Adjudicated Females' Participation in Violence From Adolescence to Adulthood: Results From a Longitudinal Study (From Girls and Aggression: Contributing Factors and Intervention Principles, P 75-84, 2004, Marlene M. Moretti, Candice L. Odgers, and Margaret A. Jackson, eds. -- See NCJ-204960)

• NCJ Number: 204965
• Author(s): Nadine Lanctot; Catherine Emond; Marc Le Blanc
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This Canadian longitudinal study examined the prevalence and variety of violence among 97 females adjudicated in adolescence under Canada's Youth Protection Act or Young Offenders Act.

Abstract

During the year preceding their adjudication, 73 percent of the girls had committed at least one violent act. By the end of adolescence, only 52 percent had been involved in violence in the year preceding the interview. At the final assessment when the women were entering early adulthood, only 36 percent reported committing a violent act in the year preceding the interview. Not only the prevalence rate but also the variety of violent behavior decreased across the three assessment times. Overall, the analysis suggests that violence is not a persistent behavior among adjudicated females in this sample. Although some engaged in high levels of violence throughout adolescence, there were no identifiable subgroups of females who remained highly involved in violence throughout the study period. The study also found that during periods when the women were involved in violence, they also tended to be simultaneously involved in theft, vandalism, and drug use. In order to improve the prevention of violence and its consequences among females, future research should identify the personal and social factors that are linked to a persistent involvement in violent behavior among women. The initial study sample consisted of 150 adolescent females adjudicated under the Young Offenders Act for a criminal offense (n=26) or processed under the Youth Protection Act for presenting serious problem behavior (n=124). Their adjudications occurred between 1992 and 1993. Between 1995 and 1996, they were interviewed for a second time and then for a third time in 2000-2001. Ninety-seven women participated in all 3 waves of data collection. Participation in deviant and delinquent behavior was measured through a self-report, card-sorting task that included 63 delinquent acts. 2 tables and 18 references