Female juvenile murderers: Biological and psychological dynamics leading to homicide

The increasing involvement of girls under 18 in violent crime has been a matter of growing concern in the United States in recent years. This article reviews the arrests of female juveniles for violent crime and then focuses specifically on their involvement in homicide. Arrests of girls for murder, unlike arrests for assault, have not risen over the last 30 years, suggesting that the dynamics that propel female juveniles to engage in lethal violence differ from those contributing to assaultive behavior by this same group. A review of the literature indicates that theories as to why female adolescents kill do not take into account recent scientific findings on brain development and the biological effects of early trauma in explaining serious violent behavior by girls. Three cases, evaluated by the authors, involving female adolescents charged with murder or attempted murder, are presented. The authors focus on the biological and psychological dynamics that help explain their violent behavior. They discuss the effects of insecure attachment and child maltreatment, and trace a critical pathway between these early experiences and future risk of violent behavior. The dynamics of child maltreatment in fostering rage and violence are discussed thereafter in terms of offender accountability. The article concludes with a discussion of treatment and recommendations for future research.     

Youth, Police Legitimacy and Informal Contact

This paper explores the under-researched topic of young people’s attitudes towards police in two studies using structural equation modelling. The first study examines the influence of police legitimacy on the willingness of young people to assist police. The second study examines the impact of informal contact with police during a community policing project on young people’s willingness to assist police. Findings show that young people who view police as legitimate are more willing to assist police. Participation in the community policing project had a significant and positive influence on young people’s willingness to assist police independent of young people’s attitudes about police legitimacy.

Criminal Recidivism Among Juvenile Offenders: Testing the Incremental and Predictive Validity of Three Measures of Psychopathic Features

We studied the predictive, comparative, and incremental validity of three measures of psychopathic features (Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version [PCL:YV]; Antisocial Process Screening Device [APSD]; Childhood Psychopathy Scale [CPS]) vis-à-vis criminal recidivism among 83 delinquent youth within a truly prospective design. Bivariate and multivariate analyses (Cox proportional hazard analyses) showed that of the three measures, the CPS was most consistently related to most types of recidivism in comparison to the other measures. However, incremental validity analyses demonstrated that all of the predictive effects for the measures of psychopathic features disappeared after conceptually relevant covariates (i.e., substance use, conduct disorder, young age, past property crime) were included in multivariate predictive models. Implications for the limits of these measures in applied juvenile justice assessment are discussed.     

An experimental evaluation of teen courts

Teen Court (TC) is a juvenile diversion program designed to prevent the formal processing of first-time juvenile offenders within the juvenile justice system. TC instead utilizes informal processing and sanctions in order to prevent future offending. Despite its widespread popularity throughout the United States of America, little rigorous research has been conducted on the effectiveness of the TC model for reducing recidivism. Using an experimental design, this study examined the effectiveness of TC in reducing recidivism and improving the attitudes and opinions of juvenile offenders in comparison with a control group of youth who were formally processed. Self-reported delinquency was higher for those youth who participated in TC. TC youth were also found to have significantly lower scores on a scale of belief in conventional rules than had youth who were processed in the Department of Juveniles Services. Implications of these findings are discussed.

青少年吸毒的心理诱因及其行为矫正

青少年吸毒的心理诱因是多方面的 ,诸如好奇、盲从、侥幸、无知、空虚、炫耀等心理因素都可能使他们陷入毒魔的纠缠。欲矫正青少年的吸毒行为 ,就必须注意发现其吸毒迹象而及时引导归正 ,根据吸毒行为的程度差异有针对性地开展帮教工作 ,在坚持药物脱瘾治疗的同时加强心理治疗 ,并加大禁毒宣传教育的力度 ,提高全社会的禁毒意识 ,强化青少年对毒品危害性的认识 ,加强戒毒所点建设而促使吸毒青少年改过自新 ,并严格依法追究吸毒者的法律责任     

不良书刊对青少年犯罪的影响及防范对策

青少年犯罪是一个复杂的社会现象,其中,不良书刊对青少年的侵蚀和毒害是造成青少年犯罪不可忽视的重要原因之一。由于青少年可塑性大、意志力薄弱,不良书刊不仅对青少年犯罪起诱发、教唆作甲,而且对青少年犯罪心理的最后形成起强化作用,必须采取积极有效措施,制止和根除不良书刊对青少年的影响。     

论毒品犯罪对未成年人的危害及控制方略

当前，毒品犯罪日益猖獗，因毒品犯罪而产生的未成年人吸毒等问题也越来越严重，给未成年人的健康成长带来了极为不利的影响。因此，控制和减少毒品犯罪是我们面临的一个极为迫切的任务。毒品犯罪有其自身的特点。应针对其特点采取合适的防控措施。具体说，在治理毒品犯罪时，不仅要切断毒品的供应，还应设法减少对毒品的需求；不仅要制定针对制毒、贩毒等毒品犯罪行为的严厉惩治措施，还要建立完善的预防制度。     

人民法院实施未成年人轻罪犯罪记录封存制度的实践探索

新《刑事诉讼法》正式以法律形式确立了未成年人轻罪犯罪记录封存制度，这是我国未成年人刑事司法制度的重大发展，对未成年犯的复学、升学、就业以及顺利回归社会具有重要意义。但是，具体操作规则和司法实践经验的缺乏，不利于该制度的科学、规范实施。对未成年人权益进行全面保护，使其成为一个普通的社会人，是该制度的价值追求，必须贯穿于该制度实施的整个过程中。由人民法院制作并发送《未成年人轻罪犯罪记录封存决定书》，表面上看是一道法律规定之外的额外程序，但在制度建立之初，有利于制度的全面、正确实施。     

An Action Research on Delinquency Prevention of Migrant Juvenile in the Perspective of Social Work——A case study of Kunming F Community

Taking as a case the community services of F community where the biggest number of migrant people congregate in Kunming , this paper explores how to improve migrant teenagers' resilience to improve their positive growth, active social inclusion into city life and reduce the risks of delinquency. Within the action research, this study finds out that migrant juveniles suffer the shortage of public community service, poor quality of school education, insufficient family supports, adverse parenthood and interpersonal relationships, deficient peer supports and low self esteem and confidence. Fortunately, through conducting a series of life educations, career counseling and community services including school social work, family social work and cultural construction activities, with the core of resilience construction, can effectively improve the cognition and behavior of migrant teenagers can be improved and the risks of their delinquency can be reduced effectively. Moreover, this study believes that the social work station established in the migrant population's community can provide professional services to facilitate the positive interactions between juveniles and the environment which are regarded as the premise of delinquency prevention, to activate teenagers' subjectivity and initiative which is the emphasis, and to arouse the feelings of shame of teenagers with deviation behaviors that is the key point of crime prevention.