The impact of JJS involvement on self-regulation maturation in a population-based sample of girls

• In Event: The Intersection between Self-Regulation and Juvenile Justice Involvement

Abstract

There has been a rapid increase in female involvement in the Juvenile Justice system (JJS) and mounting evidence that females are more likely than males to experience iatrogenic effects from JJS involvement. Understanding of the ways in which Juvenile Justice Involvement intersects with normative adolescent development may help to reverse these trends, and promote accountability, resilience and desistance. The prospective population-based Pittsburgh Girls Study (N=2,450) provides a unique opportunity to examine the extent to which the type and timing of JJS involvement across childhood and adolescence facilitates or impedes normative self-regulation development. By age 17, a sizeable portion of the PGS sample had self-reported police questioning for suspected criminal activity (17.3%, n=424), had been arrested, (8.7%, n=214) or had appeared in juvenile court (13.3%, n=327). According to 1,670 official records that have been retrieved for the sample, 465 girls (19.0%) were charged with a crime between ages 10-19 years and 244 girls (10.0%) were convicted between 10 and 18 years. These official data will be combined with latent growth curve models (LGCMs) estimating self-control processes, to examine the degree to which JJS involvement facilitates or impedes changes in the development of these processes above and beyond an individuals’ trajectory.

Authors

• Alison Hipwell, University of Pittsburgh

• Stephanie D. Stepp, University of Pittsburgh

• Rolf Loeber, University of Pittsburgh