Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice Programs Jeffrey A. Butts, Ph.D. Chapin Hall Center for

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Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice
ProgramsJeffrey A. Butts, Ph.D.Chapin Hall
Center for ChildrenUniversity of
ChicagoPresentation to Missouri Juvenile
Justice Association Fall 2007 Educational
Conference Columbia, MissouriNovember 16, 2007
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Juvenile Crime is Not a Mental Health Disorder

• The tendency to violate the law is ubiquitous,
  found among all classes and groups, regardless
  of socio-economic status or mental health
  status
• The overlap between crime and mental health is
  misunderstood (often misused by advocates)
• Some young offenders have mental health
  problems and they should be treated
• But, mental health treatment is not a sufficient
  strategy for crime prevention or reduction

3
With Greater Understanding of the Adolescent
Brain, it is Clear That

• Juvenile justice cannot be the same as
  criminal justice (deterrence / retribution)

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http//www.adjj.org
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With Greater Understanding of the Adolescent
Brain, it is Clear That

• Juvenile justice cannot be the same as
  criminal justice (deterrence / retribution)

• but also
• Juvenile justice cannot be simply mental
  health and substance abuse treatment
• Adolescence itself places youth at higher risk
  of criminal behavior and justice involvement,
  with or without mental health problems

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Prevalence of Any Mental or Substance Use Disorder
Juveniles Detained in Chicago Tepl
in et al. (2002), Archives of General Psychiatry
69

• Most Common (Males)
• Marijuana Use 45
• Conduct Disorder 38
• Alcohol Use 26
• Anxiety Disorders 21
• ADD/HD 17

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Prevalence of Any Mental or Substance Use Disorder
Juveniles Detained in Chicago Teplin et
al. (2002), Archives of General Psychiatry
All U.S. Adolescents Using the same broad
standard U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (1999), Mental Health A Report of the
Surgeon General
69
21
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Prevalence of Any Mental or Substance Use Disorder
Juveniles Detained in Chicago Teplin et
al. (2002), Archives of General Psychiatry
All U.S. Adolescents U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (1999), Mental Health
A Report of the Surgeon General
Juveniles at Probation Intake Wasserman
et al. (2005), American Journal of Public Health
What Does This Mean?
69
What About an Interim Stage?
46
21
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Mental Health Problems Cause Delinquency and
Propel Youth into the Juvenile Justice
System Or Youth from Disadvantaged
Communities are More Likely to be Arrested and
Processed by the Juvenile Justice System, and
They Also Tend to be Diagnosed More Often with
Mental Health Problems
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Surprisingly Difficult to Find Good Data on this
Question But We Do Have Some Answers from Data
About Adults
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Major Depressive Episode in Past Year (Adults)
14
6
Working Full-Time
Unemployed

• National Survey on Drug Use and Health, SAMHSA
  (2006)

12
Any Mood Disorder in Adults Under 40
13.6
7.5
7.4
Some College
High School
Less Than High School

• National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
  (III), reported in Jonas et al. (2006)

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Any Mood Disorder in Adults Under 40
12.5
8.6
5.7
High Income
Moderate Income
Low Income

• National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
  (III), reported in Jonas et al. (2006)

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Dysthymia in Adults Under 40
11.7
4.6
1.9
Some College
High School
Less Than High School

• National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
  (III), reported in Jonas et al. (2006)

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Dysthymia in Adults Under 40
8.9
5.0
0.9
High Income
Moderate Income
Low Income

• National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
  (III), reported in Jonas et al. (2006)

16

• Inference
• Delinquency is Not Caused by Mental Health
  Problems
• Youth Offenders are Disproportionately From
  Disadvantaged Communities, and Youth From Those
  Communities are More Likely to be Diagnosed
  with Mental Health Disorders

17
Low Income, Low Education, Unemployment
Mental Health Diagnoses
Justice System Contact
Offenders with Mental Health Problems
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At Best, Mental Health Treatment is a Partial
Answer for Some Youthful Offenders
Crime by Offenders with Mental Health Issues
Mental Health
Justice
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At Best, Mental Health Treatment is a Partial
Answer for Some Youthful Offenders
Crime Caused by Mental Health Issues
Mental Health
Justice
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What is Our Intervention Model if Delinquency is
Not a Mental Health Issue?
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Positive Youth Development

• Strengths and assets
• Attachment, engagement, and socialization
• Usefulness and belonging
• Broad system of community-based supports
• Allow all youth to experience opportunities and
  activities that youth in wealthy communities
  take for granted

22
Youth Development ApproachA science-based
framework for building juvenile justice policies
and programs that can change youth behavior.
Adhering rigidly to evidence based
interventions would exclude much of the Youth
Development Approach
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Youth Development Approach May be an
Evidence-Based Model Some Day

• Requires an accumulation of findings from
  numerous, high-quality studies
• Depends on sustained investment by service
  providers, researchers, and funding sources.

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Most policies and programs in juvenile justice
are not science-based or evidence-basedThey
are designed to meet other goals

• hold youth accountable
• restore harm to victims
• demonstrate tough response to serious crime
• reassure community about public safety
• offer mix of program models within budget
• maintain organizational arrangements
• maintain available network of service providers

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Who Invented Youth Development?

