperience of multiple adverse childhood experiences increased the likelihood of adolescents engaging in deviant behaviors. School connection, anger management skills, and parental supervision acted as protective factors.
( )Youth ages 8–16 who had their first episode in a substitute child care welfare setting between 2000–2003 in the state of Washington (n = 5528)Risk of justice involvement Youth with behavioral problems were more likely to be placed in congregate care facilities and had little access to family-based services. High arrest rates among youth with behavioral problems indicated an ineffectiveness of the congregate care approach.
( )Moderate and high-risk juvenile offenders who were screened for probation from 2004–2007 in Washington (n = 19,833)Risk of subsequent offending (based on event history models) Returning to an environment where one faced continued or ongoing neglect increased an individual’s risk of re-offending.
( )Youth who were assessed at age 14 at one of the five study sites across the U.S. in the LONGSCAN consortium (n = 815)Aggression and delinquency Experiencing chronic neglect or chronic failure to provide from ages 0–12 was associated with increased aggression and delinquency at age 14. This relationship was mediated by social problems, especially for girls.
( )Court staff across four rural juvenile courts in Michigan (n = 15) Qualitative interviews on trauma-informed practice Court staff widely supported trauma-informed practices like mental health referrals instead of—or in addition to—sentencing or punishment but faced challenges due to limited mental health resources and inadequate support from schools, government, and police.
( )U.S. adolescents enrolled in grades 7–12 from 1994–95
(n = 10,613)
National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health
Violent and nonviolent offending behavior Experiences of maltreatment were associated with more rapid increases in both non-violent and violent offending behaviors.
( )U.S. adolescents enrolled in grades 7–12 from 1994–95
(n = 10,613)
National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health
Violent and non-violent offending frequencyHigh-quality relationships with mother or father figures, school connection, and neighborhood collective efficacy were protective against violent offending (both for those experiencing and not experiencing maltreatment).
( )Medium- to high-risk youth on probation (n = 5378)
Washington State Juvenile Assessment
Self-regulation, mental health, substance use, academic functioning, family/social resources, and behavioral problems Groups of individuals exposed to different adverse childhood experiences varied in terms of all six outcomes, suggesting a need for more differentiated treatment approaches applied early on to address these unique needs.
( )Adolescents attending public middle or high school in Maryland receiving services from Identity, Inc. (n = 555)Three deviant behaviors: stealing, fighting, and smoking marijuanaExperience of multiple adverse childhood experiences increased the likelihood of adolescents engaging in deviant behaviors. School connection, anger management skills, and parental supervision acted as protective factors.
( )Youth ages 8–16 who had their first episode in a substitute child care welfare setting between 2000–2003 in the state of Washington (n = 5528)Risk of justice involvement Youth with behavioral problems were more likely to be placed in congregate care facilities and had little access to family-based services. High arrest rates among youth with behavioral problems indicated an ineffectiveness of the congregate care approach.
( )Rural adolescents and their parents (n = 342 adolescents) in Iowa and Pennsylvania.
6-year PROSPER (PROmoting School-community-university Partnership to Enhance Resilience) study.
Delinquent-oriented attitudes, deviant behaviors (stealing, carrying a hidden weapon, etc.) Inconsistent discipline at home may lead adolescents to develop accepting attitudes toward delinquency, which may contribute to future antisocial and deviant behaviors.
( )Low- to moderate-level male offenders ages 13–17 who participated in the Crossroads study of first-time juvenile offenders and their mothers conducted in California, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania (n = 634, or 317 mother–son pairs) Re-offendingStrong mother–son relationships can serve as a protective factor against youth’s re-offending, especially for older youth.
( )Youth involved with the Florida juvenile justice system from July 2002–June 2008 with records of ‘severe emotional disturbance’ and an out-of-home placement following arrest (n = 1511) Re-arrest during a 12-month periodSevere trauma history increased the likelihood of re-arrest relative to less severe or no trauma history. Among those with severe trauma history, those placed in foster homes had the lowest rates of recidivism compared to other out-of-home placements.
( )10–20-year-old youth in custody in the U.S. (n = 7073)
Survey of Youth in Residential Placement
Likelihood of having a plan for education and employment after reentryFamily contact during incarceration increased the likelihood that youth had educational and employment reentry plans.
( )U.S. adolescents enrolled in grades 7–12 from 1994–95
(n = 10,613)
National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health
Violent and non-violent offending frequencyHigh quality mother or father relationships, school connections, and neighborhood collective efficacy were protective against violent offending (both for those experiencing and not experiencing maltreatment).
( )Mothers with children of at least 13 years of age and born in 20 select U.S. cities (n = 3444 families)
Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study
