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theses

Approximately one million juveniles under the age of 18 are arrested by law enforcement agencies in the U.S. every year, according to recent Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates (Hockenberry & Puzzanchera, 2017). Youth who have been arrested at least once are more likely to be arrested again (Caudill, 2010); yet, relative to the adult literature on recidivism, much less is known about juvenile recidivism. Although there is a large literature on risk for juvenile arrest, some key factors associated with juvenile delinquency are not often studied in the context of recidivism. For example, tattoos have been used as indicators of gang involvement and risk behavior among adolescents (Roberts & Ryan, 2002; McGloin, 2005), but little is known about whether tattoos are relevant to juvenile recidivism. And although there are currently over one million juvenile gang members in the United States (Pyrooz & Sweeten, 2015), and gang involvement is associated with juvenile recidivism (Benda, Corwyn, & Toombs, 2001; Spooner, Pyrooz, Webb, & Fox, 2017), there are no national estimates of arrest or recidivism rates for gang-involved juveniles. This dissertation investigates the linkages between tattoo presence, gang involvement, and recidivism in a medium-sized northeastern city. It further examines the role of gang involvement on the effects of a voluntary pretrial diversion program aimed at reducing recidivism among youth offenders.
I first examined the extent to which gang involvement and tattoos influence recidivism using data obtained from juvenile arrest records from 2014-2017 (N=1,008; ages 10‐17; 82% male; 86% nonwhite). Of those juveniles who were arrested for the first time, approximately 13% were gang involved (N=128). Tattoo possession significantly differed by gang involvement, such that tattoos were more common among gang youth (81%) than among youth with no gang involvement (35%). While controlling for gang involvement, tattoo presence significantly predicted re-arrest. Youth with tattoos had 162% greater risk of general re-arrest within 12 months compared to youth without tattoos. Youth in gangs had a 67% greater risk of general re-arrest within 12 months compared to non-gang youth. Tattoos that are more likely to be associated with gang involvement (located on the head, neck, face, and hands) did not have any effects on recidivism, relative to other tattoos. Understanding the influence of gang involvement and tattoo presence on youth offending has many important implications for how serious problem behavior among youth is addressed by the justice system.
In the second part of the dissertation, I examined the impact of referral to and engagement in a voluntary diversion program on recidivism outcomes. Although about 10% of youth who met referral criteria were gang-involved, only 14% of youth fully engaged in services, none of whom were gang-involved. The results show that youth who were referred to services, but did not actively participate in services, were less likely to be re-arrested within three months compared to youth who were not referred to services. However, referral to services did not have an impact on recidivism outcomes for the small number of gang-involved youth. This dissertation further highlights barriers to engaging justice-involved youth and their families to services, particularly youth involved in gangs. Interventions aimed at helping high risk youth offenders must carefully consider individual risk factors which affect youth and address the challenges to engagement that may prevent the initiation of necessary services.

ETD_10112

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-nepr-vs37

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.