Substance Use And Delinquent Behavior Among Serious Adolescent Offenders

This study followed 1,300 serious juvenile offenders for 7 years after their conviction. Here are the key findings: (1) Chronic offenders are much more likely than other juvenile offenders to be substance users and to qualify as having substance use (SU) disorders. SU and offending at one age is a consistent predictor of continued serious offending at a later age; (2) Dispositional factors (e.g., sensation seeking, behavioral disinhibition, poor affect regulation, stress, depression) can lead to ¿externalizing¿ behaviors such as SU and criminal activity; (3) SU and serious offending fluctuate in similar patterns over time, suggesting a reciprocal or sequential relationship; (4) SU and serious offending decrease in late adolescence. Illus. A print on demand report.

Multiple Problem Youth addresses the complex connections among drug abuse, delinquency, and mental health problems as they apply to adolescents and young adults. Interrelationships in this area exist in a vast variety of ways, further complicated by extraneous factors such as demographics, sex, and time. The authors incorporate these factors and analyze the correlations among substance use, delinquency, and mental health problems, as well as discussing developmental patterns and reviewing theories of deviant behavior.

Even though youth crime rates have fallen since the mid-1990s, public fear and political rhetoric over the issue have heightened. The Columbine shootings and other sensational incidents add to the furor. Often overlooked are the underlying problems of child poverty, social disadvantage, and the pitfalls inherent to adolescent decisionmaking that contribute to youth crime. From a policy standpoint, adolescent offenders are caught in the crossfire between nurturance of youth and punishment of criminals, between rehabilitation and "get tough" pronouncements. In the midst of this emotional debate, the National Research Council's Panel on Juvenile Crime steps forward with an authoritative review of the best available data and analysis. Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents recommendations for addressing the many aspects of America's youth crime problem. This timely release discusses patterns and trends in crimes by children and adolescentsâ€"trends revealed by arrest data, victim reports, and other sources; youth crime within general crime; and race and sex disparities. The book explores desistanceâ€"the probability that delinquency or criminal activities decrease with ageâ€"and evaluates different approaches to predicting future crime rates. Why do young people turn to delinquency? Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents what we know and what we urgently need to find out about contributing factors, ranging from prenatal care, differences in temperament, and family influences to the role of peer relationships, the impact of the school policies toward delinquency, and the broader influences of the neighborhood and community. Equally important, this book examines a range of solutions: Prevention and intervention efforts directed to individuals, peer groups, and families, as well as day care-, school- and community-based initiatives. Intervention within the juvenile justice system. Role of the police. Processing and detention of youth offenders. Transferring youths to the adult judicial system. Residential placement of juveniles. The book includes background on the American juvenile court system, useful comparisons with the juvenile justice systems of other nations, and other important information for assessing this problem.

Adolescent substance abuse is the nation's #1 public health problem. It originates out of a developmental era where experimentation with the world is increasingly taking place, and where major changes in physical self and social relationships are taking place. These changes cannot be understood by any one discipline nor can they be described by focusing only on the behavioral and social problems of this age period, the characteristics of normal development, or the pharmacology and addictive potential of specific drugs. They require knowledge of the brain's systems of reward and control, genetics, psychopharmacology, personality, child development, psychopathology, family dynamics, peer group relationships, culture, social policy, and more. Drawing on the expertise of the leading researchers in this field, this Handbook provides the most comprehensive summarization of current knowledge about adolescent substance abuse. The Handbook is organized into eight sections covering the literature on the developmental context of this life period, the epidemiology of adolescent use and abuse, similarities and differences in use, addictive potential, and consequences of use for different drugs; etiology and course as characterized at different levels of mechanistic analysis ranging from the genetic and neural to the behavioural and social. Two sections cover the clinical ramifications of abuse, and prevention and intervention strategies to most effectively deal with these problems. The Handbook's last section addresses the role of social policy in framing the problem, in addressing it, and explores its potential role in alleviating it.

The editor and authors of Youth Substance Abuse and Co-occurring Disorders take an applied approach that serves the needs of clinicians, clinical researchers, and students in the fields of mental health, public health, and medicine (pediatrics, family medicine, and child and adolescent psychiatry, in particular). While the population of adolescents with SUD possesses diverse clinical characteristics, 70%--80% manifest comorbid psychopathology, known also as co-occurring disorders or dual diagnosis -- that is, the presence of one or more comorbid psychiatric disorders in addition to SUDs. These comorbidities can greatly complicate assessment and treatment, and this book provides clinicians with not only the theory behind the various approaches to SUD but also the practical knowledge that is essential to understand and treat psychiatric comorbidity in these adolescents. Some of the most prominent investigators in the field have contributed scholarly chapters to the volume, which offers a multitude of useful features: An extensive examination of the etiology of SUD, focusing on whether psychopathology may precede SUD, as in the majority of cases, develop as a consequence of preexisting SUD, or originate from a common vulnerability Consistent emphasis on future directions in clinical research and treatment advancement, which helps the reader identify critical gaps in understanding the relationship between SUD and psychiatric comorbidity among youth Thorough, state-of-the art chapters on the developmental pathways and relationships between substance use and co-occurring psychiatric disorders, screening tools and interventions, and the full range of co-occurring disorders make the book ideal for instructional use Information on risk factors for development of SUD in adolescence, including psychiatric disorders in childhood such as disruptive behavior disorders, mood, anxiety disorders, etc. Clinically useful and scientifically rigorous, Youth Substance Abuse and Co-occurring Disorders should stimulate further discussion and advancement of the field, ultimately resulting in improved and more effective services and intervention modalities for these youth.

A Thoroughly Revised and Updated Ninth Edition of the Leading Text in the FieldDelinquency in Society is a balanced and up-to-date examination of the historical, social, and theoretical contexts of delinquency. A comprehensive and systematic overview of juvenile delinquency, criminal behavior, and status-offending youths, the text includes an overview of critical theories on delinquency and juvenile crime as well as a review of historical and institutional responses to delinquency. Clear, accessible language, a student-friendly approach, and fully updated research make the text suitable for students in undergraduate and graduate criminology and sociology programs. The text's focus on interdisciplinary analysis encourages student critical thinking and connection-building.The revised and updated ninth edition includes new sections on gender and violence, biological and biosocial theories of violence, gang violence, and an expanded discussion of bullying in schools, zero-tolerance policies, and reducing school risk factors for bullying. The ninth edition incorporates the most current statistics and research and includes case studies and discussion questions to prompt student engagement and self-directed study. Long considered the best and most accessible text available on delinquency, Delinquency in Society is the most thoroughly and accurately researched delinquency text on the market and is a superb reference for students at all stages of their academic careers.The revised and updated ninth edition includes:* A full ancillary suite of instructor support materials, including PowerPoint lecture outlines, an Image Bank, and a Test Bank* Full student access to the companion website, which features a variety of interactive and engaging study tools (included in the price of a new print textbook) * A balanced, apolitical approach that prompts student engagement, discussion, and critical thinking* The most current research across multiple related fields, including psychology, psychiatry, and public health* New, up-to-date content, including new box features throughout that provide further insight into contemporary issues* A student-friendly approach designed to engage students and encourage exploration and self-directed study

This study identified the characteristics that differentiate drug-involved youth from youth who have stayed away from drugs, and, incorporating suggestions from adolescents themselves, makes recommendations about how drug prevention and intervention effects by schools, families, the media and community organizations can be improved.