The Exploration of SCOTUS and their Decision on Sentencing Juvenile Offenders: Is it Possible to Rehabilitate Conduct Disorder in Juveniles Prior to Adult Recidivism?

• In Event: Predictors of Juvenile Reoffending

Abstract

Conduct disorder is one of the most frequently diagnosed mental illnesses in children in the United States today and thus, is responsible for a great deal of juvenile delinquency. Extant research and the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) indicate that juvenile offenders are more easily rehabilitated than adult offenders in that they do not fully appreciate the nature of the crime they had committed due to being psychologically immature. This research aims to assess the influence of rehabilitation of children with conduct disorder by examining subsequent criminality in adulthood. Research has suggested that conduct disorder in children and adolescents could be brought on by a number of different constructs, including parental characteristics and prior victimization, thus additional research of longitudinal, individual-level data must be conducted. Using data from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), this study examines the likelihood of adult recidivism of juvenile delinquents with conduct disorder diagnoses and related predictors of recidivism in adulthood.

Authors

• Cassondra Schneider, University of Nevada, Reno

• Emily R Berthelot, University of Nevada, Reno