Justice involved youth are an extremely important and vulnerable population. This alone makes understanding the systems they interact with even more vital due to the power those systems may have in the development of youth’s lives. Research suggests that social relationships impact youth development (Bronfenbrenner, 1977), including for justice-involved youth (Drake et al., 2014). However, gaps in literature exist in assessing multiple adult relationships for youth and measuring self-efficacy rather than probational success. The current study addresses these gaps in the literature with a sample of youth on probation (N = 889). Data came from two sources: self-report surveys from youth and official record data from the jurisdiction’s risk/needs assessment tools. Paired t-tests were administered to test the comparative levels of support between youth and the adults in their lives. It was found that youth and probation officer support had the strongest correlation. Then, linear regressions were utilized to assess relationship quality and youth self-efficacy. It was found that probation officer relationship quality was strongest in correlating to youth self-efficacy. Multiple regressions were also administered to analyze the moderation impact of probationary officer relationship quality and school employee relationship quality in relation to parent relationship quality. No statistically significant results were found. Findings suggest the importance of proximal relationships to youth and the critical importance of the probationary officer relationship to youth who are on probation.
This study will research public perceptions of life without parole (LWOP) for juvenile offenders by gauging levels of support for juvenile LWOP adult LWOP. It will also focus on if there is a certain age that the public feels are appropriate to sentence a juvenile to LWOP. A nationally representative sample of adult and youth will be used to gauge opinions using a randomized controlled vignette study design to measure support or lack thereof for juvenile LWOP. Results will identify how much the public supports LWOP for adult and juvenile offenders, as well as the youngest age person can be before receiving and LWOP sentence. Furthermore, the results will indicate if individuals believe these specific factors are enough to eliminate juvenile LWOP.
Background: ACEs has been associated with stress and violence in prior research. More research is needed to set up gender differences between males and females displaying violence and stress in response to ACEs. Objectives: This study investigated the effects of ACEs and gender on exhibited frequencies of violence and stress within youth. Methods: This study used descriptive statistics and regression to examine the relationships between gender and aces on violence and stress using data from the Arizona Youth Survey (AYS). Interactions were included to evaluate if gender moderated the effect of ACEs. Results: Analyses showed that ACEs significantly impacted youths’ engagement in violence and experiences of stress. Additionally, boys engaged in more violence while girls experienced increased stress. Interaction effects were not substantial as compared to the main effects of ACEs and gender. Conclusion: Given the results, youth interventions should focus on the overall impact of ACEs, regardless of gender.