Causes
Girls vs. Boys
While there have been significant studies on how male juveniles offend, there has been less on the study of female juvenile offenders. McRenolds et al.’s study about the ways in which mental out the different ways in which mental illness affects males and females suggests that female offenders with mental illnesses are more likely to acquire substance abuse disorders, while males are more likely to acquire conduct disorders (p. 213). “Girls are significantly more likely than boys to be arrested for technical violations or in situations involving domestic violence. Yet the system has failed to develop gender-specific facilities and programs” (Mody, 2009, p.106-E). Generally, girls who are escaping domestic violence or parental abuse are labeled as vagrant and subsequently are placed in the juvenile justice system. Since there are not as many known female juvenile criminals, the places used to house juvenile females are insignificant and failing (Mody, 2009, p.106-F). The fact that there is significantly more information on why and how juvenile males offend, and the programs that aim to reform recidivism only focus primarily on males, females are forgotten and subsequently have lessened chances of making any kind of good in their lives when they are released from the juvenile justice system. Reformation and research is needed heavily if there is to be any kind of equality between males and females in the juvenile justice system. Judges need to be educated on the ways in which females behave, and how their mental processes and decision-making skills differ from males. These are important facets in the juvenile justice system that are not being addressed, and are therefore leading to the failure of programs that aim to prevent juvenile recidivism.
It is important to understand the many ways in which juvenile delinquency recidivism is affected by certain factors.
Mental Illness
Another factor that contributes to the lack of success in programs that aim to defeat juvenile recidivism is the presence of mental illness in the juvenile offender. Mental illnesses are present in many juvenile delinquents- “as many as 70% of youths involved with the juvenile justice system may meet criteria for a mental health disorder” (McRenolds et. al., 2010, 204). McRenolds, Schwalbe, and Wasserman’s study on juvenile delinquent males iterates that “mental health disorders elevate recidivism risk among youths previously involved in the juvenile justice system” (212). The most important point is that juvenile delinquents with mental disorders have a higher risk to reoffend, especially if they had previous involvement in the juvenile justice system. McRendolds, et al. argue that while many mental issues are diagnosed, many others are not seen as inhibiting and are therefore forgotten when trying to understand why juveniles reenter the justice system (p. 213). “The numbers of children with special educational needs or mental health issues being diverted from schools to prison have risen exponentially…Many of these children enter detention because community mental health services are absent or inadequate” (Mody, 106-E/F).
Father Criminality
Among the many factors that contribute to continuation of juvenile recidivism is father criminality. In other words, the likelihood that a juvenile will commit crime is increased if their father was also involved in criminal behavior. A reason for this trend in juveniles is that the offender is more likely to offend because they learn “delinquent behaviors from their parents, who modeled these behaviors through a coercive process involving punishment, humiliation, and aggression” (Huan et. al., 2010, 568). For example, they point out the how the “social exclusion model and the stigma of criminalization associated with fathers can accelerate family trajectories downward with lasting harmful consequences,” like arrest, offending, and overall delinquency (p. 568). If a juvenile has been entered into the prison system, their likelihood to reoffend upon release is exponentially greater than if his father was not involved in criminal behavior or the adult justice system. The influence of father and other parental figures is something that many programs fail to address. If this aspect of juvenile delinquency were to be looked at, then there would be substantially less recidivism in the juvenile justice system.
Image obtained from Karnes Legal Services.