No description available.

No description available.

The present study used the Psychoanalytic Rorschach Profile (PRP) to assess differences in personality organization in violent and nonviolent juvenile offenders.

The construct of psychopathy holds promise as a discriminating variable in the classification and explanation of childhood antisocial behavior. The new generation of psychopathy measures, designed to measure this construct in adolescent populations, must meet acceptable standards of reliability and validity prior to the clinical application of the construct with adolescent offenders. The purpose of this study is to examine the construct and predictive validity of adolescent psychopathy as measured by the PCL:YV, PSD, SALE, and SRP-II. Data from two samples of detained adolescent offenders (short-term and long-term detention) are utilized to investigate construct validity via MTMM. In addition, external validity indices including institutional violations (fighting, seclusions, and treatment refusals) and community supervision (probation contacts, drug testing, and re-arrests) are operationalized and measured in order to examine the predictive validity of adolescent psychopathy. Results of construct validity offer modest support for the two-factor model of psychopathy. For external validity, Factor 2 accounted for greater variance in the prediction of institutional infractions and subsequent placements in a secure facility; however, its overall predictive validity was low. The results suggest that the current measures assess psychopathic traits and behaviors which may be stable in adults but are likely to be normative and transient in many adolescents.

A vigorous debate persists in the literature about the efficacy of clinical judgment and actuarial models of risk assessment. This study was designed to augment those commonly used methods by integrating a variety of factors that produce risk and protective effects among 101 youthful offenders. Adolescents and young adults in a maximum-security facility were interviewed with the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV), and completed self-reports of psychopathy, impulsivity, and perceived parental care and protection. This selection of empirically-supported predictors was enhanced by criminal history and family information obtained through extensive file review. Markedly different prediction models emerged based on age. ADHD and PCL Factor 2 predicted adolescents' institutional maladjustment. In contrast, young adults' institutional behavior was influenced by impulsivity, family substance abuse, and gang membership. Treatment progress also differed depending on age; the absence of certain risk factors predicted success for adolescents, while academic achievement and intelligence facilitated young adults' advancement. Importantly, support was demonstrated for the moderating effects of protective factors on violence. Finally, the predictive validity of newly-developed psychopathy self-reports was examined in relation to the PCL:YV. Both the SALE PS-24 and the APSD were modestly effective at differentiating between high and low levels of psychopathy.

Clinical research suggests that adolescent offenders often do not view their criminal behaviors as problematic and, therefore, are not motivated for treatment. Although customarily defined as a static characteristic, the transtheoretical model (TTM) proposes treatment amenability is dynamic and can be achieved through tailored interventions that motivate individuals for treatment. The current study examines the predictive validity of TTM measures for adolescent offenders at a maximum security correctional facility. In particular, the Stages of Change Scale (SOCS) and Decisional Balance for Adolescent Offenders (DBS-AO) were compared with a more traditional assessment tool utilized in evaluating treatment amenability of juvenile offenders (i.e., Risk-Sophistication-Treatment Inventory; RSTI). One hundred adolescent offenders from the Gainesville State School completed two waves of data collection with a 3-month time interval. Information was collected on offenders' treatment progress between waves. Consistent with TTM research, predictors of treatment progress included low scores on the Cons scale on the DBS-AO and on the Precontemplation scale on the SOCS. Participants in the most advanced levels of treatment also scored high on the Sophistication-Maturity scale on the RSTI and the Impression Management scale on the Paulhus Deception Scale.

The Personality Inventory for Youth (PIY) is a recently developed, multiscale assessment instrument designed specifically for adolescents between the ages of nine and 18. The purpose of this archival study was to establish clinical correlates for the PIY scales. PIY profiles were collected from 100 juvenile files at the Gainesville State School and examined in conjunction with the Child Assessment Scale (CAS) and the Personal Attitude Scale (PAS) to provide evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. Results indicate modest to moderate convergent validity according to Campbell and Fiske's criteria for construct validity; however, discriminant results indicate considerable overlap among traits which are not expected to be highly correlated.

