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Disabilities and Delinquency: A Call for Research

Disabilities and Delinquency: A Call for Research. C. Michael Nelson University of Kentucky (emeritus) National TA Center for PBIS. Background. EBD—especially youth at risk for or involved with the juvenile justice system National Center on Education, Disability, & Juvenile Justice

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Disabilities and Delinquency: A Call for Research

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  1. Disabilities and Delinquency: A Call for Research C. Michael Nelson University of Kentucky (emeritus) National TA Center for PBIS

  2. Background • EBD—especially youth at risk for or involved with the juvenile justice system • National Center on Education, Disability, & Juvenile Justice • Research on prevention • National Center on PBIS • PBIS in alternative settings

  3. Agenda • What we know about incarcerated youth • Incarceration and its impact on delinquency • A research agenda based on prevention logic • Evidence-based prevention practices • Exemplars • Resources

  4. Youth in Juvenile Corrections • Characteristics that relate to behavior: • Special education classification • Mental health disorders • Drug and alcohol abuse • History of abuse, neglect, witnessing violence Gagnon & Richards, 2008

  5. Questions • Why do these troubled and disabled youth end up in the juvenile justice system? • When do their problems first emerge? • What role do social institutions (family services, early childhood programs, schools, juvenile delinquency programs) play in either addressing or exacerbating these problems?

  6. Risk Factors • Ethnic minority status • Aggressive, antisocial behavior • Difficulties in school • School failure (including educational disabilities) • Poverty • Broken home • Inadequate parental supervision • Lax or inconsistent parental discipline • Coercive family interactions • Physical abuse • Substance abuse (self or family) • Living in a high crime community • Criminal or delinquent relatives or peers

  7. How Juvenile Justice “Works” • Incarceration PLUS punishment • Successful completion of “treatment” plans require high levels of literacy skills • Release is contingent upon progress through the treatment plan • Education is an add-on • Rehabilitation?

  8. Outcomes of Incarceration • Recidivism: re-arrest, re-incarceration> 50% (Lipsey, 2009; Snyder & Sickmund, 2006) • “A” phase in a B-A-B experimental design to demonstrate how well the natural environment establishes and maintains social deviance (Morris, 1987)

  9. Recidivism for Youth with Disabilities • 69% of youth with disabilities were reincarcerated within 1 year of release (Johnston, 2003) • Youth with disabilities were 2.8 times more likely to return to corrections 6 months post-release and 1.8 times more likely to return at 1 year (Bullis et al., 2002) • 34.4% of youth in juvenile detention and state corrections systems were identified as disabled (Quinn, M. M., Rutherford, R. B., Leone, P. E., Osher, D., & Poirier, 2005).

  10. Covariate adjusted mean recidivism effect sizes forintervention philosophies (Lipsey, 2009)

  11. Texas Youth Commission Outcome Data 7/1/01-6/30/08

  12. Cost Comparison

  13. Protective Factors Internal External Caring relationships Positive, high expectations Opportunities for meaningful participation(Home, School, Community) • Personal characteristicsGood healthGood hygiene • Psychological factorsAccommodating to changeCognitive, academic skillsSocial skillsCommunication skills • Emotional skills

  14. Quality educational interventions may constitute the most effective and economical protective factors against delinquency. (Center on Crimes, Communities, and Culture, 1997)

  15. A Research Agenda • Multi-tiered prevention framework • Evidence-based practices • Multiple methodologies

  16. Tertiary Prevention: Factors that prevent or contribute to continued display of antisocial behavior CONTINUUM OF EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES ~5% Secondary Prevention: Factors that prevent or contribute to recurrences of antisocial behavior ~15% Primary Prevention: Factors that prevent or contribute to initial occurrences of antisocial behavior ~80% of Youth

  17. Evidence-Based Practice • Use of a sound experimental or evaluation design and appropriate analytical procedures • Empirical validation of effects • Clear implementation procedures • Replication of outcomes across implementation sites • Evidence of sustainability

  18. Universal Prevention • Sound educational programs • Safe schools, homes, and neighborhoods • After-school programs • Bullying Prevention Program • Perry Preschool Program

  19. Secondary Prevention • Mentoring programs (Big Brothers, Big Sisters) • Life Skills Training • Prenatal home visitation by nurses • Promoting Alternative Thinking • Think Time • Fast Track Program

  20. Tertiary Prevention • Multisystemic Therapy • Functional Family Therapy • Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care • Wraparound planning

  21. Research Methodology • Longitudinal research (Loeber & Farrington, 1998, 2000; Patterson, Reid, & Dishion, 1992; Walker, Shinn, O’Neill, & Ramsey, 1987) • Behavior analyses (Aiken, Stumphauser, & Veloz, 1977; Stumphauser, Aiken, & Veloz, 1977; Buehler, Patterson, & Furniss, 1966) • Data mining, mixed methodology (Christle, Jolivette, & Nelson, 2005; Christle, Nelson, & Jolivette, 2004, 2007)

  22. Promising Practices for Practitioners Throughout the Juvenile Justice Process Diversion “An attempt to divert, or channel out, youthful offenders from the juvenile justice system” (Bynum & Thompson, 1996) Alternatives to secure care facilities are important to consider for nonviolent youthful offenders, those with a small likelihood of reoffending, and those likely to attend mandatory meetings. Community based treatments and programs for youth in JJS are generally more effective than incarceration or residential placement in reducing recidivism, even for serious and violent juvenile offenders (Lipsey, Wilson, & Cothern, 2000) Maintaining youth in the community with appropriate supports (e.g., family and individual counseling, school-based interventions, behavioral and social skill interventions) will allow them to continue to work toward post-school self-sufficiency.

  23. System Change Initiatives • School-Wide Positive Behavior Support • School-to-Prison Pipeline Reform (ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center) • Communities that Care (Hawkins & Catalano) • Missouri Division of Youth Services • PBIS in Juvenile Corrections

  24. National Center on Education, Disability, and Juvenile Justice (www.edjj.org)

  25. National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (www.pbis.org)

  26. Colorado Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (http://www.colorado.edu/cspv/)

  27. Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior (http://pages.uoregon.edu/ivdb/)

  28. Your thoughts?

  29. Thank you! • mike.nelson@uky.edu

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