Can Systemic Interventions Designed to Reduce Reoffending by Youth also Reduce their Victimization?

Previous research indicates considerable overlap between populations of boys who are victimized and boys who victimize others. This study was concerned with whether a systems-focused treatment program designed to address individual and systemic risk factors associated with the perpetration of sexual and violent crimes might also be successful in reducing boys’ victimization by others. Boys adjudicated for sexual offences who received ‘treatment as usual’ (TAU; n = 335) were compared with similarly adjudicated boys who completed the treatment program (n = 200) on their histories of contact with police either as offenders or victims. Despite their higher rates of pre-intervention victimization, the treatment group were victimized less frequently post-intervention than the TAU group. Continued offending was the strongest predictor of victimization post-intervention. These findings suggest that offending and victimization share common risk factors that may be addressed simultaneously within offence-focused treatment

Investigating the Role of Neighborhood Youth Organizations in Preventing Adolescent Violent Offending: Evidence from Chicago

Objectives: Neighborhood youth organizations are a salient community-level resource in the lives of children and adolescents, but empirical research on the aggregate-level relationship between neighborhood crime rates and neighborhood organizations is mixed. This study attempts to clarify and extend prior research by examining (1) whether there is a contextual effect of neighborhood youth organizations on individual violent offending, and (2) whether neighborhood youth organizations have conditioning, beneficial effects that extend beyond the youths who participate in these organizations. Methods: Data from two components of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods were utilized in this study: the Community Survey and the Longitudinal Cohort Study. A three-level logistic item response model nested 15,242 violent crime item responses within 1,912 subjects from cohorts aged 9, 12, and 15 years; subjects were nested within 79 neighborhoods across the city of Chicago. Results: Neighborhood youth organizations did not have a direct, contextual effect on adolescent violent offending. But, the effects of neighborhood youth organizations were heterogeneous in that they reduced the effects of low self-control on violent crime. Moreover, the conditioning role of neighborhood youth organizations operated partly through child-centered informal social control. Conclusions: Neighborhood organizations matter in the etiology of youthful offending, but the ways in which these organizations are relevant are nuanced. Research must continue to grapple with the various mechanisms through which neighborhood organizations operate. Illuminating these processes may hold key insights for designing and implementing neighborhood organizations to prevent adolescent violent offending

Bryan County Sheriff\u27s Office Community Survey

The Bryan County Sheriff’s Office has released the results of a survey it says will help the office better serve the community. The 30-page report lays out recommendations for the sheriff’s office to better address issues within Bryan County. Along with help from Georgia Southern University’s criminology department, the survey found the public wants the sheriff’s office to continue gathering public input