Viewing Law and Order: Mothers' and Sons' Justice System Legitimacy Attitudes and Juvenile Recidivism

• NCJ Number: 249661
• Journal: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2015 Pages: 432-441
• Author(s): C. Cavanagh; E. Cauffman
• Date Published: November 2015
• Length: 10 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Publication Format: Article; Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Since no research has explored how parents' attitudes toward the justice system may be associated with youth attitudes, the current study used structural equation modeling to examine the link between youths' and their mothers' attitudes toward the legitimacy of the justice system and the effect these attitudes have on juvenile offenders' reoffending behavior.

Abstract

Negative attitudes toward the justice system are associated with higher rates of reoffending, but there is little information about how these negative attitudes are formed among youth. For the current study, mothers and their sons (N = 315 pairs, 630 total) were interviewed after the son's first arrest and again 12 months later. Results indicate that sons' attitudes (directly) and mothers' attitudes (indirectly) predicted increased youth self-reported reoffending 12 months after the first offense. Furthermore, mothers' attitudes indirectly predicted youth official rearrests 12 months after the first offense. No racial differences were found. These findings provide evidence that mothers socialize youth attitudes toward the justice system, and suggest that family context may influence youth probationary success. When designing both legislation and interventions, practitioners and policymakers must keep in mind the broader family context in which youth offenders are embedded. (Publisher abstract modified)