THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER ON JUVENILE RECIDIVISM 2
THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER ON JUVENILE RECIDIVISM 2
Recidivism in Juvenile Delinquents: Males/Females Comparison
Dragana Stijepovic
Ashford University
RES 7105 Scholarly Argument I
Dr. Corey Carpenter
Abstract
Juvenile recidivism is a growing issue of concern for law enforcement, practitioners, policy makers, and society in general. This concern particularly appeared due to the rise in the number of juveniles being arrested and rearrested. As a result, more understanding is needed on this population, how they are affected by life inside and outside the justice system, and their prospects when they come out of the system. Gender plays a critical role in how juveniles experience life, there is a need to study how it influences their chances of reoffending. Therefore, this paper will justify my topic of interest and my research question.
Introduction
According to Conrad et al. (2014), just like adults, children do not always make the right choices or decisions. Sometimes these decisions lead to breaking the law. However, whether categorized as a felony or a misdemeanour, the consequence of these charges is an entry into the justice system. Many of the minors charged with a misdemeanor are almost always guaranteed entry into the juvenile justice system. A juvenile being arrested and serving time in a correctional facility once or twice, does not imply they will not be rearrested. As a result, juvenile recidivism has been an important topic for scholars, law enforcement, policy makers, and society in general. Juvenile recidivism is a broad topic. Therefore, the research question has been narrowed down to is recidivism in juvenile delinquents higher in males or females?
Justification for Research Topic and Question
My research topic of interest (recidivism of juvenile offenders) and my research question (is recidivism in juvenile delinquents higher in males or females?) are important and justified by a number of factors. According to Pusch and Holtfreter (2017), the rate of juvenile recidivism is the number of children who are convicted of a crime(s), serve their time, and after being released, they reoffend and are imprisoned again. In essence, preventing recidivism among children is a huge problem and involves focusing on the root causes of such criminal activities and offering these children the needed services to permanently abstain from crime. The impact of juvenile recidivism is a topic that is of interest to psychology students. It is something that they might focus on in a professionally by working in the juvenile justice system to help children and teenagers break the cycle of crime and become more productive citizens. Within the justice system, a psychologist will deal with both male and female offenders. This leads us to the research question, is recidivism in juvenile delinquents higher in males or females?
Consequently, gender plays an important role in criminal behavior and is an important area that should be studied. As a risk factor for offending, gender is often ignored. There is a wider belief that crime is mostly committed by males, a trend that has continued into juvenile delinquency data. Some data shows that males constantly offend more than females. Therefore, it implies that irrespective of socio-economic status, age, race and other risk factors, males often have a higher offending rate. This is supported by studies, for instance, by Pusch and Holtfreter (2017), who found that the likelihood of boys offending is higher than that of girls.
The link between gender and recidivism also tells the same story. According to researchers, such as Scott (2018), boys’ reoffending rate is nearly double that of girls. This is in line with the results from research done by Schwalbe et al. (2006). The study revealed that gender was an important recidivism predictor and that male juveniles reoffend more frequently than their female counterparts. It is also shown that boys not only reoffended more frequently but also more seriously (involving serious crimes) than girls. As a result, these existing research studies provide a glimpse of the research atmosphere concerning the influence of gender on delinquency. This makes gender and juvenile recidivism an important societal problem that requires more attention.
Research that attempts to forecast recidivism in juvenile delinquents has been relatively limited, with results normally constituting about 20 percent of the variance (Scott, 2018). Most studies measure recidivism as the re-adjudication by the juvenile court, instead of recidivism into an incarceration facility or detention center. Although assessing recidivism as a re-adjudication is informative, not every youth that enters the juvenile justice system is subsequently sent into an incarceration or confinement center (Scott, 2018). According to this proposed research, this placement in detention centers will be of interest since it usually increases consequent offending. Particularly, the experiences of incarceration are unique for males and females, increasing the likelihood that incinerated juveniles will continue engaging in crime, in turn, expanding the chances of recidivism. As a result, it is critical to find the risk factors impacting both placement in detention centers and recidivism among males and females.
Therefore, the significance of this research question is that for us to identify the impacts of the factors that lead some juveniles to re-offend, it is important to know the unique experiences of males and females in the juvenile justice system and how these experiences influence the rates of recidivism (Pusch & Holtfreter, 2017). While focusing on gender, this research will be seeking to show the importance of the environment, culture, family, friends, and even spiritual life. This is because a juvenile requires a family to belong to, to provide for their needs, and push the things that develop their skills by sending them to school. A juvenile also has friends that will accept who and what they are and influence their lives. Similarly, the environment is part of these factors, which together, uniquely contribute to offending in juvenile delinquents and the consequent recidivism.
