Schools, Families, and Juvenile Justice: Systemic Responsiveness and Delinquency February 6, 2008

1. Schools, Families, and Juvenile Justice: Systemic Responsiveness and DelinquencyFebruary 6, 2008 Janay B. Sander, Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin Jill D. Sharkey, Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara Roger Olivarri, Jr. University of Texas at Austin Diane Tanigawa University of California, Santa Barbara NASP 2008: New Orleans, LA

2. Thank you • Counties where participants were recruited • Society for the Study of School Psychology • Students at University of Texas at Austin and University of California, Santa Barbara • Colleagues and experts who provided guidance: Ed Emmer, Ph.D., Tim Keith, Ph.D., Clara Hill, Ph.D. National Association of School Psychologists

3. Rationale • Juveniles are responsible for disproportionate number of overall arrests • Multiple areas of functioning in various contexts are related to delinquency • Juveniles are involved with several systems that respond to their behavior • Need to address multisystem interaction that influences youth (Valois et al., 2002) • Need an exploratory approach to identify themes and create a model for further testing National Association of School Psychologists

4. Research Questions • What were the emotional, learning, or behavioral needs of kids? • How did various systems respond to those needs over time? • What are theoretical optimal responses to reduce delinquency? National Association of School Psychologists

5. Study Participants National Association of School Psychologists

6. Additional Measures BASC-2 Family Assessment Scale Resiliency Youth Development Module Santa Barbara Assets and Risks Assessment Student Engagement Survey Consensual Qualitative Research Process Based on Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997 National Association of School Psychologists

7. Code Development Grounded Theory Approach Examples: PAR, DY, FT Consensual Qualitative Research cont. Within and Cross Case Analysis National Association of School Psychologists

8. What do kids need? • Safety (freedom from gangs, discrimination, abuse) • Education and skills to be successful • Experiences of success and mastery • Healthy, supportive relationships • Positive, constructive, fun leisure time National Association of School Psychologists

9. Encouraging delinquency National Association of School Psychologists

10. Systemic Experiences: Child National Association of School Psychologists

11. Systemic Experiences: Adult Roles National Association of School Psychologists

12. Increase monitoring, mastery and success Support parents and teachers to address child needs and prevent escalation promote positive, engaging school environment and healthy relationships (peers and adults) Maintain and monitor access to healthy peers and activities Identify challenge early and provide support Foster, model and monitor healthy relationships in peers and adults Intervention / juvenile justice individualized plans Accept the individual (not the behavior) and lessen need for delinquency National Association of School Psychologists

13. What was helpful to promote positive choices? • Adults who took the time to attend to individual needs (classroom or probation). • Parents who persisted (cared, monitored and had consequences) when kids made poor choices. • Adults who were flexible within larger systems to best address individuals. • Adults who had other adults supporting common ideas, goals, and relationships. National Association of School Psychologists

14. Systemic Responsiveness Theory: Delinquency Colleagues/ peers to support adult role Adult interest in caring for teen Teen level of need Severity of delinquency Teen’s peers level of needs Adult options to address child need Adult skills to see and address the need National Association of School Psychologists

15. Systemic Responsiveness Theory: “Angie” School staff was reluctant to help initially Mom dedicated; Teachers not know Angie well Angie: social and academic needs Some gang influence in peers; disinterested in school Truant and probation Schools followed letter of rules Mom insists on I.E.P., Angie truant to be near “friends” at alternative school National Association of School Psychologists

16. Systemic Responsiveness Theory: “Angie” outcome Mom formed respectful relationship with P.O. and asst. principal Mom dedicated and unwavering Angie: social and academic needs Found new friends thru constructive activities On positive track now, no new incidents P.O. adjusted requirements to fit needs Mom asked for different approach at school and with probation National Association of School Psychologists

17. Conclusions • Every member of the environment has impact. • Supportive and respectful relationships are key for all members of a system • Unmet needs exacerbate problems throughout • Indirect resources can still provide relief from stress and challenges National Association of School Psychologists

18. Limitations • Current study is not in-depth of any single case, so relationships between these parents, their probation officers, and any specific teachers cannot be assessed from multiple perspectives. • The researchers are subject to bias, even though precautions were taken, and the test of the model in future data sets is necessary. National Association of School Psychologists

19. Future Directions • Further direct test of the theory proposed here. • Examination of the systems themselves, the community, work or school climate as predictor of recidivism in juvenile justice or alternative placements. • Focus on ways to enhance quality of interactions throughout any systems and between all persons, not funding as only solution. National Association of School Psychologists

20. Student Research Assistants Longhorns Longhorns Gauchos National Association of School Psychologists

21. Janay B. Sander, Ph.D. janay.sander@mail.utexas.edu (512) 471-0279 Jill D. Sharkey, Ph.D. jsharkey@education.ucsb.edu (805) 893-3441 For More Information Contact: National Association of School Psychologists