The purpose of this study was to identify and explore personality characteristics of juvenile delinquents, to compare those characteristics with those of the general population, and determine if there are significant differences, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), between the personality characteristics of juvenile delinquents and the general population. Juvenile delinquents who were adjudicated into a Texas Youth Commission facility in North Texas were subjects for this study. Participants included 186 males who ranged in age from 14 years to 20 years. Statistical analyses were performed for each of the research questions. When comparing MBTI scores of juvenile delinquents to the general population, significant differences were found on the dichotomous scales, temperaments, function pairs, and types. All type preferences are represented within the juvenile delinquent population. The MBTI can be useful in responding to the education and rehabilitation needs of juvenile delinquents. Knowledge of personality type can help caregivers meet the needs of juvenile delinquents. Understanding personality type preference can serve to provide a deeper understanding of the behaviors that lead to adjudication of juvenile delinquents. A discovery of the types of adolescents who are adjudicated could lead to preventive measures, early detection, and early intervention for students at risk of becoming juvenile delinquents.

Youth who experience maltreatment are at increased risk for delinquent behavior. This pattern in which youth victims become offenders has been termed the Cycle of Violence. This study identifies intervening factors that explain how maltreatment leads to delinquency in order to highlight methods for interrupting the Cycle of Violence. A first primary objective of this study is to determine whether more severe maltreatment leads to more severe delinquency among youth involved in the child welfare system. Next, the study investigates what factors explain the relationship between maltreatment and delinquency, examining mental health, substance use, and school disengagement as potential intervening factors. Finally, this research tests whether pathways from maltreatment to delinquency differ by gender. The study sample is drawn from three waves of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) [1999-2003]. This national sample included 1179 youth (age 11-15 at baseline) who were involved in the child welfare system. Data were analyzed using Latent Growth Modeling (LGM). Findings indicate youth who were more severely maltreated had higher levels of initial delinquency and more stable delinquency over time. Sexually abused youth were no more or less likely to report delinquent behavior than youth who experienced other forms of maltreatment, and gender did not affect delinquency patterns. Among the intervening factors, mental health and school disengagement significantly mediated the maltreatment-delinquency relationship. These findings indicate that youth who were more severely maltreated reported more mental health problems (depression and PTSD) and more school disengagement. These problems resulted in youths’ increased risk for delinquent behavior. Substance use did not mediate the maltreatment-delinquency relationship. Substance use was, however, a strong predictor of delinquency among all youth involved in the child welfare system regardless of the level of maltreatment experienced. It is noteworthy that gender did not moderate the relationship between maltreatment and delinquency or any of the mediating effects. Results indicate a need for improved screening and intervention in child welfare to prevent youths’ delinquent behavior and strongly indicate the need for improved cross-system collaboration to bridge services systems. / text

The prediction of adolescents' antisocial behavior was central to this investigation. Specifically, use of the Psychopathy Checklist, Revised (PCL) as a predictor of the treatment outcome of a residential unit for juvenile delinquents was evaluated. Toward this goal, three foci guided hypothesis generation and testing. Multiple hypotheses were tested to consider (a) the predictive validity of the PCL, (b) the match between the PCL and Moffitt's (1993b) taxonomy of antisocial behavior and (c) the utility of the PCL as a selection instrument for assignment of juvenile delinquents to behavioral residential unit treatment. Subjects consisted of 80 adolescent, racially-mixed males (28 unit residents, 52 high school students).Predictive validity was evidenced for criteria consisting of future incarceration and future violent and nonviolent criminal offenses committed over the year following PCL administration. Prediction of future incarceration produced results similar to those found with adult prisoners (80% of psychopaths and 21% of nonpsychopaths were incarcerated). Moreover, PCL scores accounted for 26% of the variability in violent offenses and 40% of the variability of nonviolent offenses committed by subjects during the follow-up year.The match between Moffitt's taxonomy of antisocial behavior and the PCL was evidenced by data gathered on those subjects who were known to have engaged in antisocial behavior (N=71). The constructs that Moffitt (1993b) argued would mediate antisocial behavior and are measured with PCL items (such as neuropsychological executive functioning) significantly improved the prediction of future antisocial behavior over that accounted for by Moffitt's taxonomy. In fact, PCL items accounted for more unique variability in future offenses committed than did Moffitt's taxonomy.Utility analyses indicated that the PCL could be used to improve the prevention of success-improbable delinquents from being assigned residential treatment. Dollar value utility analysis indicated that over $5800 per resident could be reallocated to other interventions by assigning success-improbable delinquents to other treatments. Doing so was projected to result in over $175,000 less to be spent on treating unsuccessful residents. It was also argued that utility analysis figures could be to argue for development of alternative programs for delinquents who would probably be unsuccessful in the residential unit program. Residents who presented with internalized psychiatric disorders were not identified using the proposed cutoff score. Therefore, it was recommended that a second test be used to detect delinquents in need of in-patient psychiatric care. / Department of Educational Psychology