• Nobody invented it
• Traces are found in the work of Jane Addams
  etc. (empowerment, belonging, arts, civic
  engagement)
• 1970s researchers started to advance particular
  models
• Kenneth Polk and Solomon Kobrin (1972).
  Delinquency Prevention Through Youth
  Development. Washington, DC Youth
  Development and Delinquency Prevention
  Administration.
• 1990s A wide range of models influential in
  education, prevention and community-based
  services

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There are Many Youth Development Models,
Frameworks, and Systems
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(No Transcript)
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None of These Frameworks Have Been Adapted in any
Detail for Youth Already Involved with the
Juvenile Justice System
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Research Findings Support the Idea of Using the
Youth Development Approach with Youthful Offenders
See the review in Catalano et al. (2004). ANNALS
of the American Academy of Political and Social
Science
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Social Belonging was a key feature of
theSocial Development Model
Hawkins and WeisThe Social Development Model
An Integrated Approach to Delinquency
Prevention. Journal of Primary Prevention
1985
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• Academic achievement
• Lower substance abuse
• Lower delinquency

Sense of social belonging or social
membership
leads to or is associated with

• Barber and Olsen (1997), Journal of Adolescent
  Research
• Battistich and Horn (1997), American Journal of
  Public Health
• Eccles et al. (1997), Journal of Adolescent
  Research

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A range of positive educational outcomes
Participation in school-based and community
activities

• Barber, Eccles and Stone (2001), Journal of
  Adolescent Research
• Larson (2000), American Psychologist
• Morrissey and Werner-Wilson (2005), Adolescence
• Roth et al. (1998), Journal of Research on
  Adolescence

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Sense of social responsibility and civic
engagement
Community service

• Youniss and Yates (1997), University of Chicago
  Press

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• Educational aspirations
• Leadership qualities
• Ability to overcome adversity

Participation in organized activities in general

• Scales, Benson, Leffert and Blyth (2000),
  Applied Developmental Science

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Research on Youth Acquisition of Social Assets
Supports the Potential of the Youth Development
Approach
36

• Findings from the Survey of Youth Assets
• Study based at the Oklahoma Institute for Child
  Advocacy and the University of Oklahoma, funded
  by the federal Centers for Disease Control
  (CDC)
• N 1,000 youth and parents from 2 midwestern,
  urban areas
• 69 of youth in high school 31 in middle
  school
• 48 cacuasian families 23 african-american
  families
• 51 single-parent households
• 65 families with households 35,000 or less in
  annual income

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Youth with more assets are less likely to report
that they have previously carried weapons
14 of sample reported some weapon carrying

• Aspy et al. (2004), Journal of Counseling and
  Development

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Youth with more assets are less likely to report
that they have previously used drugs/alcohol

• Oman et al. (2004). American Journal of Public
  Health

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How Do We Transform the Juvenile Justice System
to Focus Interventions on Attaching Youth to
Assets and Facilitating Youth Development?
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Reframing Goals and Mission
Traditional Approach
YDA Approach

• Attach youth to positive social forces and
  assets.
• Draw on community resources to engage youth.
• Engage youth in pro-social activities and
  opportunities.

• Establish control over offenders.
• Fix youth problems with professional
  services.
• Increase sanctions for anti-social
  behavior.

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Very Different Perspectives
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Principal Challenges 1. Policy makers
and practitioners need a step-by-step guide to
designing and implementing YDA policies and
programs in a juvenile justice system.
2. YDA juvenile justice is only possible if a
community has a suitable assortment of
developmentally appropriate services,
opportunities and supports for young people,
including young offenders.
43
Jeffrey A. Butts, Ph.D.Research FellowChapin
Hall Center for ChildrenUniversity of
Chicagojabutts_at_uchicago.eduwww.jeffreybutts.ne
t
For more information
44
Aspy, Cheryl B., Roy F. Oman, Sara Vesely, Cheryl
B. Aspy, Kenneth R. McLeroy, Sharon Rodine, and
Ladonna Marshall (2004). Adolescent violence The
protective effects of youth assets. Journal of
Counseling and Development 82 268-276.Barber,
Bonnie L., Jacquelynne S. Eccles, and Margaret R.
Stone (2001). Whatever happened to the jock, the
brain, and the princess? Young adult pathways
linked to adolescent activity involvement and
social identity. Journal of Adolescent Research,
9(16) 429-455.Barber, Brian K., and Joseph A.
Olsen (2004). Assessing the transitions to middle
and high school. Journal of Adolescent Research,
19(1) 3-30.Battistich, Victor and Allen Horn
(1997). The relationship between students sense
of their school as a community and their
involvement in problem behaviors. American
Journal of Public Health, 87(12)
1997-2001.Catalano, Richard F., M. Lisa
Berglund, Jean A.M. Ryan, Heather S. Lonczak, and
J. David Hawkins (2004). Positive youth
development in the United States Research
findings on evaluations of positive youth
development programs. ANNALS of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science 591(1)
98-124.
Eccles, Jacquelynne S., Diane Early, Kari Fraser,
Elaine Belansky, and Karen McCarthy (1997). The
relation of connection, regulation, and support
for autonomy to adolescents functioning. Journal
of Adolescent Research, 4(12) 263-286.Hawkins,
David and Weiss, Joseph G. (1985). The social
development model An integrated approach to
delinquency prevention. Journal of Primary
Prevention, 6(2),73-97.Johnston, Lloyd D.,
Patrick M. O'Malley, Jerald G. Bachman John E.
Schulenberg (2007). Monitoring the Future
National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2006.
Volume I Secondary school students (NIH
Publication No. 07-6205). Bethesda, MD National
Institute on Drug Abuse.Jonas, Bruce S., Debra
Brody, Margaret Roper and William Narrow (2006).
Mood disorder prevalence among young men and
women in the United States. In Mental Health,
United States, 2004, Chapter 17, Figure 4.
Manderscheid, Ronald W. and Joyce T. Berry
(Editors). Rockville, MD U.S. Department of
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References
45
Morrissey, Kathleen M., and Ronald Jay
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1425-1430.Roth, Jodie, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn,
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References (continued)