James C. Howell

Childhood Risk Factors for Adolescent Gang Membership: Results from the Seattle Social Development Project

Adolescents who join gangs are more frequently involved in serious delinquency compared with those who do not, yet few studies have conducted a prospective examination of risk factors for gang membership. The present study uses longitudinal data to predict gang membership in adolescence from factors measured in childhood. Data were from the Seattle Social Development Project, an ethnically diverse, gender-balanced sample (n = 808) followed prospectively from age 10 to 18. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors at ages 10 through 12 predictive of joining a gang between the ages of 13 and 18. Neighborhood, family, school, peer, and individual factors significantly predicted joining a gang in adolescence. Youth exposed to multiple factors were much more likely to join a gang. Implications for the development of gang prevention interventions are discussed.

MOVING RISK FACTORS INTO DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES OF GANG MEMBERSHIP

Several quantitative longitudinal studies of youth gang members—particularly those embedded in well-designed studies of large, representative samples of children and adolescents—have expanded interest in risk factors for gang membership. Drawing on recent research findings, this article aims to review and synthesize risk factors for gang involvement and to integrate these in a theoretical explanation of youth gang membership. Research-supported risk factors from other studies are combined with variables in Thornberry et al.’s interactional theory of gang membership to form a broader developmental theory of gang involvement. Program and policy implications are also drawn.

Prevention of Youth Violence

Research on the epidemiology of violence has identified two groups of offenders: life-course-persistent offenders and adolescent-limited offenders. Violence prevention programs should seek either to prevent the emergence of violent behavior in childhood or to prevent the spread of violence in adolescence. Research has identified predictors of both patterns of behavior. Prevention programs should explicitly seek to address these risk and protective factors. A variety of intervention programs have reduced risk for violence and enhanced protection against violent behavior. Comprehensive community-wide strategies for the prevention of violence hold particular promise.

Juvenile Justice & Youth Violence.

PART ONE Juvenile Reform Movements Landmark Federal Legislation Whos To Blame for Violent Crime Juvenile Delinquency Trends and Juvenile Justice System Responses PART TWO Youth Gang Homicides, Drug Trafficking and Program Interventions Risk Factors for Youth Violence The Case for Developmental Criminology A Comprehensive Strategy

Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders

Research Summary The prevalence of serious, violent, and chronic offenders is assessed across 5 years of delinquency referrals to a centralized juvenile justice agency. Differences in prevalence by gender and race/ethnicity and by age at first referral are compared for these youth with the other juveniles referred. Analyses examine whether subsequent official reoffending of these juveniles is predicted by similar risk and protective factors as with other youth. Stability in the proportion of youth meeting the serious, violent, and chronic classification was found. Males were more than twice as likely to be serious, violent, and chronic offenders. Serious, violent, and chronic offenders were almost three times more likely to have been first referred when 12 years old or younger. Predictive risk and protective factors are substantively different for these serious, violent, and chronic youth. Policy implications regarding appropriate delinquency interventions to address significant risk and protective factors for different subgroups of youth are discussed. Policy Implications Our study examines the prevalence rates of juvenile offenders classified as serious, violent, and chronic, thereby necessitating an analysis of resource allocation strategies for a juvenile justice agency. In light of this and other empirical findings, agency policies have been adjusted and new policies implemented, including a reduction in the number of residential beds by more than 50% in the last 3 years and reallocation of “deep-end” resources to prevention and community-based programming.

Risk Assessment Trajectories of Youth During Juvenile Justice Residential Placement: Examining Risk, Promotive, and “Buffer” Scores

Although the Risk–Needs–Responsivity framework has become the dominant paradigm in criminal and juvenile justice, little empirical attention has been given to the reassessment component of the model. Here, we examine dynamic risk and promotive factor trajectories of 6,442 residential commitment placements to assess differences in progression with respect to risk reduction and promotive enhancement through a buffer score rubric (buffer = promotive − risk). Results indicate that youth progress along different buffer trajectories throughout residential placement. Multinomial models also demonstrate that dynamic, changeable factors are more essential in distinguishing trajectory group membership than demographic or criminal history indicators. Finally, there were significant differences in recidivism rates across trajectories postcompletion, suggesting that improvement in (the rate of change in) buffer scores may account for some of the variation in offending behavior postrelease. Programmatic and policy implications are discussed.

Developmental pathways of youth gang membership: a structural test of the social development model

Abstract As a result of nearly 40 years of research using a risk and protective factor approach, much is known about the predictors of gang onset. Little theoretical work, however, has been done to situate this approach to studying gang membership within a more comprehensive developmental model. Using structural equation modeling techniques, the current study is the first to test the capacity of the social development model (SDM) to predict the developmental pathways that increase and decrease the likelihood of gang membership. Results suggest that the SDM provides a good accounting of the social developmental processes at age 13 that are predictive of later gang membership. These findings support the promotion of a theoretical understanding of gang membership that specifies both pro- and antisocial developmental pathways. Additionally, as the SDM is intended as a model that can guide preventive intervention, results also hold practical utility for designing strategies that can be implemented in early adolescence to address the likelihood of later gang involvement. Three key preventive intervention points to address gang membership are discussed, including promoting efforts to enhance social skills, increasing the availability of prosocial opportunities and rewarding engagement in these opportunities, and reducing antisocial socialization experiences throughout the middle- and high school years.