A Deeper Understanding of Child to Parent Violence (CPV): Personal Traits, Family Context, and Parenting.

The increase in the rate of child to parent violence is a concern for society in various countries. Different psychological and personal characteristics tend to define the profile of the minors who commit this type of offense. Various social factors have been also related to this type of violence, including exposure to violence, the family environment and parenting. The relationship between child to parent violence and previous exposure to violence has yet to be clarified. Comparatively little research on this crime involving samples from juvenile court has been undertaken. This study uses a standardized measure (YLS/CMI) to determine the extent to which three of the most extensively studied groups of factors in child to parent violence-the family context, parenting and the adolescents' psychological characteristics are relevant in the predicting this type of violence. The sample consisted of a total of 342 juveniles from a Juvenile Court in Eastern Spain, dealt with under the terms of Organic Law 5/2000 regulating the Criminal Responsibility of Minors. A child to parent violence group is compared with a control group committing the entire range of offenses. Personal variables, antisocial personality and exposure to violence play a clear role in the commission of this type of crime. Parenting has a determinant influence even when compared with family characteristics. What affects the commission of this type of violence in the most serious cases is therefore not having been exposed to it, but instead the individual's upbringing and their current relationship with their parents.

Criminological profile of minors who have committed child-to-parent violence.

The rise of CPV cases in the last decade has become a matter of concern among researchers, who have investigated prevalence rates and factors related to this type of behavior. This study aims to analyze the criminological profile of the minors who have committed CPV compared to minors who have committed other type of crimes. The participants were 341 juveniles with a disciplinary record in the Juvenile Court of a Spanish province, whose ages ranged from 14 to 17 years old (M = 15.86, SD = 1.02). The results showed that the CPV group represented a moderate level of recidivism and the comparison group had a low risk of recidivism. The CPV group had mostly committed CPV, while the comparison group had tended to commit property crimes. The CPV group had generally served probation or confinement sentences, while the comparison group had mostly been acquitted or served probation.

The global impact of adverse childhood experiences on criminal behavior: A cross-continental study.

BACKGROUND: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have been associated with a greater risk of later criminal offending. However, existing research in this area has been primarily conducted in Western developed countries and cross-cultural studies are rare. OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relationship between ACEs and criminal behaviors in young adults living in 10 countries located across five continents, after accounting for sex, age, and cross-national differences. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: In total, 3797 young adults aged between 18 and 20 years (M = 18.97; DP = 0.81) were assessed locally in community settings within the 10 countries. METHOD: The ACE Questionnaire was used to assess maltreatment and household dysfunction during childhood and a subset of questions derived from the Deviant Behavior Variety Scale (DBVS) was used to determine past-year criminal variety pertaining to 10 acts considered crime across participating countries. RESULTS: Physical and sexual abuse, physical neglect, and household substance abuse were related to criminal variety, globally, and independently across sexes and countries ranked differently in the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). In addition, three out of five experiences of household dysfunction were related to criminal variety, but subsequent analyses indicate that some forms of household dysfunction only hold statistical significance among males or females, or in countries ranking lower in the HDI. CONCLUSIONS: This research strengthens the finding that there are cross-cultural mechanisms perpetuating the cycle of violence. It also indicates that forms of household dysfunction have an impact on criminal behavior that is shaped by gender and the country's levels of social well-being.

How to Improve the YLS/CMI? Exploring a Particularly Predictive Combination of Items.

Recidivism risk assessment is central to addressing criminogenic needs among youth offenders. To accomplish this, the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) is worldwide used, but it is long and has limited predictive validity for minority populations. This study presents a particularly predictive combination of seven items that overcomes these limitations. A sample of 430 Spanish youth offenders participated in this study. The YLS/CMI long version was filled out and reconvictions were collected over a 2-year period. Results show that this combination of seven items reduced more than 80% of the inventory and improved the predictive validity, globally and for minorities. The items that were included were related to psychopathic traits and the lack of protective role models. Therefore, this specific combination of YLS/CMI items has considerable higher predictive validity across gender and culture, and may be useful to practitioners in this field.

Sociodemographic variables, risk factors, and protective factors contributing to youth recidivism.

BACKGROUND: This study explores the predictive capabilities of sociodemographic characteristics and risk and protective factors for youth recidivism while comparing two analytical methodologies; logistic prediction models and qualitative comparative analysis models. METHODS: information from the judicial files of 389 young offenders (14-19.03 years) were gathered from the Juvenile Court and risk and protective factors were extracted from the administration of the Youth Level Service/Case Management Inventory. Recidivism data was also obtained for a follow-up period of two years for each young person. RESULTS: the results showed two different profiles of reoffenders. Most were young boys with high risk scores and low protective factors, but a minority were young foreign girls with crimes against persons and low protective factors. CONCLUSIONS: being able to detect the different variables that contribute to recidivism can help implement prevention programs tailored to the criminogenic needs of each specific profile.

