Risk Factors for youth offending They are not
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Risk Factors for youth offending They are not causal factors, they are predictive tools Risk factor; ‘a variable that if present poses an increased risk for an undesirable outcomes, such as delinquency or antisocial behavior’ Serin et al. (2011) Risk factor categories - Individual - Familial - school - Peer - Community
Individual risk factors § Pre-natal complications § Temperament § Hyperactivity and impulsivity § Substance abuse § Low verbal intelligence Familial risk factors § Parenting - low involvement - low supervision - conflict - aggression § Child abuse, neglect and maltreatment § No secure parental attachment, divorce and parental loss Serin et al. 2011
School risk factors § Poor academic performance § Low commitment to school § Low educational aspiration Peer risk factors § Associating with delinquent peers § Peer approval for delinquent behaviour § Peer pressure for delinquency § Social isolation § Social disapproval Community risk factors § Living in low income neighborhood - community violence - more opportunity to associate with delinquent peers Serin et al. 2011
Are risk factors suitable everywhere research Nikolaev et al. (2017) = western culture = eastern culture Cultural context Risk factors § Question of cultural appropriateness § This impacts usefulness
Risk factors in the New Zealand context Ministry of Justice NZ, 2017 NZ youth crime rates show high proportion of Maori youth offending, even though they make up a minority of the population Statistics NZ (2013) Are there certain risk factors that are more relevant for Maori leading to disproportionate vulnerability
Predisposition of risk for Maori Poverty predisposition youth Community violence Gangs Neighborhood crime Poor education Environmental factors are exaggerated Poverty a macro level risk factor A societal problem! Ministry of Health NZ (2013) Smith (2018)
Summary Risk factor categories: individual, familial, school, peer, community Are they suitable for all cultural contexts? Need more research in eastern cultural context In the context of New Zealand Maori are disproportionately exposed to risk factors due to societal problem of poverty
References Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Ministry of Health NZ. (2013). Neighbourhood deprivation. Retrieved from https: //www. health. govt. nz/ourwork/populations/maori-health/tatau-kahukura-maori-health-statistics/nga-awe-o-te-hauorasocioeconomic-determinants-health/neighbourhood-deprivation Ministry of Justice NZ. (2017). Youth Prosecution Statistics. Retrieved from https: //www. justice. govt. nz/assets/Documents/Publications/youth-prosecution-statistics-datahighlights-2017. pdf Nikolaev, B. , Salahodjaev, R. , and Boudreaux, C. (2017). Are Individualistic Societies Less Equal? Evidence from the Parasite Stress Theory of Values. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 138, 10. 1016/j. jebo. 2017. 04. 001. Serin, R. , Forth, A. , Brown, S. , Nunes, K. , Bennell, C. , and Puzzulo, J. (2011). Psychology of Criminal Behaviour; A Canadian Perspective. Toronto: Pearson Canada. Smith, C. (2018). The Nature of Poverty in NZ and ways to Address it. Policy Quarterly, 14(1), 27 -36. Statistics NZ. (2013). 2013 Quick Stats about National Highlights. Retrieved from http: //archive. stats. govt. nz/Census/2013 -census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-aboutnational-highlights/cultural-diversity. aspx