Self-reported juvenile delinquency Individual-level factors are stronger predictors of self-reported juvenile delinquency than collective efficacy.
Mitigating factors include satisfaction with school, academic performance, and parental closeness. Risk factors include substance use, delinquent peers, impulsivity, and prior delinquency.
( )Juvenile offenders ages 12–17 engaged in one of six juvenile drug courts participating in the study (n = 104)Marijuana use and crime The use of contingency management in combination with family engagement strategies was more effective than the usual treatment at reducing marijuana use, crimes against persons, and crimes against property among juvenile offenders.
( )Middle and high school students in New Hampshire participating in the New Hampshire Youth Study from 2007–2009 (n = 596)Delinquency and parental legitimacyAuthoritative parenting is positively associated with and authoritarian parenting is negatively associated with parental legitimacy. Parental legitimacy reduces the likelihood of future delinquency.
( )Previously arrested youth ages 11–17 who participated in a functional family therapy program (n = 134)Post-treatment levels of adjustment and likelihood of offendingIndividuals with callous-unemotional traits face more challenges and symptoms when beginning treatment and are more likely to violently offend during treatment, but functional family therapy can help to reduce their likelihood of violent offending post-treatment.
( )Youth ages 11–19 with a history of juvenile justice involvement receiving intensive in-home services from 2000–2009 in the Southeastern United States
(n = 5000)
Classification of youth as recidivists, at-risk, or non-recidivistsThe model of in-home services was associated with reduced re-offending, particularly among girls, and with increased likelihood of living at home and attending or completing school for both boys and girls.
( )Youth ages 13–18 participating in a juvenile drug court in Florida (n = 112)Offending and substance useThe results support the use of family therapy in juvenile drug court treatment programs to reduce criminal offending and recidivism.
( )Active cases of youth ages 10–17 involved with the Safety Net Collaborative in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2013 (n = 30) Arrest rates and mental health referralsFollowing the implementation of the safety net collaborative, an integrated model that provides mental health services for at-risk youth, community arrest rates declined by over 50%.
( )Moderate- to high-risk juvenile offenders involved in the Parenting with Love and Limits group and family therapy program between April 2009 to December 2011 in Champaign County, Illinois (n = 155 in treatment; n = 155 in control group) Recidivism rates and parent-reported behaviorThe Parenting with Love and Limits group and family therapy program was associated with significantly reduced recidivism rates and behavioral improvements, indicating potential effectiveness of family and group therapy to reduce recidivism among those at the highest risk.
( )Rhode Island youth participating in a multisystemic therapy program (n = 577) and in a control group (n = 163)Out-of-home placement, adjudication, placement in a juvenile training school, and offendingReceipt of multisystemic therapy was associated with lower rates of offending, out-of-home placement, adjudication, and placement in a juvenile training school, demonstrating the potential efficacy of multisystemic therapy in reducing delinquency among high-risk youth.
( )ZIP codes with the Fit2Lead park-based violence prevention program and matched control communities without the program in Miami-Dade County, Florida from 2013–2018 (n = 36 ZIP codes) Change in arrest rates per year among youth ages 12–17 Park-based violence prevention programs such as Fit2Lead may be more effective at reducing youth arrest rates than other after-school programs. Results support the use of community-based settings for violence interventions.
( )Court-involved girls on probation from 2004–2014 in one Midwest juvenile family court who received the family-based intervention (n = 181) or did not (n = 803)Recidivism ratesOne-year recidivism rates were lower among girls who participated in the family-based intervention program compared to those just on parole. Qualitative interviews highlighted the importance of family-focused interventions for justice-involved girls.
( )Individuals involved in the Missouri Delinquency Project from 1990–1993 and randomized to multisystemic therapy for potential sexual behaviors or the usual treatment of cognitive behavioral therapy (n = 48)Arrest, incarceration, and civil suit rates in middle adulthoodParticipants assigned to the multisystemic therapy treatment were less likely to have been re-arrested by middle adulthood and had lower rates of sexual and nonsexual offenses, demonstrating the potential benefits of targeted therapies.
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Aazami, A.; Valek, R.; Ponce, A.N.; Zare, H. Risk and Protective Factors and Interventions for Reducing Juvenile Delinquency: A Systematic Review. Soc. Sci. 2023 , 12 , 474. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12090474

Aazami A, Valek R, Ponce AN, Zare H. Risk and Protective Factors and Interventions for Reducing Juvenile Delinquency: A Systematic Review. Social Sciences . 2023; 12(9):474. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12090474

Aazami, Aida, Rebecca Valek, Andrea N. Ponce, and Hossein Zare. 2023. "Risk and Protective Factors and Interventions for Reducing Juvenile Delinquency: A Systematic Review" Social Sciences 12, no. 9: 474. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12090474

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