Complex Trauma and Criminogenic Needs in a Youth Justice Sample: A Gender-Informed Latent Profile Analysis

Abstract

How complex trauma features and criminogenic needs co-vary within youth justice populations requires examination. This study applies latent profile analysis to a sample of 311 justice-involved Canadian youth (211 male, 100 female) to identify if unique profiles of youth would emerge delineated by different combinations of comorbid needs pulled from complex trauma and personality/social learning models. Two similar profiles emerged for males and females alike: a complex trauma with criminogenic needs profile (70% of females, 58.8% of males) and a low overall needs profile (30% of females, 41.2% of males). Surprisingly, the Youth-Level Service/Case Management Inventory predicted recidivism well among the complex trauma/criminogenic need female cases (AUC = .71), but poorly among the complex trauma/criminogenic need male cases (AUC = .59). Trauma-informed approaches that target criminogenic needs in both genders is a clear implication of the findings.

Gender Differences in the Prevalence and Predictive Validity of Protective Factors in a Sample of Justice-Involved Youth

“…Participants included 84 female and 101 male youth who were recruited from one of six sites across Ontario serving justice-involved youth. These interviews were conducted as part of the Gendered Pathways to the Justice System study (Brown et al, 2021). Participants in our study do not overlap with those recruited for the Finseth et al (in press) study.…”

Predictive and Convergent Validity of the Youth Assessment and Screening Instrument in a Sample of Male and Female Justice-Involved Youth

“…Two hundred fifty-four justice-involved youth (106 female, 148 male) participated in the study. This sample of youth were a subset of a larger Gendered Pathways Study (Brown, Wanamaker, Greiner, Scott, & Skilling, 2019; N = 340). Research assistants traveled to custody or probation office sites in eastern and central Ontario between 2010 and 2012 to gather data from a comprehensive battery of self-report questionnaires, one-on-one risk assessment interviews, and on-site file reviews.…”

“…Scoring of the measure was based on information obtained from one-on-one interviews (i.e., a semistructured interview that contained a series of open-ended and closed response questions) with participants, as well as offender file reviews, which was collected as part of the larger gendered Pathways Study (Brown, wanamaker, greiner, Scott, & Skilling, 2019). Research assistants who completed the scoring were trained by Orbis Partners on yASI assessment and scoring protocols.…”

The Relationship Between Self-Esteem, Gender, Criminal Attitudes, and Recidivism in a Youth Justice Sample

“…Eight trained psychology student researchers, and the second and third authors of this manuscript collected the data between 2009 and 2012. Notably, the data analyzed in this study are part of a larger project examining youth, gender, and pathways to the justice study (see Brown et al, 2020). Each researcher first conducted a detailed file review of their assigned youth, followed by a one-on-one interview with the youth.…”