Evolution of recidivism risk using the YLS/CMI in Spanish serious reoffenders.

Juvenile recidivism risk assessment can be used to explore the specific risk factors that lead minors to commit crimes. The majority of minors have a limited relationship with the judicial system, but a few reoffend into adulthood. The aims of this study are to examine serious reoffenders' criminal trajectories and explore youth and adult recidivism. The participants comprise 260 juveniles aged from 14 to 18 years (M = 16.5, SD = 1.0) with a disciplinary record in the juvenile court of a Spanish province, who were sentenced to educational measures involving probation and confinement to a juvenile detention centre. Youth and adult recidivism was recorded over a follow-up period lasting from 1.5 to 6 years. The results show a profile of serious reoffenders with a moderate level of recidivism risk that increases during the follow-up period. Crimes against property were the most frequently committed, and juveniles who begin their criminal trajectories with this type of crime tend to reoffend into adulthood.

The Impact of Juvenile Educational Measures, Confinement Centers, and Probation on Adult Recidivism.

This study aimed to examine the impact of the educational measure of confinement in juvenile detention center versus probation, on adult recidivism. Participants were 264 youths with a disciplinary record in the Juvenile Court ( M = 16.5), who were sentenced to custody in a juvenile closed detention center or to probation. The risk levels were assessed using the YLS/CMI Inventory (Youth Level of Service/Case Management). A follow-up period for studying these two groups into adulthood was carried out to register possible adult recidivism. The results showed that probation was more effective in reducing subsequent adult offences than the deprivation of liberty. The variable risk level also appears to be a significant factor, improving the predictive model of adult recidivism.

Analysis of Violent and Non-violent Versatility in Self-reported Juvenile Delinquency.

Situational action theory (SAT) has emphasized the interaction between individual and social influences on youth crime involvement. In this study, attitudes towards violence, self-control and perception of neighbourhood are tested in order to determine to what extent they predict versatility in violent and non-violent offences. In order to attain this goal, 2309 Belgian youths aged from 12 to 18 years were administered the Self-report Delinquency Questionnaire. When the offences are divided into violent and non-violent versatilities, the results show differences in the factors that predict delinquency; whereas attitudes towards violence and self-control predict all type of offences, the perception of neighbourhood is only a predictive factor for non-violent offences. External and internal factors need to be included in order to predict the widest range of criminal versatility, since committing a crime involves making choices that depend on the perceived alternatives.

Prediction of Recidivism With the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (Reduced Version) in a Sample of Young Spanish Offenders.

Intervention in youth recidivism is critical in helping prevent young people from continuing their criminal career into adulthood, on a life-course-persistent trajectory. Andrews and Bonta attempt to provide an explanation of risk and protective factors using a conversion of the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI), which predicts recidivism. In this study, scores have been obtained from 382 adolescents ( M age = 16.33 years) from the juvenile court, to check the ability of a reduced version of the YLS/CMI, to predict recidivism. The outcome variables for recidivism were examined in the 2-year follow-up period, after their first assessment in the court. The risk factors showed good levels of recidivism prediction. Recidivists obtained significant higher mean total risk scores than nonrecidivists in the reduced ( M = 6.54, SD = 2.44; M = 3.66, SD = 2.85), with areas under the curve (AUCs) ranging from .601 to .857. The factors that emerged as the most discriminative were education/employment, criminal friends, and personality. All the protective factors differentiated between recidivists and nonrecidivists. The results, therefore, showed that this reduced version would be capable of predicting youth recidivism in a reliable way.

Analysis of Risk and Protective Factors for Recidivism in Spanish Youth Offenders.

Although a large body of research has studied the factors associated to general recidivism, predictive validity of these factors has received less attention. Andrews and Bonta's General Personality and Social-Psychological Model attempts to provide an in-depth explanation of risk and protective factors in relation to youth recidivism. The Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory was administered to 210 adolescents aged between 14 and 18 with a criminal record to analyse risk and protective factors in relation to youth recidivism. Their possible differential contribution over a 2-year follow-up period was also examined. Risk factors showed good levels of recidivism prediction. The factors that emerged as the most discriminative were education/employment, leisure/recreation, and personality. Protective factors differentiated between recidivists and non-recidivists in all factors. Hence, results showed that not only individual but also social factors would be crucial in predicting recidivism.