NCJ Number
240188
Date Published
2012
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This paper presents an overview of a study (in press) conducted by Charlotte Lyn Bright and colleagues that identified distinct patterns of risk and protection for girls involved in the juvenile justice system and their young adult outcomes.
Abstract
When girls involved with juvenile courts become young adults, a number of measures can be used to assess their level of functioning during their transition to adulthood. The outcomes young women experience depends on patterns and characteristics they developed earlier in life as well as the services they received from the juvenile justice system, according to Bright's study. Bright and colleagues analyzed data from a larger study funded by a National Institute of Mental Health that provided information from several justice and human service systems in a Midwestern metropolitan region. The researchers selected a subsample, focusing on data from females born between 1982 and 1987 who committed offenses that led to involvement with the juvenile justice system (n = 700). Overall, the findings indicate that girls in the justice system are diverse, as are their service needs. Interventions must be sufficiently flexible to accommodate multiple groups. Five classes of girls involved in the justice system emerged from the analysis. Factors characterizing negative young-adult outcomes were entry into the adult corrections system, participation in mental health or substance-use treatment, and receipt of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). These outcomes varied among young women in the five classes. This paper profiles the five classes and their young-adult outcomes. Dr. Bright and colleagues are examining how services are provided by the juvenile justice system in order to determine which services are most useful to girls and whether they are similar to those for boys.