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Effectiveness of the Child Behavior Checklist in Identifying the Behavior Patterns and Security Requirements of Juvenile Offenders

NCJ Number
103830
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 30 Issue: 3 Dated: (1968) Pages: 195-201
Author(s)
J M Brannon; D Williams
Date Published
1986
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study reported on (1) the capacity of the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenback and Edelbrock, 1983) to profile the behavior of adolescent offenders and (2) the relationship between the security of an individual's placement and the severity of his behavior.
Abstract
The Checklist is used as a behavioral instrument in differentiating delinquency and emotional disturbance. During April 1985, personnel in a State agency responsible for the custody and treatment of juvenile offender completed a Checklist for each youth who had participated in residential programming for at least 30 days. Statistical analysis of 244 behavioral ratings showed the Checklist successfully identified behaviorally different subgroups of delinquent youth. The severity scores were not effective in differentiating the level of security to which offenders were classified. The results are presented in relation to both the treatment of individual youth and the adequacy of an agency's classification system. 1 figure, 1 table, and 13 references. (Author abstract modified)