Identification of Justice-Involved Adolescent Subtypes: A Latent Class Analysis of Criminogenic Needs and Traumatic Event Exposures
Abstract
Although efforts to better understand the treatment needs and recidivism risk of justice-involved adolescents have largely been successful, little to no guidance has been documented to inform best practices in mental health screening and risk assessment. In this dissertation, three distinct subtypes of adolescents at intake to juvenile detention (N = 324) were identified based on similar constellations of 10 traumatic event exposure (TEE) types and 10 criminogenic needs (CNs) using Latent Class Analysis (LCA). Approximately half of the sample was assigned to a subtype characterized by low probabilities of TEEs and high probabilities of CNs; assignment to this class was associated with the highest rate of new juvenile court referrals. One-quarter of the sample was assigned to the second subtype, which evidenced among the highest probabilities of being identified with both CNs and reporting TEE types; assignment to this class had the highest level of PTSD symptom severity and almost two new juvenile court referrals in the 12-month follow-up period. Participants assigned to the smallest subtype were least likely to be identified with CNs and characterized by low probabilities of TEEs; this class was the least likely to recidivate and had the second-highest level of PTSD symptom severity. The current findings suggest that the identification of subtypes of justice-involved adolescents at intake to detention can inform treatment planning and recidivism risk. Practice implications of the results and future directions are discussed.
Subject Area
Clinical psychology|Mental health|Criminology|Public policy|Public administration|Behavioral psychology
Recommended Citation
Holloway, Evan D, "Identification of Justice-Involved Adolescent Subtypes: A Latent Class Analysis of Criminogenic Needs and Traumatic Event Exposures" (2020). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI28088296.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI28088296
