BackgroundThere is now substantial literature demonstrating that a disproportionate number of young people who come into contact with youth justice services evidence unidentified language difficulties. These young people, therefore, have received little or no professional input in this area. Conversely, there is a dearth of research pertaining to criminality outcomes among those individuals with identified developmental language disorders (DLD) who have received such interventions.AimsTo examine police‐initiated contact and substance use outcomes of young adults with a history of identified DLD versus age‐matched peers (AMP). Additionally, self‐reported rule breaking behaviours and aggression are considered. We hypothesize that early identification/intervention reduces engagement with risky behaviour such as substance and alcohol use as well as offending‐related behaviours.Methods & ProceduresAdversarial police‐initiated contacts were examined in 84 young adults with a history of DLD and 88 AMP. Rule‐breaking and aggression were evaluated using the Achenbach Adult Self‐Report for ages 18–59 years.Outcomes & ResultsAdults with a history of DLD who received targeted intervention during their school years reported less contact with their local police service compared with AMPs at age 24. Comparable proportions of both groups reported current alcohol consumption, but group differences were found relating to alcohol use. No group differences in rule‐breaking behaviours were found, but the DLD group was found to have a statistically significant higher raw score on the aggressive behaviour scale.Conclusions & ImplicationsThere is a need for early identification of children with DLD. Early intervention aimed at ameliorating such difficulties could possibly have distal outcomes in relation to offending.
Purpose Previous research demonstrates an association between developmental language disorder (DLD) and criminal offending. International research also implicates alexithymia as being over‐represented in forensic samples. This study provides a comprehensive examination of the psycholinguistic and socioemotional profiles of males and females in the youth justice system, with a focus on first‐time entrants. In the context of restorative justice (RJ) underpinning youth justice disposals, this allows for informed intervention and identifies those who may be compromised in their ability to effectively engage in certain interventions. Methods Participants (N = 145) from a triage centre and youth offending teams, with a mean age of 15.8, completed a range of standardized psycholinguistic assessments considering non‐verbal IQ, expressive and receptive language measures, and literacy. Additionally, socioemotional measures completed included The Alexithymia Scale and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Results Developmental language disorder was present in 87 participants. Except for the emotional score, no statistically significant gender differences were found. The mean language scores for the DLD group were more than 2.25 standard deviations below the normative mean, and they demonstrated greater literacy difficulties. A high proportion of the group met the criteria for alexithymia/possible alexithymia (60%), and this was not associated with DLD. Conclusions High prevalence values for DLD and socioemotional difficulties, not generally gender‐specific, were found. These difficulties have the possibility to compromise a young person's ability to engage in rehabilitative strategies. Language assessment and identification of difficulties, especially DLD, upon entry to the youth justice service, would assist when planning interventions.
Background: Although factors such as adverse family background have been widely examined, little is known about the prevalence or potential impact of developmental language disorder (DLD) on risk of recidivism in young people with history of criminal justice system contact. Methods: A total of 145 young offenders participated. An adversity score was constructed based on information found in youth justice service records. Data collected included standardised measures of expressive and receptive language, nonverbal IQ and the inventory of callous-unemotional traits. Survival analysis was performed to examine differences in reoffending risk between young offenders with and without DLD. Results: The cumulative incidence of reoffending within a year of the young person's court order was markedly raised in the DLD group (62%; 95% CI 52, 72) versus the non-DLD group (25%; 95% CI 16, 39). Furthermore, in the final multivariable survival analysis the independent elevation in risk linked with DLD was not greatly attenuated with adjustment for nonverbal IQ, adversity score, age at first offence, number of previous offences and deprivation score. DLD was the most significant predictor with an adjusted hazard ratio of 2.61 (95% CI 1.80, 3.78). Conclusions: Young offenders with DLD are more than twice as likely to reoffend than their unaffected offending peers. DLD is a powerful predictor of recidivism above and beyond other known risk factors.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.