The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate African American youth's inability to access internet and computer technology while in a court-ordered probation diversion program. Specifically, honing in on the youth engagement related to personal growth, motivation, and cognitive skills. This paper selected administrative officials…

This article focuses on the concept of belonging as an embodied practice that is expressed by adolescents in multimodal ways and that can be nurtured inside and also beyond schools, such as within afterschool programs. We explore belonging in an afterschool program designed for court-involved youth. Our research is theoretically framed by…

This study examined whether school climate variables were directly and inversely related to absenteeism severity and key symptoms of psychopathology among youths specifically referred for problematic attendance (N = 398). Adolescents in our sample completed the School Climate Survey Revised Edition, which measured sharing of resources, order and…

Background: The juvenile justice system's interventions are expected to help reduce recidivism. However, previous studies suggest that official processing in juvenile court fails to reduce adolescents' criminal behavior in the following year. Longer term effects have not yet been investigated with a rigorous method. This study used propensity…

Adolescents becoming formally involved with a juvenile court because of school-related behavior and discipline problems is a phenomenon known as the school-to-prison pipeline. Adolescents with learning disabilities are disproportionately represented within this pipeline. A study was conducted to review the outcomes for a population of youthful…

Teen courts have grown rapidly in the United States despite little evidence of their effectiveness. A survival analysis of 635 teen court and 186 regular diversion participants showed no significant differences in recidivism, although program completers were half as likely to reoffend as noncompleters. Older offenders survived significantly better…

Youthful compliance with juvenile court mandates is a cornerstone of effective probation practice. Despite this, research has not examined probation strategies for encouraging and enforcing youthful compliance with probation conditions. This study describes the use of confrontational tactics and client-centered approaches reported by probation…

Research suggests that child maltreatment predicts juvenile violence, but it is uncertain whether the effects of victimization persist into adulthood or differ across gender. Furthermore, we know little about the mechanisms underlying the victim-perpetrator cycle for males and females. Consequently, this study analyzed associations between child…

In a context where more than 1,000,000 American adolescents are processed by juvenile courts annually and approximately 160,000 are sent to residential placements, this paper examines "what works" and "what doesn't work" in reducing the criminal behavior of juvenile offenders and presents examples of government initiatives that have successfully…

For an increasing and record number of communities in America and now in other countries, youth courts are providing a positive alternative to the juvenile justice system with significant and unexpected favorable outcomes. Youth court is most commonly identified as a juvenile justice program, given that the vast majority of youth cases referred…

Background: The present study uses data from a community sample of 779 low-SES boys to investigate whether intervention by the juvenile justice system is determined, at least in part, by particular individual, familial and social conditions, and whether intervention by the juvenile courts during adolescence increases involvement in adult crime.…

Since 1983, Teen Courts have offered a judicial alternative for many adolescent offenders. In the first year of the Whatcom County Teen Court Program, a small sample of Teen Court offenders had more favorable outcomes than did Court Diversion offenders. In the current study, the results are based on a three-year sample of 84 Whatcom County…

In "Preventing and Reducing Juvenile Delinquency," Howell proposes a female-specific pathway to serious, violent, and chronic offending. Incorporating ideas from feminist research about risk factors for female delinquency, he proposes five distinct and interrelated risk factors--child abuse victimization, mental health problems, running…

An empirically-guided program designed to empower at-risk youth through increased knowledge of depression and prevention resources was developed and implemented. Ninety-three court-involved adolescents participated in the "Moods Matter" project, a four-part psycho-educational group experience rooted in the principles of Rational Emotive Behavior…

Every year, juvenile court judges commit large numbers of delinquent youths to institutional placements. Prior research indicates that both legal and extra-legal factors influence this decision-making process. Less frequently examined is the role of treatment needs and prior social services use. This study examined the influence of treatment needs…