The Research Audience
There are individuals or audiences, who will benefit from this research. The study is for the youths who are involved and those who are considering involving in criminal activities. It will provide them with an understanding of the reasons for their participation in crimes and how their gender influences their likelihood of recidivism. A life of crime is not what anyone wants. Due to various circumstances, youth find themselves getting involved in crime and offending (Pusch & Holtfreter, 2017). For both male and female juveniles, reasons for involvement in crime can be as simple as thinking that life is unfair and everyone is against them, or serious, such as neglect and abuse, poverty, lack of proper parenting, among others. However, these factors sometimes raise debates. This study may assist in developing programs in which families will benefit by better understanding and utilizing more positive strategic approaches while working with their children (Scott, 2018). Therefore, with my research question, we will learn more about juvenile recidivism among males and females.
This research will provide preliminary data on gender differences in recidivism for juveniles who enter the justice system. My research will add to an already existing discourse on juvenile delinquency. There is a general consensus among practitioners that juveniles who continue offending after entering the justice system are increasingly at risk for a number of adverse consequences such as repeat detention, poor academic achievement, high-risk sexual behavior, substance use, and involvement in the adult criminal justice system (Scott, 2018). However, there is a need for a gender understanding of juvenile recidivism.
The research will play an important role in practitioners’ decisions concerning interventions to reduce recidivism for both genders. Do to the fact that more females are being arrested and incarcerated, there is a need for prison officials and practitioners to identify the differences in the way female and male juvenile offenders experience the world, as well as how it influences their approach to their offenses and whether they will decide to do it again (Pusch & Holtfreter, 2017). Therefore, it is only when rehabilitation programs and services are tailored to meet female and male delinquents’ unique needs separately can this protected section of the prison population be served effectively. It is not enough to make a few modifications to male designed programs to suit the female population. The way females and males respond to circumstances is very different for such an approach to be successful. In essence, female juvenile offenders are often a misunderstood population (Scott, 2018). To help female juvenile offenders out of recidivism, the practitioner will have to create programs from scratch, considering the unique needs of females. Research has generally demonstrated that programs that treat women exclusively are more effective than the one-size-fits-all programs in addressing female recidivism. According to Conrad et al. (2014), whether or not this results from females’ learned, natural inclination to follow males, or whether they feel more comfortable using all of the group’s instruments in homogenous situations, it should be considered when creating gender tailored intervention.
Practitioners can use the insights from this proposed research to effect positive social change. According to Pusch and Holtfreter (2017), as a field, juvenile justice can implement, amend, and enhance procedures for intervention approaches focused on countering the risk factors as well as their influences on juvenile recidivism. Therefore, the research question represents an important exploration of the link between gender and recidivism. Similarly, it will build on existing research to provide a new understanding of the issues of juveniles in the justice system.
This research will stir practitioners and scholars into a new direction focusing on the gender element provide additional information, especially when it comes to other subtle issues, such as the development of PTSD, and how it is linked to recidivism among males and females. This is underlined by the fact that although male juvenile offenders might require more intervention concerning their impulsive behavior and criminal attitudes, female juvenile offenders with a history of child sexual abuse may require trauma-based support and treatment to prevent recidivism.
Overcoming Ethical Concerns
I am aware of the potential ethical issues that will arise while conducting my research. However, I am well placed to overcome them. I will adhere to and follow both the American Psychological Association’s ethical principles and the university’s procedures and policies in my research (American Psychological Association, 2014). This will include submitting an IRB application for approval. It will identify the purpose of the research, actions, and procedures for the respondents’ ethical protection. I will use the American Psychological Association Manual guidelines on conducting ethical research.
I will follow both the IRB and APA principles for informed consent as well as for approval of the study details during the inquiry into the recruitment (American Psychological Association, 2014). I will explain the objectives of my study, procedure, data collection and analysis, benefits and risks in the participant’s consent form as well as the required participants’ signatures, signifying their consent to take part in my research.
I will include the university’s IRB approval number and measures for the confidentiality of participants. A study participant or guardian will electronically sign the consent form prior to any interviews or in person at the start of interviews. However, a participant will be free to withdraw or cease their participation in my research anytime without any adverse consequence(s). The anonymity of the study participants will be ensured by the use of number codes and secure storage for data. Working with juveniles will propose issues with guardianship. Therefore, I will have to seek guardianship consent as well.
References
American Psychological Association. (2014, June 30). APA: Psychologists should obtain informed consent from research participants. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/06/informed-consent
Conrad, S. M., Tolou-Shams, M., Rizzo, C. J., Placella, N., & Brown, L. K. (2014). Gender differences in recidivism rates for juvenile justice youth: the impact of sexual abuse. Law and Human Behavior, 38(4), 305-314. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000062
Pusch, N., & Holtfreter, K. (2017). Gender and risk assessment in juvenile offenders: A meta-analysis. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 45(1), 56-81. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854817721720
Schwalbe, C. S., Fraser, M. W., Day, S. H., & Cooley, V. (2006). Classifying juvenile offenders according to the risk of recidivism. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 33(3), 305-324. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854806286451
Scott, T. (2018). Risks, strengths, and recidivism among justice-involved youth: Investigating gender differences and similarities. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. https://doi.org/10.22215/etd/2017-12194
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