Role of Social Work Life Skills in Juvenile Recidivism - Research Paper

Introduction

One core function of the juvenile justice department is to ensure that adolescents do not commit crimes considered adults'. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the juvenile justice system to prevent young adults from engaging in illegal behaviors. The system determines the intensity of interventions whether through providing intervention services or imposing sanctions for the adolescents and families and its ability to reduce offending or reoffending depends on its ability to find the best intervention methods.

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This paper reviews three articles on the state of juvenile recidivism in sampled areas on ways of reducing the rate of reoffending among young adults. From the reviews, the paper offers suggestions of equipping the juveniles with social work life skills to keep them engaged as a way of reducing the chances of reoffending.

The Effect of Risk Factors on Recidivism Among Juveniles from the Perspectives of Juvenile Justice Professionals by Diana R. Clarke

This article focusses on the state of juvenile delinquency referrals from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice system. The purpose of the study was to examine what juvenile justice professionals perceived to be the causes of juvenile recidivism. Diana conducted qualitative analysis to collect her data. She sampled out 15 participants consisting of judges, state attorneys, mental health counselors, and probation officers. She conducted face-to-face interviews where she asked open-ended questions and used digital recording devices to record responses. She used the questions to gather participants' knowledge and experience across multiple issues concerning juvenile recidivism. Diana finally analyzed the data using Colaizzi's method to conclude.

From the analysis, Diana established that most participants believed that family criminal history, peer influence, history of mental illness, substance abuse, and absenteeism were significant contributors to juvenile recidivism. Second, parent bonding had a significant impact on reducing recidivism in 17 and 18-year-old juveniles. In her recommendation, she suggested modifications and improvement rehabilitation interventions to reduce the number of young adults in prisons and probation. One proposal included community-based rehabilitation program involving social working.

Diana's study had some limitations as the research only focused on the central region of Florida. Besides, she gathered opinions of professions instead of including voices of the young adults who have experienced recidivism to compare the data.

Therefore, further research is necessary to ascertain the results obtained from one-sided views of justice professionals. It would be essential to determine the perceptions of juvenile offenders with experience of recidivism and evaluate their suggestions towards reducing these cases. On the family dynamics, probations officers should work closely with the juveniles to give their sound judgment on how families affect behaviors of the youths. Also, future studies should focus on other regions besides the state of Florida, to check for any variation or similarity.

From the justice system perspective, Diana's research shed more light on the issue of juvenile recidivism. It lays a background for future studies to help in addressing the matter.

Involvement in the Juvenile Justice System for African American Adolescents: Examining Associations with Behavioral Health Problems by Dexter R. Voisin, Dongha Kim, Kathryn Bocanegra, Lois Takahashi, and Phillip MorottaVoisin et al. in their research established that despite many studies indicating that there are higher levels of African American youths' involvement with the law than other ethnic groups, few studies had explored the correlation between these cases. Voisin et al. wanted to examine these correlations. They conducted a sample survey on 638 African American juveniles aged between 13-24 from low-income, urban communities. They selected the age bracket because it covered early adolescent to late adolescence. Using logistic regression models, they found out that African American juvenile involvement with the justice system was 2.3 times more likely to be caused by mental health problems, youth truancy behaviors and substance abuse problems. They also established that the rate of juvenile system contacts directly related to the rate of delinquent acts, substance abuse (marijuana and alcohol), commercial sex, engaging in sex under the influence of drugs, committing community violence, etc. Therefore, they suggested that by addressing juvenile system contacts for early intervention, the method would be more efficient.

The limitation of the study is that it only focused on low-income African Americans leaving out other ethnic groups. Besides, the sampled population was small. Also, future studies should look into the influence of peers on youth delinquent behaviors.

Although the findings were subject to measurement errors as they relied on self-report, their study is similar to prior reports showing African Americans were more vulnerable to juvenile justice system involvement than other ethnic groups. Individuals with high participation with juvenile justice system manifested behavioral and health problems such as substance abuse, delinquency, unplanned and risky sex behaviors. Also, despite other ethnic groups' rates being low, they show the same trend. Therefore, there is a need for interventions during initial contacts, after release, and with recidivism as well as determining the relationship between days of arrest, the category of the offenses, and the characteristics of the correctional facility and the impact it has on subsequent juvenile behaviors and recidivism.

The Role of Social Workers in Reducing Recidivism Rates for Juvenile Offenders by Erin Beth Somers

In this study, Erin explores current models for the reintegration of ex-offenders in the society. It aims at finding the best practice to reduce recidivism rates for juvenile offenders. Erin used mixed study methods to review the impact of social work in reducing recidivism to achieve her objective. Secondary data analysis was conducted on Missouri Juvenile Justice (case study) and qualitative interviews. The case study increased the awareness of alternative interventions for young adults involved in corrections. One interview involved open-ended questions in phone interviews. The others included 14 interviews consisting of 47 participants whose response were recorded using an audiocassette. In the interviews, the participants described the rehabilitation programs. The results showed that using social workers to encourage ex-offenders in reintegration in society was effective.

Therefore, Erin encourages social workers to work together with psychologists and criminal justice system to improve aftercare services for juvenile ex-offenders to reduce recidivism. All the stakeholders should design programs that would treat juveniles with unconditional positive regard, promote safety within the correctional facilities, and improve transitioning of offenders back to societies and finally a system that engages family and community.

Limitations of the study was a small sampling area to collect the data (Missouri Juvenile Justice California). Also, the offenders were not interviewed. This means the results do not give the exact picture of the situation. However, the study provides an opportunity for further research with other regions in mind.

Conclusion

From the three reviews, it is evident that there is a gap between the juvenile justice system, the offenders and the community. However, the research shows the difference can be closed by engaging the justice system professionals, offenders, psychologists, social workers and the community in improving the situation. It is evident that those who have offended have high chances of re-offending if there is no appropriate intervention. One appropriate response would be keeping the ex-offenders always engaged during rehabilitation. One way of achieving that is through equipping juveniles with social work-life skills. The skills help to keep their minds occupied, and they can handle life challenges better.

References

Clarke, D., R. (2017). The effect of risk factors on recidivism among juveniles from the perspectives of juvenile justice professionals. Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. Retrieved from: https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=5084&context=dissertations

Somers, E., B. (2011). The role of social workers in reducing recidivism rates for juvenile offenders. Retrieved from: http://csus-dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.9/1154/Erin.pdf?sequence=1

Voisin, D., R., Kim, D., Bocanegra, K., Takahashi, L., and Morotta, P. (2017). Involvement in the juvenile justice system for African American adolescents: Examining associations with behavioral health problems. Journal of Social Service Research, 43(1): 129-140. DOI: 10.1080/01488376.2016.1239596